lt like it was lined with sandpaper-a brutal side ef

rdigan, and opened the bedroom door as quietly as possi

r a sliver of pale, bluish light spill

ch's room. Her

the low, suppressed sound of Kian's voice. He was a

ration and anxiety. "And now, the second she gets kicked out by t

oze in th

d, pacing his room. "They will crush us. We are a normal family. We can't

the kitchen doorframe. Her finge

just felt an overwhelming

right to drag this innocent family down with her w

to the kitchen. She turned around and d

the moonlight filtering through the blind

g of her trench coat and pulled

savings and her late grandmother's secret trust-assets the Bartlett family never knew

written note containing the PIN. It was the onl

y on the nightstand, resting her empty w

her bag, took one last look at the warm room, and

klyn. Kian walked out of his room, rubbing his ti

pen the gue

was folded perfectly, as if

rushed into the room and immediately saw

nd read the staggering account balance written on the no

r away into the cold. He remembered how she used to shield him from neighborhood bullies when they were kids, taking the hits so he wouldn't have to. 'Family doesn't abandon family,' his father's roug

self into his desk chair. His fingers flew

frantic coding later, he locked onto her face on a terminal security camera. She had boarded a long-distance Greyhound bus.

g a jacket, and sprinted down the stairs. He thre

ngry beast. Kian slammed his foot o

ocked on the GPS tracker on his phone.

as moving steadily west, finally stopping at a remote coordina