Running Hot (The Arcane Society #5)(29)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“Hunter,” Grace said quietly. “Sort of.”

“Damn. So much for Fallon’s probability theory.”

“It’s not just the odds that are bad here.” There was a shiver in her voice. She appeared transfixed. “The profile isn’t that of a normal hunter.”

“How is it different?”

“For one thing, it’s unevenly developed. It doesn’t reflect the full range of abilities that generally go with that type of talent. There are whole sections missing or blunted along the spectrum.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for starters, I’d say he doesn’t possess the ability to detect the psychic spoor of violence, which is a common aspect of an above-average hunter talent. He’s got the night vision and the strength and speed, though.”

“Anything else missing?” he asked. He did not take his attention off the man.

“Yes. There’s usually a strong correlation between intelligence and a high level of any kind of psychic ability. A level-eight or -nine hunter like him should possess above-average intelligence.”

“He doesn’t?”

“No. He’s not stupid but he’s not an independent thinker, that’s for sure. You’re looking at a guy who can be easily manipulated by someone who knows how to handle him; a man who would never question orders.”

“Not the brightest bulb on the tree, huh?”

“No.”

“Any chance that’s Eubanks?”

She shook her head. “Not unless the profile I was given was very badly flawed, which I doubt.”

Luther watched the driver open the rear door of the car. Another man climbed out. He looked to be in his late thirties, tall and square-jawed with a too-perfect tan that could only have come out of a spray can.

Grace drew a sharp breath and tensed again.

“That’s Eubanks,” she whispered. “High-level strat talent. Everything else fits, too.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“What’s with the rogue waves?” he asked.

She turned her head very quickly, stunned. “You can see them?”

“No offense, but I think they’d be hard to miss. I’ve seen some crazy people in my time. A lot of them have an erratic pulse in their auras. But not like those.”

Eubanks left the luggage to the driver and the bell staff, ignored the lei offered by the greeter and walked quickly toward the front desk.

“Junkies develop bizarre patterns, too,” Grace said hesitantly.

He studied Eubanks, thinking about that possibility. “A heavy user will throw off a lot of weird vibes. But in my experience, junkies’ auras resemble those of the crazies. You get a lot of what look like misfires or short-circuiting going on. The pattern is inherently unpredictable and makes it hard for the normal wavelengths to resonate, at least not for very long.”

“But this is a regular, repeating pattern,” she said, still speaking in that odd, soft tone. “A consistent rogue wave.”

“Which sounds like an oxymoron.”

“Why do you think Eubanks brought a hunter along?” she asked.

“Probably for the same reason that I’m here with you. The hunter is a bodyguard.”

He watched the way the hunter quartered the lobby, checking out each sector. The bodyguard’s gaze passed lightly over them and then moved on. There was no flicker of alarm in the pattern.

Grace seemed to relax a little. “He didn’t pay any attention to us.”

“Like you said, he’s not that sharp. Whatever the case, you’ve done your job. Time to get you off this island.” He hated the thought of sending her back to that little town on the Oregon coast, but he sure as hell did not want her anywhere near Eubanks.

“We’re not done yet,” she said. “You need me to help profile that hunter we ran into last night, remember?”

“The situation has become complicated.”

“I can do complicated.”

“You’re not going to do it here,” he said.

“You need a partner,” she insisted. “And I’m the only one handy. Eubanks is a very, very dangerous man and so is that hunter.”

“I know the cane doesn’t make a reassuring impression, but I do know how to do this kind of stuff.”

“I am well aware of what you can do,” she said. “I saw you in action last night. But you’re not crazy.”

That was interesting. “You think Eubanks is?”

“I think,” she said carefully, “that there’s something more than a little off about him, just like there is something off about his bodyguard.”

“The rogue waves?”

“Yes. I think you should stay away from both of those men.”

His first reaction was to start brooding over her obvious lack of confidence. Okay, so he wasn’t in the best of shape at the moment. Then it occurred to him that she was genuinely worried about his safety. He wasn’t sure how to take that. Go with the positive, he thought. She cares enough to be concerned.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “You know, instead of flying home to Eclipse Bay, you could go back to Honolulu and wait for me there. I won’t be here long. As soon as I phone Fallon, he’ll make arrangements for Eubanks to be put under long-term surveillance. I’ll hang around, see if I can find that hunter and then—”

He broke off because he realized she was not listening. Her attention was no longer on Eubanks, who had received his card key and was already striding impatiently toward the elevator lobby, the hunter by his side. Instead, she was watching another new arrival, a woman who had just gotten out of a white limo.

An executive, he decided, watching the woman direct the bell staff with an authoritative air. She was accompanied by a muscular man dressed in an ill-fitting jacket.

The woman ignored the proffered lei, just as Eubanks had done, and walked briskly through the lobby toward the front desk.

“Look at them,” Grace said urgently.

“I am looking at them. What is it?”

“Look at them.”

“Right.” Obediently he jacked up his senses again.

The woman’s aura flared, a cold array of icy blues and glassy greens.

“Wouldn’t be a good idea to get between her and whatever she happened to want,” he said mildly. “Had a captain like that once. All he cared about was getting into the commissioner’s office. He left footprints on the back of everyone who stood in the way.”