Read Online The Hunter by Gennita Low - Free Book Online Page A

ever-popular American dinners that made her café a regular haunt for soldiers and diplomats. Usually she mingled with them, especially those who had been working in the area for a while. She learned a lot of useful information that way. Everyone who was around long enough knew that The Last Resort was the place to buy, sell, or pass on information. And sometimes get some free chocolate cookies, she added with mockery.
    It took a while for the setup to work. An American-like café in Velesta was a good front. The CIA had told her that the soldiers were getting restless with their peacekeeping duties and needed something to distract them other than carousing at the girlie bars. It also attracted the locals who were curious about anything foreign. Then there were the kafena owners, who came here to make friends with the soldiers, giving them cards for “free” massages and other favors from “their” girls. The CIA liked the idea.
    It was in this setting that information flowed like the beer she served. Some she bought, some she passed on to gain favors, and others…she gave to Dilaver as a gesture to show she was not one to take sides. By making the café a popular drinking hole for the soldiers, she avoided many of the dangers of running a business in a town owned by various other mercenary gangs. She didn’t have to deal with giving protection money as long as she provided all sides with what they needed.
    And no one questioned an American woman doing shady business while running a café. This was Velesta. Everyone had a shady background and ran something illegal. It would be suspicious if she had been a regular businesswoman, choosing, of all places, to settle here in this crime city. No, Amber Hutchens fitted right in, and everyone respected her very quiet ways of running an information ring.
    CIA-approved information ring, Amber corrected, as she put away the cash in the safe. She looked at the stack of fake passports in there. And non-CIA approved human smuggling ring. She punched in the security codes, turned, and froze at the sight of a fully clothed Hawk McMillan before her.
    “How did…mmmmph!” A cold cloth covered her mouth and nose.
     
    Hawk was prepared this time. He knew the most likely first reaction was to grab the hand against her mouth, and when Amber did that, he effectively countered it by knocking her off balance with a quick sweep of his foot. Then he lifted her off her feet and trapped her body against the wall with his weight. She jerked up, struggling to loosen her hands, trying to use her legs for leverage.
    Hawk pushed in between them, lifting her higher against the wall and pressing down on Amber. Her eyes glared at him, even as he felt her strength leaving her body. She wrapped her legs around his waist.
    “I believe we’ve done this position before,” he told her softly as he watched her eyes lose focus and slowly close. He kept the cloth on her mouth for a few more seconds, just in case she was pretending. Her legs slid off him. He loosened his hold and her head rolled forward, resting under his chin.
    Sliding his hand down to hold her so he could lower her to the floor, Hawk made contact with bare skin. He suddenly realized that the skirt she had on had ridden up to her waist when she had lifted her legs. He moved his hand down the side of her thigh, felt silky skin and a strap. Following it to the front, he encountered a holster holding a small weapon.
    Note to self. The woman was always armed when her legs were open. Hawk’s lips quirked. Since the holster was strapped to her left thigh, he supposed she was right-handed. Unless she was ambidextrous. He followed his instincts and checked the other thigh.
    “I’ll be damned,” he murmured. The lady had a small knife holster there. Not a good idea to piss her off. His grin grew wider. Too damn late. He removed the weapons one at a time, looping the knife into the back of his black tool belt and slipping the gun into a side