BooksBarbecue
Back Cold Aim Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR JANICE CANTORE
  3. Map of Rogue’s Hollow
  4. Dedication
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. Epigraph
  7. PROLOGUE
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. 52
  60. 53
  61. EPILOGUE
  62. 1
  63. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  64. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

“I hear you met the hermit.”

“Ah.” Tess smiled. Just about everyone wanted to know about Livie Harp. “The Rogue telegraph spreads the news. I did. She’s impressive, but quite the enigma.”

“I remember when she moved up here. The telegraph was on fire. I would have bet that she was in witness protection, but—” he arched an eyebrow—“I’m not sure that makes sense. You have any thoughts?”

“To be honest, I’ve been trying to dig into her background, figure out what gives. I haven’t had any luck. She certainly is off the grid and self-sustained. But she doesn’t cause any problems for me, that’s for sure.”

“Well, if you get a chance to visit her again, think of your old friend Steve Logan, okay?” He spread his hands. “I’d like to get a read on her. She takes prepping to the next level.”

“You got it.”

Steve gave a thumbs-up and left her office.

Tess brooded. She’d wanted to tell him about the witness being sheltered and hoped he’d forgive her if he had to learn about it in a different manner.

11

Ice cooled his heels in Reno for a few days. While he waited for the incident in San Jose to calm down, he’d changed his appearance. He studied his face in the hotel mirror as if memorizing his new look. He’d buzzed his hair and then dyed what remained jet-black and left his beard to grow a bit. He didn’t care for this look, but it was necessary. He’d changed his appearance many times over the years, ever since he’d shed the name Royal for Ice. He wasn’t even averse to makeup or color-tinted contacts. He’d gotten good with makeup and fancied himself a master of disguise. It had to be done, so he’d live with this new change as long as he needed to.

From what he read on the San Jose news sites, the girl he’d left next to the dead cheater had given the police a good description of him, but not perfect. It helped that the cheater had drugged her enough to make her unsure of just about everything. He didn’t like to waste time on regrets, so he didn’t go down the road that said he should have killed her too. At any rate, that was miles behind him now. He was hunkered down at a cheap hotel in downtown Reno. The secret to staying free was to move fast and without hesitation. It always took the cops a while to catch up, so he was used to moving along. And he never used credit cards; his life operated on untraceable cash.