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the way Tyler is behaving.” She tossed Tyler an irritated glance.

“I’ll be waiting up.”

She left the table and followed Charlotte out the door into the main hallway of the
Snow

Queen
.

“We can’t come on too strong.” Charlotte’s voice had dropped to a mere whisper.

“If you didn’t want me to come on too strong than why the hell am I here? Coming on

strong is what I do,” she hissed.

Charlotte laughed. They walked on to the
Excalibur
. Lucy was sitting on the bridge

twiddling her thumbs.

“Ah, so finally, someone decided to come and play with me.” Lucy beamed at them.

“Not in your wildest dreams, Lucy.” Samantha pushed past them.

“Well, if that’s the way you’re going to be, I’m not going to tell you what Quinn’s been

up to.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lucy stuck her tongue out at them. “Seems we’re all in a bit of a sticky wicket aren’t

we?”

“Sticky wicket? Oh, damn. Cut to the bloody chase, Lucy.”

“Quinn has been a bad boy. He’s been sending out unauthorized transmissions. I didn’t

think anything of it until I tracked their destination point.”

Charlotte went as white as a sheet.

“Lucy, what are trying to say? Would you please just spit it out?”

“Don’t rush me. I don’t like feeling pressured.” Lucy flopped back down in the Captain’s

chair, and conjured a nail file out of thin air. She began to file her nails.

“Lucy, I’m warning you. I might not know enough about computers to corrupt your

program, but Charlotte does.”

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 119

At that announcement, Lucy sat up and tossed her nail file into the air. It vanished with a

loud pop.

“He’s been sending transmissions to one of The Triad ships.”

“No.” Samantha kicked the bulkhead.

“Oh, you bet your little pretty head, he has. I don’t mess up when it comes to those sorts

of things. I take pride in what is mine. And whether you like it or not, I am the AI of the

Excalibur
. Quinn is sending out correspondences to the enemy. I don’t appreciate having the

security of my ship put into peril.”

Samantha’s mind reeled. She couldn’t seem to focus on anything except for her need to

beat the ever-loving shit out of Quinn. Charlotte tapped her on the shoulder.

“I think we should go and pay a visit on Quinn.”

“Yeah, you read my mind, Charlotte.”

Samantha fumed. Her anger was muddling her mind. She followed Charlotte down the

hall to where Quinn’s quarters were.

“Lucy, I want you to override security protocol and gain me access to Quinn’s quarters.”

Samantha looked to her side where Lucy now stood.

“My pleasure. It’s good to know that we can at least find common ground on one

subject.” Lucy grinned and raised her hand. The door to Quinn’s quarters slid open.

“What the bloody hell?” Quinn looked at them.

Samantha charged into the room like a bat out of hell. Rolling her hand into a fist, she

slugged Quinn. He staggered back. “You dirty, rotten, son of a...,” she trailed off. If she said

bastard or bitch she’d insult both her mother and father. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders.

“What the hell am I thinking? You’re just a fucking asshole. That’s all.” She stood back, and

began pacing so that she wouldn’t beat him black and blue.

“What did you do that for?” Quinn asked, dabbing at his bloody lip with a tissue.

“Quinn, the jig is up,” Charlotte’s voice was cold. Her eyes had turned a darker shade of

violet. “I want you to tell us the truth. You can’t keep dancing around the issue with us, Quinn.

We need the truth!”

Quinn glowered at them. “Do you know anything about the truth, Charlotte?!” he shot

back. He looked about ready to have a hissy fit. But as it was, Samantha was riled up herself.

“So, you think you have it all figured out, don’t you? Charlotte The Great. Why, you’re

always one step ahead of everything. Unlike Samantha over here. She’s so challenged when it

comes to a destination that she frequently finds herself in the wrong situation.”

“Quinn, I’m going to give you a black eye to match that puffy lip if you don’t stop your

blasted nattering. What did you do to get Rory mixed up with The Triad?” Samantha demanded.

“Samantha, that’s not all we need to know. Quinn has some other news he needs to get

off his chest. Don’t you, Quinn?”

“Charlotte, I don’t know why you just don’t tell Samantha yourself. While you’re at it,

why don’t you unload your conscience as well? You might act the part of the little angel but

honey, your halo has a few chinks in it.”

“Because. You’re my brother, and God help me, I love you. I think you’re just

misguided. You need a second chance and I’m willing to give it to you. But I’m not going in to

rescue Rory this time without having all of the information at my fingertips. Why don’t you tell

Samantha about that little incident you had with The Triad just before dad was killed?”

Quinn lost all of his color. He swiped his hand against the back of his neck. Then both of

his arms fell to his side. He sagged his shoulders.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 120

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Really? Why not?”

“Please, Charlotte. Why can’t you just let bygones be bygones?”

“No. There’s too much baggage in your past, Quinn. You have to get it all out in the

open. That’s the only way any of us will ever be able to trust you.”

“You don’t trust me? What about all of the times where I saved your life? Huh? I’ve been

biding my time, watching over each and every one of you. You don’t know how lucky the lot of

you are to have me as your brother!”

“Oh, I’m beginning to see how rotten my luck is,” Samantha grumbled. She moved over

and fell down onto his sofa. “Get to the point, Quinn. I don’t have all night. I’ve got to be in

tiptop shape for tomorrow. If you don’t recall, we’ll be rescuing your daughter from The Triad.”

“That’s all I can think about. They promised me this would never happen. They said that

I would be protected. But I don’t see my protection.”

“What are you talking about?” Samantha wanted to scream.

“Quinn, if you aren’t willing to tell Samantha, then I will.” Charlotte sat on the chair

opposite Samantha.

“Quinn is a legally certified smuggler,” Charlotte whispered.

“Legally?” Samantha’s head swam. “What do you mean? There’s no such thing as a legal

smuggler.”

“Oh, yes, there is. Earth has them. They’ve been employing them for many years. It’s

their way of keeping tabs on what is traded on the Black Market. Don’t worry, usually, they

protect their own, but Quinn got in too deep and they had to cut their ties with him.”

“So, Quinn is legit? Oh, boy.” Samantha reached for a chocolate after dinner mint and

shoved it into her mouth. “Why are we here, then? If he’s legit, there’s no problem is there?”

“Yes, there is. Before Quinn set up house working for the Earth Government, he was

embroiled with The Triad. Seems he decided he needed the extra money. Dad found out how

deep he’d gotten in with The Triad and found out that Quinn owed them. Dad tried to reason

with The Triad, but the leader of The Triad doesn’t know how to reason. So, Dad was murdered.

The Triad had to silence him.”

“They took Rory as payment for the debt I owed them,” Quinn’s voice was dull and

lifeless. “I thought I could pay them back, but no matter how much money I gave them, it was

never enough.”

“Money? I thought you were the one getting paid by The Triad.” Samantha’s sluggish

brain finally clicked. She wanted to blame Quinn for getting their father killed, but she couldn’t.

Robert Mallory was just like Samantha. He would have done anything for his family. Quinn was

Robert’s son. Their father had lost his life just trying to do the right thing. Quinn had been a

messed up young man. The people she had to blame were the ones that had ordered the hit…and

she had to blame the man that had actually taken her father’s life.

“So, what do we do now?” Samantha asked.

“Quinn, you still need to tell the whole truth,” Charlotte insisted.

Quinn shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve told you everything.”

“No. You haven’t. Tell Samantha what you were sending those communiqués over to

The Triad ship for.”

“I never would have gone through with it. I just wanted to see if they’d give me Rory

back. I miss her so much.”

“Understandable. She’s your daughter.” Charlotte nodded her head. “But we have to go

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 121

in as a united force. You can’t break up the bonds of trust that exist between us. Even though I

know you were never sincere about the offer you made, you still made it.” Charlotte turned her

head away.

“What did he offer?” Samantha’s heart stopped.

“He offered me. And he offered Tyler. Veronica was also included in the package.”

“You? And Tyler? Why?” She knew why The Triad wanted Veronica. She wanted to

know why they’d want Charlotte or Tyler.

“He offered me on the platter because of my talents. The Matriarch of The Triad wanted

Rory because she’s gifted just like us.”

“Oh. Quinn you are a dirty rotten bastard.”

“The Matriarch intends to marry Rory to her grandson.” Charlotte frowned.

“To hell she will.” Samantha kicked the coffee table. “But I don’t understand. Why did

you put Tyler on the line?”

“Tyler is still a wanted man. He stole something from The Triad a long time ago. They

want it back.”

“What did he steal?”

“You don’t know?” Charlotte looked surprised. “Why Tyler became famous for that

heist. He took the jade dragon that The Patriarch had given to The Matriarch for a wedding gift.

I’d say The Matriarch wouldn’t mind getting her hands on Tyler.”

“Not going to happen. We’ll get through this somehow. We just have to believe.”

Samantha bunched her hands into fists.

“And we have to trust each other.” Charlotte pinned Quinn with her bright violet eyes.

His cheeks reddened.

“I won’t betray my family. I swear. I will protect those that deserve it,” his eyes darted

between Samantha and Johanna and lastly settled on Charlotte. Samantha shivered for Quinn’s

brown eyes had turned icy cold.

Samantha believed Quinn. She had to believe Quinn. If he betrayed them again,

Samantha would blow a gasket. Charlotte also seemed happy with his oath. Samantha stood up.

“Well, not that I haven’t really enjoyed our quality time together, but I have a husband to get

back to. Charlotte, try to keep your distance till I can have a word or two with Tyler. Thanks!”

* * * *

Tyler stared over at Lucy. “Lucy, you can stop monitoring their conversation now.”

Lucy smiled at him. “Are you sure? They might say something else.”

“Yes, I’ve eavesdropped long enough. I know what I have to do. The time has come for

me to make my move.”

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 122

Samantha returned to the quarters she shared with Tyler onboard the
Excalibur.
She still

didn’t know if she should readily jump into trusting Quinn, but if Charlotte believed in Quinn,

then Samantha was ready to give Quinn a chance. She had told Devlin she probably wouldn’t be

returning to the quarters she shared with Tyler but she had to air their dirty laundry between

them before she could actually give up on their marriage. She hated admitting she was wrong

about something and though she’d knowingly turned her back on the possibility of sharing untold

happiness with Devlin, she couldn’t just ditch her marriage for him just because Tyler was being

an insufferable asshole. She’d walked through fire with Tyler and it burned to know that he was

so willing to betray her with her sister of all people!

Upon walking into her quarters, the scent of Tyler’s cologne hit her. She smiled. Tyler

was obviously in a playful mood—of course he was probably expecting Charlotte. He was about

to get a rude awakening. She tossed her trench coat on the nearest chair and unhooked her

weapons belt.

“Tyler?” She looked around the room for him.

“I’m in here.” His voice was coming from the bedroom. Crossing the short distance, she

pushed open the door.

“Tyler, you will not believe the night that I have had.”

“Was it any different from your normal days?” He laughed, and stepped out of the

bathroom.

“Oh, there you are.” She looked at him. Love shone in his eyes. She could bathe in that

look for the rest of her days. “When we’ve royally screwed The Triad, I want us to take some

time off. You know, maybe we could go back to Earth and just relax.”

“Relax? Charlotte, sweetheart, you don’t know how to relax.”

The name hit her like a punch to the gut. She staggered backward. “What did you just

say?” Something in her tone or on her face must have given her away.

His eyes flashed with frosty cold. “Samantha, I am sorry—I thought you were Charlotte.”

“That’s blatantly obvious. You jerk. How could you bloody well throw all of the good

times we had down the toilet for my sister! What a way to twist the knife, pal. You could have