Withholding Secrets Read Online Free Page B

you care? You call the cops and she will send us away. You don’t and she will send us away, anyway. I need the damn money to take care of my sister, because no one else will and no one else gives a shit.” The pulse in his neck throbbed as the blood pumped through him vigorously, though his eyes were backing down quickly with the fear clawing its way to the open.
    Annoyance at his language pumped through my own body and washed over my skin. I’d used bad language when I was his age, but when my mom and dad came into my life, I had it whooped right out of me. Bad language was for horrible people, and I didn’t want my other players using the language on and off the ice. I didn’t tolerate it, just as my dad didn’t.
    “For one thing, I don’t allow that language on my ice. Secondly, I don’t know your situation so I can’t help.”
    “And what the hell do you care?” Right there. There is was. That break I wanted to see. He looked like a good kid, maybe fourteen to fifteen at the most, but it was that moment of truth in his eyes, that want to have someone actually care, that came through. He didn’t want to steal. It was wrong and he knew it, but he felt that he had to. It was a constant struggle between doing the right from the wrong.
    “Maybe I do.” Did I? Could I? I sure in the hell cared about my players, but as for this kid, maybe he just needed someone solid in his life to show that he does have somewhere to turn to.
    “Bullshit. Nobody cares.” And there it was again. Whoever was at his house, he was torn and didn’t know what to think. A part of him silently screamed to have her care, but the other part didn’t want to get his hopes up in case if she didn’t. And I knew all that too well.
    “That’s exactly what I thought when I was screwing up my life.” Sliding my cell over to him, I nodded hoping he would and could turn his life around. Sometimes, all it took was just one person. “Call who you need to.”
    “Why? My dad walked out on us. You want to make sure that she does, too? I just need some money so that I can take care of my sister.”
    “Is this woman hurting you?” My heart jumped hard as the hopes of this being something other than a child abuse case was beginning to drill into the back of my head. If there is anything that hinted toward child abuse, I had to turn it in no matter what the circumstances were.
    “No.” His eyes glassed over, but he did a damn good job at holding everything in.
    “Is she being mean to you?”
    The silence filtered in the air as his lips pressed tight together and his chin quivered slightly. It wasn’t something bad about this woman at all. It was the fact that he was scared she would send them away. “No.”
    Biting my bottom lip, I nodded. This kid wasn’t a bad kid at all. He had a shitty life and just didn’t trust anyone. It was like seeing myself in a mirror … almost. “Like I said, I’m not going to call the cops, but I want to talk to your … whoever you’re staying with.”
    “Fine.” Grabbing the phone, he dialed the number and handed it back to me. “You can deal with her and see for yourself when she walks out on us also. Her name is Keri Borelli.”
    Holding the phone to my ear, my gut clenched. If that was the case, then I would see what I could do. I had no idea about his sister, but I could see that he was just trying to protect her. Maybe a younger one? I would have done the same thing for mine, too, if I had one.
    “Hello?” A woman’s voice came through in a huff, full of worry and panic. “Hello? Jordan? Is that you?”
    “Hello.” My heart decided to skip as I looked over at the worried face on the boy. He was stocky and strong. That much I could tell when I tackled him in the locker room. I pinned him up against the metal lockers, holding him there until I found out who he was and what he was doing. He had strength, and if he could skate, this kid would be good on my team.
    “Who is this?” Then the