Falling Star (Combustible Book 2) Read Free Page A

hands. “Take your break, and when this mess blows over, you can come back to acting.”
    She threw her arms up, backing away. “Sam, you’re not getting it. I’m through. No more acting. I can’t deal with all the shit that comes with it. Remember, if you want to get a hold of me, use my old email from high school. I won’t be checking the one I have now. I’m getting rid of my phone. Raven is going away for good.”
    “Ella, don’t do this. Not like this.”
    “The police haven’t even found the asshole who did this to me. I’m not safe here. If I disappear, he can’t find me either.”
    “Who’s going to watch over you if you’re hiding?”
    “Me. None of the bodyguards you hired stopped him from breaking into my home or anywhere else I might have been. The cops have run out of leads.” She brushed past him, scooping up the keys to the new Humvee she hated, and Ella left. After a few stops for some supplies, she checked into a hotel as Ella Cross, the new last name even her brother didn’t know. Raven no longer existed.
     
    * * * *
     
    Trent sat beside his sister, trying to calm the temper threatening to flare. She’d begged him to come see her at the rehab center and listen to her story. She kept pleading with him to believe every word she said and he just couldn’t do it.
    “Are you even listening to me?” Tina demanded.
    Trent snorted. “Yeah, and somehow, I don’t understand why a drug dealer is going to force you to take drugs. Isn’t that a waste of his product?”
    Tina slumped back in her chair. “I was clean, Trent. I stayed away from all of that for months.”
    He gripped the edge of the table and shook his head. “If you were clean, then why are you still here, three weeks past when you were supposed to leave?"
    “Wade said he’d hook me again. That I would never stop coming to him. He held me down and forced the needle into my arm, Trent. Why can’t you believe me?”
    His heart wrenched, but he didn’t believe a word she’d said. He’d seen her lie, cheat, and steal to get drugs when she’d hit bottom in the past. His trust had long since run out. Seeing her passed out in a raging fire with her son trying to pull her out—there were no words.
    And now the boy moped around anytime anyone mentioned his mother. She was supposed to come home weeks ago, but she hadn’t. And for what, if she had truly been clean?
    “Does it help if I tell you Wade is in custody and has been for a month. He’s waiting for a trial. Though they’d like you to come forward as a witness.”
    Her head dipped slowly. “Immensely. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have.”
    “What about being a witness.”
    “Yes, definitely. I’m done letting him ruin my life.”
    Trent held his tongue. She’d been the one ruining her life, not this prick. She was the one who constantly chose to get high, to get drunk, instead of taking care of her little boy.
    He managed a smile though it probably wasn’t very encouraging. “Think you’ll come home soon?”
    She nodded.
    Maybe he did have a little hope left. “Blaze misses you. He thinks you don’t love him anymore because you’ve been here forever . His words, not mine. Though I can’t fathom why you’re still here if you were really done with drugs before that asshole forced them on you.”
    “Wade was still out there. Everyone but Marissa thinks I’m lying.”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “But you don’t believe me.”
    He threw his hands up with a groan. “This is why I haven’t come out much. I keep telling you how much Blaze misses you, and how much this place scares him. You tell me you’re coming home soon. But you’ve said that a few times now. The program was supposed to be sixty days. You’ve been here a month longer already. I don’t understand.”
    She wiped at her face. “I’m making progress. Getting over Randy. I needed to let him go so I can be there for Blaze.”
    “Can’t you do that at home? Think about