Free Primal Calling by Jillian Burns Page A

her plate. “This meal was as good as any five-star restaurant I’ve been in.”
    Chris beamed. “Thank you.”
    â€œWouldn’t Max normally come to a gathering like this? Would he have come if I wasn’t here?”
    Chris was shaking his head before she finished the sentence. “No way. He’s our resident hermit. He’s my business partner, but he won’t even come to dinner when it’s just me and Arna. Even before the crash, he—”
    â€œChris.” Arna shut him down with a stern frown.
    An uncomfortable moment passed and her husband bowed out, gathering plates from the other guests. Arna held Serena’s gaze, her scowl replaced with a placid expression.
    â€œIs there something you don’t want me to know about Max Taggert?”
    The hotel owner shook her head. “He may keep to himself, but whenever we have needed him, he has been there. As for the rest, it is his story to tell.” She turned and walked away.
    His story? Did that mean the rumors about him were not just rumors? But Chris had started to say something about before the plane crash. It sounded as if there might be more secrets in Max Taggert’s life.
    â€œHow long are you staying, Serena?” the mayor asked.
    â€œI’m not sure yet. I’m supposed to be in Buenos Aires in a couple of weeks.”
    â€œThis weekend we celebrate the Piuraagiaqta , the Spring Festival. There are games for the children and people dressed in costumes. I hope you will attend?”
    â€œThe pee-ur-ahg-ee- ahk -tah?” A perfect excuse to get out and meet more people and question them about Max. Surely there was someone else in this town who knew what had happened to him. She just had to ask around. Isn’t that what investigative journalists did?
    She smiled at the mayor. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Besides, she enjoyed learning the traditions and customs of the people she visited. The stories and legends that were passed down from generation to generation. She would miss that after she quit. She ought to buy a video camera while she was here and record the festival.
    But mostly, it gave her a reason to stay in town, toseek out Max. She wanted to find out what his story was, learn everything about him. She couldn’t explain her fascination with the man. All she knew was that she was here now, and she didn’t want to go until she’d discovered what had really happened out there in the aftermath of his plane crash, and what had put such sorrow in his eyes.
    The fact that she wanted to soothe his anguish was completely beside the point.

6
    â€œI ’M SO GLAD you could attend our Piuraagiaqta this weekend, Ms. Sandstone.” Mayor Chuka appeared by Serena’s side as she stood along the main road waiting for the parade to start.
    â€œMe, too, and please, call me Serena.” Considering the size of the town, there was a fairly large crowd gathered here this morning. The sun was shining, which was nice. It’d been cloudy since she got here.
    The gloomy weather hadn’t bothered her too much because she’d spent the past two days mostly in her room researching any and everything to do with the plane crash.
    Turned out investigative journalism could be kind of boring. But she had managed to learn a few interesting facts.
    The weather recorded for the day of the crash was clear and sunny. No storms, no ice, no weather-related reason for the crash. She’d also learned—via a not-quite-above-board interview with a really nice guy atthe Barrow Savings and Loan—that Max had bought his new plane with funds that had appeared in his account from a bank in Dallas, Texas.
    And Max’s father lived in Texas. So, maybe his father had loaned him the money. Nothing underhanded about that.
    But she’d also learned that the man whose life Max had saved was Beau Ramsey, COO of a company called NRT Transport. NRT Transport also had an