Free Fortune's Risk: A Star Thief Novella (Star Thief Chronicles #1.5) by Jamie Grey Page A

Finn’s shoulder. “We were getting worried.”
    “So was I. You ready to end this?”
    Viktis glanced at his watch. “Perfect timing.”
    The trio headed out to the casino floor. In the hour it had taken to free Finn and Viktis, most of the players had bombed out of the tournament. It looked like they were playing the last hand. With Kitty in the lead of course.
    She laughed as she threw down her cards in triumph and the crowd cheered as she got to her feet and bowed. The Conyara official who’d arrested Viktis climbed back up to the small stage and gestured to Kitty to join him.
    “What a tournament! I’m pleased to award this ship and the prize winnings to our generous benefactress, Kitty Cordoza. Congratulations on a tournament well played!”
    The crowd clapped, but after they stopped, Viktis kept clapping. Loudly.
    Finn chuckled at the shocked expression that flitted across Kitty’s face as she spotted the three of them. This was going to be fun.
    “Excuse me, sir,” Finn called. “I’m afraid you have a cheater in your tournament.”
    The official waved away Finn’s claim. “We’ve already caught him.”
    Viktis stepped forward, and the man’s eyes widened. “No, you piece of shit, you arrested the wrong person. But you already knew that. Kitty Cordoza rigged the entire tournament to use as a front for an illegal tech deal. You’ll find the data chip in her dress. And the tech in your pocket.”
    The crowd gasped, and the official’s face started to turn amber. “How dare you!”
    Beside him, Kitty Cordoza froze, her gaze searching for her bodyguards in the crowd. Her whole body tensed like she was about to flee, and Finn made it to the stage in three strides, grabbing Kitty’s arm before she could scurry away. “Not so fast. Both you and this gentleman are under MYTH custody. We’ve already arranged cells for you.”
    She glared at him. “I’ve done nothing wrong. Take your hands off me. Immediately. I’ll have my lawyers on you so fast your head will spin.”
    Viktis and Keva had followed Finn to the stage. Keva took up a position on the other side of Kitty. “Go right ahead,” she said, pulling the biolock box from her pocket and passing it to Finn. “I think you’ll find plenty of evidence here to keep your lawyers busy for years.
    The color drained from Kitty’s face. “What is that? Where did you get it?”
    Finn bit back a smile while he gestured to a group of soldiers who’d appeared at the casino door. He’d called in a few favors with the station security chief, an old friend. One he could trust not to turn Finn in to MYTH. At least not until they’d left the station.
    “Take these two away,” Finn ordered. “The alien should have another box like this in his possession as well. Search him.”
    Kitty’s eyes went wide. “But if the Conyara still has my box with the tech data, what’s in that one?” she whispered.
    Icy hatred turned Viktis’s face into a mask. “It contains a very interesting list detailing all the sales, deaths, and transactions of slaves through the Cordoza organization. Along with several signatures signing death warrants and kidnappings. Yours was astonishingly prominent.”
    “You won’t get away with this,” she hissed. “You’re a dead man.”
    “As a matter of fact, I already have gotten away with this. You don’t think this is the only copy do you? The guards will find one in your suite when they search it. I’ve also sent one to the galactic news service, and one to every government in the sector. Seems like your organization didn’t discriminate on who they sold into slavery or the jobs you took from high ranking officials. This is going to make one scandalous story. It will destroy your organization.”
    Behind her mask of makeup, Kitty looked terrified, but jutted her chin defiantly. “Why didn’t you come to me first? I could have made you the richest man in the galaxy.”
    Finn watched Viktis take a step closer to the woman,