Free Reckless by MAGGIE SHAYNE

lungs. Toni sank slowly to
the edge of the bed, her eyes on the floor. She'd hoped Joey
wouldn't miss her right away. She lived upstate, four hours from
the city Toni called home. Hell, she wondered how close she might
be to Joey right now. They’d definitely driven upstate, and quite a
long ways. At least an hour.
    “Did she...did she sound worried?''
    His gaze slid away from hers. “A little. For
what it's worth, I took enough of your stuff to make it look like
you'd gone away for a few days. If she checks, she'll think—”
    “She’ll know.” Toni closed her eyes slowly
and tried to remind herself that Joey Bradshaw was not exactly a
fragile flower who needed protecting from difficult topics. In
fact, if Joey knew where her half sister was right now, she'd
probably hop on her Harley, drive here, kick the door in, grab Nick
Manelli by the scruff of his neck and give him a swift kick in the cojones .
    “You're that close?” Nick's voice made
it sound as if she'd just claimed the impossible.
    Toni opened her eyes slowly. “She's my sister. ” She shrugged. “Besides, she...knows things.”
    He scowled and shook his head. She had the
distinct impression that he did not believe her. She could have
kicked herself for the overwhelming urge to convince him, and still
she found herself doing just that. “Maybe we're closer than most,
but that's because we need each other. My parents died young and so
did hers–”
    “Wait, I thought you were sisters.”
    “Half.” She was telling him too much. She
paused and drew a shaky breath. “I’ve only known about her for a
couple of years, but in that time she’s become my best friend.” She
sought Nick's face and found it with an expression of sadness, his
gaze still focused on her. He was listening— raptly.
    He pulled his gaze away and tried to sound
casual. “What kinds of things do you do together?”
    His voice had come out minutely tighter than
before, and Toni wondered why. “Everything we have time to do when
we visit each other.”
    “She doesn’t live in the city then?” he
asked.
    She bit her lip, didn’t answer.
    “I’m not trying to get information on her,
Toni. I saw the photo on the phone stand in your apartment. You
look...close.”
    “We are. She's been great to me, and I don't
want to cause her all this worry.”
    “She won’t worry much. There’s no sign
anything bad’s happened to you.”
    “Of course she will. For God's sake, wouldn't your brother worry if you dropped off the face of the earth
without a word?'' He sent her a sharp look and she quickly added,
“I mean, if you had a brother. Or a sister. Do you?”
    His eyes narrowed, but then he looked away.
“Not only would he not worry, he wouldn't know. My brother is
dead.”
    “I’m sorry.” She thought of that photo, that
little boy, and her heart broke. “What about...your parents? Where
are they, Nick?”
    Nick’s voice was devoid of emotion, his
expression shuttered, but he answered her question. “Our mother
walked out when I was thirteen, and I haven't seen her since.”
    Toni swallowed hard, the image of the woman
in the photograph reappearing in her mind. How could she have
walked out on her own sons? “Again, I'm sorry.”
    “I'm not.” He released the top buttons of his
shirt and stalked into the living room. Toni followed.
    “Then your father raised you alone?” She
shouldn't be so curious about his background. She certainly didn't
care. But he'd lost his father and brother—she'd lost her parents.
The only difference was, he pretended not to care.
    He walked to the little speaker doc that sat
on the bookcase, tapped the touch screen on the tiny iPod in its
cradle. In a moment Ray Charles' voice sang, “Georgia...
Georgia....” and Nick sank into a chair. He leaned back, hands
behind his head, legs stretched in front of him, and closed his
eyes. “Last I knew, my old man was doing eight to fifteen in
Attica. He went up when I was still a kid.”
    “Then