Black by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page A

crazily.
    â€œSit down,” Kara ordered.
    She was being bossy, but he deserved to be bossed at the moment. Besides, allowing her to boss him would help repair any breach in their relationship.
    He sat.
    â€œTake these.” She handed him two pills. He threw them into his mouth and swallowed without water.
    Kara sighed again. “Okay, from the top. You have some mob thugs after you for stiffing them out of $100,000. After four years your sins have finally caught up with you, presumably through the Magic Circle dinner theater or the Java Hut. They shot at you and you escaped. But you were on foot, so they know you live close by, and it’s only a matter of time before they find you again. Right?”
    â€œThat’s about it.”
    â€œTo top it all off, the blow to your head is tempting you to think that you live in another world. Still right?”
    He nodded. “Maybe. Sort of.”
    She closed her eyes. “This is insane.”
    â€œMaybe. But we still have to get out of here.”
    â€œAnd exactly where are we supposed to go? I have a job. I can’t just pick up and take off.”
    â€œI’m not saying we can’t come back. But we can’t just wait here for them.” He stood and began to pace, ignoring a sudden whirl of disorientation. “Maybe we should go back to the Philippines for a while. We have passports. We have friends who—”
    â€œForget it. It’s taken me ten years to make the break from Manila. I’m not going back. Not now.”
    â€œPlease, you have more Filipino in you than American. You can’t run forever.”
    â€œWho’s got the bullet wound in his head? I’m not running anymore. I’m here. I’m an American, I live in Denver, Colorado, and I like who I’ve become.”
    â€œSo do I. But if they came this far to settle a debt, they’ll hound me for the rest of my life!”
    â€œYou should have thought about that earlier.”
    â€œLike I said, you made your point. Don’t beat me into the ground with it.” He took a deep breath. “Maybe I can fake my death.”
    â€œHow on earth did you manage to talk them out of $100,000 to start with?”
    He shrugged. “I convinced them I was an arms dealer.”
    â€œOh, that’s just great.”
    The pain pills were starting to make him woozy. Tom sat again, leaned back, closed his eyes. “We have to do something.”
    They sat quietly for a long minute. Kara had always insisted she was happy here in Denver, but she was twenty-six and she was beautiful and she hadn’t dated in three years despite her talk of getting married. What did that mean? It meant she was a stranger in a strange land, just like him. Try as they may, they couldn’t escape their past.
    â€œI’m sure you’ll think of something,” Kara said. “I don’t think I can leave.”
    â€œI’m not going to leave you alone here. Not a chance.” His head was spinning. “What did you give me?”
    â€œDemerol.” She stood and walked to the window. “This is completely insane.”
    Tom said something. Something about leaving immediately. Something about needing money. But his voice sounded distant. Maybe it was the Demerol. Maybe it was the knock on the head. Maybe it was because he was really lying on the bank of a river, stripped of his skin, dying.
    Kara was saying something.
    â€œWhat?” he asked.
    â€œ.. . in the morning. Until then . . .”
    That’s all he got.

6
    A t the foot of the arching bridge, on thick green grass, the bloodied man lay facedown as though he had been dead for days. The black beasts on the opposite shore had deserted the charred trees. Two white creatures leaned over the prone body, their wings folded around their furry torsos, their short, spindly legs shifting so that their bodies swayed like penguins.
    â€œHurry, into the forest,” Michal said.
    â€œCan