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Back Heart of the Sun
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for the novels of Mia Sheridan
  3. About the Author
  4. NOTE TO READERS
  5. Dedication
  6. prologue
  7. chapter one
  8. chapter two
  9. chapter three
  10. chapter four
  11. chapter five
  12. chapter six
  13. chapter seven
  14. chapter eight
  15. chapter nine
  16. chapter ten
  17. chapter eleven
  18. chapter twelve
  19. chapter thirteen
  20. chapter fourteen
  21. chapter fifteen
  22. chapter sixteen
  23. chapter seventeen
  24. chapter eighteen
  25. chapter nineteen
  26. chapter twenty
  27. chapter twenty-one
  28. chapter twenty-two
  29. chapter twenty-three
  30. chapter twenty-four
  31. chapter twenty-five
  32. chapter twenty-six
  33. chapter twenty-seven
  34. chapter twenty-eight
  35. chapter twenty-nine
  36. chapter thirty
  37. chapter thirty-one
  38. chapter thirty-two
  39. chapter thirty-three
  40. chapter thirty-four
  41. chapter thirty-five
  42. chapter thirty-six
  43. chapter thirty-seven
  44. chapter thirty-eight
  45. chapter thirty-nine
  46. chapter forty
  47. chapter forty-one
  48. chapter forty-two
  49. chapter forty-three
  50. chapter forty-four
  51. chapter forty-five
  52. chapter forty-six
  53. chapter forty-seven
  54. chapter forty-eight
  55. epilogue
  56. acknowledgments

I felt a bead of sweat drip down my spine. This was not just some silly accusation. Possession of this many illegal drugs was a felony. Charlie was making an accusation to get himself out of hot water with his girlfriend, but to me, this was life or death. If they went to the authorities and they were believed, I could go back to prison. “Emily,” I said. She turned her face toward me. “I’m not a part of that world anymore.” I looked at Charlie, shooting daggers at him.

A tear coursed down Emily’s cheek. “I get you needed the money, Tuck, but—”

“That. Is. Not. Mine,” I said. It felt like frustration and fear had me in a chokehold. The plane gave a little bump and Emily took a small step toward me. “Em,” I said, trying to appeal to that part of her hopefully still there. My friend. The one who might know I’d made some really bad mistakes, and that I’d run with a rough crowd, but that I’d never let someone else take the fall for me. “You know me better than that.” I met her eyes. “I’m not that person.”

“Oh please,” Charlie inserted again. “You’re exactly that person. You’re a felon. Emily, come on, he served time. It’s part of the lifestyle.” He met my eyes. “She gave you a second chance, and this is how you repay her?” He made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat. “Sorry to say, but this was obviously a bad idea, babe.”

My blood simmered, temperature rising. I was thirty thousand feet above the earth where it’d seemed that, for a short time, I’d left all my problems behind. But that wasn’t true. It’d never be true.

Still, I tried one more time. “Look at me. I’m not lying.”

Emily looked back and forth between me and Charlie and for a moment, I held my breath, daring to believe that she’d see in her heart that, above all else, I’d never put her in a position like this. No matter who was suggesting I had. “Please, Em, you know me.”

She looked down, shook her head. She seemed so torn, and it hurt me. It hurt me to my core. “You’re different, Tuck. You’re not that kid anymore.” She pointed to the baggies. “Clearly.”