The Pretender (The Soren Chase Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

track his movements. He traveled several miles before he arrived at the rendezvous spot. A black sedan was parked on a quiet street by the Potomac River, just where it should be. Rakev opened the passenger door and stepped inside.
    “Everything go okay, boss?” the driver asked.
    Rakev looked over at his companion. He was barely four feet tall and looked slightly ridiculous behind the wheel of a vehicle. He had red hair tucked underneath a black fedora and a beard that appeared unruly and untrimmed.
    Despite Rakev’s requests, Lochlan never dressed in traditional green. The leprechaun wore a dark, pinstriped suit with a black tie. He looked more like a gangster than a centuries-old mythic creature, which was undoubtedly the point.
    “Peachy,” Rakev replied. “I thought that place was supposed to have crack security.”
    “It’s the Pentagon, boss,” he said in his Irish brogue. “It’s as good as the humans get.”
    Rakev gave a short, amused laugh.
    “Somebody should really tell them they suck,” he said.
    He held out the gun for Lochlan to admire. The leprechaun’s eyes widened.
    “It’s beautiful,” Lochlan said.
    “I know, right? Way prettier in person than in the schematic.”
    “I’m glad our intelligence about it was correct,” Lochlan said.
    Rakev grinned. “You should be. I would have had to kill you if it’d been wrong.”
    Rakev slapped Lochlan on the arm, enjoying how the leprechaun flinched. He put the gun away, tucking it into a jacket pocket.
    “I found out where the gun was,” Lochlan said. “Ya gonna tell me why we need it?”
    “It’s a surprise,” Rakev said. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
    Lochlan eased the car onto the road and started driving back to headquarters in DC.
    “Now, isn’t it time we grabbed our next guest?” Rakev continued.
    The leprechaun shook his head.
    “Ya sure it can’t wait?” Lochlan asked. “I keep tellin’ ya this is a bad idea.”
    “All of my ideas are fucking brilliant, Lochlan. And we had such a great time with the last guest.”
    “That was just you, boss,” Lochlan replied.
    Rakev shrugged. “Get the boy,” he said. “Do it tomorrow. I am so close to ending this.”
    “And what if Soren Chase gets in our way?” Lochlan asked. “I’ve warned ya he has a way of screwing up even the best plans.”
    Rakev rolled his eyes. “I thought you had a plan in place to distract him. If it works, great. If it doesn’t,” Rakev paused to flex his fingers, “then we can have a great time with him, too.”

Chapter Five
    Sara Ignatius pulled up the yellow police tape and carefully walked underneath it.
    She had to remind herself she was allowed to be there. Investigating crime scenes wasn’t normally her job, but her definition of “normal” had changed dramatically in the past two months. She needed to get used to this.
    She looked over at her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ken Sharpe. She was struck once again by his size; he was well over six feet tall, and she could almost see his muscles through his heavy police jacket when he moved. With his head clean shaven, he looked a little bit like an African American version of Mr. Clean. Sara didn’t like to admit it, but she felt safer in his presence.
    He caught her eye and gave her a reluctant nod to keep going. She could tell he still didn’t like this idea.
    When they’d started dating a few years ago, he’d held on to quaint notions about protecting her from the kind of crimes he investigated. She’d had to convince him that she’d already seen the worst humanity could offer. Her fiancé, John Townes, had been murdered eight years ago, as had two of his friends.
    Three. It was three friends.
    She mentally corrected the count as they walked up to the large mansion in McLean, Virginia, one of the more wealthy DC suburbs. It was dark outside—night was the only time Ken could get away from work—but the elegant, brick pathway was illuminated by solar-powered lights. She saw