Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page A

off to one or more of the agents on my list. It’s their job to bring in evidence that will stand up in court.”
    “But you’ve got higher priorities?”
    “Yes, Grace, I do.” Fallon sounded grim and oddly weary.
    She wanted to ask what those other priorities were but she knew Fallon well enough to realize she probably wouldn’t get an answer if she asked the question. He could be maddeningly secretive.
    “I understand, sir,” she said instead. “Are you sure that Mr. Malone is the right man for this mission, though? It sounds like he should be thinking about retirement.”
    “Thing is, he’s right there on Oahu. Convenient. And he needs the money.”
    “On top of everything else he’s broke?”
    “Two divorces in four years will do that to a man. He’s been getting by tending bar in a little place called the Dark Rainbow.”
    “I see. Well, I suppose there’s something to be said for the convenience factor.”
    “Damn straight,” Fallon agreed. “Look, I gotta go. Got the new Master of the Society on the other line. Have fun on Maui.”
    There was an odd chortling sound in Grace’s ear. It was immediately followed by a click as Fallon ended the call.
    She closed the phone and contemplated it thoughtfully for a couple of seconds. Had she just heard the sound of Fallon Jones’s laughter?
    Impossible. Everyone knew that Fallon Jones had no sense of humor.
    She put the phone into her purse and went back to packing. The last thing she tucked into her carry-on was her computer. You never knew when you might have to do a little research while on a mission. She closed the lid and zipped the small suitcase closed.
    After a year of hiding out and licking her wounds, she was ready to live again. The opportunity for an exciting adventure had been handed to her on a silver platter and, somewhat to her own amazement, she had seized it. Time to start living in the now.
     
     
    TWENTY MINUTES LATER she emerged from the post office and walked quickly toward her car. An SUV painted camouflage green and brown wheeled into the parking lot. The door popped open. A spry-looking senior citizen climbed out. Her bubble of steel-gray hair was partially covered by a billed cap. She wore military-style fatigues and heavy black boots. Her eyes were shielded by a pair of mirrored sunglasses. The utility belt around her waist was studded with various and assorted implements including binoculars, a flashlight and a high-tech camera.
    The look was Arizona Snow’s day uniform. At night when she went out on her endless reconnaissance patrols of Eclipse Bay, she switched to black trousers and pants and added a set of night-vision goggles to her ensemble.
    “ ’Mornin’, Grace,” Arizona called. “Heard you’re fixin’ to go on a little vacation.”
    Grace smiled. Arizona Snow was Eclipse Bay’s resident eccentric. She must have been in her early eighties but aside from some trouble with arthritis she showed no signs of slowing down. Her commitment to protecting the town from some mysterious, unnamed conspiracy that, as far as anyone knew existed only in her mind, never wavered.
    “News travels fast,” Grace said, coming to a halt a short distance from Arizona.
    “Not everything you hear around here is accurate,” Arizona muttered ominously. She took a notebook and pen out of one of the half-dozen pockets that festooned her fatigues. Flipping the notebook open, she clicked her pen. “Goin’ to Hawaii, eh?”
    “That’s right.”
    Arizona made a note. “Return date?”
    “Well, I’m not sure yet. I probably won’t be gone long, though. A couple of days, maybe three at the most. Why?”
    Arizona looked up, shaking her head at the naive question. “I need to know when you’ll be back so I can alert the chief in case you don’t return on time.”
    Grace was touched. Arizona had taken a keen interest in her right from the start and had been happy to rent the cottage to her. As a rule, Arizona viewed every outsider in