Elusive (On The Run Book #1) by Sara Rosett Read Free Book Online Page A

mildly.
Kathy seemed to find a vocation at the cancer society. She immersed herself in
fundraising, patient education, and cancer prevention awareness. She would
never be the same after her daughter’s death, but she seemed to find solace and
support in her volunteer work. Mort, on the other hand, seemed adrift, removed,
and almost indifferent, which was such a contrast from the usual spark and
verve that characterized him before Ellen’s illness and death.
    Jenny knew from experience not to
ask how he was. She’d only get his standard answer: fine. She dipped a spoon in
her tomato soup and stirred. “So I hear you and Mr. G.Q. are working on a new
case.”
    The corner of his mouth turned up.
“You throwing around that non-existent press pass again?”
    She raised her chin. “I’m a
legitimate employee of the
Dallas
Sentinel News
.”
    “Yeah, but last time I checked,
the obit writer didn’t need to know about on-going FBI cases.” He grinned
briefly before finishing off the last bite of his sandwich.
    “All I need is one good break to
move up to News,” she said, then steered the conversation away from her rather
unfulfilling current job. “Is G.Q. around?”
    “Nah,” Mort wiped his mouth with a
paper napkin. “He’s over at Nordstrom’s perfume counter. New girlfriend—Alana,
I think—works there.”
    “How long do you give it?”
    “Let’s see, this is the first
week...probably two more weeks. A month tops.”
    “I give it less than a week.”
    “You’re on. Twinkies or
Twizzlers?”
    “Twizzlers, no question. Well,
either way, it’s good to know one of Dallas’s top twenty-five eligible
bachelors isn’t going off the market.”
    Mort tossed his napkin onto his
plate with a bark of laughter. “Not anytime soon.”
    “It’s good to hear you laugh,
Mort,” Jenny said and then immediately regretted it because his face shut down.
She’d committed the cardinal sin—she’d mentioned his emotional state, something
he avoided at all costs. “So about this case,” she said quickly, pulling her
notepad from her bag. “I hear that GRS stock holders aren’t happy.”
    “Where did you hear that?” Mort
asked, his arms folded across his chest.
    “My friend Hank works in Local
News. He mentioned it.”
    “Is someone working on a story?”
His face was neutral, but Jenny knew he wanted to know if the paper would throw
a spotlight on one of his current investigations.
    “Yeah, me,” Jenny said pertly.
Mort shook his head, and she continued, “No one’s really digging into it yet.
They’re shorthanded as it is, after the lay-offs, and it’s still local election
season. Almost everyone is covering the primary run-offs and the local school
board elections.” She leaned forward. “This is my chance.”
    “Are you sure you want to work for
that editor?” Mort asked. “I hear she’s a real piece of work.”
    Jenny lowered her voice. “Word is
that it won’t be long before she’ll be at a local television station.” The
newsroom editor at the
Dallas
Morning Sentinel
, Anna Thessanta, was a twenty-five-year-old shrew
who could shout anyone down and seemed to survive on a diet of Starbuck’s
lattes, carrot sticks, and a few almonds thrown in for protein.
    “Why don’t you do that—work in TV?
That’s where all the action is, right? Newspapers are dying.”
    “I’m not TV material. I’m too
plain.” She lifted a strand of her lank, brown hair and pushed her glasses up
the bridge of her nose. “That’s not for me,” she said with a shake of her head.
“And I see what you’re trying to do—distract me. But I’m not falling for it.
The rumors about GRS sound pretty bad.”
    “Well, it sounds as though your,
what-do-you-call-it, blog, website thing is going pretty good. Kathy reads it
everyday,” Mort said, sidestepping the GRS topic.
    “That’s terrific. I’m glad she
likes it,” Jenny said, adding, “It’s a blog.
The
Informationalist
is great, but it’s not real