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laughed, and surprisingly, he joined her. “Dev, maybe someday you and I can…dance. But right

now, I need to get my priorities straight. I need the antidote because Veronica has been

poisoned.”

“Ah.” His face sobered. “I am sorry.” He gave a brisk tug to his suit jacket and then

riveted his attention on her. “Well, I do know where to find it. Actually, I used to have it in my

supply. But it was one of the things that my rival destroyed. It’s easy enough to locate though,

if you know who to go to on the Black Market. Not to worry, though. I can get you connected.”

“Lord Devlin, we are parked right outside of the Caterra Casino.” Vanessa’s voice was

ultra perky, and Samantha had the brief temptation to smack her holographic self.

“Thank you, Vanessa.”

“And Lord Devlin, your old hover car,
Eleanor
, has been tailing us the entire way.”

“Good job,
Eleanor
,” she mumbled beneath her breath. Devlin raised one aristocratic

eyebrow.

“Really, Samantha. Don’t you trust me?”

“That depends. And besides, it never hurts to have a little backup.”

They climbed out of the car, and walked into the Caterra Casino. Samantha’s eyes

instantly gravitated toward a large dark haired man striding toward them. “Stick close to me,”

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 38

Devlin murmured in her ear, pulling her against his side and wrapping his arm protectively

around her. She sighed. “Dev, please....”

“Samantha!” Quinn called out. She bided her time. As soon as he was well within range

she smiled.

“Hello, dear brother.” Pulling her fist back, she punched him, and caused his head to

whip back. “
BASTARD!
” She lunged toward him, shrugging off Devlin’s arm. Devlin to his

credit pulled her back. She slammed against his chest. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, fine. That smarted a bit though,” he muttered. “I should have you kiss it better

later.”

Quinn was stunned.

“Well, it’s nice to see that you are your old sweet self,” Quinn mumbled, trying to grin

through his cracked and bleeding lip.

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“Quinn, I don’t have the time to chit chat. We don’t have time to waste. Your daughter’s

life is hanging in the balance, you know,” Samantha pointed out. His eyes dulled. He actually

looked a little worn around the edges, which was
very
unusual for Quinn. Usually, he was

impeccably dressed, with the looks of a playboy. Despite his smuggling ways, he always seemed

put together. Today, he looked rumpled and tired.

“I know. I’m worried sick about her.”

“How did she get taken in the first place? Weren’t you
supposed
to be looking after

her?”

“Samantha, don’t get started on me. Rory has always had a nose for trouble. Sort of like

you, I’d imagine.”

“All the more reason why you should have left her behind on Earth. You didn’t see me

gallivanting around the galaxy when I was her age.” She snorted and narrowed her eyes. Losing

Rory was on the top of his most dumbest and irresponsible things that he had ever done.

“She’s almost fourteen,” Quinn corrected. “And from what I remember you and

Charlotte went off on a little excursion when you were fifteen that gave mother a heart attack.”

“We were sixteen and there was two of us. Johanna found us and brought us home

anyway. But had she left us for a few more days we would have brought in one hell of a good

bounty haul.” She smiled fondly. Charlotte had begged her to go after the criminal with psychic

powers with her. Charlotte had taken on a dare from one of her gifted friends and in order to win

the dare, Charlotte had to defeat another psychic in combat. Sometimes, Charlotte had the knack

of getting her into more trouble than she could handle.

“Yeah, well, it’s way too young to be seeing the shit that you expose her to.” Devlin had

fallen silent and somehow they had made their way over to a booth in the farthest corner of the

Casino.

“
Families.
You have to love them,” Devlin remarked dryly. They sat down in the booth,

with Devlin beside her, and Quinn in front of her.

“I ordered you a coffee,” Quinn gestured to the steaming cup.

“Don’t think this will get you back into my good books.” She leaned forward with her

elbows on the table. “Okay. Give this to me straight. How on Earth did you get yourself mixed

up with the Anasazi Triad?”

“I did some business dealings with them in the past. This time I didn’t want to do what

they wanted. But once you’re in with them, you’re in for a life sentence.”

Sighing, she reached for her coffee cup and sipped at it gingerly. It seemed to taste fine

which hopefully meant that it hadn’t been tampered with.

“Oh, Quinn. How could you be so foolish? Didn’t mom and dad teach you anything?”

“And this is coming from the woman that has her ass on the line nearly all of the time.”

He glared at her. He still looked like hell, so she knew that he had to be agonizing over Rory’s

current predicament.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Your stupid irresponsibility has finally come back to bite

you in the ass. What I can’t understand is why the thing that blew the monkey’s ass off, had to

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 40

include Rory. Really, Quinn you have to start thinking of someone other than yourself!”

Fury shone in his brown eyes.

“I thought that I could trust you to help me get my daughter back. But since all that you

want to do is give me grief, then I really don’t need to take your shit anymore.” He leaned on the

table, and stood up. Devlin was already trying to intercede Quinn before he could take off.

“You can’t do this, mate. You’re only making matters worse. You know that you
need

Samantha. I can’t guarantee that my help alone will be enough. And right now, I’m in a pretty

precarious situation myself. The Triad isn’t to be messed with, and you’ve screwed with them.

Now, we have to find a way to get your daughter back before it’s too late. Do you have any idea

what could happen to her if we don’t find her soon? Swallow your pride, and for God’s sake, get

your bloody act together!” Devlin had his arm on Quinn’s arm to keep him from fleeing.

Samantha scooted across the length of the booth seat and stood up. The sounds of merriment and

gambling machines rang out around them. But something was starting to make the hairs on her

neck stand on end. She stared up through the skylight, and was met with the peaceful scene of

the ocean. Yet, she couldn’t quite shake her uneasy sensation. The last time she had been in this

very same Casino, her life had gone down the proverbial shit pot. She had no high hopes for the

second time around.

And then she heard it. That all too familiar annoying whirring sound.

“Here we go again,” she muttered beneath her breath. “Get down!” she shouted.

Everyone turned their heads as mass panic consumed the room. A loud explosion ripped through

the casino, as shards of glass went flying everywhere.

Devlin knocked her off her feet, and in her confusion she noticed several hover

motorcycles racing through the gap in the wall. Quinn had flung himself in the other direction.

“
Ouch!
” she muttered, slamming against the floor. Devlin’s full body weight nearly

knocked the wind out of her.

“How the hell did they find me?” he demanded, locking gazes with her. She felt safe,

and that secure feeling made her heart soften toward Devlin even more. The outlaws were at the

gate blowing in a front door and yet, she still felt like she was in the safest spot as long as she

had Devlin to watch her back.

“
You?
” she muttered, trying to gain her bearings. She was frantically searching for

Quinn. Finally, she spotted him crawling along the floor on the other side of the casino.

Relieved, that he wasn’t dead, she sprung to her feet. “I really should have known this would all

come back to you. Where else could everything go to the dogs, but on sunny New Monaco?

Who are they, anyway?”

“They are a faction of my rival’s. It would seem that this would be the best time to make

a quick getaway.” Samantha’s mind reeled. Was he actually suggesting that she tear off and run

like a coward?

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to show these idiots that no one messes with

Samantha Mallory…I mean Cassidy… without walking away limping, or being carried in a body

bag.”

“I love your sentiments, Samantha. As it is, we’re outnumbered and outgunned. If we do

take them down, Gregory will only send in reinforcements. I’m afraid that I’m out for the count

for now. We have to live to fight another day.”

“
Gregory?
Why does that name sound familiar?” She bit her lip, and began wracking

her brain for a plausible explanation. If his name sounded familiar then she had to know whom

he was. Swallowing thickly, she nearly lost her balance. She could feel the blood draining away

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from her face. She knew who Gregory was even though he was a man she’d tried bloody hard to

force from her memory!

Devlin stopped and glance back at her. “What’s up with you? You look like you’ve seen

a ghost.”

“Gregory is supposed to be
dead!
DEAD!” Her voice was hollow, and to her deepest

chagrin she heard it raise an octave. “No, no. This can’t be. This is very, very bad! This is by

far the worst thing that has ever happened. Why do all of the nut jobs I think I’ve killed rise from

the dead? It’s got to be some sort of curse!”

“How the hell do you know, Gregory? Oh, let me guess, since he’s allied with

Rodgers....” Devlin said, pulling out his pistols.

“To make a
very
long story short, he was the man that almost forced me into marrying

him.”

“Someone
almost
forced you into doing something? That’s a good one. I like it.” Devlin

chuckled.

“It’s true. He was a vile bastard. He’d taken Charlotte as leverage against my family and

me. For some unexplainable reason he wanted
me
to marry him. He had some sick fascination

with me. Whatever do I do to bring that sort of lunacy out in men? I mean first it was Gregory,

and then it was Rodgers, I just can’t seem to break the cycle. But I thought he was dead. He

shouldn’t be causing you any trouble.”

“Why would you think he was dead?”

“Because I was the one that killed him.” Dead silence followed her words. The biker

gang was dismounting, and preparing to rain a hail of hellfire down upon them. “It was self-

defense. Even as a seventeen-year-old kid, I know how to protect myself from unwanted

advances. He had it in his head that he was going to rape me. I had it in my head that he was

going to die trying. And he did. Or so I thought. What is with these second time around

things?”

She shook her head. She’d tried to put those memories into her past. It was definitely a

part of her past that she had attempted to black out. Since it was nearly second habit to her by

now, she pulled out her two-phase pistols and began to fire on the men that were quickly filling

the casino. If Gregory really was alive, and these men were part of his posse then she didn’t

want to be anywhere near them. Even though she detested the thought of a hasty retreat, it

seemed to be her only option considering the circumstances. “Freaking hell, just another bugger

to come back and haunt me that’s all!” She grimaced, and motioned toward Devlin. Her jaw

dropped. “That bloody bastard! Look!”

Devlin craned his neck to stare in the direction that she was pointing. “
Shit
,” he cursed.

“I’m going to kill him! He must have overridden
Eleanor’s
security protocols. She

wouldn’t have abandoned us in a million years. God, I thought that maybe, just maybe Quinn

had become a better person, but I can see that he hasn’t.”

“Well, no matter. As long as we can get to the Pixie 500 we’ll be fine.” A bright

explosion caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Turning, so that she was back to

back with Devlin, she groaned. “Frigging terrific. Lovely. This just
so
isn’t my day.”

“Wherever would you have gotten that idea from, I wonder?” Devlin quipped.

“Well, you’re day isn’t going to be much better, because your little baby called
The Pixie

500
just blew up.”

“Bullocks.”

“Nope. This time I’m not shitting you.” She pinged off another henchmen. They backed

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toward the gap in the wall of the casino. Things didn’t look too good for them. “Where the hell

is your backup?” she demanded.

“Probably dead.”

“Oh, isn’t that grand! What an operation you run!” She had to think of something and

fast. She couldn’t use her jet pack to get them out of here, because they were under water. Sure