Read Online The Adventurer by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online

with you for your talents. Since you claim it's unlikely we'll ever find the earrings, I'm getting a heck of a deal, aren't I? If there aren't any profits in this, I won't have to split anything with you."
    "I see you've decided on the role of tough little cookie this morning. Just for the record, it doesn't suit you." Gideon took a swallow of his coffee.
    "You like me better as a scheming little seductress?"
    He grinned reluctantly. "I really ruffled your feathers, didn't I?"
    She glared at him. "I made a serious mistake in dealing with you the way I did yesterday. I can see that now. I should have been restrained and businesslike right from the start. Unfortunately that's not my normal nature."
    "I gathered that much."
    "That does not mean, however, that I can't behave in a restrained and businesslike manner when I put my mind to it."
    He looked frankly disbelieving. "Think so?"
    "Of course. And a restrained, adult, businesslike manner is precisely what I will project from now on. No nonsense. I shall just think of you as a business partner and deal with you as I would with one." She put her hand across the table. "Very well, Mr. Trace, we have a deal."
    He stared down at her extended palm and then slowly reached out to solemnly shake her hand. She allowed him to crush her fingers for about two seconds and then she quickly withdrew her hand to safety. "What about your cats?"
    He shrugged. "They'll be fine for a week or so. I've left them on their own before. My neighbor will check their food and water."
    "How long will you need to pack?"
    "I packed last night."
    "You're suddenly very eager for the hunt."
    "When do you want to leave?"
    She took a breath. "I'll be ready as soon as I settle the motel bill."
    "Fine. We'll take my car. You can leave yours at my place."
    Sarah looked at him and wondered if she was really intuitive or just plain crazy.
    Half an hour later she signed the credit card slip in the motel office while Gideon waited out in the parking lot, leaning against the fender of his car.
    "You a close friend of Trace's?" The inquisitive-eyed little clerk glanced out the window and back at Sarah. He was a thin, balding man in his sixties, dressed in brown polyester pants and an aging polo shirt. He had been pleasant enough, but it was clear he had a keen interest in local gossip.
    "We're business associates," Sarah said crisply. She finished her scrawling signature with her usual flourish.
    "Business associates, huh? Didn't know Gideon had any business associates. Thought he worked on that treasure-hunting magazine of his all by himself."
    Sarah smiled loftily. "He's acting as a consultant for me. I'm doing some research on treasure hunting for a book."
    "That right? Interestin'. Never met a real-life writer before. Except for Gideon, of course. And he don't exactly write books, just articles for that magazine of his. The two of you goin' somewhere together?"
    "A business trip."
    "Right. A business trip." The clerk chuckled knowingly. "Wished we d had business trips like that in my day. Well, at least this time Trace won't be goin' off alone on one of his business trips."
    That stopped Sarah just as she started to turn away toward the door. "He's gone off on trips before?"
    "Well, sure. 'Bout once a year he just ups and disappears for a while. Sometimes as long as a month." The clerk winked. "I asked him once where he went and he said on vacation. You the one he's been vacationin' with all these years?"
    "I don't really think that's any of your business." Sarah closed the door behind her on the sound of the desk clerk's cackling laughter.
    Gideon straightened away from the fender and unfolded his arms. He scowled. "Old Jess give you a hard time?"
    "Not really."
    "Why's he falling all over himself laughing in there?"
    "He thinks he's a stand-up comedian."
    They drove both cars back to the big old house on the bluff. Machu Picchu sat placidly on the top step watching as Gideon transferred Sarah's luggage from her car