Read Online Prey by Linda Howard - Free Book Online

gut was suddenly uneasy. Maybe it was because this other situation had him feeling protective, but it was the same kind of gut feeling that would suddenly have him slowing down on a highway, without rhyme or reason, and five minutes later coming up on an accident, or a deer would leap across the road in front of him—things like that. His gut was uneasy now, and slowing down wouldn’t fix a damn thing.
    He periodically checked his cell phone for service; sometimes he’d hit a service pocket that he hadn’t known was there, or the atmospherics would magically deliver service where five minutes before none had existed. Out here the coverage was sketchy, but in his experience people lived here for a reason, and one of them was the more relaxed pace of life. He didn’t feel the need to be in constant contact with the world, and neither did anyone else. If he moved closer to Noah—hell,
when
he moved closer to Noah and the family, he might as well stop playing with the idea and commit—he’d have to adjust to the barrage of information. Ofcourse, he could always be the old coot who never turned on his cell phone unless he wanted to make a call, then promptly turned it off again. That worked for him.
    He finally got service right before he got back to his office, which was normal. No point then in wasting any of his minutes, so he used the office landline. The answering machine picked up, but he’d have been surprised if Dare had actually answered, anyway; it wasn’t as if he spent his time in the house waiting for a call, and cell service was just as bad out at Dare’s place as it was everywhere else in the area, so he didn’t even bother trying that number. “Dare, it’s Harlan. I gave Angie your offer, and she’s made a counteroffer. Call me.”
    The return call came less than half an hour later. Dare’s voice was as raw and rough as January, as usual, and brusque, also as usual. Dare was a good guy and Harlan liked him, but even his friends thought he was as hard as nails and as ornery as a bull. “What’s the counteroffer?”
    “Ten thousand less than her asking price. It’s a fair number.”
    “It was a fair number two years ago, but property values have tanked. That’s twenty thousand more than I offered. I’m not made of cash,” he said irritably. “I don’t know if I can get the bank to go any higher on how much it’ll finance.”
    At least he hadn’t said a flat-out no. “Give it some thought,” Harlan urged. “Nothing has to be done right now. In fact, Angie’s taking two guys out in the morning on a weeklong guide trip, so she’ll be out of pocket anyway. I’ll get with the bank, get an appraisal done, then we’ll both have a better idea on the value of the property. I think she’s in the ballpark, though. I’d have told her if I thought she was asking too much.” And she needed to sell, but Harlan kept that thought to himself. Her financial problems were her business, and not his to broadcast.
    “All right, I’ll think about it,” Dare growled.
    “That’s good. I’ll get back with you when she’s home again.” Harlan’s gut nudged him; maybe he should get Dare’s opinion onthe situation. Never mind that Dare and Angie weren’t the best of friends, this was kind of a professional consultation. And if he worked this right, he might be able to wrangle something even more important out of the conversation. “Say, there’s something that’s bothering me, and I want your opinion.”
    Dare paused briefly; he wasn’t someone who obligated himself without knowing the details. Harlan had no doubt that if they hadn’t known each other Dare would have said “No” and hung up the phone. But they did know each other, so he pushed the advantage. “It’s about Angie.”
    A low grunt sounded. “What about her?”
    “This guide trip … I feel a tad uneasy about it. She’s going off for a week with two men she doesn’t know. Well, one guy is someone she’s guided before,