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"Of course. I appreciate it. Every penny helps." Ross grinned, looking like a cherubic child again. "Especially with the newest baby coming along."
"Do you know the sex yet?"
"Boy, just like the other two." The young man hefted Bonita's daughter over his shoulder. The girl was tall, just like her mother had been. Maybe even taller. But with that same thinness Denita had possessed.
Her hair was loose. It hung down over Ross's shoulder.
"Excellent. Congratulations."
It took less than ten minutes to have her on the bed. Gregory taped her hands quickly after Ross left.
The young man never asked questions. That was what made him so valuable. He would often use Ross when Vaughn missed the mark.
Like Vaughn had with that damned blue-haired girl at the elementary school.
Vaughn had been sent afterthisgirl. Not that blue-haired one.
Vaughn had screwed up twice, by going after the other one even though Gregory had explicitly said he wanted the younger girl raised by Bonita. But now…Gregory had the girl he wanted.
Perfect.
The girl opened her eyes.
Gregory barely resisted recoiling in horror.
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Bonnie was getting seriously worried.This wasn’t like Crispin at all. Her youngest daughter was incredibly responsible. She would never justnotanswer.
Crispin would always answer her mother.
Bonnie was going to talk to the rest of the girls, see who had heard from Crispin last. Her daughter was just a naive kid—she had trouble processing when someone wasn’t being upfront and literal with her. Crispin had sensory processing disorder. She’d had struggles functioning at times.
Bonnie hovered, and she knew it, but Crispin was her baby girl.
Cara and Samia shared an apartment near the campus—near the law schools and med schools. They were only a few blocks from Crispin’s classes.
Bonnie dialed Cara quickly. Bonnie had fifteen minutes before her shift started—she was going to find Samia, if possible. See if Cara and Samia could figure out why Crispin had ignored the last ten texts she’d sent her this afternoon.
Her intuition was going off. Something was going on with her daughter.
Bonnie just knew it.
Ten minutes later, she was still not reassured. Cara was going to run over to the math building. See if her sister was there. If not…
Well, Bonnie was going to call Heather. See what to do next. The logical part of her was telling her to just wait, that Crispin had lost track of time, and didn’t have her phone on.
But Crispin was obsessive about keeping her phone charged. She said she never knew when she’d need the calculator to check her equations. Crispin always told someone where she was going to be. Even if it was just a quick text to Bonnie saying she was walking to the library.
Ever since they had lost Nick so violently, Crispin had been obsessive about taking every safety precaution for a young woman possible.
All of the girls had.
No.
Something just wasn’t right.
76
