Truth Or Dare by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page B

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    Feds .

6
    I’m not concerned about her two female friends,” Grant Loring said into the pay phone. “From what you’ve told me, neither of them sounds like a potential problem.”
    “Yes, sir, I agree,” John Branch said on the other end of the line.
    Grant had to listen closely to catch the words. The dull roar of background noise in the huge mall made it difficult to hear clearly.
    It was ridiculous having to conduct business on a pay phone in a shopping mall, he thought. It was also tiresome and inefficient. Over the course of the past few days he’d spent an inordinate amount of extremely valuable time in cabs coming or going from malls and sprawling Scottsdale resorts in order to make use of anonymous phones.
    The communications difficulties were only part of the problem. He’d had to tell Branch to leave the copies of the photos and the file taped to the bottom of a toilet in a men’s room because he couldn’t risk having the data sent via computer. He was forced to use cash for everything, which was also a real pain in the ass. The most annoying aspect of the situation was that he was obliged to rely on third-rate personnel such as the elderly private investigator for data collection.
    But he knew only too well that in an age when phones could be monitored from thousands of miles away and credit card transactions could be easily traced on the Internet, the low-tech approach was the only way to go if he hoped to avoid drawing the attention of some old and ruthless enemies.
    Two years ago he’d lived his business life on-line and it had nearly gotten him killed.
    He waited until a gaggle of boisterous teenagers had moved past the entrance to the phone lobby before he resumed the conversation.
    “Like I said, we don’t have to worry about the two females. According to Russell’s report, one of them is a certified nutcase with a history of having been committed to a psychiatric hospital, and the other one is a single mother who works part-time in a library.”
    “Yes, sir,” Branch said.

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    “If Arcadia Ames were to simply disappear, the only thing that either of those women could do would be to file a missing persons report,” Grant said, speaking more to himself than to Branch. “No one pays any attention to missing persons reports. Thousands get logged and ignored every year.”
    “The PI, Truax, could be a problem, though. If Ames turns up missing, he might decide to go looking.
    He’d know how to do it.”
    “Russell’s report says that the crazy woman, the one called Zoe, is married to him.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “That’s damn strange. What kind of an investigator would be dumb enough to marry an escapee from a lunatic asylum?”
    “I’m sorry, sir,” Branch said somberly. “I don’t have the answer to that.”
    Grant wanted to bang the receiver against the wall a few times in frustration. Branch was useful, but he had his limitations. The guy was very tightly wound. Privately Grant was starting to call him Weird John.
    “Truax is an unknown and I don’t like unknowns,” he said.
    “Russell offered to do a more complete background check on him. I can give her a call and have her proceed.”
    Grant considered that briefly. “No, let’s not involve her again in this thing. She already knows more than she should. If Truax is legitimate, it won’t be too hard to get a fix on him. I’ll handle it personally.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Where are you now?”
    “In my apartment,” Branch said. “I was planning to work out this afternoon. Want me to stay close to the phone?”
    The guy was obsessed with his workouts, Grant thought. Or something. Definitely weird.
    “Not necessary,” Grant said. “This will take a while. I’ll call you at five-thirty. I should know by then whether or not Truax is going to be an issue.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Grant hung