Roxy has just met Vince onboard the Vanity Voyager. And he’s hot. Which is inconvenient, because she is trying to rob him.
Missed last week?
Last known situation—
“Roxie, unlock the front hatch. Let me in, I’ll come help you look!” Buzz’s muffled voice echoed up the cleaning shaft.
Roxie closed her eyes. Of course, he couldn’t just wait silently like a normal accomplice.
The man shook his head, the fun light in his eyes vanishing. “Friend of yours?”
She didn’t think there was any sense in lying, so she shrugged. “That’s my father.”
BOOK 1 - The Viper Kiss
The rest of Chapter 2
She jerked her thumb toward the cleaning shaft, where Buzz could be heard groaning and trying to climb through. “That’s my dad, and even if you don’t turn me in, he’ll get us arrested by alerting Lowdock security.”
Roxie walked back into the main cabin.
Vince followed. “So you’ve got the kind of father who sends his daughter to rob a ship?”
“What can I say? When it came to the parent lottery, I didn’t exactly hit the jackpot.”
“And what does your mother think about all this?”
Roxie’s spine went rigid. She hated that question. “I’ve never known my mother. She took off when I was a toddler. My dad says I cried too much.”
“I’m liking your dad less and less.”
“He’s got some good attributes.” It was true. Roxie loved Buzz, and he did have some good attributes. He tried his best.
Another bang from outside. More urgent this time. Just too bad his best often fell way short.
Vince sighed. “Look, I really don’t want any trouble or complications today.”
Then he did something she didn’t expect.
He pulled one of the bags of Ether Bliss from his jacket and held it out to her. “Take this. I’ve got extra to spare. Tell your dad that’s all you found, and get out of here before somebody spots him lurking around and calls law enforcement.”
Roxie stared at the iridescent bag, then at his face. “Why?”
“Because whoever’s making you do this doesn’t deserve you.” He said it simply, like it was obvious. “And pick a different career. I don’t think underwear model or petty thief work on your resume.”
“Why can’t I be an underwear model?’
“You’ve got the body for it, but there’s a dark underbelly to the business. “ Vince held out the Ether Bliss.
“I don’t even want to know how you know that. Or think about what that metaphor means.” She reached for the bag. He held on.
“I do have one requirement,” he said.
Here it comes, she thought. “What’s that?”
“I want to take you on a date.”
“Do you ask out every thief who tries to rob you?”
“Just the really cute ones.”
“Well, I’m not telling you where I live. Obviously.”
“And I’d really prefer you didn’t come back and break into the Voyager again. So.” He let go of the bag. “Front gates of the Louisville Low Docks. Tomorrow night. Seven o’clock.”
“Okay, I agree. Not like you can find me tomorrow anyway.”
“I know your first name. I know your description.” He tilted his head toward the cleaning shaft, where her father was still groaning and trying to climb. “And I’m pretty sure I recognize your father’s voice. He’s known around here.” A beat. “That’s Buzz, isn’t it? Buzz Vega.”
Sheer cold horror washed through Roxie. They were made. If Vince wanted to, he could turn them in with a single phone call.
He must have seen it on her face. “Relax. Your secret’s safe with me.” That slow grin again. “Long as you let me buy you dinner.”
“That’s blackmail.”
“That’s an invitation. There’s a difference.”
“Not the way you’re doing it.”
He shrugged. “I promise only the finest of foods.”
“What, you’re going to take me to Neptune on your spaceship?”
“We’ll keep it a little closer to home.”
“Roxie!” Buzz hissed from the shaft. “What’s taking so long? Do I hear talking? If you can’t find anything, get out of there!”
“Okay, you seriously need to go. He’s going to get you both caught.”
He put his hand on her back and steered her toward the main airlock. Then he stopped. “Wait. You’d better leave the way you came. If someone sees you walking off the front, it’s over.”
Roxie groaned, eyeing the ventilation shaft. “I liked you better when you were offering me wine.”
She knelt by the shaft, tucking the bag of Ether Bliss into the cup of her bra as she squeezed back into the duct.
Vince leaned over the opening. “Roxie Vega. It was interesting meeting you.”
“That’s one way to put it!”
“I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”
She slipped down the shaft, grimacing as she coated her skin with more oil, and dropped out into the muggy Louisville air.
“Well?” Buzz asked as he tried to hand her back her clothes. “Did you get it?”
“You keep my dress. I don’t want to get it greasy.” She pulled the bag from her bra and held it up. One little pouch of Ether Bliss, glinting in the fading sunlight.
“Just one?”
“Just one, Dad. Be grateful.”
He took it, turning it over in his hands, already doing the math on what one bag would buy him with the Black Hole Sons. The answer was written on his face. Not enough.
“Come on,” she said. “I need a shower.”
“I thought we were going to track.”
“Not in my underwear.”
“But there’s a long shot…”
Roxie finished the sentence with him, “in the final race, and it’s coming in for sure.”
Buzz grinned at her. “That’s right. Hay Jude has blinkers on, and he’s going to go all the way. Break his maiden.”
She looked sideways at him. “You’re going to lose every cent we have, aren’t you?”
He took off his cut and put it around her shoulders. “Probably. But we’ll have a real good time doing it.”
Roxie shook her head. But she leaned into him a little as they walked.
Above the docks, a garbage hauler blasted off through the smog, leaving a trail of thick black smog as it shot up into the darkening sky. A few stars were just becoming visible.
Roxie watched it until it disappeared.
One day that’ll be me, she promised herself. She didn’t care if it was a heap of junk or the finest of ships. She just wanted to fly.
Tune in next Wednesday and find out who Vince really is.
Go ahead dive into more Roxie adventures!
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Chapter 1- A Teenage Roxie and Viper
Chapter 2 - A Drunk and a Cadillac Trunk
Chapter 3 - The Louisville Low Docks
Chapter 4 - Doubling Down with a Damalian
Chapter 5 - Blast Off & Betrayal