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sign of life from her. She felt Veronica clinging to the living world at the
    same moment Eleanor detected it with her super sensors.

    “She is not dead, though she is nearly there,” Eleanor announced triumphantly. “You
    were right, Johanna. Veronica has been injected with a particularly lethal poison. It is slow
    acting, that is why it took so long to work its way through her blood stream.”

    “Okay. So she isn’t dead. That’s good news. But how the hell do we resuscitate her?”
    Samantha felt her heart beat start up again, even though her hands still trembled.

    “You shall need to find the antidote. Veronica will simply fall into a coma without it and
    within ten days she will more than likely die, she will simply wither away.”

    “We’re not even going to contemplate that option, Eleanor . Tell me, where and how do
    we get our hands on this antidote?” Samantha demanded.

    “It will be extremely hard to find. It is very rare, and highly expensive, even if you do
    find it on the market somewhere, though I’d warrant that you’d be more likely to find it on the
    Galaxy’s Black Market.”

    “Ain’t no way I’m breaking intergalactic law by doing business with criminals. Has it
    suddenly slipped your electronic brain that we are by the book bounty hunters?”

    “Certainly not!”

    “We do have one friend that could lend us the money to buy the antidote,” Johanna
    suggested.

    Samantha groaned and smacked her forehead. She stared at Johanna and narrowed her
    eyes. “Don’t you say his name!"

    “Samantha, you have to admit that he would help us.”

    “He is a dirty sneaky bastard, and I don’t want to ever hear his name again.” Guilt
    slammed her heart. She couldn’t admit to Johanna that she’d been dreaming of Devlin to the
    point where he robbed her nights of the dreams she should have been having.... Thinking of him
    now made her want to scream. Her relationship with Tyler was disintegrating before her very
    eyes. She knew that Johanna could see the troubling signs, though Johanna never broached the
    subject to her.

    “Samantha, he helped us,” Johanna insisted, her bright eyes filled with determination.
    She swallowed against the lump forming in her throat. Tears pricked behind her eyes, she
    couldn’t get emotional now. She couldn’t forfeit all she had with Tyler by admitting to Johanna
    that Devlin was slowly consuming her every thought.
    MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 16

    “Yeah. Helped us by nearly sending Tyler to the gallows. I won’t take his tainted
    money. I’d rather go and ask you know who for money than take his.” Her voice trembled a bit.
    If Johanna had detected her slight wavering in belittling Devlin she didn’t betray it.

    “You know who goes through money like most people go through toilet paper. Believe
    you me; we’d be better off going to Devlin for funds. At least his checks would never bounce!
    And, Lord Devlin would be more than happy to lend us the money. He wouldn’t want to see
    Veronica die, just because she went after the Anasazi Triad. Devlin doesn’t like them anymore
    than we do. They have caused innumerable problems for him in the past. I actually think Devlin
    would do the dance of joy if he heard the Triad was down for the count. They’re one hell of a
    nasty lot. The galaxy would definitely be a nicer place without them!”

    “Perhaps,” Tyler broke in, just as Eleanor landed in the docking bay. “I could ask my
    family for the money, or I could go and....”

    Samantha sighed heavily, suddenly remembering that Tyler was still eavesdropping on
    them. He’d picked up that nasty habit about six months ago come to think about it. He was
    always monitoring her every move and it was beginning to grate on her last bloody nerve!
    “Don’t even think about it quickie fingers. You’ve sworn off thieving, remember?” Samantha
    asked. She couldn’t take his drastic mood swings. One minute, he seemed like his old self