Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 Read Free

Guess she thought she had nothing left to lose—or she’s got a circuit loose. She was about to be convicted of murdering Vadyal, running slaves and a host of other shit. Seems she enjoyed mistreating Vadyal’s captures in a number of ways. Ms. te Nawa’s damned lucky you got her away from the woman.”  
    Of course Darkrunner had done this by drugging Kiri and put her on a slow freighter to Frontiera, thus expressing his displeasure at her choosing Stark over him, but still, he’d saved her.
    “So you had this Slidi and let her slip,” Darkrunner jibed.
    “Wasn’t LodeStar Security who lost her,” Bronc said. “IBI.”
    “Oh, that’s even better. How the hells did she manage to escape them?”
    Bronc grimaced. That had been a nearly unbelievable slip on the part of the InterGalactic Bureau of Investigation. No doubt at least one agent had already lost his or her job because of it.  
    He took a drink of his ale and set it aside, not without regret. It was one of his favorites, and he’d like to sit and enjoy it. He hadn’t had much chance lately.  
    “She seduced one of the guards on the transport,” he said. “Then killed him. She’s beautiful and she’s a sociopath. That combination can take a woman a long way. The oversight agents didn’t discover her escape until she was long gone.”
    Darkrunner sat very still, peering out at Bronc from the shadow of the braids hanging around his face. “Any idea where she is, or where she may go next?”
    Satisfaction warmed Bronc’s chest, but he merely shrugged. “Suspect she’ll head for one of Vadyal’s homes on Serpentia or his casino called the Pleasure Palace, currently moored off Frontiera.”
    “The IBI must have a watch on those places.”
    “They do. Like I said, they’re after her. I’m sure they’ll catch up sooner or later.”  
    “You don’t think she’ll come here?”
    Bronc had been waiting for this. He nodded. “Matter of fact, this is the first place she came. But she’s not here any longer. She was last sighted entering a hangar at the space port, place that runs low-end transports and charter flights. She didn’t walk out, so we assume she slipped the planet.”  
    Then Bronc waited while Darkrunner considered this information. Bronc took another sip of his ale and then set it aside with distaste. Just as he’d feared, it was now warm.
    “Why doesn’t Stark have you chasing her?” Darkrunner asked, regarding Bronc from under his lashes. It was a look as beguiling as any Bronc had seen.
    Bronc shrugged. “Like I said, he and Ms. te Nawa have split up. He didn’t share why, and it’s not my business to ask. But I hate like hells to see this vicious bitch get away free.  
    “Believe me, if I were free to do so, I’d be chasing her, as fast as I could. Since I can’t, and I’m here on business, thought I’d drop a word. Your choice what you do with the information.”
    He rose and nodded to the ganger, who remained in his chair, watching him with those eerie eyes. “Thanks for listening. Oh, and one other thing. Slidi worked with one of your rivals while she was here … a Mordacent or some name like that.”
    “Mordacity,” Darkrunner said. Although he couldn’t see it, Bronc swore a charge of electricity filled the room, emanating from the ganger. The man’s face was taut as a statue.
    Bronc shrugged indifferently, but inside he was doing a fist pump. That name had definitely caught the ganger’s interest. “Yeah. Anyway, if you find her, maybe you can get some intel. Never hurts to know your enemy, right?”
    “I’ve listened,” Darkrunner said. “And I’ll consider what you’ve said. What I’m wondering is why you’ve come.” He gazed up at Bronc, and his eyes seemed to take on a deeper hue, almost blue in the shadows of his black hair. “Are we to be friends now?”
    Bronc blinked to counter the urge to keep staring into those eyes, and forced his own gaze away. Fuck. No wonder the guy was so