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channels.” He couldn’t believe the words were coming out. “I got greedy. It landed me in trouble. In this line of business, even family can be the enemy.”
    “Are you scared?” She was glad he was finally talking.
    “Yeah. I thought I could get away with it, skim some off the top. I was told otherwise. If I go back, it’s going to be ugly, but I have to face the fire. I thought maybe I could find the girl they wanted. She took some information. I don’t know much more.”
    “I still can’t help you.”
    “I know. I’m not asking you to. What about you?”
    “I had an abusive father. We left home a few years ago. It was safer on the street than it was in my own home. I won’t go back. This is my life now.” He noticed she spoke without emotion. No regrets, no pain, no anything. It would have sounded the same if she said she wanted a side of mayo with her sandwich.
    “I’m sorry.” He said, on hearing on story.
    “For what?”
    Carter caught her eye. He saw the pain, but her voice didn’t waver. He nodded.
    “It’s all I’ve known for the last few years, but I’m tired. I don’t know what I want anymore. I don’t know how to dream. Every dream I have turns into a nightmare.” Sadly, that was the truth. The ache in her words, so subtle he could have missed it, but there it was.
    “What will you do next?” He asked.
    Cree shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere. This is all I know.”
    “What about your sister?”
    “She broke free, but she’s stronger than I am. She’s always had more fight than me.”
    Silence. Carter looked at Cree and swallowed hard. “Can I see you again?”
    Cree laughed. “What for? You want to hang with a hooker?”
    “I could use a friend. It sounds like you could too.” It was risky, but the girl was growing on him.
    “Friends are dangerous. You’ve got to watch who you trust.” She said, eyeing him.
    “I think I can trust you. You wouldn’t give up information on Crystal. You seem pretty solid.”
    “But I can’t trust you,” she said sadly. “You broke into my room. Do you know that lock on the door was the thing that helped me feel secure for the first time in ages? You violated that. Now I know that anybody can come in when they want. I can’t live with the fantasy of feeling safe behind a locked door anymore.”
    He realized how big that was in her world. “I’m truly sorry.” Carter looked down. It wasn’t just about going into her room for some shred of information; he’d taken her sense of security away. “Again, I’m sorry.” He stood and fished out a few dollars from his pocket. Tossing it on the table, he turned to leave. “You’re right. I wouldn’t make a good friend.”
    As he walked away, she couldn’t get the look on his face out of her mind. Spinning around, “Carter, wait.”
    He turned on hearing her voice.
    “Come back.”
    Slowly he went back to the table and sat.
    “What do you want from me?”
    “I don’t know. What do you want from me?”
    “I don’t know.” But something in his eyes, her heart wrapped up around him. She didn’t want him to leave …not without her. “Can I come with you?” The words took her by surprise.
    “What?” He wasn’t sure if she was joking. They were the last words he was expecting. Why would she want to go with him of all people?
    “I don’t want to be alone. I need a change.”
    Carter shook his head. “My family is dangerous. You don’t want to be around them.”
    “My family destroyed me.” Her voice fell flat.
    “I thought you didn’t like being around me?”
    “I thought so too. But when you got up to leave, something inside of me panicked. I’m not ready for you to go.” The words felt foreign. Where were they coming from?
    “I could stick around another day or two,” he said, his gaze now locked on the girl in front of him.
    “Okay.” She didn’t know what else to say. He was hardly someone she should be dabbling with, and yet she wanted him around. Cree