Free Headed for Trouble (The McKay Family #1) by Shiloh Walker Page A

why she had to get the backpack, what was inside it—just explaining that it was missing.
    “Is there anything of value in it?” Gideon asked after she’d finished.
    She stuck a finger in the hole of her jeans, worrying the hole there. “Some things that were important to me, yeah—that can’t be replaced, but you can’t put a price tag on them. Personal stuff. But I had my passport in there. Some emergency cash. Two different prescription meds. That’s it.”
    “How much cash?”
    “Only about two hundred dollars. I kept most of my money on me.”
    “Well…” Over the line, she heard Gideon blow out a harsh breath. “It’s unlikely we’d get the money back. The passport and the medications are a problem—I assume they were your prescriptions?”
    “Yes.” She couldn’t bite back the snap in her voice any more than she could keep from flinching at the accusation she only imagined she heard.
    “It’s okay, Neve. We need to file a report—those are the kind of things that can bite you and you’ll need the report when you take care of the passport. You have to report that it was stolen right away. I can come over there or send an officer, or you can come to town—”
    She slid off the stool. “I’ll come to town.”
    She had to get away from here now anyway.
    Had to breathe.
    She wasn’t going to do this—not again.
    *   *   *
    There were fights you could win, fights you might lose but they were worth fighting anyway, and then there were the ones that just weren’t worth it.
    Neve had pegged the fight with her brother as not worth it.
    She had to get to town.
    When Brannon told her he’d drive her, her instinct was to tell him to kiss her ass and then find the keys to the POS— piece of shit . She’d dubbed it that from day one, but she now used it with some affection. The POS had gotten her from Point A in New York City all the way down here without much trouble at all. It didn’t guzzle gas and, even though it was uglier than sin, considering the neighborhoods she’d stuck to, it had blended in rather well.
    But she wasn’t going to argue with her brother over riding the twenty-five minutes into town just so she could avoid being with him in the close confines of his Bugatti.
    Now, arms crossed, legs crossed, and her entire body angled toward the door, she gnawed nervously on her thumbnail and tried not to think about the backpack.
    Nobody in town would know the significance of the backpack. Chances were that some kid had grabbed it, figured it had money or something easy to sell, and when he—or she—saw he was wrong, it would get dumped. Maybe she’d get it back, but it was unlikely.
    Still, the thought of all those letters …
    “So what’s the deal with this backpack?”
    It was the first time he’d spoken since they’d climbed into the car. Shooting him a look, Neve shrugged. “You heard me talking to Gideon. I had some medicine in it, my passport, money. Somebody stole it. I’d like it back.”
    The soft sound of his sigh drifted around the car. She squirmed and tried not to think about how well the leather seat cupped her or how rich the leather smelled or how the car purred like a rich, throaty beast on the prowl.
    “You’ve always been able to make people believe just about anything you want, Neve. But it’s not as easy with me or Moira. Let’s try that again … with the truth,” Brannon said.
    “That was the truth.” She gave him a cool look. “I had my passport in it. Money. My medication. There were also personal things in it that I don’t really feel like discussing with you.”
    Because you’re not going to believe me . Despair swamped her at the thought. He wouldn’t—maybe he shouldn’t. He wasn’t wrong. She’d always been so good at manipulating people as a kid. That had changed, years ago, but she couldn’t expect them to believe that, not without explaining everything to them. And the thought of doing that left her feeling exposed and