“Uncle Syker Tooman.”
Stryker knelt. “Whatcha got there, buddy?”
The child had pulled a LEGO DUPLO car from his mom’s diaper backpack. “I made this with Gam-pa.”
After rolling the car around on the floor with his nephew, Stryker gestured for his sister to sit. “What’s going on?”
Once she sat, she started fidgeting with her ring. His phone buzzed with a text. Detective Easton, again. “Warrant burning a hole in my hand. When can I talk to your GM?”
While he didn’t want to deal with the hot detective and her saucy attitude, he’d agreed to play nice. “Gimme a quick second,” Stryker said to his sis. “I gotta handle this.”
Stryker typed out a text. “The Dungeon, 7pm.” He added the Arlington address and hit send. Then, he added her to his personal VIP list at the club before turning back to Trudy. “What’s going on?”
“Dad contacted me.”
Gritting his teeth to keep from screaming obscenities in front of his nephew, Stryker said nothing.
“Can I have more cookie, Mommy?” Aaron offered her a huge grin. “Peeeeeaaaase.”
Trudy handed her son a small one, then turned back to Stryker. “Say something.”
“You’re not done talking,” Stryker bit out.
“About a month ago, Dad called me. He got my number from Aunt Heather.”
Up went Stryker’s eyebrows. “Why didn’t Heather let you know?”
“She did. She told me he’d been in touch and wanted to see me. See us. Anyway, Heather asked if she could pass along my number. I told her yes. A few days later, Dad called me.”
Stryker had a sudden urge to punch his fist through a damn wall. Nothing pissed him off more than thinking about his father. “And?”
“We met for coffee, just the two of us. He looked older, a little heavier. It was weird to see him.” She fiddled with her ring.
“Go on, drop the bomb on me.”
“He was very remorseful about leaving and asked if I’d consider giving him a second chance.”
“Based on the car Aaron is playing with, I’m guessing you did.”
She nodded, but said nothing.
Aaron appeared beside Stryker. “Gam-pa was nice.” His cheeks were smeared with chocolate and Trudy cleaned him with a wipe.
“I forget that children have giant ears and a sponge for a brain,” Stryker said while playfully poking his nephew in the belly.
Aaron giggled. “Tickle monster.”
“He asked for your phone number,” Trudy whispered.
Heat blasted Stryker’s chest. “No.”
“And I gave it to him.”
Not takin’ his call.Problem solved. Deadbeat Dad would move on and Stryker would hit the delete button on the SOB…again.
Trudy stood. “I hope you’ll reconsider. He’s old and lonely.”
“Sixty-something ain’t old. Where’s he been for the past twenty?”
