Touching Evil Read Online Free PDF

flicking on in house after house.  One large dog sped along the fence line Sonny was running by, barking ferociously.  Sonny paused for an instant and undid the latch on the gate, before resituating the kid on his shoulders and stumbling awkwardly toward his car.  With a backwards glance he smiled in satisfaction as the dog tore toward the agent who had risen to give chase again.  The man halted for a few precious moments, earning Sonny the most valuable of commodities.  Time.
    The vehicle was just yards away now.  Sonny ducked down and dumped the kid on the ground, then sprinted for his car.  A volley of shots sounded, and something sharp and hot sliced into his thigh.  He squealed and returned fire before jumping painfully into the car, turning the key in the ignition and squealing away.
    *  *  *  *
     Agent Micki Loring met Cam at his front door, a questioning look in her ebony gaze.  “We had a quiet night here.”
    “Glad someone did.”  
    “I heard things didn’t go as planned.”  He toed off his shoes and she followed him through the family room.  “But if you hadn’t had the foresight to move Sophia out of her condo and into protective custody, it could have been far worse.”
    Cam’s skin prickled at the reminder.  He took a quick glance at his watch.  Barely seven-thirty AM.  Sophie was probably still asleep.  At least he hoped like hell that she was.  “Listen if you want to run home, grab a shower and some sleep I can get someone else in here…” he started.
    “I slept on the couch and I’ve already used your shower.”   She aimed him a meaningful look.  “From the sounds of things you need to take your own advice.”
    “Probably.”  He rubbed the back of his neck wearily.  A drill of frustration was jackhammering through him. Vance’s accomplice had taken the bait they’d laid so carefully.  But he’d slipped through their fingers, less than two minutes before backup had arrived.  The near miss was bitter.
    “You talk to Franks?”  From her words he assumed she’d gotten the rundown on the last few hours from someone.  The scene in Sophie’s guest bedroom earlier had been chilling.  If that had, in fact been Sophie laying in the bed, and not a wig-clad dummy sporting fake blood packets…an icy finger traced down his spine at the thought.  Rationally he knew Sophie was fine.  Safely ensconced in his condo with an agent at her side at all times.
    But right now emotion trumped logic.  He needed to see for himself.  Just a glimpse of her sleeping peacefully might be enough to dispel the sight of that dummy blown to bits, fake blood sprayed all over the room.
    Swallowing hard, he headed in the direction of his spare bedroom.  And tried not to recall the times, not all that long ago, that Sophie had spent her nights in his bedroom.  With him at her side.
    That was history.  Recent enough, unfortunately, for the details to remain stubbornly, erotically vivid.
    “No, I haven’t talked to Franks.  Special Agent Gonzalez filled me in.”  
    Cam froze in his tracks.  He turned to look at Loring.  “She called you?”  He couldn’t figure why she would.  He’d talked to Maria twice to apprise her of the events of the night as they’d unfolded.
    Loring snorted indelicately.  “As if.  She’s here.  In your office with Dr. Channing.  Didn’t you see her car in the drive?”
    Lack of sleep must have made him slow.  “I thought it was yours,” he said numbly.  Gonzalez was here.  Talking to Sophie.  And he had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what that conversation entailed.  Striding rapidly toward the hallway that would lead to the office at the back of the condo, he barely heard the agent behind him say, “My car is in your garage.  Remember?  You told me…”
    “I don’t want to press you.”  Special Agent Maria Gonzalez’s voice drifted through the half open doorway to the office.  “Of course, time is of the essence,