Chapter Three
With teeth gritted, Selea guided her ship through Earth’s atmosphere. The shields deflected the heat friction, no noticeable buffeting on entry, but that wasn’t what had her nerves twisted tight. Rhykar Evierse had been accused of murdering the Vast Innovations scientist. She shook her head, still trying to accept the fact that he now ranked in the top slot of the wanted dead or alive list.
And he’d sent her a personal message, asking to meet. He’d known she would come. How could she not? Gods, it seemed as though he wanted to get captured.
She flew below the cloud layer, the planet’s sun peeking over the horizon in a sleepy blend of purples and pinks. Leveling out her descent, she spotted a smattering of buildings nestled in the desert at the base of a string of rangy mountains. In the sand, a long runway lined the approach path. She shot to one end, hovering above the thin finger of concrete in a veil of morning shadows. To her right, a set of blue lights blinked on, outlining a large steel plate. Selea veered toward it and lowered the ship to the landing pad. Unbuckling her flight straps, she grazed her fingertips over the console, placing the ship systems on standby.
She paused at the exit, checked her weapon, and secured it in her shoulder holster. Opening a cabinet, she grabbed her coat and shrugged it on, the bottom brushing her calves. In a few hours, Rhykar would be secured in her brig, and they would be on their way back to Vitrion and a trial for murder.
She frowned. Murder. He didn’t seem the type. All of his offenses consisted of dissemination of conspiracy theories and making secret corporate records public. But the details of the bounty certified Rhykar had indeed murdered a scientist at Vast Industries.
She shook her head and exited the ship. At the bottom of the ramp, a young man waited. She hesitated, having expected a man in a dark suit. Instead, low-slung blue pants hung on the guy’s hips, and a tight gray shirt clung to his well-formed chest and biceps. From beneath the waistband protruded a blocky pistol grip. She imagined Ten salivating over his good looks.
Dark eyes peered from beneath a cap, the brim pulled low. “Welcome to Area Fifty-One, Ms. Val’keer.”
“Who are you?” Selea glanced around. “Where’s Mr. Smith?”
“Situation changed.” He grinned and jerked his chin toward the black bullet of a vehicle behind him. “I’m Jones. I’ll be driving you to Vegas.”
“Forgive me if I don’t trust you.”
“Figured as much.” He held up one hand, keeping it clear of his gun, while he reached to his hip with the other and tossed her a thin communications device. She tapped a button, and a woman she knew as Ms. Orion, one of Earth’s emissaries, appeared on the screen.
“Ms. Val’keer, I apologize for not meeting you directly. Area Fifty-One is a secure facility. As such, we’ve got a satellite image of you both at this very moment. Mr. Jones is who he says he is and will accompany you to Las Vegas. Good luck on your mission.” She nodded, and the screen went black.
Selea descended the ramp and eyed Mr. Jones.
He opened the passenger side door. “Daylight’s burning. Let’s hit it.”
Handing the device back to him, she slipped into the seat. He shut her door and moved around to the other side, where he slid in next to her and started the engine. He shifted a knob, and a moment later, the vehicle shot forward.
They sped down a dirt road, leaving a swirling trail of dust in their wake. When they reached a highway, he glanced at her.
“Seems your boy has been giving Mr. Smith quite a lot to do.”
“Is that why he was unable to meet me?”
Mr. Jones snorted. “You do know there’s more than one Mr. Smith, right?”
“Of course,” she lied.
“The Smiths are cleaners. They’ve been taking care of the messes left behind by the other bounty hunters who’ve tried to take him in.” He cocked a brow. “Your boy is either very good or very lucky.”
“He’s a dissident accused of murder.” She focused on the road ahead of them. “And he’s not my boy.”
He smirked. “Point taken.”
“So, there are more of you, more Mr. Joneses?”
He nodded. “We’re the erasers.”
She frowned. “Erasers?”
“You should know our government has a policy. Keep the existence of extraterrestrials—i.e. you and all your bounty hunter buds and all the other freaky peeps in the universe—on the down low. An incident occurs, Mr. Smith cleans it up. No evidence for the people of Earth to stumble on and start asking questions.” He glanced at her, his dark eyes glittering. “But because of the numerous alien confrontations with your boy and subsequent cleanups, now I’m along for the ride.”
Selea swallowed. “Which means?”
He looked back to the road. “Which means you have forty-eight hours to do your job and get off the planet. Otherwise, my government contacts your government, and I do my job, which is to erase the situation and make it as though your boy never existed.” He tilted his head toward her. “And I’m very good at my job.”
She nodded. It seemed the entire universe hunted Rhykar, and from what Mr. Jones had said, dead was the preferred solution. Well, frick the universe. If she had any say, Rhykar would still be breathing when she collected her bounty on him.
She lifted her chin. “Do you have a local communications infrastructure that I can access?”
“You mean the Internet? Sure.”
He jabbed a button on the console, and a panel opened. A screen tilted up, accompanied by a keyboard.
He gestured toward the gadgets. “That what you need?”
“Yes. Thanks.” She used the unfamiliar equipment to locate and enter the required information into Madame Evangeline’s 1Night Stand site.
Mr. Jones reached forward and poked another button. A second later, loud music thrummed through the vehicle, a low beat pulsing over her skin. It appeared her escort had finished talking.
She completed the Internet entries as Rhykar had requested, and no sooner had she clicked on the Enter button than the service’s response came. It seemed Madame Evangeline had been waiting for Selea to contact her. Listed on the screen was the address for the Castillo Hotel in Las Vegas and a confirmation number.
Selea would rendezvous with Rhykar tonight. Hopefully, she would get to him in time to save his life.