Microsoft Word - RecklessBounty (31 page)

“Too late…you’re already full of it,” he returned.

Just then, a hover car began tailing them.

“Heads up!” Samantha muttered, trying to crane her neck around to stare at the hover car behind them. This couldn’t mean good things. “Looks as if we’ve got company. Dev, do you recognize the car?”

He gave her an impatient stare. He shook his head.

“They’re charging up weapons. Might I be so bold as to suggest that we blow them from here to next week?”
Eleanor
asked. In a startling array of light, the weapons board lit up in front of Samantha.

“
Eleanor
, I like your style. You are one kick ass broad,” she murmured, secretly wondering what such an esthetically pleasing sissy ass hover car, could possibly have in the blow them all the way to
Timbuktu
department.

She heard the weapons charging, and grinned as
Eleanor’s
safety conditions allowed her to move her butt in the chair, so she’d have a clearer view of the action. Mesmerized, she watched as the hover car behind them shot out two laser bolts.

Eleanor
defensively intercepted them, and then shot out two bright lights that looked remarkably like mini torpedoes. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. The torpedoes hit the hover car, and then the hover car exploded.

Ordinarily, Samantha would have been against such cruel violence. But if the men inside had been involved in the attack against her sister, she didn’t give one rat’s ass about them. She turned back and sat upright in her chair. Devlin peered curiously at her.

“Oh, man! I have got to get me one of these!” Samantha sighed, unconsciously caressing
Eleanor’s
front control panel.

“I am a rare breed, Samantha,”
Eleanor
said snobbishly. “I am among only fifty created,” Eleanor stated matter-of-factly. They were quickly approaching
Gyniss Sea Harbor.

“Guess you’d cost me a small fortune then,” she muttered.

“Yes. One that you don’t have,” Lord Devlin pointed out, earning a huffy snort and a blazing frown from her.

“Now see here, Dev. My mother always told me never to talk with dumb animals, and I think I’ve gone against her advice enough for one day.” Falling silent, she fought against the urge to give him a taste of her fist. She had to remember why she was putting up with his shit.

Tyler
. That was the only reason. Actually, it was the only good reason. Devlin should’ve been counting his lucky stars instead of shooting off his big mouth. She stuck her face up against the glass of the window, and nearly fogged it up, as she scanned the harbor. “Son of a bitch!” she cursed. “That’s my
Aggie!
” Veronica was in for an earful.

“That piece of junk is the vehicle that you expect Johanna to drive?” Lord Devlin asked following her gaze.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 128

“Lay off of my baby!” she shot back, fidgeting restlessly in the seat.
Aggie
had been in the family for years.
Aggie
had seen them through many trying times, and over the years she’d earned Samantha’s respect.

“Have you got ants in your pants, or do you need to relieve yourself?” Devlin inquired.

Eleanor slowed down. The Harbor Master met them. The man was rail thin and he had shifty eyes. Or at least Samantha thought he had shifty eyes.

The Harbor Master admitted people to
Atlantis City
, and made sure they found their way to the proper shuttle. From there you were taken down to
Atlantis City
, and allowed to roam around its wonderful settlement for as long as your heart desired. She’d heard long tales about the water city, but had never visited it. It was even rumored that underwater mermaids lived in this ocean, living in a secret location, which was invisible to the human eye.

It was said that Atlantis City was even more sinful than
New Monaco’s
many land formed haunts. And that if you really wanted to have one hell of a good time then you had to visit
The City of Atlantis.

The tall harbor Master made his way over to
Eleanor
. His jaw fell onto the pavement, when he recognized Devlin. Samantha raised an eyebrow. From the look on the guy’s face, whatever he was about to say would be worth the wait.

“My liege.” He bowed quickly.

She made a horrid noise out of her mouth, resembling that of a drawn out fart.

“
Asshole
,” she muttered beneath her breath. Devlin flinched.
Liege?
The people of
New
Monaco
were even nuttier than she’d originally believed.

“You may go down, I see that you have a
Faerie Cruiser
, you won’t need any of our shuttles. It has been an
honor
, my lord,” he said again, bowing deeply.

“Honor, my ass!” she muttered.

Devlin gave her a scathing glare. She smiled at him.

“Oh,

Eleanor
, you don’t happen to be equipped with one of those handy little barf bags, do you?” Samantha asked, smirking. Her face widened into amazement, when
Eleanor
sighed, and a small white bag appeared in her hand. “Holy shit, now I’ve seen everything.” She lightly hit her forehead. She gripped the edge of the door, as
Eleanor
altered her appearance.

“You don’t need to hold your breath, Samantha,” Devlin advised chuckling. “There’s enough oxygen in here for you.”

“Yeah. Are you sure? Because you’re a bloody windbag,” she retorted. Her eyes darted to a mirror. She’d begun to lose what little color she still had. Great, Samantha, get a hold of yourself. You can’t have the number one asshole thinking that you are afraid. You’re not afraid of anything. You are
not!
Sure they were going under water. But she was still safely inside of a hover car. She was in control. Everything would be fine.

“When we meet back up with your little playmates, you aren’t about to make a scene are you?” Lord Devlin asked. He seemed almost hesitant. Did he think she’d embarrass him?

“Who little old me? Why Lord Dumbo, I can’t believe you think I would make a fool of myself. Fool of you, maybe. But never one of myself.”

He sighed. “I don’t think. I
know
you will make a fool of yourself. Why don’t you just let me handle everything? I’m sure as soon as the men responsible for the attempt on Johanna’s life see me, they will surrender.”

“Yes, that may well be. But as soon as they see me, they’re going to drop a load in their pants. And the day that I let any man take care of me will be the day that I’m six feet under.

Haven’t you realized yet, that I don’t need a man running to my rescue?”

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 129

“Of course. Pardon me. I can’t believe I forgot that you were the high and mighty Samantha Cassidy. No wonder your marriage failed. You killed it with your take-charge attitude. Tell me, Samantha, are you hiding a set of family jewels beneath all of that clothing?”

“You know what, Lord Dickhead, I don’t think the harbor Master should’ve been calling you his lord, because I think that you are the
King of the Assholes
,” she spat out. She held her breath, when they dropped beneath the sparkling surface of the water.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 130

Samantha wanted to rearrange Lord Devlin’s face, but she had to admit even grudgingly that he was right…for now. He did hold a certain amount of sway on
New Monaco
, and it wouldn’t hurt her any, to have his anal form walking behind her. But first, she’d have to find Veronica and confront her about leaving without gaining clearance from either her or Johanna.

She was accustomed to getting her own way, and when someone went against what she wanted, she got raging mad. Veronica had to learn that she and Johanna were in command when it came to the bounty hunting, and
The Excalibur
. She couldn’t have Veronica messing with the flow of things. They had a certain way of handling things, and Samantha was determined to stick with it.

She felt little jitterbugs fly through her nearly empty stomach, when they came into view of the underwater city of
Atlantis
. If she’d believed that the rest of
New Monaco
had been beautiful then this came as a whole new surprise.

“Holy crap,” she muttered. A thrill of excitement raced up and down her back.

The

city

resembled

Las Vegas
on
Earth
only it was under water, and the architectural beauty of it, took her breath away. She hated Lord Devlin, and most of the time she wanted to smash his head in, but he sure did know how to build and design things. He was a talented asshole, but he also had another talent that wasn’t at all related to the first one.

“You’re speechless, that must be some kind of a record. Please, do try to make it a regular occurrence.” He grinned at her. Her fantasy shattered.

“Shove it!” she muttered, sitting back against her seat. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be. Water had been the bane of her existence for as long as she could recall.

When her mother had enrolled her in swimming lessons, it had taken a whole hell of a lot of convincing to get her to go anywhere near it.

She’d finally learned how to swim, well enough to make sure she’d never drown, but she wasn’t nearly as skilled as Johanna. Johanna had been a lifeguard in her early teens, and she’d saved numerous lives. Her sister was fearless in the water, and Samantha wasn’t, and that drove her up the wall.

She kept her water phobia a secret, and aside from her family back on Earth, only Johanna, Dylan and Tyler knew of the fear that she viewed as her only weakness. She’d been told time and again that her dislike of water was a phobia, but since she’d become a fearless bounty hunter, she’d slowly decided that it was her only fear.

“Welcome to my third pride and joy. You’ve already met my first,” Lord Devlin said jubilation ringing through his voice. He winked at her then he took his hands off the steering wheel. She didn’t want to know what his second pride and joy was!

“Well, that’s a freaking brilliant idea. Take your hands off, and watch us as we crash into your pride and joy.”

She heard a loud perturbed sigh, and decided almost immediately that it had come from
Eleanor
. This hover car had one hell of a personality.

“How many times must I tell you that I am a completely self-sufficient vehicle? You are really beginning to get on my nerves.”

“You don’t have nerves,” Samantha pointed out.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 131

Eleanor
approached the dome surrounding
Atlantis City
, and it opened a small door, to admit them. They went through some weird tunnel that must be the sorting area, so no water was admitted into the inner regions of the city.

“And here I thought that I’d have to grow a pair of gills,” she said, sarcasm leaking into her tone. Devlin leaned back in his chair and let out a huge sigh. “What in the world are you doing?” she asked, finally turning her attention back to him.

“I’m reserving my energy,” he remarked.

She furrowed her brow. “I thought I told you to leave all of the physical things to me.”

“You did. That being said, I’m not conserving my energy so that I can beat the crap out of the inhabitants of the
Caterra Casino
. Instead, I’m drawing all of my energy inside of me, so that I don’t give into the temptation to kill you in the ensuing chaos.” He smirked, to show her that he was trying to make a joke, even though he was failing miserably.

“You are a frigging barrel of laughs, Lord Dumbo,” she mumbled, still sticking to her original impression of him. No matter what he said or did, she had to stick to her convictions.

He was an ass, and she would do well to continue to remind him of that at every given opportunity. Still, sometimes, he did capture her attention and made her wonder what it would be like to be with him in a romantic relationship.

They

guided

Eleanor
to a parking spot outside of the
Caterra Casino
, and they made a smooth landing that nearly made Samantha green with envy. Though she appreciated
Aggie
, she would give anything to have such a capable vehicle to do their bounty hunting with. If they had a
Faerie Cruiser
, no one would be able to avoid or defeat them. They’d be unstoppable!

“Do you think your friends will be inside?” he asked. He reached inside of a hidden compartment and produced something that got Samantha’s interest immediately.

“What

is

that?
” she asked, reaching for the weapon that he held in his hands. A new weapon always got her attention. They were one of her favorite things.

“None of your damn business. But if you ask nicely I might feel like showing it to you.”

“If we weren’t in such a public place I’d show you something, and it wouldn’t be my collection of weapons,” she sneered back, completely disgusted with herself by seeming to be interested in anything that concerned him.
You’re slipping, Samantha!
She placed her hands on her own phase pistols, and sighed.
Eleanor
opened her door.

“Samantha, take this,”
Eleanor
murmured.

A cup of something cold materialized in her hands. “Will you stop doing that? It’s beginning to annoy me. What is this?” she asked, sipping at the purple colored drink. She drank more of it, gradually beginning to feel better.

“It will give you energy. My sensors told me your blood sugar levels were low.”

Samantha gulped the rest of it down, and began to feel as if she could take on two hundred men.

“
Wow!
That’s great stuff. What’s in it?” She did feel better.

“It consists of
Liana Juice
and
New San Francisco
grape juice,” Eleanor explained.