The Prisoner's Gold (The Hunters 3) Read Online Free PDF

right past him without so much as a glance. McNutt merely shrugged and went back to reading the latest issue of
Guns and Ammo
, as if this type of thing happened every day.
    Meanwhile, Garcia had a much different reaction. Dressed in a
Skyfall
T-shirt, knee-length shorts, and sandals, he grabbed his laptop and retreated to the opposite side of the dining room table from where he had been working. Behind him was a huge picture window that looked out on a magnificent terrace interspersed with interlocking swimming pools and palm trees. He figured Sarah was less likely to throw something at him if he was standing in front of glass.
    ‘It wasn’t my fault,’ Garcia shouted in his defense.
    Sarah glared at him. ‘Not you, Hector. You were just the messenger boy. I’m looking for Papi. I know he’s here. I saw his yacht in the marina.’
    At that moment, a short Chinese woman in her early forties entered the room from the kitchen. She carried a plate of steaming scrambled eggs and bacon, which she set down in front of Garcia as if she was a waitress at his favorite diner.
    Garcia thanked the woman quietly, then sat down to eat.
    Stunned, Sarah rocked back on her heels and examined the stranger.
    She had a flat nose, black hair pinned back behind her head, and bright red lipstick. Her outfit was a dark exercise suit partially covered by a white apron.
    She smiled at Sarah. ‘Mr Papineau assured me he would be here for breakfast.’
    ‘Um … thanks.’
    ‘You’re welcome,’ the woman said before slipping back into the kitchen.
    Sarah remained frozen. ‘Who the hell was that?’
    Garcia shrugged and mumbled, ‘Looks like Papi’s got himself a maid.’ Then he shoveled some eggs into his mouth, grateful to be eating something other than Twinkies.
    ‘A maid? How do we know we can trust—’
    Before Sarah could finish her question, the woman came sweeping out of the kitchen again, this time with a bowl of spiced beef and rice in one hand and a pair of silver-tipped ebony chopsticks in the other. She set them down on a side table next to McNutt.
    He smiled and bowed politely. ‘
Xièxiè
.’
    Sarah’s mouth hung open as the woman scurried back to the kitchen again without a wasted step. Somehow she appeared to glide rather than walk. Sarah looked from the doorway to the kitchen, back to McNutt, then over to Garcia, then back to McNutt.
    ‘What did you say to her?’ she demanded.
    McNutt picked up a piece of beef with the chopsticks. ‘I said, “Thank you”.’
    Garcia stopped eating. ‘You speak Chinese?’
    ‘Hell no. Learning Putonghua is like trying to herd cats in the nude. You can do it, but you’re gonna hurt yourself.’
    Garcia was confused. ‘Wait. But you just said—’
    ‘I can say “thanks” and order beer in a bunch of languages. I can also say “How much for the girl with the donkey” in Tagalog, but that’s a loooong story with lots of graphic details.’
    Sarah rubbed her eyes in frustration. ‘Dear God, please don’t tell it.’
    A moment later, Sarah sensed someone behind her. She opened her eyes, and the Chinese woman was standing a foot away. Somehow she had slipped back into the room without the whisper of a sound. Sarah jolted back away from her.
    ‘Would you care for some breakfast?’ the woman asked. Up close, her face was smooth, with just the hint of laugh lines around her eyes.
    ‘Uh … no, thanks,’ Sarah managed. She was about to ask the woman’s name, but before she could the woman flitted across the room to McNutt’s chair.
    ‘You like the Naxi beef, Joshua?’
    He smiled. ‘Yes, ma’am. It’s delicious.’
    She beamed with pride. ‘It is, isn’t it?’
    Then she zoomed off to the kitchen again.
    Sarah turned and glared at McNutt. ‘
Ma’am?
Did you say
ma’am
? Wow. It looks like someone’s been taking his medication.’
    McNutt put the bowl up to his face and shoveled in some rice. ‘What?’ he said with a mouthful of food. ‘I have great