Read Online Hot by John Lutz - Free Book Online Page A

water forced through their system by their forward motion is what provides their oxygen.”
    “Interesting.”
    She brightened. “Really?”
    “Sure. I know people who can only breathe during forward motion.”
    She cocked her head and looked him up and down as if he were interesting sea life. Her gaze snagged for a moment on the cane and stiff leg, then moved on. “Would you like me to give you the tour?”
    “That’s why I came here,” Carver said.
    She smiled in a way that let him know she didn’t believe that for one second.
    She stood next to him and they moved along the displays while she identified each sea creature, some of them by their Latin names. Most of them she merely pointed to, but a few she picked up so Carver could view them more closely, or look at their undersides.
    “You’re a biologist?” he asked, when they’d made the circuit of the room.
    “Oceanographer, actually. However, I’m interested primarily in the habits of sharks, which is Dr. Sam’s field.”
    “Dr. Sam?”
    “Dr. Samuel Bing. He’s very big in shark research. Dr. Sam’s what everyone calls him. He’s chief researcher and director of the research center and aquarium. When I graduated from college last year, one of my professors suggested I write him and ask if he needed an assistant. I was surprised when I got an answer, even more surprised when I got the job.”
    “Why sharks?” Carver asked.
    Katia crossed her arms, hugging herself as if chilled, but she was smiling. “Did you know there are sensory areas all over them that pick up distress signals of prey?, In fact, their entire bodies are sensors, with a compulsion to feed. They’re like living fossils, as primitive as anything on land or in the sea, yet so little is actually known about them. It’s the mystery that attracts me, I suppose.” The shark behind the glass glided close, gazing out with the round, merciless eyes that had seen the Paleolithic era.
    “They intelligent?” Carver asked.
    “Not in the way we think of intelligence. But they’re ideally suited for what they do.”
    “Which is?”
    “They’re perfect predators. They eat and eat and eat.”
    “I remember that from the movie.” Looking at the shark’s torpedo-shaped, powerful body and toothy, underslung jaw, he could believe everything Katia told him, and almost share her fascination. Something about predators. “This Dr. Sam, does he live here at the research center?”
    “Almost. He and his wife, Millicent, have a house about quarter of a mile down Shoreline. Practically next door.”
    “She the woman in the brochure photo?”
    Katia seemed confused for a moment, then said, “Oh! Right. That’s Dr. Sam and Millicent.”
    “When I drove up,” Carver said, “I noticed this place affords a clear view of the Walter Rainer estate. Henry ever ask about that?”
    She hesitated, carefully sizing up Carver before sharing. He liked that. “I’m sure Henry doesn’t want me spreading it around, but yeah, he wondered if I’d seen anything suspicious going on over there.”
    “And had you?”
    She looked down at a display of anemones. “I’m not sure. I live in town, but occasionally I stay overnight here. There’s a lot of activity over there some nights. Early mornings, actually.”
    “What kind of activity?”
    “Can’t tell from here. All I ever saw were lights, people moving around. And that big boat over there puts to sea now and then at odd hours.”
    “Any of it mean anything to you?” Carver asked.
    She laughed. “I thought you were the detective.”
    “That’s why I asked. I’m a snoop.”
    “No, it means little to me. But on the other hand, I haven’t given it much thought. My mind’s on my work.”
    “Sharks,” Carver said.
    “And my other duties. I’m a scientist, not a busybody.”
    “You think Henry Tiller’s a busybody?”
    She slid her hand into a pocket but wasn’t reaching for anything. Left it there. “No, Henry gets a little befuddled at