Promises I Made Read Online Free PDF Page A

toughest people I’d ever met. But he had a wild heart. Even with Cormac and Renee, Parker would slink off into the dark, disappearing for hours and sometimes even days without a word. Being in a cage would kill him.
    Which brought me back to turning myself in. Could I trade myself for Parker? Would they go easier on him if I stepped forward and corroborated his story, that he and I had been adopted by Cormac and Renee to further their cons? That we’d had little choice but to follow the lead of the only parents we had? They were truths I’d avoided for a long time, but that time was past. I had to be honest now—starting with myself—because I was finally beginning to understand that those were the most dangerous lies of all.
    Would an attorney be able to tell me if turning myself in was an option? I was pretty sure they couldn’t rat me out if I paid them something. Then I would be their client, and they were obligated by law to keep the confidence of a client. At least, I thought that was how it worked.
    I did some quick math on the next page of my notebook. Istill had a little over twenty-four hundred dollars. It sounded like a lot, but at a hundred and twenty dollars a night, the hotel would eat through my money fast, and that wasn’t counting the cost of food and transportation. At my current spending rate, I guessed I had enough money for a couple of weeks. I might be able to find a slightly cheaper hotel, but nothing was really cheap in the neighborhoods surrounding Playa Hermosa, and a less expensive hotel would buy me an extra week or two at most. I didn’t know how long it would take to help Parker, but I was pretty sure it would be longer than that.
    I poured myself another cup of coffee and toyed with the possibility of renting a room or studio apartment. I quickly discarded the idea. By the time I paid first and last months’ rent, plus a security deposit—something I knew was required from all the places Cormac and Renee had rented for us—it would be a wash. Definitely not worth the extra exposure.
    I watched as Ashley came back and cleared the dishes from the table. I could get a job. Maybe. But then I’d need a new Social Security card and ID, both of which would take time and connections. And there was the exposure problem again. Bosses and coworkers and customers. No good.
    I’d known I was going into my rescue mission unprepared, but I’d expected to have more money at least. More money meant more time to figure things out. Now I was short on both.
    â€œCan I get you some fresh coffee?” Ashley asked.
    I shook my head. “Just the check, thanks.”
    She reached into the apron at her waist and withdrew my ticket. “Have a great day.”
    â€œYou too,” I said. I wondered what she would do after her shift. Go to the gym? Meet up with friends at the beach?
    I paid the check and headed for a Rite Aid two blocks down. It was almost noon, but the temperature was mild, the sun hiding behind the marine layer blowing in off the beach. The coastal eddy, I think they called it. Selena had once told me that it didn’t get really hot and sunny in the South Bay until late July. Before then, a heavy layer of clouds rolled in off the ocean, draping itself over the area like a soggy blanket. It kept the temperatures mild and sometimes even cool, the antithesis of the stereotypical Southern California climate.
    I forced myself to be vigilant as I walked, watching for signs that I’d been made: nondescript cars with more than one person hiding behind sunglasses or a newspaper, windowless vans that could be hiding surveillance equipment, an unusual number of clean-cut guys in an area known for hippies and surfers. But everything was cool, the sidewalks basically empty. This was the Southern California suburbs; no one walked anywhere when they could drive instead.
    At Rite Aid I picked up the stuff from my list and started back for the