"Problem? We're finally on a streak of luck for the first time in months. I picked up a partner I might be able to work with and a bounty head worth five mil. Don't jinx that now, Deejay."
"I saw what you did there. Cute, but I'm serious."
He groaned. "What is it now? Someone tailing us? Is it Beckett? The feds? We paid the entry fee in TJ, right? I swear if we gotta bribe one more overzealous uniform I'm gonna—"
"We're overweight."
He slapped a hand against his taut stomach. "No way. I may have a few bad habits, but overeating ain't one of them."
"I'm talking about the Battle-Cat. I just ran a security scan. Compensating for our guests and the additional gear, we're still around one hundred sixty-seven pounds over."
"Run the numbers again."
She gave him a warning look. "I did. Same result."
"Well, how is that possible? You'd know if we had a stowaway. There's no way someone could sneak on undetected unless…"
"Unless what?"
He didn't answer, already moving. Snatching his handgun from the counter, he dashed out the door and down the hall to the cargo bay. The lights clicked on as he entered. Jinx was still in her cell, sitting up when he barged in. She gave him a deviously amused smile.
"Que lo que, Nimrod. You lose something?"
He ignored her, staring at the panel on the floor. It revealed the smuggler's hatch underneath. Empty, but someone had definitely been inside. He rotated in a circle, sweeping the room with his FN57. Nothing but tarp-covered crates and vehicles. No one was visible.
Movement blurred from above.
He raised his arm for a shot, but a boot slammed directly into his face. The world exploded in agony. Jinx's mocking laughter drifted somewhere outside the pain.
"Ay, hombre. That looked like it hurt!"
He gritted his teeth, shoving his assailant away and firing an errant shot that direction. The attacker swiftly rolled to the side, raising a metal-shod arm as if to deflect the next round. She was tall and lanky, lean muscle and sinew. Her clothes were tactical, her brown hair pinned back in an unglamorous bun. Scars crisscrossed her face like lines on a macabre map.
He stared in shock when he recognized her. "You. You're Happy — the assassin from the rooftop!"
She smiled, twisting the scars at the corners of her mouth. "Points for the obvious."
A high-pressure popping sound was followed by her bionic fist firing from her wrist like a missile. It struck him in the chest before he could register what happened. He rolled backward, gasping for air and clutching his sternum. The metal hand floated back, snapping into Happy's arm as she calmly walked over, pointing a Rhino revolver at his head. Flecks of light glimmered from her bionic right eye as she regarded him with a face cold as frost.
"I don't want to fight, bounty hunter."
"Yeah, I noticed," Cash said, wheezing. His chest was on fire, and he didn't want to do anything except curl into the fetal position and sob like a baby. He didn't know where his handgun went. Not that he was in any position to fire a straight shot in his condition.
"I hitched a ride to get out of TJ. Noticed your cargo floater had hoppers on the bottom. Typically used for unloading, but a lot of smugglers retrofit them for contraband transport. Figured I could sneak out that way. Didn't know it was your vehicle, but here we are."
"Yeah, you could've just introduced yourself."
"Didn’t think you'd be in an accommodating mood."
"You thought right. Deejay, take her out!"
Happy whirled around when a sentry gun popped out a panel in the corner. It aimed a targeting laser at Happy, who raised her hands with a grim smile.
Cash pushed himself to a sitting position, wincing from the pain in his chest. "Damnit, Deejay. I told you to take her out."
Deejay's face popped up on a nearby monitor. "I can't."
"Oh, what— you trigger-sensitive now? When I said 'take her out' I didn’t mean for you to kill her. Hit her with a stun round. Do I gotta spell everything out?"
She gave him a heated glare. "Someone needs to watch their tone. It's not hesitation. Something's wrong with the firing mechanism."
"What? I just fixed it last week."
"Just like you fixed the toilet? And the anti-grav thrusters?"
"What are you trying to say?"
Happy folded her arms. "You want me to wait until you're through?"
Mateo walked through the door, scrubbing his eyes and yawning. "Hey, what's with the noise? Jinx try to escape or something? He paused, blinking as he took in the situation. "Who's this?"
"This is Happy, an assassin trying to hitch a ride with us. Also, a thief who stole a sizeable bounty from me just a couple of hours ago. Mind showing her the door for me?"
Mateo pointed. "There it is."
Cash took a deep breath. "What I mean is will you assist me in throwing her out the door?"
Confusion flickered across Mateo's face. "Why?"
"What do you mean, why? She's trespassing and just beat the hell out of me."
"We're moving at one hundred forty miles per hour, Cash. She'd die if we threw her out."
"So we slow down first. Look, kid — that's all beside the point. She's not welcome here. This is my rig. So do your best to toe the line when I give you an order, okay?"
"An order?" Mateo's face turned surly. "I thought we were partners."
"Huh?"
"Partners don't give each other orders, Cash. And I don't think it's nice to throw someone out this far away from civilization. She might die of hunger or thirst before she finds help."
Cash's eyes widened in outrage. "Nice? You think we're in the nice business? You got no idea what kind of world you're living in, kid. I outta throw both of you out the door right now. I have a mind to—"
Happy slid her revolver into her leg holster. "The kid is smarter than you are, Nimrod. You can learn something from him."
"My name is Cash, not Nimrod or bounty hunter. And this isn't over by a long shot."
She gave him an amused look. "I attached an explosive to the bottom of this piece of junk hauler. It will detonate if it's tampered with. If I don’t reset the code every four hours, it will detonate. So don't fool yourself. I'll be your guest until I’m good and ready to leave."
A bead of sweat slid down Cash's brow. "You're bluffing. You won't detonate a bomb while you're in here. You'll be injured, possibly killed along with us."
She flexed her bionic arm. "I've survived worse. The question is: can you?"
He glanced over at Deejay, heart pounding. "Scan the bottom of the ship."
"I already have. There is an unidentified object secured there. Looks to be an explosive, as she said. I could send a drone to try to disarm it, but if she's right about it being tamper-proof—"
"Then we're toast. Not worth the risk. To you, especially." Cash stood, dusting off his cargo pants while glaring at Happy. "Okay, assassin. You win — we'll take you as far as Tucson. Should be far enough for you to avoid any tails and secure your own transportation. I don't like it, but I'm willing to play your little game for now. Just don’t push your luck."
"How gallant of you. But I don't have any business in Tucson. I do have business in New Haven, though."
He scratched his head in feigned indifference. "New Haven? Who said anything about New Haven? Isn't that some kind of urban legend?"
She gave him a look of strained patience. "I heard the entire conversation while I was hiding out." She glanced at Jinx. "You're taking her to New Haven to collect the bounty on her head. That's very advantageous for me because I've been trying to get into New Haven for years."