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    Varina: Innocence Lost: Furlough 99, #1
    Varina: Innocence Lost: Furlough 99, #1
    Varina: Innocence Lost: Furlough 99, #1
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Varina: Innocence Lost: Furlough 99, #1

    By Angela Skaggs

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    About this ebook

    When the last hiding place is gone, where do you go from there?


    Forced from her home and the only life she ever knew, Varina had to change everything to survive. When her past comes back to haunt her, she has to make a choice - fight or flight.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAngela Skaggs
    Release dateJan 22, 2012
    ISBN9780985022709
    Varina: Innocence Lost: Furlough 99, #1

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      Book preview

      Varina - Angela Skaggs

      This one's for my Dad -

      You never gave up on me and my dreams.

      I miss you!

      Chapter One

      What had been a pretty good day went from sugar to shit in a heartbeat, starting with a prickle at the back of her neck. 

      Lifting her head, Varina scanned the crowded bar quickly, assessing each person for danger before moving on to the next.  The quick glance showed her no one out of the ordinary, just the usual smattering of disgruntled workers and tourists that thought visiting the bowels of Furlough 99 station, and the bar named the Den of Inequity made for an adventure.

      Sighing, she brushed back the long hank of magenta hair behind her ear once more and bent to unload the last cask of Palstera Ale.  The feeling of being watched intensified and she lifted her head once more, scanning the patrons a little more closely.

      There, over in the corner.  Cool blue eyes met her own green and she had to fight the impulse to duck and run as recognition settled in.  Taking a deep breath, she let her gaze slide over his face and onto the next person, willing her heart to slow down.  He hadn’t drawn a weapon, so maybe he hadn’t recognized her.  Turning back to the cask at her feet, she bent down, hiding behind the bar, her mind racing.  It’d be too far to get back to her quarters and the stash of credits she had there, she’d have to make do with the small bag from last night that she’d tucked into the secure drawer of her desk.  It wouldn’t get her far, but it might get her to somewhere she could disappear again, hiding in plain sight like she’d been doing for the last six years. 

      Looking down once more, she realized her hands were shaking.  Blowing out the breath she still held, she rose slowly, eyes scanning left and right and nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized he was standing right in front of her, one brow cocked, the other so riddled with scar tissue that it was a miracle he could still see out of the eye. Bloody hells!  Help you? 

      Maleeza?

      Varina shrugged her shoulders in what she hoped was a casual manner, her heart racing at the sound of the name she’d never thought to hear again.  Never heard of her, but then again, I don’t make it a point of sticking my nose into others business.  Has a nasty way of biting you in the ass.

      The corner of his lips twitched slightly and he leaned closer, leaning one hammy fist on the counter.  Give it up, Maleeza, I know it’s you, he said softly, the words carrying only as far as her ears.

      Varina slapped her hands down onto the counter around his fist and leaned in enough so that their noses were nearly touching.  Look asshole, I have no idea who this Maleeza might be, but if I did, I certainly wouldn’t be telling you anything.  Like I said, trouble isn’t my thing.

      His breath skated across her lips.  If you do see her, he said softly, eyes never leaving hers.  Tell her Bardot is on his way here and he’s got a whole posse of Enforcers with him.

      She stepped back, praying that her legs weren’t quaking as much as they felt like they were.  Whatever.  If some woman comes in here and announces that she’s Maleeza, I’ll be sure to pass along your message.  Bardot, Enforcers.  Run along now, 'k?  I’ve got paying customers to take care of.

      He stood there for a minute longer, eyes boring into hers enough to make sweat pool on the backs of her thighs.  Finally, he spun around, leathers creaking as he stalked towards the door.  Varina sagged against the bar for a second, her heart thumping nearly out of her chest.  A mantra started pulsing in her head, over and over.  Run!

      ––––––––

      Maleeza had changed so much, Balik mused, walking down the corridor to where his ship was berthed.  He’d barely recognized her and someone that hadn’t known her would never have connected the woman he’d seen in that bar with the small but fierce girl he’d known back on Palstera.  She'd changed more than her hair color, he thought as he walked onto his ship and made his way down the short corridor to his quarters aboard the V’dansk.  His ship was small, but powerful, able to cross the vast expanses of space at the same rate as some of the Colonial liners.  Best of all, it belonged to him and him alone.  He’d finally paid off the lien against it with the last run of high end delicacies for the latest Niscian prize’s gifting to Ka'anan.  The sum of money had been staggering, although the amount of bullshit he’d gone through to get the highly perishable foodstuffs to Ka'anan had diminished his pleasure a bit.  Sitting down at the desk bolted against the wall, he leaned back and relaxed, head pillowed on his linked hands, trying to pin down exactly what was different about her.

      Harder, he finally said aloud, closing his eyes and bringing her image up in his mind, and jaded. Thin, but with a hint of the curves that had been so promising on Palstera.  The sun-kissed brown hair

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