Tempting Bounty (Inter-Galactic Bounty Hunter Series Book 2) (9 page)

Chapter 15

“Are you okay?” Roxy asked.

Lexi had gone home to take a shower and get something to eat. She had been crying most of the time. She decided she needed to get her mind off of things so she headed to her bar. She had greeted her assistant manager Roxy but headed directly to her office. That wasn’t like her. She usually greeted everyone and checked on recent expenditures. When she looked at the figures on her computer, all the numbers seemed to run together. She felt pretty useless.

“What?”

“Lexi honey, are you okay? You haven’t said but two words since you came in. What’s going on? Is it your ex?”

“No, it’s not Dan.”

“Is it another man? You haven’t talked about dating anyone before.”

“I...let me ask you a question. If a great guy from another planet met you and there was major chemistry, but more than that you seemed to connect on other levels too — would you be able to let him walk away?”

“For me, it’s not that easy. I have a lot of issues and baggage. Most importantly, I have a son to think about. I try to be careful about who I let into his life. If someone dates me and decides I’m not for them I can handle it, but my son’s very sensitive and it could break his little heart. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Is that why I never see you date anyone?”

“Pretty much. If I did let someone in and we connected, that means they would also have to connect well with my son, I think I would have to consider my options. Would I be willing to relocate my son and me? Would they move here?”

“Would you leave everything you have here?”

Roxy snorted. “I have a crummy apartment, bills I can barely pay and a job that...excuse me for being straight...my job is not the most fulfilling one that I could have. What matters most to me I would take with me, which would be my son. He’s all that I care about. A man has to be good to him or I won’t bother with him.”

When Lexie thought about her life and what she wanted in the future, she couldn't picture it without thinking about Vic. She wanted to go to the spaceport and tell him how she was feeling. Why did she tell him that she wanted to end things? She looked at her watch. It was way too late to do anything now. They were probably already leaving the planet. But she had to try.

“Is the last delivery finished unloading?”

“Yeah, I was going to lock up the back and head home.”

“Okay, I’ll lock up the front. Could you cover for me tomorrow?”

Roxy smiled. “Are you planning to chase down somebody? Maybe even that sexy bounty hunter that you gave a lap dance to.”

“How did you know?”

“Oh please, you never react to any of the men that come in here, but that Decaros had you panting, honey. Are you going to tell me how you guys hooked up?”

“I will later. Right now, I need to get out of here before he leaves for good.” She waved goodbye to her friend Roxy as she headed toward the back exit. Lexi grabbed her purse and keys and jogged to the front door while texting on her phone. She was about to hit send when she opened the door and ran into a large man’s chest.

“I’ve got the girl.” The man she hit had reached down and grabbed her.

“Excuse me, let me go!” Lexi struggled but the goliath of a man was too strong. He dragged her with him as he headed toward a car. Just as he was handing her off to the man stepping out of the car, she jerked free and ran toward the bar. She was just a few feet away when she heard a loud boom and then a large light temporarily blinded her. The power of the blast knocked her backward about ten feet. She hit her head. The last thing she remembered was screaming Roxy’s name.
God, please don’t let her still be in there.

*****

“Shit!” Isaac yelled, jumping up from his seat.

“What’s going on?” Blade asked.

Vic listened but didn’t turn their way. The transport had left the planet and he was feeling strange, like he wasn’t really there. His mind and heart weren’t there. He had left them behind with Lexi.

“Vic, did you hear me?” Isaac asked, frustrated.

“What?”

“Jagger asked me to keep running the feed for the bar to see if the guys came back after Miss Tanner. The feed just went completely dead.”

Vic sat up. “Was it working before it went dead? What did you see beforehand?”

“It was clear. Lexi and one of her managers were in the bar. Then it looked like Lexi was leaving. Then… nothing.”

“Is it that uncommon for a camera to go dead?” Blade asked.

“One camera, no — but I had eight cameras set up. Four on the inside and four on the outside attached to the building. All of them went dead.”

Vic stood up and grabbed his phone. He tried calling Lexi’s sat phone but got nothing. He searched for the bar’s phone number and tried calling it, but was unable to get through at all. She did not even get a ring or voicemail message. He called the number to the local authority. He asked for their contact there. He knew the guy, Rogers, personally.

“Rogers, could you send someone to Miss Tanner’s bar? Verify that she is unharmed. Call me back.” He hung up. “Rogers is sending some officers out to check things.”

He had to wait, and he hated waiting. “Blade, talk to the pilot. We need to turn around.”

Blade shook his head. “Vic my man, that’s not going to work. Only the authority can make the pilot turn this boat around. Most likely, we’ll have to wait until we get to the next space post.”

“Well, find out how long that will be!” Vic was losing it. He felt like something was wrong. His sat phone rang, interrupting him from yelling more.

“Rogers, what’s going on? What the hell! Was she in it? Damn it! I need you to do me another favor. Call transport 5160 back to the planet. I don’t care who you have to get to sign off on that. Thanks.” He hung up.

“What’s going on, Vic?”

“The bar blew up.”

“Shit! Was Miss Tanner inside when it happened?”

“They don’t know for sure yet. They found a woman in the back alley behind the bar with severe injuries, but she hasn’t been identified yet.” He paced in the cramped space.

“Easy man, Rogers will get them to turn the boat around,” Isaac tried to reassure him.

“What if she’s…” He couldn’t even finish the thought. Images of her injured, dying or even dead were making him crazy.

“She’ll be fine.” Isaac patted his shoulder.

“I hope so. If she isn’t, those who hurt her are going to pay with their lives.”

Chapter 16

Lexi felt like someone had run her over… twice. Her whole body ached. As she opened her eyes, she moaned out loud. “What happened?”

“I am sorry, Miss Tanner. My intention was not to have you injured. My men tell me that you broke free when the bomb went off.”

She looked over to the corner of the room where the man who spoke sat with his legs crossed. She couldn’t see him clearly because he was in the shadows, but going by his designer pants and shoes, she could tell the man had money.

“Who are you?

“I’m sorry — where are my manners.” He stood up and walked closer to the bed she was laying on. “My name is Marcus Alexander Roland. Your ex-husband Dan used to work for me and has been very naughty. He left his job without giving me a request for leave.”

Oh crap — this was the guy hunting Dan.
The mob boss that was a drug dealer and a murderer. “I don’t know where Dan is. Our marriage didn’t end on good terms.”

Marcus sat on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand to touch her cheek. “Some men don’t know how to keep their women. Stratford is a fool for having let you walk away. If you had been mine, I would never have let you go.”

It was the way he said it that made Lexi think that he wasn’t going to let her go. It was more than that though. The look of desire in his eyes made her shiver, she tried to pull away from his touch, which only made him chuckle.

“We’re going to get to know each other very well while we wait for your ex to join us.”

“Dan’s gone. He’s not coming back.”

He laughed again as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Stratford’s only a little further away. He will return.”

“What makes you think that?”

He dialed a number and lifted the phone to his ear. “This is Marcus. Send the message to the bounty hunter.” Then he hung up.

Lexi stiffened when he mentioned bounty hunter. “What are you going to do?”

“I just told one of my men to send a message to your bounty hunter. I made him an offer he won’t refuse.”

*****

Vic almost dropped his phone when it started to beep. He frowned. Who would be messaging him? He read the text and felt his heart rate speed up.

If you want to see your pretty blond alive, bring Stratford to the marina at nine tonight. Come alone or she will suffer.
There was a picture attached of Lexi lying on a bed with her hands tied above her head and her shirt partially opened to reveal her breasts.

“Fuck!”

“What is it?” Blade asked, standing next to him.

“Marcus Roland has taken Lexi. When will we be landing?”

“In twenty minutes. Are you sure? They still haven’t identified the woman who was injured yet.”

Vic held out his phone for Blade and Isaac to see the message. Both men swore at the same time. He put his phone back in his pocket.

“Do you want me to contact Officer Rogers to get the authority involved?” Isaac asked.

“No, he said that he would hurt Lexi if anyone but me and Stratford shows up.”

“What do you need us to do to help?”

“We’ll have two hours before I am supposed to meet him. Isaac, I need you to set up surveillance and, Blade — help set up traps. I’ll take Stratford with me. I need to find out everything he knows about this guy Marcus.”

“We’re on it, boss.”

Vic walked to the seating where Stratford was handcuffed. He looked up at Vic. “Why are we going back to the planet?”

Vic frowned. They must have forgotten to tell Stratford what was going on. “Lexi’s bar blew up.”

“What? Is she okay?” Dan tried to get free from the cuffs but he couldn’t.

“She’s not dead, but your friend Mr. Roland took her.”

Dan’s face paled. “Marcus has her?” He tried to stand but his cuffs pulled him back down. “Let me go!”

Vic shoved on his shoulder to make him stay seated. “What do you care? You dragged her into this.”

“I never meant for Lexi to get hurt. I thought she could give me the money I needed to find a good place to hide out for a while.”

“You practically threw her at me so that you could get away.”

“Look asshole, nobody makes Lexi do anything. Lexi makes her own decisions. In case you haven’t realized it yet, she is a very strong-headed woman. It was one of the reasons why I knew we wouldn’t work out. She is much smarter than I am and she always caught on to my bullshit and called me on it. I may have used her for her money, but I would never want to see her hurt or dead. If Marcus has her, he’ll keep her for a while but then when he bores of her he’ll get rid of her. In case you don’t know what I mean by ‘get rid of’ — he’ll kill her. Marcus is a straight-up killer without a conscience.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing that he wants to exchange you for her.”

Dan snorted. “There won’t be an exchange. He’ll take me
and
Lexi and kill anyone who gets in his way.”

“There’s one thing he’s not counting on.” Vic told him.

“What’s that?”

“Me.”

Chapter 17

Lexi was grateful to be back in clothes again. However, the outfit she was wearing wasn’t her own. Marcus had her wearing a blue tight spandex dress with no straps. If the dress hadn’t been as tight as it was, it would have fallen down at the top and exposed her. He then had her wear silver two-inch heels. When she looked in the mirror she cringed. The dress was not only too tight but her boobs looked ready to spring out at any moment. He insisted she wear her hair down and gave her red lipstick and blue eyeshadow. She hated the look. It screamed
ready to hire
.

“Come, my dear. We don’t want to keep your ex and your lover waiting,” Marcus called out from the doorway.

She shivered. How did he know that she and Vic had become lovers. She wanted to change the subject. “So you’re going to exchange me for Dan?” She approached him slowly, wishing she could have found something to use as a weapon.

“That’s what I told your lover on the phone.”

She gave him a direct look. “That’s not really what’s going to happen is it?” She held perfectly still when he reached out a hand to push a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Don’t worry your pretty head about all that. Just know this — I keep what’s mine.” Marcus took her arm and led her down the hallway and out of his hotel. She realized she wasn’t too far from her own apartment or from her club.

Oh God, her club had been blown up. Everything she had worked so hard for was just gone, up in smoke, turned to ashes in minutes. She had insurance, which would probably cover most of the damage, but what it couldn’t cover fully was any casualties. Her friend Roxy had been inside the bar at the time. Was she alive or dead? She was worried about what Marcus would do to Vic. She knew Vic well enough to know that he would not let Marcus take her away without a fight. Did he have backup? She didn’t want to see him get hurt too. Was there something she could do to stop this?

She was ushered into the backseat of a vehicle on one side and Marcus went around to the other side. When he got in, she turned to face him and placed a hand on his. It surprised him.

“If I give myself to you willingly, will you walk away from this? Leave Dan here and move on?”

“Does your ex mean that much to you? Or is it the bounty hunter that you are trying to save?”

She didn’t answer that. She glanced away to form her answer. “The bounty hunter meant nothing — he was just a fling. I used him to scratch an itch. I don’t... love him or Dan. I just don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

“It’s touching and sweet my dear. Unfortunately, I already have you and as I said before, I keep what’s mine. Dan was mine as well the moment he started working for me. He has much to answer for, so letting him go is not an option. The bounty hunter will be dealt with swiftly. Then you and I will define our relationship.”

“We don’t have a relationship.”

“We will. It’s up to you what kind we have. Will it be an easy one or will it be hard? Your choice.”

She removed her hand from his and stared out the window. She had no idea what she could do to help protect Vic. He was walking into a trap and she was helpless to protect him. She prayed that his friends were with him helping to protect him.
God, please don’t let Vic get hurt.

*****

Vic paced the pier at the marina. It was dark and some of the lighting was out. Dan sat on a bench and watched him. His friends were out there somewhere in the dark surrounding the parameter, but so were Marcus’s men.

“Do you love her? You must. You came back with me just for her,” Dan questioned him.

At first he wasn’t going to answer, but then he needed to release some of his pent-up emotions. “Yes.”

“Good. She needs someone like you to keep her on her toes. She’s too good for you, though. She was too good for me as well. Back then I was so selfish and greedy for attention.”

Vic snorted. “Nothing’s changed”

“It has. I have. When I was younger, I thought I was right with everything I did. Now that I am older, I may still make stupid choices, but I know they are stupid and wrong. Bad habits are hard to break. She was right to leave me. I thought maybe she could make me a better man. Truth was, I was holding her back and bringing her down. That’s why I didn’t really fight the divorce. I wanted her to have a better life than what I could offer her.”

Dan continued, as though he was confessing all his sins before he died. “I think she loves you too. I have never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you. She’s a very independent woman, so you have to give her room to do her own thing.”

“I don’t need relationship advice from you, Stratford. Lexi wouldn’t be in danger if it weren’t for you.” Vic wouldn’t say it out loud, but he realized that he wouldn’t have ever met Lexi if it hadn’t been for Stratford and his attempt to make a run for it. To not have met Lexi would have been a devastating loss. The greater loss would be losing her now after having met her and fallen in love with her. He wasn’t sure he would survive it.

Vic touched his earpiece communications device. “Checking to make sure that all points are covered.”

“All exits and entrances to the marina are covered. No movement as of yet. I have also set up a monitoring device in case they come in by water. Don’t worry, Vic. We’ll spot them the moment they arrive,” Isaac reassured him.

“Take out his men silently and quickly. Leave Roland to last. Our main objective is to secure Lexi and get her to safety first. I want to deal with him myself.”

“Boss, if we take Roland in alive, Stratford could be a witness against him and seal his fate. Stratford might even be able to reduce his own sentence,” Isaac pointed out.

“Noted, but the priority is Lexi’s safety.” Vic glanced at Stratford. He wasn’t a totally bad man, just one who had made a lot of bad decisions. If there was a way to keep Roland alive to reduce Dan’s sentence, then he would have to control his instincts and do that. Lexi would want that.

Lexi.
Just the thought of her in the hands of someone like Marcus Roland made his stomach turn. He had Isaac pull up everything he could on the man. A long trail of dead bodies surrounded Roland’s name. None of it had been pinned directly to him, which was why the authority had done nothing about it. Vic also suspected that Roland had some paid help in the authority. That was why Vic decided to not include the authority tonight.

What was taking Roland so long to get here? Vic didn’t like waiting. His aunt used to say he had the least amount of patience than anyone she had ever met. He always laughed because his uncle was extremely protective and didn’t let that many people near his mate.

Thinking about his aunt and uncle and growing up with his cousin made him realize how important family was. For the first time, he understood why his uncle was so protective and so gentle with his aunt. She was human, but his uncle was full Decaros. Vic, being a full Decaros, rarely showed his emotions, though he felt them. Now, having met Lexi and fallen in love with her, he understood why his uncle was so overly protective. Vic wanted to get Lexi back, wrap her in bubble, and lock her in a secure room where no one could ever touch her. He chuckled silently, picturing Lexi’s reaction if he went full protective mode. She would have a few words to say on that subject. He just wanted a chance to hold her again, to tell her how much in love he was with her. Most of all, he just wanted her to be safe and alive. Blade’s voice crackled over the communications device and interrupted his thoughts.

“Vic, there’s a car pulling into the marina. It’s one of Roland’s black sedans.”

Vic turned to Stratford and cracked his knuckles. “They’re here.”