The Saint Read Online Free

wasn’t going to be happy until she had one, as well. Or two, or three. However many it took to show Austin she didn’t miss him.
    Winston was watching the three-legged zebra race, which involved bags painted with black and white stripes. “Do you think,” he asked suddenly, “that any of these kids even know why they’re called the Fighting Zebras at Heyday High?”
    â€œHeck, no,” Linda said.
    Kieran knew that was probably true. Many of Heyday’s younger citizens had no idea that the city got its name because a trainer for a little nomadic circus got drunk one night and left the animal cages unlocked.
    They didn’t know about the zebras, which, once having escaped, had eluded capture for days, then weeks…and then forever. Long after the monkeys and the lion had been recovered, long after the circusowner had decided to cut his losses and move on, the clever zebras remained at large.
    For months, people reported sightings of zebras galloping in the woods, zebras strolling in the park, zebras grazing along the highway. But the two animals danced in and out, taunting their would-be captors, and eventually the fairy tale of freedom caught the public eye.
    Newspapers as far away as D.C. wrote stories. “Zebras Have a Heyday,” the first story proclaimed. And the little town of Moresville, tired of being “Boresville,” saw its chance to reinvent itself. On the Fourth of July, nineteen hundred and three, the mayor had gleefully knocked down his gavel on a five-to-one vote, and Heyday was born.
    Every Fourth of July since, the city had sponsored its Ringmaster Parade. Most people didn’t ask why. They merely accepted that the city would elect a Ringmaster and Ringmistress, just as they accepted that the Big Top Diner had a roof like a circus tent, and that the bartenders at the Black and White Lounge wore striped tuxedos topped with zebra ears on a headband and springs.
    â€œSo.” Winston shifted from one foot to the other and was apparently having trouble deciding where to look. Linda Tremel’s rather large chest seemed to take up too much of his field of vision. “So, Kieran, what time do you head for Richmond in the morning?”
    Oh, hell.
    Kieran could feel the curiosity emanating from Linda. But what could he do? If he told the truth, that he was going to spend the weekend in Richmond, she’d be giddy with speculation. If he evaded or lied, it would look suspicious.
    And it wasn’t suspicious. That he should be heading for a conference in the city where Claire Strickland now lived was a minor coincidence, yes. But Richmond was a big city. Probably two thousand people went there every day without running into Claire Strickland, either deliberately or accidentally. He’d just be number two thousand and one.
    â€œActually, I’m leaving tonight,” he said as blandly as possible. “The conference starts early in the morning.”
    â€œYou’re going to Richmond?” Linda had begun to smile. “Richmond?”
    â€œYes,” he said. “I’m speaking at a coaching conference. I’ll just be there overnight.”
    â€œAre you planning to—”
    â€œNo.”
    She chuckled. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
    â€œYes, I do. And the answer is no. It’s purely a working trip. I won’t be making any social calls while I’m in town.”
    Winston looked confused. “But you’ll have the evening free, Kieran,” he said. “You know that time’s your own to do whatever you want. Social calls are fine.”
    Kieran laughed. This was becoming the conversational equivalent of gum on your shoe. “Linda’s joking, Win. I don’t want to make any social calls.”
    Linda grinned. “Yes, but if you do—”
    â€œI won’t.”
    â€œOkay, fine. But if you do. ” She winked at him. “Give her a kiss for me.