Finding Kate Huntley Read Online Free PDF Page A

before I boarded the plane to come here.”
    Kate’s green eyes blazed. “Did you ever stop to think that there might be a connection between your desire to reopen the case and Dr. Forstin’s murder?”
    “Yes, but...”
    “And you came anyhow? Knowing that the same cold-blooded killers could be watching your every move?”
    He gingerly raised the arm on his good side, testing it out. “My boss, Agent Harrison, assured me—”
    “Jack,” she cut in, visibly shaken. “Who, other than Agent Harrison, knew you were reopening the case?”
    “The agency determined it best to keep our plans quiet. I agreed.”
    She touched his shoulder. “Don’t you find it odd they picked you, Jack? Why you?”
    “Because of my eidetic memory and because they knew I would get the job done.”
    Frustration lined her brow. “I don’t think you realize the danger you’ve put yourself in. Someone is determined to stop the discovery of a vaccine for AIDS...someone in a high position, somebody with power, money, and contacts.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “Two years ago a vaccine known as AidVac completed Phase III of clinical trials...the last step before food and drug companies can seek approval from the FDA.”
    Jack nodded.
    “Dr. Forstin followed the clinical trials closely. Before the initial results were ever made public, Michael Lang, the inventor of AidVac, was hit by a truck, killed on impact. Two days later another valuable researcher died of an apparent heart attack while on a family picnic. He was forty-one years old. What are the odds?”
    “I’d like to see the autopsy reports,” Jack said. “When I get back to the States, I’ll look into it. I promise.” He reached down and struggled to get his pants on with one arm.
    Kate went to her knees and helped insert his feet into his trousers. Her hand brushed against his leg. “In a few days,” she said, “you might want to start exercising the arm on your bad side to get the blood flowing. You won’t be able to lift anything heavy for a while.”
    “Haitian Medical School?”
    “No, just good old common sense.” She got his pants as far as his knees and said, “Now try and stand.”
    He did as she said, but his Joe Boxers couldn’t hide the fact that her close proximity had affected him. She raised her hands in surrender and backed off. “I think I’ll let you take it from here.”
    “It’s not often I’m dressed by a beautiful woman,” he said in his defense.
    She shook her head at him as if he’d lost all sense.
    Although he would have preferred to have her help, he managed to get dressed on his own. When he accomplished that task, he looked at her and smiled.
    She smiled back, catching him off-guard. She didn’t smile often, but when she did, her eyes lit up, emitting a warm aura around her. She was a survivor. And she was beautiful, her mouth nothing short of mesmerizing. He leaned forward and kissed her. When he pulled back, he had a hard time deciphering what she was thinking.
    “Now I know why your mother named you Jack,” she said.
    “Why is that?”
    “It’s obviously short for Jack Ass. Do that again and you’ll need more than the Gran Bwa to save your hide.”
    He reared back as she swept past him and out of the hut.
    Damn. What was he thinking? He’d been chosen by the agency because he was professional, responsible. They knew they could count on him. Good old reliable Jack. He looked about the room for a shirt and grabbed the closest thing to it...a ragged looking tie-dyed T-shirt. It wasn’t easy getting the shirt over his head, but he managed. He felt achy and sore. He shoved his pistol into his waistband and pulled the shirt over it. After retrieving his wallet and the credit card with the prints, he pushed them deep into his pants pocket. Unlike Kate, he was certain the agency had nothing to do with jeopardizing the discovery of a cure to the AIDS epidemic. Regardless, he needed to talk to Harrison.
    Pushing open the goatskin