Dark Star by Roslyn Holcomb Read Free Book Online Page A

ass. Some things are
sacred.”
    “I’m not talking about my ass. I’m talking
about this nutty situation you’ve dragged me into,” she said.
    “I admit to being dishonest with you in the
past, but you have to believe I wouldn’t risk your life for any
reason,” he said.
    Tonya sucked her teeth, then took the water
bottle up to finish it. The situation was totally Looney Tunes, but
for some reason she did believe him. More fool her. “Can we start
with simple questions? Where am I and what do you plan to do with
me?”
    For the first time, Deringer addressed her
directly. “You’re in a safe house. We plan to take you to another
safe house where we can hide you until the danger is over.”
    “So you’ve kidnapped me.”
    Nate sighed. “More or less.”
    “Oh, my God. Mama will be out of her
mind.”
    “Yeah, probably. We had no choice. Trust me,
I wouldn’t choose to piss that lady off if there was any other
way.”
    Tonya acknowledged the truth in that. Nate
adored her mother and they got on like a house on fire. But like
everyone else he was scared to death of her. “How long do you plan
to keep me? I can’t disappear indefinitely. I have a book coming
out. A promotion tour. Contracts.”
    “Yeah, I know. Those IHOP books are pretty
good.”
    “They’re not IHOP books. They’re Waffle House
books.” What was wrong with people? Waffle House was clearly
superior.
    “Yeah, who’d have thought a bunch of books
about Waffle Houses would be best sellers?”
    “They’re not about Waffle House.
They’re about a waitress who solves murder mysteries and works in a
Waffle House.” Tonya put a hand to her head. “May I please have an
aspirin? What on earth did you two give me, hemlock? I feel like
hot fried hell.”
    “I didn’t give you anything. Dare did,” Nate
said and then shrugged as though to acknowledge that he was
splitting hairs. “The headache is an unfortunate side-effect of the
drug. It’s fast acting but packs a kick like a Georgia mule.
Fortunately, it’s not available to the public.”
    “Well, thank God for that!” she said.
    “For our purposes it can be delivered swiftly
without breaking the skin. That’s safer for us, but yeah, it’s a
nasty drug.” Nate got up and walked over to what she assumed was a
bathroom. She heard a cabinet door open and close, then he was back
with an aspirin bottle. She took the tablets he offered, and then
hesitated. After all he had drugged her before.
    Nate spoke up when she paused. “I promise
little sister. No matter what, I won’t drug you again.” He took the
two aspirin from her hand, tossed them into his mouth and
swallowed. Tonya wavered a moment longer, but seeing no ill-effect
in him and really wanting to be rid of the headache, she took the
open bottle and shook out two more tablets. Deringer offered her a
fresh bottle of water and Tonya drank it down after the pills. She
lay back against the pillows, suddenly feeling incredibly
exhausted. She gave Nate a suspicious glare.
    He shook his head. “No, I didn’t drug you
again. More side-effects from the knockout drug. Take a little nap
and when you wake again you’ll feel fine.”
    Tonya struggled to keep her eyes open. She
had lots more questions to ask, but she quietly lost the battle. As
she drifted off to sleep she realized that she still had no idea
where she was.
    * * * * *
    Nate stood by Tonya’s bed looking down at the
woman who had held his heart in her hands for almost a third of his
life. There had been a few changes in her appearance and those were
for the good -- she’d put on a little weight, softening her
features and lending some curves to her rather angular body. Her
skin, which glowed in the same hues as the Sahara at dawn was still
wrinkle-free and her large almond-shaped eyes hadn’t lost the warm
sparkle that reminded him of well-aged bourbon. Memories of those
eyes had kept him sane during some of the horrific moments in the
past twelve years. Sometimes when