Reckless Bounty (Intergalactic Justice Book 1)
Reckless Bounty
Intergalactic Justice, Book One
By Marly Mathews
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2010, 2015 by Marly Mathews
Cover Design by Melody Simmons from eBookindiecovers
Edited by Kris Schubach
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Epilogue
Prologue
New Monaco, 2445
Samantha Mallory looked over at the sinfully handsome man who owned her heart. She couldn’t go through with it. He wanted her to marry him and though her heart wanted to say yes, her brain told her to say no. They were set to be wed after they finished their dinner, and yet, she couldn’t let it happen.
They were each too dangerous for their own good. And she couldn’t have happiness or peace until she found her father’s killer. Knowing what she knew, she couldn’t place him in danger by bringing him into her world. If she lost him—if he became a casualty in her search for vengeance, she would never be able to live with herself.
He’d seen enough sorrow—suffered enough heartbreak in his life—he didn’t need her dragging him down with her.
“I am leaving you, and I don’t want you to follow me. I don’t want to see you ever again, Dev,” she whispered, watching the joy in his eyes fade to heartbreak.
He reached across the table and gripped her wrist. Looking down at his strong powerful fingers, she was almost tempted to use her special gifts on him, instead, she said softly, “Let me go, please.”
His grip on her relaxed and he slowly released her. The absence of his warm touch made tears well in her eyes.
“Our love affair. Our love tryst, whatever you want to call it, this whole thing we had…I don’t want my family to ever know about it. I don’t want them to know that I gave you up for your own good. You will someday see that you are better off without me, trust me on that one.”
His anguished gaze lit with anger. “I will never ever think that losing you was the best thing for the both of us. I want you now, and forever more. I will never stop loving you, Samantha.
Since I am a gentleman, I will acquiesce to your ludicrous demands. Our relationship will always be just between the two of us. But mark my words. One day I will have you back in my arms, where you belong and I will make sure on that blessed day that you never want to leave me again.”
She stood up, her courage almost failing her. Taking a few steps away from the table, she heard his chair scrape against the flooring as he stood up. He reached for her and pulled her against him so she slammed against his rock hard chest.
He kissed her softly and it turned urgent. Her mind raced—she cried on the inside. He wanted to win her back with this—and she couldn’t, she just couldn’t!
His life meant too much to her.
She couldn’t protect her family and him as well.
She knew he would tell her he didn’t need her to protect him, and maybe he was right—she’d never met such a man of physical strength and inner strength before.
She pushed away from him, her breath ragged. Reaching for the gigantic rock that he’d given her a few days earlier when she’d foolishly accepted his proposal, she eased it off her finger. He looked down at the diamond ring.
“I won’t take that back, Samantha, because I won’t accept that what we have is over. Keep it and always remember me whenever you look at it, or better yet—wear it.”
How could she go through with this? Her heart broke at the thought and yet—she would not forgive herself if anything happened to him because of her.
“Goodbye, Gabriel Michael Devlin,” she said, taking halting steps on her way to the exit of the posh restaurant he’d taken her to.
If she could reach the door she was home free. If she didn’t get there soon, she’d be rushing back to him, and throwing herself into his arms.
She stopped briefly when she heard him say, “Never goodbye, Samantha. Only farewell. Until we meet again.”
Tears slid down her cheeks as she left the restaurant and returned to her reckless life.
Chapter One
Nova Cornwall, 2449
Samantha Cassidy eyed her opponent warily, struggling to maintain her composure. Inhaling deeply, she tried ignoring the blinding pain shooting through her right shoulder.
The stupid jackass had shot her! Now the old-fashioned bullet was lodged deeply in her shoulder. She fingered the wound tentatively and was relieved to discover that she wasn’t bleeding profusely. Either way, she still required medical attention and she still had a job that needed to be finished.
“Listen, Clayton, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Right now, I don’t really give a damn. But one way or the other, I’m going to collect my bounty, and I can’t collect the money unless I have you all trussed up like a turkey.
You’re lucky I found you first, others would have just taken the easy way out and killed you. Dealing with a dead body is easier than dealing with a live one. Don’t be stupid. Quit wasting my time and get your ass over here because you’re going down one way or the other.”
“Now see here, little girl. I don’t think that you’re in any position to be giving me ultimatums. I ain’t the one with the piece of metal in my shoulder. Now run along before I get really angry. I’m not a pretty sight when I’m pissing nails.”
Not a pretty sight? Hell, he wasn’
t a pretty sight right now. She sighed heavily, wincing as her shoulder throbbed with pain.
Clayton gave her a sly grin that sent her stomach rolling with revulsion.
Good God, he was at least twice her size. His pants were barely staying up beneath his rather over-sized belly. His shirt was two sizes too small. He wore a sweat-stained baseball cap on his head.
Oh, yeah, he was a real stud muffin.
His gun remained leveled at her. His beady little ferret eyes filled with an unquestionable need to pull the trigger once again. She should have been able to stop the bullet from hitting her by utilizing her special abilities, but they’d been out of sync for the last few years and were rarely dependable.
Inwardly, she knew why she could no longer count on her powers, and the person responsible for that had a name.
Devlin.
Even now, heartburn raged supreme when she thought of him.
Breaking off their relationship had been the worst thing she’d ever done and she’d suffered through a long list of regrets since then.
Clayton let out a long belch and then swiped the back of his sleeve across his face. She grimaced. He had the manners of a pig. What’s more, with his large frame, pig’s snout nose, he kind of resembled one too. Now all she had to do was to check for his curly tail when he turned around.
“You know I really should be sittin’ in a bar and drinking a bottle of beer. That’s what I always do at this time of the night instead of playing games with you, little princess! You look like a china doll, do you actually think you have a chance in hell against me? I don’t. I think I can eat you for breakfast.”
“Oh, I don’t give a rat’s ass about your bloody plans,” she drawled sarcastically.
She had to ignore his china doll remark. In a moment, he’d learn she had the grit and the guts to take him down.
With a sigh, she rolled her eyes heavenward. She quickly reached inside her black leather trench coat and enclosed her hands around the electric grappling rope that she kept to detain her prisoners. She’d expanded her collection of gadgets since her powers had become unreliable and had increased her repertoire of hand to hand combat skills since then as well.
Clayton was sloppy and arrogant. But she could tell by the stone-cold glint in his eye, that he had a feral sense of cunning. Clayton killed without compunction, and he had no set of morality codes.
She had one chance and one chance only, to bring him down and in. She decided to give him one final opportunity to give himself over peacefully. Even though she figured, it was a waste of breath. Still, she had scruples, even if he didn’t.
“You do realize the wanted bulletin stated that you were wanted dead or alive? I prefer to take in my prisoners alive, but I will consider enforcing my other option. Oh, hell, as far as I’m concerned, it’s totally up to you.”
She watched while he stuck his hand down his pants and relieved himself of an itch. That was it. She was going to lose her cookies. That was the thing about this job. She had to deal with all sorts of criminals. In a minute, he’d be picking his nose ... or worse.
“Well. Now see I was considering that one myself,” Clayton bragged, flaunting the gun in front of her.
Samantha remained impassive at his threat. Suddenly, everything went into fast forward motion. In one heart-stopping moment, she had her electric whip out of her coat and fully activated. It crackled through the night air, the bluish glow of it illuminating the area around them. It snapped as it made its way toward his waist.
Diving toward the ground, she evaded his line of shot. His gun discharged. She smiled when she heard his howl of surprise.
The rope was fully tied around him and she was just about to activate the small shock the electricity would give him, when the foul smelling Clayton yet again surprised her with the extent of his stupidity.
He pulled against the whip and even the small electrical surge it gave off failed to deter him. It must have been his ample body weight.
Damn.
She should have thought to reset the charge to compensate for his extra girth.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Before she could react, he was rushing toward her, like a mad bull moose. He knocked the wind out of her when he jumped on top of her.
She struggled to knock him off. Screaming obscenities and threats, she freed her one leg and brought it up to slam against his crotch.
Hard.
Clayton howled in fury and Samantha smiled at his red face. Only, the dirty bugger didn’t know when to quit. He reached his ham-fisted grubby paws out and encircled them around her throat. She gasped for air. He was trying to squeeze the life out of her. She managed to reach into her pocket to pull out her immobilizer—basically it was Taser gun that could take down a bull moose if necessary.
She discharged it into his belly and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“You bitch!” he screamed.
He released his hold on her long enough for her to plant a booted foot on his chest and push him off of her.
Samantha surged to her feet, drinking in blessed air and felt the cool night air ripple against her face. Clayton struggled to regain his footing. He was doubled over in agony.
Oh, she so didn’t need to see any crack tonight. Temptation ate away at her. She kicked him in the ass. He fell face first to the ground.
“Hey, no fair!” Clayton mumbled. “Little girls like you ain’t supposed to play dirty!”
Fair?
He wanted fair?
He was a cold-blooded murderer. He’d shot her without a second thought!
She’d give him all that he deserved and then some.
Bastard.
Groaning, Clayton struggled to regain his breathing. She looked down at her watch. She didn’t have all night. This was supposed to be a quick job. Tag him and bag him had been her motto.
“Clayton, get the hell up!” she ordered impatiently.
“Can’t you see I’m in pain here? Little girl, you really don’t know how to play nice.” He pushed himself to his feet, turned around and glared at her. Well, she preferred his pig’s snout to his crack.
That was for sure.
“I am not a little girl, asshole! I’m a grown-assed woman, in case that escaped your notice, you disgusting pig!”
Samantha watched as he backed away from her. She realized by the pain-induced expression on his face that he actually didn’t notice what he was doing. They stood on top of a one-hundred storey tall building and the idiot was backing away from her toward the edge of the roof.
“Clayton, look...” she began.
But she was too late.
The stupid fat ass had lost his precarious balance and was swaying. He almost looked comical with his arms flailing out, as if he wanted to take flight.
His beady eyes widened in dawning clarity and she grasped the blue glowing whip. With all her strength, she struggled to pull him back. He was too heavy for her.
In a blink, he was gone. He had disappeared over the edge of the roof.
“Oh, shit. No, no, no! This is so not my night. Oh, please God, no!” she cried out.
Her feet skidded toward the edge. Only then, she realized her tremendous mistake. She had fastened the charged whip to her wrist and now the release mechanism was jammed. Digging her heels in, she tried to stop her forward momentum. It was a lost cause.
“Oh shit!” she screamed, her voice lost on the wind.
Before she knew it, she’d toppled over the edge.
Samantha fought against the growing panic welling inside of her and glanced down at Clayton’s hulking form. He was falling fast. Soon, he’d go splat. After that, it would be her turn.
Looking away, she tried to ply the rope from around her wrist. She reached up and pulled a hairpin out of her hair and inserted it into the release mechanism.
It made a loud popping noise and in one split second, she was free! But that still didn’t stop her from continuing to free-fall to her demise. She couldn�
��t go out that way. She could see the news headlines now.
Bounty hunter falls to her death, lands on top of her bounty.
Man oh man! She would become a laughingstock in death!
Swallowing hard, she said a quick prayer and reached for her grappling hook. Closing her eyes, she released it, grunting as it connected with the side of the building. It brought her sailing upwards where she bounced for a few moments.
With effort, she slowed her breathing. Looking to the side, she decided her only option was to pull herself back up to the roof. To her unending despair, she found the bloody grappling hook wouldn’t retract.
“What else is new?” she grumbled. “This is just not my night.”
She was stuck. Utterly and completely stuck. She was quite simply hanging around. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Looking to the side, she saw a sight that made her blood run cold.
“How the hell?” she growled. “Damn him straight to New Hades!”
Clayton’s almost toothless grin stared her right in the face. With some weird twist of fate, he’d avoid becoming one with the pavement.
To make matters worse, he now sat on a hover-motorcycle! He had one of his equally wicked looking cohorts with him. She didn’t remember seeing this man on the wanted bulletins.
She couldn’t stay out at the mercy of either man. So she looked toward the window that was in front of her. She squinted her eyes shut. “This is going to be a close call. I can do this…it’s going to be a piece of cake.” Swinging toward the wall, she made impact.
With one loud noise, she crashed through the surprisingly thin glass and cut the wire to her grappling hook.
Reacting quickly, she dove into a roll. Somersaulting onto her feet, she brushed the remaining shards of glass off of her leather coat and smiled sheepishly at the man that sat across the room.
He held a cold beer in one hand and his remote for the television, in the other hand. His eyes bulged out of his head, and his mouth hung wide open.
“That was nothing,” she scoffed, “you should catch me on a bad day,” she joked, winked, and threw some money at him. “I’m sorry, man. Umm...it’s all in the name of justice. Really. Okay, well, I’ll be going now. You might want to get a coat. It’s a bit chilly out there.” She bolted toward the door.