SANDOR

Glaring at the offending line that didn't show any sign of minimizing, Sandor wished that he could just hire someone to do his shopping for him. He didn't think the outcome would be in his favor if he bulldozed to the front of the line, snapping wrists, breaking ribs, and blackening eyes in the process, so with a dark glower at everyone around him, he stayed put.

Frustrated with the hold up, he turned just as a familiar red escaped out of sight. Sandor blinked, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. He quickly headed in that direction, the scathing glare that he shot at people in his path encouraging them to hastily clear the way.

He searched the aisle. There wasn't any flaming head of hair. "I know what I saw." He was beginning to become furious with himself. Why couldn't he get the defiant spitfire with her flaming hair and crystalline eyes out of his mind?

Just as he was about to head back the way he came, she stepped out from a farther aisle. Sandor instantly recognized her willowy long frame, although her cascade of auburn hair shielded her face.

"YOU!" he roared.

She jumped in surprise, along with numerous others, her eyes widening as she turned and spotted him. A guilty look quickly overtook her face.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, storming over to her.

Her chin jutted out stubbornly. "Mind your business."

She turned and started to walk away, but he grabbed her and whirled her around. "Not so fast," he warned.

"Let me go before I scream," she ordered, her eyes furious.

"Go ahead. The police might thank me for catching a runaway. Your rich uncle might even pay me for finding you."

A guilty flush spread across her cheeks and her eyes filled with tears. "It's not fair," she muttered, her lips trembling. "I just want to find my brother."

"When was the last time you saw your brother?" he heard his voice rasping. She opened her mouth to answer and he held up a hand. "On second thought, save this conversation for the truck."

For some reason, with the appearance of the red headed spitfire, his mood had lifted. Although she was currently glaring daggers at him. Suddenly the prospect of waiting on the impossibly long line didn't infuriate Sandor any longer.

No less than an hour later, he was back in his truck with the little bird in the passenger seat. "Why is it that even when I go to a different state you still manage to run into me and be a pain in my ass?" Sandor rasped.

The little bird glowered at him, her crystalline eyes sparking angrily. "I didn't run into you. I was shopping and minding my own business. You basically kidnapped me and now you're being a pain in my ass."

Sandor forced back the reply that was on the tip of his tongue, brutally reminding himself that she was only fifteen.

The truck was silent as he focused on his driving and she focused on her brooding.

"I had a big family once," she suddenly spoke, and he turned to look at her. She was staring downwards, he wasn't sure at what since her long auburn hair was obscuring her face. "I had three brothers, plus my half brother. One sister." Her voice was sorrowful. "And my parents."

Sandor didn't know what to say as he listened to her. Her sorrow seemed to weigh down the air in the truck. Making it difficult to breathe.

"They're all dead now. They died when I was eleven. A car accident. We were all flown to different hospitals. Uncle Petyr visited me in the hospital. He told me everyone else was dead and then he took me in to live with him and my aunt Lysa and her son Robin.

"One night when I was thirteen, Uncle Petyr and I went to the movies... there was a fire while we were away and my aunt and little cousin died. He's been raising me ever since. I thought he was all I had left but then I found out about Jon."

Her voice broke around the name, before she took a deep breath and continued. "I asked Uncle Petyr if Jon's alive if that means that somehow more of my family made it and are out there. But he said no, they're all dead."

She turned to him, her eyes fierce and determined. "I have to find my brother and I won't let anyone stop me."

Sandor chose to focus on his driving rather than reply, and her anger soon abated.

"Why are you here anyway? In Chicago?" Her voice contained a healthy dose of suspicion. As if she thought that perhaps he'd been stalking her across the country.

Sandor snorted. "I was visiting someone," he provided.

"Who?" she immediately asked.

"Family." Sandor didn't bother to elaborate, but the little bird chose his answer as an opening to release her flood of questions.

"Does your family live here? In Chicago? Do you visit them often?" She was alight with curiosity.

"My sister lives here. She recently became sick so I'm visiting her."

"What about your parents?"

"Dead."

She paused as if caught off guard, but a moment later she resumed her probe into his life. "Do you have any siblings other than your sister?"

"I have a brother." His tone had grown dark but the little bird didn't take the hint.

"And?" she probed.

"Jail," he growled at her.

"Oh." Her voice sounded deflated and an awkward silence filled the truck.

Sandor felt savage satisfaction curve his lips upward.