He’d never seen that much money offered for anyone. Ever. If he was seeing this new post, other people were, too. There wasn’t a bounty hunter with access to this list that wasn’t pissing his or her pants right now with excitement, but Shade felt like he was about to throw up.
His shoulders tensed as he pushed away from his desk, straightening. Those others, though, they didn’t know where she was. The exact platform where her ship was currently docked. They had no idea where to start looking for Captain T. Bailey in the whole fucking galaxy, but he could walk right up to her and she wouldn’t even wonder why he was there.
Shade swallowed the bad taste in his mouth. Two hundred million. He could buy back his birthright and live like a king forever on that. Never compete for another job in his life.
He studied the picture again before looking at the rest of the info. It wasn’t an exact likeness. Someone had taken an image of a kid—less than ten years old, if he had to guess—and then used algorithms to transform it into an adult woman. They’d gotten the blue eyes and straight brown hair right, but there were no freckles where there should have been.
He turned his eyes to the text. Names may be false.
He snorted.
Shade glanced at the top of the screen to see who’d sent out the post. Captain Nathanial Bridgebane, Galactic General, Dark Watch 12.
For fuck’s sake, this just kept getting worse. They’d brought out the big guns. Bridgebane was the Overseer’s right hand. His brother-in-law. And he either had no idea who Tess was, or he knew, and he didn’t want to tell anyone.
Captain T. Bailey.
Cargo Cruiser model 419—Endeavor.
Subject presumed dead.
Shade frowned. “Then why are you sending this out?”
Last seen in Sector 14 in possession of highly sensitive government materials.
Shade’s eyebrows nearly flew off his head. He’d seen hints of fragility in her, but she must have had balls of steel if she’d been zooming around Sector 14 with the Dark Watch on her heels.
The bounty will be doubled for recovery of the stolen goods. Bonus for a live capture.
Shade’s heart stopped. Holy Sky Mother, the galactic government wanted Tess and whatever she’d taken more than it had ever wanted anything since its inception, as far as he knew.
And they preferred her alive. Some of the sick feeling inside him eased.
Unless they just wanted to torture her for answers? The sick feeling grew again.
What had she taken? Bridgebane didn’t want to say outright, that much was clear. He was dangling bait, and the hunters had to figure it out for themselves. If they found her, they probably found it.
The photo blinked out, and Shade lunged for the tablet, picking it up. Bridgebane couldn’t have taken down the job already. No one could have found her that fast.
A sort of rage-filled panic had started drumming against his ribs when another image finally popped up to replace the first one. It was a mug shot. In the time he’d been reading, they’d traced her to where she’d been—he looked at the date on the photo—seven years ago.
Tess Bailey. It might not have been her real name, but she’d been using it for a while now.
He looked at her birthdate. A quick calculation told him she was twenty-six.
The sentence stamped in red across her mug shot said Life.
He cursed. Fucking nineteen years old and sent to Hourglass Mile. What had she done to get locked up? He knew what they did to the inmates there. The mines. The whips. The pairings.
The lunch he’d eaten earlier turned to lead in his stomach. Who had they forced on her? What had he been like?
How the hell had she gotten out?
Then he remembered the explosion about five years back. A bunch of prisoners had died. In the confusion, some had managed to escape. No bounty had ever been offered for any of them. The galactic government had probably been too embarrassed by the chaos at one of their maximum security prisons to post.
Beautiful. Ballsy. And Brave.
A wanted criminal.
Fuck!
He worked on the fringes of the law, dipping his toes into the murky side of the system, but he was still part of the galactic machine of all-encompassing order. He knew who signed over the checks. One big job like this, and he could leave it all behind, set himself up for life.
Indecision clawed at Shade’s chest. His mind worked. He knew where she was.
The easiest nab and grab of his life was waiting for him on the three hundred and fourteenth level. He could land two hundred million in his account.
Double that if she still had the goods.
COMING SOON
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am so grateful to so many people for helping me accomplish my goals and make my writing the best it can be. First and foremost, my family. You are a huge support, a huge help, and I couldn’t do this without you. I love you.
My thanks also to my agent, Jill Marsal, and to my editor, Cat Clyne. My heartfelt thanks to the whole team at Sourcebooks for all of their hard work and support. I’m so lucky to be part of such a dynamic publishing house. My thanks to Dominique Raccah for taking a chance on this series, to Stephany Daniel for being a dynamo publicist, to Rachel Gilmer for her eagle eyes and for being incredibly understanding when I freak out around deadline times, and to Sara Hartman-Seeskin for working on audio and international rights. Also, I am sure that I have the most beautiful book covers ever created, and I’m very grateful to the Sourcebooks Casablanca design team, to Dawn Adams, and to Gene Mollica, for giving them to me.
There’s a core group of people who help keep my stress levels from exploding. Alexis and Callie, you are the best friends and the best beta readers a person could ever have. I would be lost without you. Adriana, Rusty, Heather, and Lynn, I’m so lucky to have found you and to have you in my life—for writing and whatever else. And Katerina, I value our friendship, and I’m so fortunate to have you as a resource for all things Greek.
Finally, my sincere thanks to readers and reviewers. Books would go nowhere without you. And my warm thanks to the authors who have so generously supported my work. That remains a thrill for me, and I’m sure always will. The reading and writing community is truly remarkable, and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.