Dark Star (6 page)

“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 he was on the hunt, or being
hunted, he’d recall the way she used to look at him -- the love and
tenderness she’d offered with her whole heart. Somehow the
knowledge that there was someone in the world who had once loved
him had a way of soothing and consoling him, regardless of the
circumstances in which he found himself. He watched as she sighed
and snuggled down into the pillow.

Her hair fell from her face in long irregular
dreadlocks. When they’d been together she’d worn it long and
straightened, but right after she and Callie opened their bookstore
she’d cut it off. The locks suited her, adding an air of womanly
allure, an Earth Mother appeal. Her long high-bridged nose had been
almost too big for her face when they were younger, though it was
balanced by sharp cheekbones and a notably broad jaw. The features
were more symmetrical now that her face had filled out. But it was
those eyes that had captured him from the beginning and still held
him in thrall.

University of Alabama, October 1994

The room was unbearably crowded and the heat
was stifling. Nate stepped outside to catch his breath. Though it
was already October, there was no hint of chill in the air -- it
was still as warm and humid as late summer -- a not uncommon
occurrence in this part of southwest Alabama where November
tornadoes happened occasionally. Nate found a secluded corner in
front of the house away from the crowd and leaned against a tree.
The Denny Chimes struck the late hour and he looked up at the red
brick and limestone structure that glowed in the light of the
harvest moon. The air was redolent with the smokiness from that
afternoon’s bonfire. He didn’t really know why he was in such a
melancholy mood tonight. They had a hard-fought Crimson Tide
victory. The beer was cold and the women were plentiful. Usually
that was enough to engage his attention, but tonight there seemed
to be something missing.

“
What are you doing out here all by
yourself? Usually you’re the one to close the place down,” a
familiar and welcome voice rang out in the darkness.

Nate turned, happy to greet Callie who was
in his study group and a good friend. He was about to answer her
when he realized she was not alone. He locked eyes with the most
beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her eyes widened with the same
awareness he knew his own had to be showing. The world spun on its
axis as he realized that she felt as he did. Just like that he knew
his life would never be the same.

“
This is my roommate Tonya. We’re leaving.
It was all I could do to get her to come to this party and she’s
had enough.”

Nate realized that Callie was speaking to
fill the silence because neither he nor Tonya had said a word. He
took a deep breath.

“
Y’all are leaving?” Callie nodded. Tonya
just stared at him mutely. “Shall I escort y’all back to your dorm,
little sister?”

Callie grinned at him. “That would be
nice.”

Their dorm was a fair distance from the
party location. A fact that Nate appreciated as it gave him a
chance to break the ice with Tonya. It didn’t take him long to
discover that she was an English major and like Callie, a
sophomore. He was a junior, but he and Callie were both majoring in
Business.

“
So what do you plan to do with a degree
in English?” he asked, not really caring, but unable to come up
with anything else to say. He was pretty sure that if he said what
he wanted to she’d run screaming into the night, and Callie would
beat him to death with his B-Law book.

They’d arrived at the dorm and stopped at
the large broad steps that led up to the red-brick Classic Revival
building. Tonya and Callie were seated on the steps while Nate
leaned against one of the large Doric columns that punctuated the
building’s characteristic Greek design.

“
I’m a writer. I plan to write novels. I
promised my mama I’d get a teacher’s certificate -- she’s big on
fall-back positions, but I know I’ll write,” Tonya said in a soft
voice.

“
She’s already written a couple of books,”
Callie chimed in, her voice reverberating with pride.

“
Unpublished,” Tonya said with a
dismissive shake of her head.

“
Only because you haven’t submitted them
to a publisher,” Callie shot back.

“
They need work and I’m not ready to start
the submission grind.”

“
I’d love to read your manuscript. Maybe I
can be your agent or something,” Nate said.

Callie gave him a sly look. “Oh, I didn’t
know you planned on being a literary agent. Thought you were going
to be an international business mogul.”

“
You know I’m majoring in international
business, but I can read a contract,” Nate said wondering if he
could murder his friend now or if it would be better to wait until
there were no witnesses.

“
I’m sure you can,” Callie said. Then she
stretched and yawned the fakest yawn he’d ever seen. “I’m tired
y’all. I’m turning in,” she said as she stood.

To his dismay, Tonya rose to her feet as
well. He didn’t want her to leave yet and he grasped onto the first
thing he could think of to make her stay. “Well, if you don’t want
me to read your manuscripts the least you can do is tell me about
them.”

He couldn’t believe it when Callie winked at
him. “Nice save,” she said. “Yeah, why don’t you do that, Tonya?
Your stories are the only things you want to talk about anyway.
It’s about time you had a new victim.”

Tonya sighed and returned to her seat. “I do
have other topics of conversation besides my stories.”

“
Glad to hear that, but I have no problem
with being your victim,” Nate said.

“
You might change your mind after a
while,” she said with a shy smile. Somehow she even got him to talk
about a subject he rarely discussed.

“
You have the most unique accent I’ve ever
heard,” Tonya said after Callie had left.

Nate gave a self-conscious laugh. “Yeah,
it’s a combination of South Alabama by way of Paris.”

“
I assume you mean the one in France and
not the one in Tennessee.”

“
Definitely the one in France. My mother
was French and it was my first language, but my dad was from
Alabama, so I sound like him too, especially when I speak English.”
He shrugged. “But I’ve lived all over the world and speak several
languages.”

“
Oh? How many do you speak?” she
asked.

“
About a half-dozen or so. I can get
around in a few more. I’ve been lucky enough that no matter where
I’ve been someone spoke at least one of the languages I speak. My
mother always said I had an aptitude for it. It’s a good thing
because I love to travel.”

“
Well, I grew up in a tiny North Alabama
town. I know everyone there. I’ve always wanted to travel to
different places. Meet new people.”

Nate grinned. “I’ve always wanted to live in
a small town where everyone knows me.”

They looked at one another for a moment,
then laughed.

“
I guess it’s true you always want
whatever it is you don’t have,” Tonya said. They sat in silence for
a while, as Nate scrambled for something to say then Tonya
surprised him.

“
You know I asked Callie to introduce us,”
she said.

“
You did?”

“
Yeah I saw you two talking one day and
asked for the intro. It was the only reason I came to the party;
usually I pass.”

“
That’s what Callie said. I’m flattered I
could motivate you to leave your work, and I’m glad you came,” he
grinned. “I’m
really
glad you came. I would’ve asked to meet
you if I’d known about you.”

“
So am I,” she said, lowering her head as
though embarrassed. There was no more conversation for another long
moment. The silence was a comfortable one though as Nate knew she
was as interested in him as he was in her. When she spoke again it
was on a totally different subject, a habit of hers that was a bit
disarming, but definitely kept him on his toes.

“
You said you traveled all over the world.
You’re pretty young so I assume you went with your parents?” He
nodded. “What do they do?”

“
They were missionaries. Aid workers
really,” Nate said.

Tonya frowned. “Were? They’ve both passed
away?”

“
Yes.” Nate struggled to get the word out.
Talking about his parents still seared through his soul like a
fresh wound.

“
Oh. I’m so sorry.” She shifted
uncomfortably on the step.

“
That’s okay, it’s been a while. It
happened while I was in high school.” That was the most he’d ever
told anyone else, but he wanted Tonya to know the whole story.
“They were attacked by terrorists.”

“
Oh, my God.” He watched as tears filled
those expressive brown eyes. “What happened?” Then she shook her
head. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want
to.”

“
No. I don’t mind.” And he was surprised
to discover that he didn’t. He wiped a hand over his face. “It was
the craziest thing. They’d spent their entire lives living in some
of the most hellish places in the world. Places where the average
life expectancy was like twenty-five. Never got so much as a
scratch. Then they went to London and got killed in an IRA
attack.”

“
I’m so sorry. How old were you?

“
About fifteen. I’d come back to the
States for school. They were vacationing in London because Dad was
sick. We were supposed to hook up at Christmas. They were kidnapped
with some other missionaries. There was a rescue attempt and they
were all killed.” Nate shook his head, staring at Tonya in
bemusement. He’d never told anyone the details of his parents’
deaths. Yet within hours of meeting this woman, he couldn’t seem to
shut up. That had never been a problem either. There was something
about her eyes. In her clear gaze that undoubtedly saw everything
there was also a softness and compassion...and peace. Nate sighed.
He was in big trouble.