Touching Evil by Kylie Brant Page A

new coat of green paint.  The windows were neatly trimmed in a purplish color that provided nice contrast.  The lawn looked freshly trimmed, and there were pots of flowers on the front and back decks.
    A call to the IOSME had told him what he needed to know—Lucy was on duty.  But that didn’t necessarily mean her house was empty.  He walked the few remaining yards to the detached garage and peered in the side window.  No cars.
    He crossed the yard and climbed the two steps to the back deck.  Pulling out a chair, he cautiously sat down at the outdoor patio set there and looked around.  He was seated where she sat.  Looking out over the scene she saw everyday.
    The area was peaceful.  Secluded.  A windbreak of fat pines surrounded the property on three sides.  The nearest neighbor was a quarter mile away.  Lucy Benally obviously valued her privacy.  Just like him.
    The knowledge made him feel closer to her.  As close as he’d felt last night when he watched her tend Janice.  In a way she’d come to his yard then.  To his private area away from prying eyes and a demanding world with its never-ending static.
    The pills had reduced the pain in Sonny’s leg to a dull throb.  It was bearable, even when walking short distances.  And the slight mind haze that came with the medication was not altogether unpleasant.
    Davis had said it was a flesh wound.  The man was only a vet, and not a very successful one from the looks of his business.  But Sonny was hoping he was right.  
    He’d gone to the drugstore for first aid supplies and picked up hair dye and clear-lens glasses.   The box had promised ash blonde but had delivered an unappealing red.  Probably better, since his facial hair would be dark as it grew out.  Sonny was resigning himself to the fact that he might have to shave his head eventually.  But that would be a last resort.
    The car had presented a problem.  He knew how to disguise a vehicle.  He’d tinted the van to navy before returning it to its natural white a while back.  But he didn’t have supplies on hand to do the car.  And physically he probably wasn’t up to the task right now.  It hadn’t taken him long to devise an alternate plan.  On the way home from the drugstore he’d stopped at a bakery.
    Old lady Moxley next door was eighty if she was a day.  And the old sow would do anything for a willing ear and a handful of cookies.  He’d taken a dozen to her house, sat through an excruciating fifteen-minute rundown on the storylines from all her soaps and then when she’d finally run out of breath, presented his sob story about a broken down car.  As expected the old bat had offered the use of hers.  Sonny just hoped she didn’t forget she’d loaned it out and report it stolen later.
    He got up, pulled gloves from his pocket and drew them on.  Then he examined the back door.  The outer screen was open, but the newer-looking interior was secured.  A shiny deadbolt was mounted above the knob.  He took out his bump key and slipped it first into the door lock.  Applied just the right pressure and felt it turn in his hand.  Then he withdrew the key to perform the same action in the deadbolt.  He felt a jolt of satisfaction when the he felt the lock give.  Lock picking was an art, one that had taken time and patience to perfect.
    Easing the door open, he walked inside and started searching the area nearest the door for a security panel that would signal the presence of an alarm.  Finding nothing in the kitchen he strode quickly to the front door and performed a similar search.  It took less than a minute to determine that the extent of Lucy’s security started and ended with new doors and deadbolts.
    Sonny gave a mental tsk at her carelessness.  He’d have to teach her to be more security conscious.  There were few alarm systems that would have kept him out.  Years of experience had taught him how to disable most of the ones on the market.  But a common