Read Online Just Add Trouble (Hetta Coffey Mystery Series (Book 3)) by Jinx Schwartz - Free Book Online

Mexico, don’t you?”
    “Oh, jes. I’ve had a thing for Mexico my whole life, and I don’t imagine there are many Texans my age who don’t feel a kinship. It’s in the blood. And, hey, what’s not to like? If I can land a spot on this project, I’ll live on my boat right here at the marina. Best of both worlds.”
    “You wouldn’t be a subcontractor anymore, though. You’d actually be on someone’s clock. An employee, for crying out loud.”
    “I’d at least know where my next boat payment was coming from for a change.”
    He yawned and stretched. “Some things are more important than money.”
    “Oh, yeah, then why did you and your brother take that project in a war zone? For fun?”
    “There is no war in Kuwait.”
    “The whole damned Middle East is a war zone.”
    “It’s heating up around here, as well,” he teased, “judging by the color of your cheeks.”
    “Sunburn.”
    “Uh-hmm.”
    I felt my blood pressure inch up another notch, but decided, for once, not to let my mouth spoil what might be our last couple of days together. Ever.
    Jenks had concluded that, since I was working, he should get back to his project as well, before New Year’s Eve, I might add. Unable to reasonably object, I didn’t want to pitch a hissy and send him, pissed off, thousands of miles away, to a brother whose influence I didn’t think was in my best interests.
    After all, it was Lars who told Jan he and Jenks had plans for the future that did not include either of them being tied down. I never told Jenks I knew about the brotherly master plan, even though I yearned to breach the subject. Although it is against my nature to do so, I swallowed my chagrin and asked, “Isn’t it cocktail hour yet?”
    He checked his watch. “Somewhere. I’ll make us a drink while you call Jan back. She left a message on the machine today while you were gone. If you’re staying down here for a while, you probably need a Mexican cell phone.”
    “Right you are.” I walked to the Satfone and dialed Chino’s cell.
    Miracle of miracle, Jan answered. “ Bueno .”
    “¿ Bueno ? My, my, aren’t we adapting well? Got any new tortilla-slapping techniques to share?”
    “I’m ignoring that,” she singsonged. I have to admit, she sounded happy.
    “Where are you?”
    “San Carlos, Sonora.”
    “Where’s that?”
    “About two hundred and fifty miles south of Arizona. On the mainland.”
    “You’re not in Baja anymore?”
    “No, Dorothy, but if I click my ruby slippers and say it three times, maybe I could be.”
    “Dammit.”
    “Why dammit?”
    “I had a favor to ask. Never mind, too late.”
    “Oh, no, you don’t. You cannot pique natural nosiness and then leave me in the dark. What favor can’t I do?”
    “Well, like I told you, Chino wants us to get married, but he won’t do it until he tells his grandmother about me. We thought we’d drive down and see her, but he received a report of a landslide blocking the road to her village. Musta taken down the phone line, as well. There is only one phone in town anyhow, and it’s out.”
    There is a God. With any luck, Chino’s granny won’t be found for years. Bad, Hetta.
    “Hetta, you there?”
    “Yes.”
    “Anyhow, I thought you could stop by her village, bring her to the boat, and we’d talk with her on your satellite phone, but now you’re on the other side of the sea. Ironically, we are both in San Carlos.”
    True, but she was in San Carlos, Baja California Sur, and I was in San Carlos, Sonora. “You’re on the Tanuki Maru now?”
    “Yep, moved aboard yesterday. They’ve fixed us up a cozy cabin, but it still smells an itsy-bit fishy. It’s not the Tanuki Maru anymore, it’s re-christened the Research Vessel, Nao del Chino .”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “Well, the Manila galleons were called Nao de la China, ships from China. Even though they left from the Philippines, they carried lots of Chinese goods. In fact, they called Filipinos chinos . Thus