Microsoft Word - RecklessBounty (36 page)

The greedy buggers had taken all of her money. But had
STILL
managed to miss her jet pack.
Unless...no
. She wouldn’t think of that alternative. Believing that someone had deliberately left her with a jet pack just to see if she could get away unscathed was something she wasn’t willing to consider. She knew Rodgers was sick but she hadn’t known that even he could be that demented.

She turned her head as she heard an eerily familiar voice screeching out at her.

“You crazy broad.
I knew that you’d still be alive!
” Samantha whirled around ready to chew out Veronica, but when she noticed a very relieved Ross sticking his head out
Aggies’s
window she didn’t have the heart. She hadn’t known the big lug for very long, but she’d taken a liking to him, and she didn’t want to ruin his moment. Her face fell, as
Eleanor
came into view.

“So,” Samantha said, staring up at the heavens. “When do I get my break then?” she asked, as Veronica lowered
Aggie
to the ground and
Eleanor
, landed beside
Aggie
. Samantha stared between the two-hover vehicles and nearly jumped a meter off of the ground when she heard
Eleanor’s
relieved greeting.

“
Samantha!
I thought you’d been toasted in the explosion, and my sensors couldn’t detect you, but Veronica kept insisting you were still alive, she said that....”
Eleanor
was cut off by Veronica’s furious voice.

“Stuff a sock in it you stupid computer. If you don’t, I’m going to have Ross erase your memory. He can do those sorts of things, he even worked on your design schematics, so I’d shut it, if you knew what was good for you.”

“You worked on the
Faerie Cruiser
design schematics?” Devlin asked, while Veronica proudly nodded her head.

“Yep. My Ross is very intelligent despite what he allows to slip out of his mouth.”

“Ah, so he isn’t as dumb as he looks,” Devlin said, nodding his head in understanding.

“
Look
. You stupid bastard!” Veronica said, drawing her pistol, as Devlin reached for his own weapon.

Ross was about to speak and intervene, when Samantha surprised the hell out of herself RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 148

by stepping in between the two.

“You know what, Veronica, I can understand why you hate Devlin. Devlin, I can understand why Big V, sometimes pisses you off. That’s her special talent. Whereas your special talent is just being an asshole. But if you ever refer to Ross in such a demeaning and cruel way again, Veronica won’t have to defend her man, cause I’ll have already beaten the crap out of you. Treat people with respect, and maybe they’ll decide to reciprocate. As long as it’s not me, that is. And put that freaky weapon away, I don’t need a shrunken Veronica. She’d probably crawl up by pant leg and bite me on the
ass!
It doesn’t matter what size that woman is, she’d still be lethal. And besides, isn’t there a law against owning such a ludicrous weapon?”

She crossed her arms.

“It isn’t permanent,” Devlin answered, sticking the shrink ray back inside of
Eleanor
.

“The effects only last for forty-eight hours and then your body returns to its normal size. Only your
body
,” he emphasized, his dark eyes twinkling mischievously.

“That means that you’d lose....” Samantha trailed off, as she stared up at him in disgust.

“And yes, Samantha, it is quite delightful to get an eyeful of any of the women that I shrink. I can reverse the problem right away just by changing a setting on the rifle. Perhaps, I should try it with
you
,” he murmured. Her cheeks flamed, and she narrowed her eyes to mere slits.

“
Try it!
” She stepped forward so she could get in his face. “When you returned me to my normal size, I’d wrestle that thing out of your hands and then I’d shove it up your arse.”

Eleanor
hooted, and started playing big band music.

“Is that physically possible?”
Eleanor
asked.

Devlin raised his boot to kick his car and then it seemed as if he suddenly remembered how much
Eleanor
had cost him.

“I thought that I was your owner and master,” he grumbled at
Eleanor
.

“When I feel like it, I do what you want me to do,”
Eleanor
responded. The music faded away, as a holographic form of a woman materialized in front of Samantha.

“
Cripes!
I didn’t know you could do that!” Devlin stammered out, taking a step back, staring stupidly at the holographic projection of the big-busted woman.

Eleanor
was wearing a skintight bright yellow jumpsuit and everything showed. She resembled Veronica, except for the fact that she had blue hair.

“You didn’t read the manual,”
Eleanor
retorted primly, “And I didn’t feel like telling you.”

“Ross, if I didn’t love you so damn much, you’d be dead right now,” Veronica muttered beneath her breath. Samantha snorted, and then fell into a fit of laughter.

“Shut your trap, Samantha. You know, now I wish that you’d died in that explosion. At least then, I wouldn’t have to listen to you,” Veronica scowled.

“That wasn’t what you said at the time,”
Eleanor
piped in, as Samantha quieted.

Samantha was finally beginning to forget her worries. Unbelievably, Veronica and
Eleanor
, who was a freaking barrel of bolts, were both relieving her stress.

“What did you say?” Samantha asked between hiccups.

“
Nothing
,” Veronica muttered, kicking at a pebble on the ground.

“She said that you were a crazy broad, and that people like you never died. She said that you’d always managed to pull your big booty out of problems before. She said you were the fastest runner she knew, because you ran like your ass was on fire. Then she said that only the good die young,”
Eleanor
finished, grinning widely.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 149

“Thank you, Big V,” Samantha said, walking toward her. She didn’t know whether she should take it as a compliment or insult. As she approached Veronica, the silly woman began backing up. “Oh, and just let me clarify one thing I don’t have a big booty. In fact, Tyler thinks that my booty is bootylicious, and I’d have to agree,” she said, shaking her ass in Veronica’s direction.

“Now I think I’m blind!” Veronica said, staring away.

“Why didn’t the three of you follow me? I mean it’s not like I needed you to save me or anything but it would have been nice to hitch a ride before I met Nessie,” she muttered, moving to lean against
Eleanor
.

“We were going to follow you actually,” Devlin began, staring pointedly at the AI of
Eleanor
. “But
she
had other ideas.”

“I followed Samantha’s assailants, so I could save her. But then when I realized there was a distinct possibility I might lose them, I shot a tracking device onto the submarine. Then I went back and picked you guys up,”
Eleanor
explained defensively.

“Well, thanks Eleanor. It’s not your fault that you had to work with two boobies,”

Samantha said chuckling. She stopped laughing just as she heard a loud whining noise that sounded like weapons being charged and readied to fire.

“Not again!” she bitched, staring up at the sky.

In the not so far off distance, three A class hover cars approached them and they had their phase cannons, loaded and out in clear view.

“
Hit the deck!!!
” she screamed, shocking herself by pulling Devlin down to the ground.

She body slammed him onto the cement and his cry was broken off, by the sound of an enormous explosion.

“Must you always be on top?” Devlin asked, as Samantha scrambled off of him.

“You bet, Lord Dumbo,” she quipped, staring over in concern toward Ross.

Veronica was nowhere to be seen and she assumed she was beneath her husband.

“Ross, I’m dying underneath here, you big idiot,” Veronica mumbled.

Samantha stood in shocked horror, staring dumbly at the remnants of what had once been her beloved hover car.

“Oh,

Aggie!
” Samantha cried mournfully, taking a step toward the hover car. Before she could move any further, Devlin pulled her back.

“
Are you crazy?
It’s just a bloody car! You can get another. But if I don’t bring you back to Johanna in one piece she will literally rip me a new one.
Eleanor
, get yourself ready,” Devlin instructed, keeping a firm hold on Samantha.

“I’m already ready, but they’re circling, and getting ready to take another pot shot at us.

You all better get into me. I can’t protect you guys, if you’re all out in the open.”

Samantha shook her head, as if she snapped herself out of a daze.

“
Rodgers, I’m going to fry your big fat ass,
” she muttered, finally shrugging Devlin off.

She dove into
Eleanor
, and the others quickly followed her.

“Do your worst,
Eleanor
,” Devlin instructed, as they all belted themselves in.

“Yes,

Master,”

Eleanor
quipped off sarcastically. Her engines hummed. In a matter of seconds, she raised them high up into the air.

“Uh, guys,” Samantha said, looking at
Eleanor’s
sensor pad, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but please tell me there isn’t about a dozen bogeys, quickly coming toward us.”

Veronica and Ross sat in the back, and they quickly looked out the window as Veronica let loose with her colorful language.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 150

“
Sons of bitches!
” she gasped. Samantha leaned back, and caught Ross patting Veronica on the arm.

“We’ll be okay,” he murmured, as Veronica stared incredulously over at him.

“I love you Ross, but sometimes I wish that you came with an off switch. I’m not worried about myself, but they should be worried, because they’re the ones that will be going down. Right, Samantha?” Veronica asked, seeking Samantha’s support.

“Whatever you say, Big V,” Samantha said, as her belly flip-flopped. From the way she saw it they were in big trouble.

If she thought she was in a pickle before, then she was really in for it now. The odds weren’t good, but Samantha was ready to fight until the bitter end.

“Think you can handle the situation,
Eleanor?
” Samantha asked, still mourning the loss of
Aggie
.

“You

betcha,”

Eleanor
answered, shooting down two attack vehicles. “Where to, boss?”

Eleanor
asked, while Samantha took a deep breath.

“Where’s

The Excalibur?
” Samantha asked, finally needing to know where her family had gotten off to.

“Why Lord Devlin told Johanna to skedaddle, as soon as we left for the
City of Atlantis
, I thought you knew,”
Eleanor
said, confusion filling her voice.

“No. But I do now. Lord Dumbo, remind me when this is all over to finally kill you!”

Samantha muttered.
Eleanor’s
shields took another volley of mini torpedoes.

“Take that butt head!”
Eleanor
shouted, just as another vehicle blew up.

“Where is Johanna?” Samantha asked, looking directly at Lord Devlin.

“She’s with Danny. Where she’ll be safe. If you hadn’t noticed
New Monaco
isn’t the safest place to be, at the moment. A rival has openly declared war on me, and I’m determined to finish it.”

“Yeah, and that person would be Jarrod Rodgers, and you’re not going to finish it I am,”

Samantha corrected, staring up at the two setting suns. “Eleanor, take us to
The Emerald Star
then,” she ordered, as Devlin gave her a dirty look.

“Who the hell is the one giving the orders around here?” he asked dumbstruck, by Samantha’s audacity.

“Me, Dev. Because when I show you how stupid you were for thinking that Tyler was guilty, you’re going to have to compensate us. So, not only will I be collecting on the bounty when I find the real murderer, which I believe is Rodgers, but I will also be taking
Eleanor.
I need a new car and I think this pretty baby will do. Besides, it will absolutely delight Johanna, and I’m pretty sure that you aim to please her.”

“Actually,” Eleanor began, “I think he aims to please you, Samantha. He was quite worried when we thought you were dead! He was right beside himself!”

“Shut up, Eleanor,” Devlin ordered.

They were all thrown forward in their seats when a much larger torpedo hit them.

“One of those hover cars, has some pretty heavy duty weaponry loaded on it,”
Eleanor
said, her voice at a pitch. “And not to worry anyone or anything, but there are more beginning to follow us.”

“
Eleanor
, can you open a channel to
The Emerald Star?
” Samantha asked, hating it that she was so helpless and that she had to rely on a freaking car.

“Yes. But I don’t know what you’d want to tell them,”
Eleanor
answered confused, and slightly distracted.

RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 151

“Well. Open it already!” Samantha ordered completely frazzled.

“Yes. What do you want?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“Get me the Red Falcon,” Samantha snapped off, blowing out a gust of impatient air.

“He’s busy at the moment,” the voice replied rather huffily.

Samantha leaned forward about to rip the person on the other end a new one, when Devlin intervened.

“Connie, get my son on the line
pronto
,” he ordered, as Connie let out a surprised gasp.

“Yes, my lord,” Connie said. Two seconds later, the Red Falcon’s voice blared out to them.

“What do you want, Devlin?” he asked impatiently. Samantha jumped in, before Devlin could open his mouth.