Page 7 of Breathe Me In

“So could you.”

“I did.”

He made a wry face and shook his head. “Right, three times in twelve years. It’s a long time to leave your family.” When I didn’t respond, he sighed, and I could see he fought to let his hurt go. “At the risk of driving you off, can I ask you something?”

I shot him a cautious look. “Depends.”

“Do you think it’s a wise idea working a homicide case? You know . . .”

I looked away and cleared my throat. “It’s my job.”

“No, missing runaways is your job. Real investigator work could have been, though.” He stopped himself when he realized he was being a dick. “Sorry, I know you do more than work with missing teens. And I know you work sometimes with the NYPD. That last case must have been pretty cool to be a part of.” When I looked surprised, he grinned. “Cap filled me in.” I nodded with a rueful smile. “Can you just explain why someone as smart as you would drop out of the FBI program?” His gaze moved to my white-knuckled grip on the beer bottle. “Okay.” He shook his head. “I’ll drop it.”

“Good.”

He was right that I hadn’t dropped out because I couldn’t hack it, though. But I had found a place for myself after I quit the FBI. It happened quite by accident when I heard about a missing kid and decided to try to help after the police had given up on him. It didn’t take that long to figure it out. I found I was good at thinking like a troubled teen. Runaways became my thing, and word got out, and I soon was getting calls from desperate parents who had nowhere else to turn. My heart was full when I brought their children back to them, and I lived for it. “I know, it’s not my usual gig, but I need a change.” I hesitated. “A challenge. The fact that Robert asked me personally means something. He knows I have an eye for detail. Besides, sometimes a person like me can dig around on the outside without the boundaries of law. Carefully, so as not to mess up the case, of course.”

“Sure, and that’s cool and all, but don’t you think it’ll dig up past—”

I cut him off. “Nope.” I didn’t want to even go near that thought with him.

“One more thing”—he eyed me as he drank—“I know you said you wanted your files you kept after—”

“I did.” I didn’t want him to finish the sentence.

“I didn’t realize there were potentially three more Barbed Wire victims.”

“You went through my files?” I’m not sure why that bothered me. Patrick knew pretty much everything that had happened.

“Of course I did.” He brushed me off. “Guess I blocked that part of it out.”

“Lucky. Look”—I leaned my head against the wood frame—“I just want my family right now. I need this.” I waved my hands around at the horses that grazed in the field. “I need to reset and reboot. Is that okay with you?”

I felt a little guilt seep in at the thought of my family. My parents, who were getting older but both still had to work hard. My sister, Lainey, and her husband, Charley, one of my favorite people. My twin brother and his beautiful wife. They were all dedicated to keeping this place going.

He looked away and finished off his beer, then reached for another. “Promise you’ll let me know this time before you leave?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll take over some of the barn work.” He tilted his head at me.

“Yes.”

“You’ll let me drive your sweet truck?” My brother’s smile returned.

“No.” I laughed, and he joined in. “Yeah, sure.” I relaxed a little and thought how good it would feel to be in my own bed.

A high-pitched squeal drew my attention, and we both looked in the direction of the truck that had just pulled up. I turned to my brother. “What the—”

“That’s Kevin, the noisy pig. He’s got a serious love affair goin’ for Finley and Dad.” The pig in question had jumped out of the passenger side of Dad’s truck and was headed straight across the driveway toward the border collie pup.

“Christ, he’s fast for such little legs.” I smiled around the mouth of the beer.

He chuckled. “Wait for it. Dad takes that little potbelly everywhere. People know Kevin.” He snorted.

“Jesus.” I shook my head with a laugh. “What did I come home to?”

“For fuck’s sake”—Dad looked up at the two of us—“are you two drinkin’ up there?” he called from below.