Page 85 of Deadly Designs

The entire boat tilted when she spun around, and shehad to throw out her hands to steady herself. She waited for theworld to right itself before answering the woman with long blackhair, wearing an emerald-green dress. “Uh, yes?”

“My friends and I are huge fans.”

“That’s nice.” Her blurry eyes narrowed. “Have we metbefore?”

“No, we haven’t. Can we get a picture with you?”

Aja Blue glanced at Christian. He was still on thephone. “Well . . .”

“It would mean so much to us. As I said, we’re hugefans.”

Aja Blue had always gone out of her way for her fans.She hated disappointing them. She’d been known as one of thenicest, most approachable celebrities. “Sure.”

“Great. They’re right over here.”

Aja Blue tried to disguise the wobble as she followedthe woman down a hallway or two. Where were they going? She’d neverfind her way back to Christian, especially when her vision narrowedto pinpricks.

The woman opened a door. “They’re in here.”

Aja Blue looked inside. “I don’t see—”

It was all she could utter before her legs crumpledand it was lights out.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Aja Blue slowly awoke to athrobbing headache. She was lying on the floor atop an Oriental rugof some sort. She tried to remember what had happened. A woman hadwanted a picture and then nothing. Where was Christian? She neededhim.

“Christian?”

“Nope. No one here by that name.”

Her eyes popped open, and her vision blurred. Shecould hear the yacht motoring through the water and felt a pleasantbreeze, but it made her shiver.

“Remember me?”

She blinked the haze from her eyes and focused on thespeaker. She jerked upright and instantly regretted it. The onlyexplanation was that someone dropped something into her champagne.That would explain the fuzzy head and hallucinations. “JohnnyCash.”

The man chuckled. “You must’ve had a bigger hit ofthe drug than expected for you to think I’m a dead countrysinger.”

That confirmed that someone had doped her. “Who areyou? Why have you been following me?”

“I’m neither admitting nor denying it, but how didyou know? I’d like to think I’m a pretty decent spy.”

She snorted. “You so are not. I’m a novice, and Ispotted you at my condo a week ago and again in Sedona. When I camehome, you were outside my office.”

“About that, I don’t appreciate you siccing the copson me.”

“Are you being serious right now? You werestalkingme!”

“I know you used to be an actress, Aja Blue, butlet’s not get overly theatrical.”

“Do not call me by my name,” she muttered. “Whyweren’t you arrested?”

“I can talk my way out of anything,” he bragged.

Probably with a cash donation, a.k.a. bribe. “Youbugged my SUV.”

“Sure did.” He didn’t sound the least bit sorry. “Youwere easy to follow since you used credit cards. What made you stopin Arizona?”

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