I snorted. “Not that that’s any of your business but…”
“So that’s a yes.” Bossy snickered. “It’s okay, Dad. I know that it happens. I’m almost sixteen.”
She was.
Which fuckin’ sucked.
That meant she was two years from being an adult.
That’s when I knew she would come here and leave her old life behind.
It would break my parents’ hearts, but they’d understand.
Apollo had already talked to me about getting Bossy a new identity.
And there was no love lost between Pippa and Bossy.
Bossy actually loathed Pippa and made no bones about letting her aunt know how she felt.
But it would raise a red flag if Bossy went missing before she was old enough to be leaving without a trace.
I did not want Pippa digging any further.
She had enough friends who might be willing to help her for the right price, and I couldn’t do that to my girl, let alone my friends who were also here living a secret life.
“Anyway,” I sidestepped. “She was attacked by a bear yesterday afternoon.”
Bossy inhaled swiftly. “Is she okay?”
Was she?
“She’s got several broken bones. They said they put over a thousand stitches in her, and they also had to treat her for rabies.”
“Shit,” Bossy said. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“But she’s alive,” I assured her and myself. “I haven’t gotten to see her yet, but if all goes well today, they’ll be moving her to a step-down unit that she can stay in while she heals.”
“Well, I’ll pray that she gets better quickly.” Bossy hesitated. “But that’s not why you called, is it?”
She knew me so well.
“Your aunt is doing some digging.”
“Fuck,” Bossy said.
“I think we need to halt calls for a while,” I said. “It’s obvious that she thinks she knows something, and I don’t want to do anything that’ll have her investigating further.”
“I hate her,” Bossy said. “I hate her with every fiber of my being.”
I closed my eyes. “I’m so sorry, B.”
“I wish she’d died instead of Stanton.”
I inhaled swiftly.
She’d said it before, but not with this much vehemence.
I’d been able to talk her down before, but it was obvious I wouldn’t be talking her down this time.
