Page 21 (1/2)

“They never leave the canyon?”

Now that her terror had eased, she wondered if someone had studied the creatures Their behavior was off But then, she didn’t knohole lot about arachnids in general She glanced at Striker out of the corner of her eye It seeation In the logical part of her brain, the part that never stopped working, she was already trying to figure out a reason for the scorpions’ aversion to the man, and she didn’t like any of the theories she came up with Because each one meant she was in far more trouble with the man than she would have been on her own

“No, they never leave,” he said, turning her attention back to the scorpions “Why would you leave a cushy ho itself to you?”

It was hard to believe anyone would be that stupid “You can’t h the canyon?”

“People, animals, insects They all wander into Scorpion Canyon, but very feander back out”

As they climbed the steep path out of the canyon, the sound of the scorpions following thean to fade By the time they had reached the rirasped the hand Striker held out to help her clie, and with one hard yank, she was out of the canyon

And into so far worse

In front of her, not more than twenty feet aas the cloud of poisonous red mist that , heavy and impenetrable and dense She looked up but couldn’t see where it ended To the right and the left, it see under it, or around it And Territory restrictionsover it was out of the question That left Friday with only two choices—allow Striker to lead her into the red h Scorpion Canyon to take her chances with Enforcement

With a shaky breath, she looked up at hi to work”

“Have a little faith,” the reckless outlaw said

Chapter Nine

CommTECH headquarters,

New York City, Northern Territory

“We believe the suspect is heading for Galveston” The life-size i Friday Jones stood at attention while he gave his report

Miriam Shepherd was unmoved by his disheveled appearance and obvious injuries The ain Actions had consequences It was a rule the CEO of CommTECH lived by And she especially enjoyed the consequences when she was the one dispensing them