The Outsider by Rosalyn West Read Free Book Online Page A

tucked his pistol into the rear band of his long johns but didn’t surrender his caution. “I can’t seem to remember inviting you over for a late night smoke and pleasant conversation.”
    “The conversation I had in mind won’t be pleasant for long if I have to repeat myself again.”
    Dodge laughed softly. “Forgive me. Sleep must be addling my brain but I can’t recall the conversation.”
    “Stay away from my sister.”
    He said it easily enough, but the glitter in Tyler Fairfax’s direct stare implied anything but goodwill. Yet the subject of discussion brought Dodge to an instant combativeness. He wasn’t about to give up on the pursuit of the lovely Starla because of a brother’s ire.
    “Excuse me? I hardly know your sister.”
    “And I aim to keep that acquaintance to the minimum. I think I’ve made my feelings for you very clear.”
    Dodge grimaced. “I’d say so.”
    “Now I’m just letting you know, in a neighborly fashion, that my sister don’t think much of you, either.”
    Dodge raised a single brow. That put a different slant on things. A slant that unbalanced his hopes and set his mood awry. “I didn’t think I’d made that strong an impression.”
    “You made an impression, all right. Don’t force me to make one in the back of your thick head. Leave Starla alone. She don’t need the extra aggravationof having the likes of you pestering her.”
    “I’m sorry if she felt being invited to the same dinner table constitutes pestering.” He bristled in affront and regret. “You may assure her that whatever worries I gave her that made her feel she had to send her big brother to issue threats were completely unfounded. I’m not such a total boor that a simple “Leave me the hell alone” wouldn’t have sufficed. If that’s all that’s brought you to break illegally into a government institution….”
    Tyler smiled, a slow silken gesture of deadly intention. “I jus’ wanted to make sure we understood each other.”
    “Oh, I assure you, Mr. Fairfax, I’ve had a clear picture of you from the very first. If you’ll just lock up behind you when you’re finished with that cigar, I’d appreciate it.”
    Tyler regarded him with a perplexed half smile. “I don’t know if you’ve got balls the size of mortar shells or you’re just plain stupid.”
    His back sore and his expectations strained, Dodge’s reply crackled. “I’ve been accused of both. But I guess you’ll have to make up your own mind as to which is the truth. Good night, Mr. Fairfax. And my apologies to your sister if I’ve in any way offended her.”
    Dodge maneuvered his way out of the room and shut the door, knowing the gesture of unconcern would knock the other man off guard. He knew Tyler Fairfax wasn’t a thief. But he didn’t kid himself about what Fairfax was: a very deadly adversary who was as unpredictable as a wet powder charge.
    He waited until he heard the outer door quietly close before he returned to the room to check the locks. Scrape marks around the latch plate told how Fairfax had gained entry. Dodge smiled wryly to himself as he settled the crossbar in place so his sleep wouldn’t be disturbed a second time.
    And as he eased himself down in bed once more, shifting uncomfortably to find a spot where the pain was bearable, he wondered if Starla had sent her brother to warn him away or if the idea was Tyler’s own.
    He found himself hoping it was the latter.

Chapter 4
    It took Starla only a moment to realize the danger of walking the streets of Pride alone.
    She’d thought nothing of accepting Reeve’s offer of a ride into town so she could do some shopping while he took care of business. The peaceful surroundings at the Glade felt more like a prison after several days spent mostly in her own company. Not that her hosts ignored her, but the air of urgent intimacy sparking whenever the two of them shared the same room excluded Starla and made her chafe with restlessness and reminders of her