Read Online Chasing the Skip by Janci Patterson - Free Book Online

back to the truck until I’m done.”
    The bathroom door was on the outside of the building, so Dad waited for me to go into the store before he went inside.
    The cashier must have seen my hesitation, because she leaned over the counter toward me. “Can I help you, honey?”
    Her pink hair was piled on top of her head, and she had on these little round glasses that gave her owl eyes.
    I was still pissed at Dad. That’s the only way I know to explain what I did next.
    “No, thanks,” I said. Then I walked back out to the truck and climbed into the cab.
    Ian shook his head at me. “You supposed to be here? Isn’t your dad going to freak?”
    I shrugged. “Probably. Got any shitballs handy?”
    Ian laughed. I’d impressed him.
    I squinted at him over my shoulder. “Can I ask you a question?”
    He shrugged an arm-twisted shrug. “Why not?”
    “Did you do it?”
    “Do what?”
    “Grand theft auto.”
    Ian leaned forward. “That’s a very personal question,” he said. He dropped his chin, looking me in the eyes.
    I nodded. “Well?”
    He jerked his chin in the direction of my journal. “So I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
    “Show you what?”
    “You’re taking notes for your dad, right? I saw you writing down stuff about me. What are you, the secretary?”
    I looked down at a split in the seat where the foam poked through, then picked at the edge of it with my finger. “He keeps his own notes. I just like to list things.”
    “Huh,” Ian said. “Well, that’s cool.”
    “You really think so?”
    “Yeah,” Ian said. “If I wrote things down, I wouldn’t forget so much.”
    “Like your court dates?”
    “Nah. I missed those on purpose.”
    I looked toward the bathroom, but the door was still closed. No sign of Dad yet.
    “You didn’t answer my question,” I said.
    “You want to know if I stole those cars?”
    I blinked at him. So there’d been more than one car. Did that make him guilty? “Yeah,” I said.
    “I’m not sure I should tell you. I mean, you’re the bounty man’s daughter, right? They might call you as a witness or something.”
    “No one will have to know that I know.”
    “I pled innocent.”
    “But then you didn’t show up for your hearing.”
    “Hell no I didn’t show up. I’m a poor guy with a record. You think they were going to let me off?”
    “That depends. Did you do it?”
    Ian laughed from deep in his chest, and the skin on my arms tingled. I wondered what I could say to make him laugh like that again.
    “You think that makes a difference?” he asked. “What kind of shelter has the bounty man got around you, anyway?”
    I shrugged. “Fine, don’t tell me.” I’d learned from Anna that the fastest way to get someone to tell you something is to back off and tell them they don’t have to share. Tell them it’s up to them, and they’ll spill their guts all over your shoes.
    “Would you still talk to me if I did it?” he asked, his face growing serious.
    I thought about that for a second. “Yes,” I said.
    “But only as long as I’m cuffed in the back seat.”
    “No,” I said. For some reason I wanted him to trust me. Maybe because Dad didn’t. “If you did it, you probably had a good reason.”
    Ian laughed again, more bitterly this time. “Sorry, sweetheart. It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I wouldn’t want to make you an accessory.”
    I turned my back to him, reaching for my door handle. “Whatever,” I said.
    “Hey, don’t be like that,” he said. “Do you think I did it?”
    I turned back to him and held his gaze. Did I think he did it? He didn’t seem like a bad person, but he did seem like the kind of person who acted first and ran away from consequences later.
    “Yes,” I said. “You won’t tell me if you did it, and I think that means you did.”
    Ian nodded, neither of us blinking. My heart pounded faster, and I held my breath as shivers ran over me. “Does that matter?” he asked.
    I jumped as