Read Online Vin's Rules (Outer Settlement Agency) by Lyn Brittan - Free Book Online Page A

she’d followed him around the base, omnitablet in hand, looking for ways to lay marks against his personnel record.
    Now what would she say? That the man was a quiet hero, hidden below a gallivanting, smiling mask?
    She wove her arm through his, too ashamed to look up as her feet shuffled along the wooden sidewalk. Maybe it wasn’t a mask but just him, and as it turned out, just him wasn’t so bad after all.
    Just him was not only working out how to save their butts but had been both smart and generous enough to use her in the process. He didn’t have to. A lesser person of his speed and skill could have snuck out and made a run for it alone.
    Or worse.
    She didn’t give credit for being decent. Everyone had an obligation for that. But Vin had been kind in a situation in which cowardice, cruelty, and self-preservation could be forgiven.
    “You hold my hand any tighter Inspector Ert’zod, and I’m going to start thinking that you care.”
    “Against all better judgment, I think I do.”
    Vin sighed and slowed to a shuffle. His bright smile shone down on her in sadness. “That’s why I don’t tell people. It’s not the shame—I didn’t do anything to be ashamed of. It’s the pity.”
    “It’s not that. If I pitied you, I wouldn’t be cataloging all the billion and a half infractions you’ve racked up since we met.”
    “Fuck,” he said with a laugh. “Fuckity, fuck, fuck.”
    “However...”
    “Yes?”
    “There’s not a single man I’d rather be here with.”
    Vin brought her hand up to his lips. “Yeah, weird, ain’t it?  There’s no other woman I’d rather be here with. Except for one with a very big rocket and lots and lots of guns. I might rather have such a woman here, but...” He shrugged and looked back to the street. “Whaddya gonna do?”
    She tapped her forehead. “Brains beats guns, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive.”
    Vin’s blond, bushy eyebrows drew close in a deep V. “Go on. ‘Cause if you’ve got guns, we don’t have a problem.”
    “Not yet, except there’s kinda a massive one right above us.”
    Vin’s veiny, muscled neck snapped up and his eyes scanned the skies. “Where?”
    “Everywhere.”
    He let her go and moved a few steps up then back. “The light’s glinting off something.”
    “Sure is. I’d have never noticed if I weren’t by the window last night. It’s electrical netting.”
    “The thing’s damned near invisible.”
    “Yep.”
    The smile on his face warmed her heart.
    No. That wasn’t right.
    Allie amended the thought to his smile filling her with hope. That was much safer. She ignored the twinkle in his eyes too.
    Or at least put up a good effort of trying.
    “So what you’re saying is that my plan last night helped us? Basically, me being drunk saved our lives. I mean, if you hadn’t been sober and I hadn’t been wasted, you’ve have never seen it.” He bent until they were eye level and snapped his teeth like an eager puppy. “Say it.”
    “Say what?”
    “The one thing that can make this day better.”
    “We’re being rescued?”
    “Okay, the second best thing.”
    “Fine. You were right.”
    “Hah!” The fool clapped and fist-pumped the air, drawing looks of surprise and a few smirks from people on the street.  That was the other bizarre thing.
    People were friendlier today, at least to him.
    And at least the men. With the way he’d dragged her out of there, they must have seen him as one of their own.
    Last night changed things in many ways, she supposed and all for the better. “Finished gloating?”
    He patted his stomach. “Yep. Things still aren’t so settled on the home front anyway. So we have an electrical net. If we can find the control panel—”
    “We don’t need to. It shocks, and just like anything electrical, it needs to complete a circuit to do its duty. All wires eventually lead to a charger and grounding unit.”
    Vin pulled her close as they passed a group of Tans. “We destroy