Trading Secrets by Jayne Castle

Author:Jayne Castle [Castle, Jayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Romance, Fiction, Regency
ISBN: 9780440190530
Google: kT4WAAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0440190533
Publisher: Dell Pub Co
Published: 1985-07-14T14:30:00+00:00

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Chapter Seven

Sooner or later, Matt decided, the man ahead of him was going to realize he'd lost his quarry and turn back. When he did, he would find the quarry waiting right behind him. Matt had doubled back ten minutes ago, gliding through the heavy night-darkened foliage that paralleled the narrow dirt trail. Now he paced silently along behind the would-be hunter, studying the man he would soon be questioning.

American. He had to be from the States. He was dressed like a local Buena Ventura farmer in a pair of flaring trousers, sandals, and a wide-sleeved shirt that fastened with strings instead of buttons. But he walked like a man who'd been raised on city streets and trained according to a manual. Matt knew that look of military handbook training. He'd had to unlearn a fair amount of it before he had become effective in the jungles of the Caribbean and South America.

So the guy ahead of him was American and trained. That narrowed the possibilities when it came to drawing up lists of the man's probable employers.

The moon was rising swiftly now, silvering the dark shadows along the old trail. There was no point trying for the rendezvous. Valdez wouldn't hang around the shrine more than half an hour and Matt wouldn't risk leading the asshole in the farmer suit to the meeting place.

Annoyed at having his plans changed by the incompetent ahead of him, Matt closed his fingers around the worn leather grip of the knife he wore as a sidearm. He liked the feel of it better than he liked the feel of the bulky .45 he also carried.

Ahead of him the hunter, who hadn't realized he was now the hunted, came to an uncertain halt on a small rise in the trail. Peering ahead with the limited aid of the moon, he seemed to realize finally that there was no longer anyone to be followed.

Matt melted into the protective cover of a tall broad-leafed plant and waited. A few seconds later the man in the farmer's outfit gave up and turned back the way he had come. When he was abreast of the tall plant, Matt moved. He slid out of the darkness, throwing his whole weight into the jolting blow that sent his victim to the ground. Then he let him feel the tip of the knife.

"You've just made a long trip for nothing," he murmured as the man froze. "What's more, you've caused me to make a long trip for the same reason. I'm upset. I want some answers. And I want them quickly. Do we understand each other?"

"August, for Christ's sake. Put down the knife. We're on the same side."

Matt pressed the point of the knife a fraction deeper, just short of drawing blood. "Not likely. Folks on my side wouldn't try to trail me when I've made it very clear I didn't want any backup. Try again."

"It was for your own protection!" The man gasped. "Will you stop playing with that damn knife?"

"I use knives.

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