On the Hunt Read Online Free PDF Page B

“True.”
    “Unfortunately she’s too stubborn to accept that she might need my protection.”
    “Then it’s even more imperative that we find Jacob.”
    That much they could agree on.
    “Can you show me his room?”
    “Certainly.” The monk was instantly moving to pass by Mika and step out of the room. “This way.”
    In silence they traveled to the acolyte dormitory, climbing the narrow stone steps to reach the upper attic where the newest students were lodged.
    Mika grimaced as he studied the four narrow beds that were shoved into the center of the dark loft.
    In one corner was a washstand and in another a small shelf for the few belongings a student was allowed to have. Clean robes, an extra blanket, and one book from the monastery library.
    That was it.
    “I had forgotten how barren the cells are,” he muttered.
    “The fewer distractions, the less cluttered the mind.” Brother Noland spoke the words that every monk clearly had memorized.
    Mika crossed the loft, forced to bend over to avoid knocking himself out on the low, open-beamed ceiling.
    “Maybe, but we all have a few secrets that are tucked away,” he said, making a quick sweep of the seemingly empty room.
    In less than ten minutes he’d uncovered a stash of hidden nudie magazines, a homemade bottle of gin, and stack of letters from a lovesick girlfriend. Then, pulling up a warped floorboard beneath one of the beds, he at last found something of interest.
    Straightening, he unfolded the paper.
    Brother Noland moved to his side. “What is it?”
    “A map.” He pointed toward the X that had been marked along a narrow road leading into the nearby swamp. “This is where I found the car.”
    “Odd.” The monk gave a shake of his head. “Why there?”
    “It’s isolated. Other than that . . .” Mika shrugged, unable to think of any pressing reason someone would choose that particular spot.
    Taking the map, Brother Noland turned it over to read the short note that had been written on the back.
     
    Tuesday, eleven a.m.
     
    “This isn’t Jacob’s handwriting.”
    Mika took back the map, studying it with a frown. Although acolytes weren’t prisoners, as Bailey was so fond of claiming, they were cut off from much of the world.
    No cell phones, no TV, and no unofficial visitors.
    “Could someone smuggle in a message?” he demanded.
    “It wouldn’t have to be smuggled,” the monk said. “We don’t monitor the students’ mail.”
    “Damn.” About to toss the map aside, he instead lifted it to his nose as he caught an odd smell that clung to the paper. “Strange.”
    The monk watched him with a steady gaze. “What is it?”
    “Antiseptic.” Mika narrowed his gaze. “The sort of thing that a healer would use.”
    Without giving himself time to consider the late hour or the fact that Bailey was hardly likely to allow him into her cottage, he was headed toward the door.
    He had questions and he intended to get answers.
    Now.

Chapter Four
    Bailey had been determined to scrub Mika from her mind.
    What was the point in brooding on what-might-have-beens?
    It wasn’t like she could change the past. Even if a renegade part of her was whispering that she’d been a fool to ever walk away from the only man she’d ever loved.
    But while she determinedly cleaned the small cottage from top to bottom and concentrated on preparing her favorite eggplant parmesan for dinner, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from replaying her brief encounter with Mika.
    Over and over.
    Worse, she found her body unable to shake the restless desire that had been stirred to life by his arrival.
    Damn.
    She’d known plenty of handsome men over the years. Many of them far more charming than her stoic Sentinel.
    But no man had ever made her feel as if she’d been struck by lightning just by walking into a room. And certainly none of them had made her ache with the need to be wrapped in their arms.
    In the process of dishing up her dinner, Bailey abruptly stiffened.
    It