Chapter 9

“I’ve heard at the beginning is always a good place.”

“Don’t be a smartass, mister. Just because you’re clear across the country doesn’t mean I won’t come out there and knock your fucking teeth down your throat.”

Hank had to laugh; his mom was such a sweetie pie. “So what’s goin’ on with Stacy?”

“She’s gone.”

A little frisson of fear ran through him. “Gone?” he asked, his voice rising with alarm. Like him, his sister was no stranger to hanging out with the wrong people and taking risks that were best described as “ill-advised” and worst described as “fucking dangerous”—or maybe “life-threatening.”

“Ah, don’t get your panties in a twist. I know where she is: in Pittsburgh, with yet another man. She says this guy’s the one. You know, her soul mate. Only thing is, he doesn’t like kids. So she left Addison with me. I don’t need a four-year-old underfoot! I’m too old to have some rug rat biting at my ankles. I got a life to live too.”