Unlawful Contact Read Online Free PDF Page A

with the whistle-blower bill. “Reece says the bill will die in committee.” Kara always had the inside scoop on events at the state capitol because her husband, Reece Sheridan, was president of the State Senate. “There’s no way it will even reach the Senate floor.”
    “That’s good to hear,” Kat said. “If it were to pass—”
    “Why the hell did she do it?” The words burst out before Sophie could stop them. “Megan was close— so close —to having her life and her baby back!”
    For a moment, none of her friends said anything.
    Then Tessa reached over, took Sophie’s hand, and gave it a squeeze. “God only knows why people do the stupid things they do.”
    “You know, Sophie, maybe this is so hard for you because of what happened with your own parents.” Kara spoke quietly, almost hesitantly. “It must be hard for you to see a mother and child torn apart like that.”
    The ache that had been sitting in Sophie’s chest all day grew sharper. “Yeah. I’m sure that’s part of it.”
    She’d been fifteen when her parents, who’d owned a popular restaurant in downtown Denver, had been hit and killed by a drunk driver. Everything about her life had changed overnight. She and her younger brother, David, had gone from living with a doting mother and father in a wealthy Denver suburb to living with their maternal grandmother in Grand Junction, a smallish Colorado town on the edge of nowhere. The sense of loss and the shock of separation had been staggering. Her parents had gone out—but they’d never come home.
    And yet somehow she and David had gotten through it. David was studying in California to become an equine reproductive vet, and she was living her dream of being an investigative reporter. They’d gotten over it. Mostly.
    Sophie wiped her tears on her napkin, voiced the secret thought she’d been carrying all day. “If I’d gotten to New Horizons on time—”
    “Don’t even start!” Holly glared at her. “I don’t want to have to take you out in the alley and kick your butt, because it’s too damned cold. But I’ll do it if I have to. It’s not your fault.”
    Then Sophie remembered why she’d been late. “That’s right. It’s Tom’s fault for raving at Glynnis about the whistle-blower bill.”
    “There you go.” Tessa nodded with apparent satisfaction. “Blame Tom.”
    “Not to defend Tom,” Kara said, sounding like she was about to do just that, “but the only person to blame for Megan’s situation is Megan herself. No one forced her to start using drugs again or to take off with her baby.”
    Holly fished a silver tube of lipstick out of her purse. “You just say that because your mom is living with Tom.”
    “Holly!” Tessa scolded.
    “No.” Kat met Sophie’s gaze. “She’s saying that because it’s the truth. It takes a strong heart to defeat addiction.”
    Sophie’s heart felt anything but strong. “Can we go now, Tess?”
    A half hour later she sat in the parking lot of her own apartment building in Tessa’s snazzy Thunderbird, her head throbbing.
    “Promise me you’ll call if Julian hears anything, okay?”
    Julian Darcangelo, Tessa’s husband, had been an undercover FBI agent, but now worked as a detective for the vice unit of the Denver Police Department. Nothing much happened on the streets of Denver without him knowing about it.
    “You know how Julian is. Just because he knows something doesn’t mean he’ll tell me. I’ll make a point of prying, okay?” Tessa gave her a hug. “Now are you going to make it to your front door walking on that ice, or am I going to have to carry you?”

     

    O NE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE . One hundred twenty-two. One hundred twenty-three.
    Marc Hunter counted the reps, his third set of push-ups for the night, his mind focused on maintaining form despite the burn in his arms, shoulders, and chest. He barely heard the animal howls coming from the cell upstairs or the shouts of “Shut the fuck up!” that echoed