Vow to Protect Read Online Free PDF

but he didn’t let himself feel relief. Not yet. “Will Melanie and Ethan be protected?”
    McCaskey drilled into him with that black gaze. “You have my word.”
    Cord slumped against the back of his chair. A trickle of sweat ran over his temple and wound around his ear.
    McCaskey might have thrown him a life preserver this time, but Cord had the feeling this ordeal was far from over.
    Â 
    C ORD STOOD IN THE OPEN DOOR of his apartment and looked at the mess the cops had made of his place. In the joint, the inmates were obsessed with receiving respect. The smallest slight, like one of the dawgs failing to say “what up?” in the yard was an affront to one’s manhood. It was times like this that made Cord grateful he didn’t have that respect/disrespect hangup. Life as a con and an ex-con was easier once you acknowledged you didn’t much respect yourself. At least then it wasn’t a bitter pill when others didn’t respect you, either. “Cord Turner?”
    He spun around, expecting to see a cop coming back for a second try at strewing his belongings over every inch of floor. Instead a bookish man with a smart-ass smile and wire-rimmed glasses peered at him from the hallway.
    â€œWho the hell are you?” Cord asked.
    â€œAidan Powell. I’m with the Capital Times. ”
    A reporter. Cord almost groaned out loud. “Why are you here?”
    â€œI’ve heard from a reliable source that you are the son of Dryden Kane.”
    Cord felt sick. He knew reporters would eventually unearth that fact. With the building media frenzy over the serial killer, it was inevitable. But he’d hoped it would take longer than this. “Who told you that?”
    â€œIs it true?”
    He grabbed the door. “If you insist on answering my question with a question, you can do it through a closed door.”
    He held up a hand, blocking the door. “Wait.”
    â€œYou’re going to tell me who is spreading this crap?”
    â€œI heard it the same place I heard that Kane also has a grandson. A kid by the name of Ethan Frist.”
    Cord pushed the door aside. Reaching out, he grabbed the reporter by the shirt. “Where did you hear that?” Heat crept up his neck. Pressure built in his head.
    â€œDoes Kane know?”
    â€œTell me where you heard it.” He hadn’t even known he had a son until a few hours ago. But a reporter knew? A reporter who would write about it in his rag for Dryden Kane to see. If the monster didn’t already know he had a grandson, he would now. Cord gave the guy a shake.
    The guy’s glasses flew, landing somewhere in the mess strewn over Cord’s apartment’s floor. His eyes widened, as if he had finally figured out he’d made a mistake. “Hold on.”
    â€œI want an answer,” Cord demanded.
    â€œHey, back off.” Powell’s voice trembled along with his chin. “Everybody knows. Not just me.”
    â€œEverybody?”
    â€œThe TV news crews have had it for the past half hour. I’m the only one who cared enough to get a confirmation.”
    A half hour? After Cord had left the police department, he’d had to hop a bus back to Mel’s house to get his police-rummaged truck. He’d driven back to his apartment in silence, unable to stomach anything but the worries being broadcast in his own mind.
    He tightened his grip on the reporter’s shirt, pulling the crisp cotton taut around the little worm’s throat. “Did you hear this from the police?”
    The reporter’s eyes flared.
    Bingo.
    â€œWho in the police department gave you the information?”
    â€œI can’t tell you that.”
    â€œWhat do you mean you can’t tell me?”
    â€œI promised confidentiality. I can’t reveal my source.”
    The guy was scared to the point of pissing his pants. But he chose to protect his source instead of his hide?
    Maybe there were