Touching Evil by Kylie Brant Read Free Book Online Page A

had walked off the pages of the offender profile she’d developed and into her life.  And she’d learned the definition of real terror.
    Unable to meet his gaze any longer, she looked away.  “The entire time Vance had me, I felt helpless.  Impotent.  Completely at his mercy.  The only thing that kept me sane was looking for an escape.  Trying to outwit him.  And now, hiding in your apartment with Micki or some other agent at my side…I feel defenseless again.  Like he still has power over me.  And I hate that.  I hate it.”  Her fist clenched at her side, tightly enough that her nails bit into her palm.  “Maybe you’ll catch this second UNSUB as quickly as you did Vance.  Or maybe he’ll leave the state now that he thinks he succeeded last night.  But I can’t just float from one day to the next, not knowing, not doing anything proactive on my own behalf.”
    “You need time to heal,” he started, but his words ended when she fixed him with a look.
    “I’ll heal by having a hand in putting that bastard away.”  The heat in her words surprised even her.  “Sitting on the sidelines of the investigation is like being locked in that cell again.  Different surroundings, but still imprisoned.  You should know how I feel.  You hated being kept off the job while you were dealing with PTSD a while back.”  He flinched imperceptibly, and she felt a stab of shame for what in retrospect seemed like a cheap shot.   
    “I’m sorry.”  Leaning forward, she reached for his hand.  “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”
    But his fingers had curled around hers.  Tightened.  “I just want to spare you.” The raw emotion in his words shook her to the core.  “You may not have suffered the same fate as Vance’s other victims, but you still suffered.  Hate me if you want, but I’m going to do everything in my power to talk Maria out of this idea.”
    “I could never hate you.”  The flare of intensity in his gaze had the words faltering on her tongue.  “We both want the same thing.  Vance and his accomplice behind bars for a very long time.  So we’ll make a pact, you and me.  I’m going to present my case to Maria.  But if you talk her out of it, I’ll accept my role of sidelined consultant gracefully.”  And somehow she’d manage to keep her word about that.  “Otherwise, you’ll welcome me back on the team with…”  She searched for the right phrase.
    “With my usual abrasive charm?”
    Hearing her one-time description of him had a small smile pulling at her lips.  “I was going to say with a similar grace, but abrasive charm works for me.  Is it a deal?”
    With her hand in his, he returned her handshake.  “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you lose,” he informed her solemnly.  
    For some reason his words made her feel lighter than she had in days.  “I know.  I’d expect nothing less.”
    *  *  *  *
    Sonny waited impatiently in the back of the rutted parking lot, with only a handful of aspirin to fight the waves of agony eddying from the wound in his leg.  Every once in a while a whimper of pain escaped his clenched jaw.   It fucking hurt!   He hoped he’d killed that cop in the woman’s condo.  And he wished he’d snapped that kid’s neck.  Then the cop who’d shot him would have been blamed for letting the situation go so wrong.  Sonny hadn’t wanted to deal with a hostage and like a dumbass, he’d dropped the kid too soon.  
    He’d pulled off the headgear, hoodie and gloves then turned the sweatshirt inside out and tried to scrub Channing’s blood from his face.  Pain radiated from the wound in his leg.  He might have injured himself even further when he’d pulled into an alley after getting away to steal different plates for the vehicle.  But if the cop had gotten close enough to shoot him, he might have been near enough to see his license plates, too.  Sonny could switch the plates yet again when he got