“You’re right to a point. I’ve gotten over hating his guts for stealing my little girl a long time ago. I know she has to grow up; last year was too soon. Even without those assholes I wouldn’t have been happy letting her go away at that age.”
“This year she’s a little older but she still isn’t ready to live away from her mother and I, but if they weren’t a factor I might’ve been more inclined to give the okay this time.”
“I know my kid, she’s the best part of me. She’s smart, kind and she has a good head on her shoulders, so the fact that she refused to let go of this guy even after all the time they’ve been apart pretty much tells me that she’s never going to.”
“But Wharton is all the way on the other side of the country. If something happens to her I can’t get to her in time to save her. I don’t want to stand in the way of her dreams, but I can’t just let her go off somewhere with no one to protect her.”
“What if I tell you he can protect her?”
“What’re you talking about?” He studied me in that way of his as if he’s trying to read me, which wasn’t about to happen.
“I trained him!”
“Come again.”
“Catalina called me a few months ago and asked me to help. She seems to think that you won’t let her sister go off to school with him unless he knows how to fight.”
“When was all of this going on?”
“Like I said, it was a few months ago.”
“What do you mean you trained him?”
“You remember the kids from Cali, the ones we met at the compound in Georgia? Well as you know they’re going to Wharton as well, which happens to be my alma mater.”
“I got him together with them, kind of like an experimental team. He now knows how to take care of himself if need be, but not only that, he’s gone on two raids in the last few months, he saved two girls.”
“Why’d you do all that?”
“For Catalina why else? She seems to think the kid’s okay and Caitlin loves him, she looks at him like he hung the fucking moon.”
“Saw that did you?”
“Yep! While you were watching him watching me, I was watching her. You’re never gonna break them apart Colt, get used to it.”
“I think you might be right but I need to test him myself. You know he tagged my kid?”
“Smart move!” He downed the rest of his cognac and sat back in his chair. It was all good and well for him to be so relaxed, it wasn’t his daughter being stolen right in front of his face.
“You put him up to it?”
“Nope, didn’t even know he was thinking of doing it. But I would’ve mentioned it at some point if you gave the okay.”
“At this point do I have a choice? Since you went to all this trouble we’re gonna have to take care of this thing before the fall.”
“You know it’s not that easy. They’re not gonna just go away because we want them to. This is an ongoing battle.”
“I know that, I just want the assholes who sent her that message on the computer. It’s obvious they know who she is. Since the ones responsible for putting her in the book are gone, I need to know how these people got ahold of my daughter’s email address and how they even know who she is.”
“We’ll work on that first then. By the way, have Catalina told you anything about her friend Lily?”
“No, just that she met some new friends in her online gifted program. The place is legit I checked them out myself.”
“Yes I know, I sent her there remember.”
“So why are you asking?”
“I think we should let her tell you. She didn’t finish telling me before you walked in earlier, but I think it’s something we might need to hear.”
Just then Caitiebear stepped into the doorway. “Daddy, can Todd and I go for a drive? I want to show him what I learned so far.”
“It’s almost dark out.”
“I know daddy, but I’ll be driving at night at some point. Please daddy, please-please-please.” And so it begins.
“I’ll take care of her Mr. Lyon…”
“Oh are you two going out? Great, pick me up some of that mango carrot baby food the trips like so much.”
“And some praline ice cream.” Cierra rubbed her tummy and smiled at me like I didn’t know what she and my wife were up to.
Mancini the fuck just grinned like a demented ape as the two of them backed me into a corner. “Just around the block, and beep the horn each time you pass the house.”
“Oh Colton, get real. They can’t do that if they’re going to run to the store for Cierra and I. Here kids, take this…”