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

her breath in the chilly air as she looked over the sprawling and perfectly manicured lawn and gardens.
    The house was a beautiful Tudor with long narrow windows and a steep roof. It was usually the kind of house she felt envious of, but not today. The family who once lived there was now dead. All of them.
    As they approached the door, Ken pulled a key ring from his pocket marked with an “Evidence” tag, and unlocked the door. Sara shivered under her heavy jacket, either from the cold or because she was nervous, like they were doing something illegal. But everything was sanctioned by the Fairfax County Police Department. They’d wrapped up their investigation a week ago, and as a fellow cop in neighboring Arlington County, Ken was able to pull a few strings to get himself and a “consultant” admitted to the site.
    She stepped underneath another batch of yellow police tape and walked through the door. The Fairfax County police had already reached their conclusion about what occurred here: Audrey Yong, a bright, honor-roll student, had returned from high school one day, and systematically murdered her parents and sister before taking her own life in her bedroom upstairs.
    The crime had shocked the community and the nation at large. It had been the top story on every major news network for days, if only because this kind of slaughter was normally committed by angry young men, not a petite girl who was universally described as happy, well liked, and an accomplished student.
    The reporters who covered the story talked about all the pressure Audrey was under, and said that she “snapped.” Sara didn’t believe it. Audrey hadn’t committed this crime, but Sara had a hunch who had. She was just here to see if she could find any evidence to support her theory.
    She looked around the house, and Sara wished they hadn’t had to come at night. But it was the only time Ken was available, and she couldn’t come here without him. Ken flicked a switch on the wall, but nothing happened.
    “Looks like they cut the power already,” he said, and switched on his flashlight. She pulled hers out of her purse and swept the beam of light through the house, noting the gleaming wood floors, expensive rugs, and crystal chandelier.
    Ken walked inside several feet and glanced into a room to the right. He shook his head and turned back.
    “No need to go in there,” he said.
    Sara gave him a hard stare and stepped past him, her flashlight’s beam scanning the room. It was an office, presumably for Audrey’s father, Theodore Yong. Behind a large, mahogany desk was a credenza covered in family photos. There was a sizable bloodstain splashed across several pictures and up the wall. Audrey had supposedly walked inside and shot her father in the head before proceeding upstairs.
    Sara tilted her flashlight beam up to the bloodstained photo. The entire family was dressed in white and sitting on a beach. The picture was too perfect to be anything but staged, yet both of the parents and the two girls looked genuinely happy. Audrey, the youngest, smiled serenely back from the photo.
    “You don’t have to do this,” Ken said behind her.
    She turned back to him.
    “Yes, I do,” she said. “This is my job now, Ken.”
    Ken nodded, but she saw the frown on his face. He believed in the mission of the institute—he’d witnessed a supernatural event several months ago—but he’d wanted her to move on with her life rather than work for it.
    “Let Soren go after the monsters,” Ken had said. “That’s what he does.”
    She hadn’t explained to him that Soren was a monster. He wasn’t even Soren at all.
    Sara had only discovered the truth two months ago when the thing that called itself Soren had saved her in Reapoke Forest. It had changed her life.
    Now she thought of nothing but revenge. This creature had killed John, Mikey, Edward—and Soren himself. But if Sara told Ken the truth, he would likely try to take Soren down. At the very least,