Finding Kate Huntley Read Online Free PDF Page B

sensible precautions was asking for trouble.
    She pulled the brim of the straw hat Alourdes had given her low over her eyes and merged into the crowded street. It seemed Coffey had disappeared into thin air. The tie-dyed T-shirt he was wearing would be hard to miss. She’d only known him for a few days, and for most of that time he’d been out of commission, but here she was worrying about the guy.
    Ridiculous . She had enough problems without running after a suicidal FBI man. And yet something about him made her yearn for something more, telling her that maybe it was time to stop hiding. Time to return to the States and avenge not only her father’s death, but Dr. Forstin’s; Coffey was her quickest and safest means out of here. She needed to find him before he got himself killed.
    She pushed her way up the street, weaving a path through the throng. The piece of paper she found in the pocket of Coffey’s torn shirt had Rue Christ-Roi scribbled on it. Rue Christ-Roi was a main street in the center of town, which meant his hotel must be somewhere in that vicinity. She’d look for him there first, and if she couldn’t find him, she’d head back to port.
    She stepped up her pace, finally stopping in the shadow of a mechanic’s garage to watch the crowds. A traveling band pushed their way through the middle of the street, adding to the chaos. A string of dancers followed, kicking up dust as they went. Vendors shouted and waved sequined flags. The smell of simmering hot pork made her stomach gurgle. Through the haze of dust and smoke she finally saw it...swirls of a blue and maroon T-shirt.
    An impaired gait and pale face made Coffey an easy target.
    She watched him cross the busy street of Rue Christ-Roi and disappear inside the modest hotel next to the Hospice St. Joseph. She was about to follow after him when she saw a bearded man with a sling, the same man she’d shot in the arm three days ago when Jack had her cuffed on the boat. The bearded man grabbed hold of a young man standing next to him and pointed toward Jack. The younger man’s dark hair was slicked back into a ponytail. He, too, had been on the boat. Without hesitation, the younger man set out after Jack. The bearded man watched for a moment before he turned the other way and walked off.
    Damn! The bearded man wasn’t the only one watching Jack. Ben Sheldon, the man whose ID they had stolen, stood a few feet away from the building where Jack was staying. These guys meant business. Sheldon flung his cigarette butt to the ground, crushing it with the heel of his shoe. He lifted his gaze, glancing about, prompting Kate to lean back into the darker shadows of the garage. What was Coffey thinking marching into the hotel as if he hadn’t a care in the world?
    Sure enough, Sheldon walked into the same building Coffey had entered. Two against one. The odds were not in Coffey’s favor.
    After waiting for a graffiti-covered car to pass, Kate made her way across the street and into the hotel, which was nothing more than a two-story guest house. The wooden floors creaked.
    Before Kate reached the stairs, she felt a hard jab in the center of her spine. “Come with me,” a voice said from behind. “No funny business if you want to stay—”
    Before the man could finish his sentence, she jerked around and took hold of his arm, twisting it with bone-jarring finality. Sheldon crumpled to the ground in agony. His gun hit the ground with a satisfying clank.
    “You broke my goddamn arm!”
    Kate tossed the straw hat from her head and knelt down, sinking her knee into his gut. She took a firm hold of his arm. “Definitely broken,” she said, dropping it to his side.
    “Bitch.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Like I’ve never heard that before.” She patted him down to see if he was carrying anymore weapons. He was clean. “So, you work for the FBI?”
    He remained silent.
    She pulled his cigarettes from his pocket, taking a moment to admire the burnished aluminum