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“Just let me sit down for a minute. How is my father still alive?” I can’t get my mind around this at all.
“People are usually alive because they haven’t died, Fury. He just disappeared off the face of the earth for a few years after your mother died. There’s no trace of him for a long time, and then suddenly he reappeared a few months back.” Shawn takes a breath here and then continues, “He came back and started looking into you. He didn’t just look for your location, he was looking into everything about you. He threw a lot of cash around, too. He was like a dog with a bone.”
“Why the hell would he be interested in me after all these years? I’ve never given him a second thought. We have no ties since Mom died. He carried on drinking and I walked away rather than kill him and do time. He abused my mother for years, and she was finally going to get the proof she needed to get away from him. She didn’t want to just walk away. She wanted him to answer for the abuse.” This is absurd, totally and completely absurd. What the hell does he expect to gain from all this? I hope Shawn has more to give.
“Well, I tracked him to a place in the mountains. It’s a bit of a doomsday cult. All forted up ready for the zombie apocalypse or a foreign invasion. You know, the kind of thing that hates the government and takes it to the next level. I’m all for being prepared, my grandpa has a place in the mountains, too. My pa didn’t buy into it, but I’ve helped grandpa through many a summer with his projects, and God forbid anything drastic should happen, but I’ll be heading there with my go-bag and my old pickup loaded with supplies real quick if it does. Anyway, your father came down from the mountains a different guy. He has money, skills and apparently a determination to do you no good. He blames you for his wife dying, his life going to shit, and that those guys up there saved his bacon and put him on this path of retribution.”
“He beat my mother for years, treated her like a punching bag, and he thinks I’m the one who killed her? I’m supposed to have taken her away? The man is obviously mentally deluded or something. I bet he couldn’t come to terms with himself and projected all his failings onto me. Christ almighty. What a mess.”
“Don’t just write him off as some raving loony, Fury. This guy has learned a lot from the guys on the mountain. They are no slouches when it comes to weapons of all types or hand to hand combat. There are some very capable people up there, and you should treat this threat with respect. He is serious about getting to you after he has hurt you, as he perceives he was hurt. Your lady is in serious danger. You should get her as far away from you as possible. Maybe then he’ll turn his attention to you, and you can go after him as a mission. Do not look at him as your father. Do this as a mission from our service days, and you stand a chance of getting to him first.”
“I thought those days were behind us, Shawn. I don’t want to drag up those skills again.”
“I’m sorry, Fury, but you don’t have a lot of choice. He wants to hurt you and then kill you. You could do with some type of bait to get him out of hiding, but I don’t know what you could use, other than your woman. Got anyone who could act as a stunt double?”
“As a matter of fact, I think you just gave me a plan to draw him out. Gotta go, Shawn. Let me know if you get anything else I can use.”
Hanging up, I head for Pres’ office.
Chapter 23
*~* Whack *~*
Having my door burst open without hearing a knock first is something I am not used to, don’t expect, and certainly don’t tolerate. Fury slams his palms down on my desk and starts shouting in my face, something about my father, or his father, somebody’s father, anyway. Well, my father’s dead, so is Fury’s if memory serves me, so I sit back and wait for him to run out of steam.
After two minutes he stops ranting and grabs a breath. Before he can start again, I put my finger to his lips and point behind him. When he looks around, he sees Cannon, Breaker, and Bandit all looking at him like he’s some kind of alien being from another world.
Cannon stands to his full height of 6’5” and glares at Fury.
“Get out… Knock… Wait to be told to enter.”
“Ah, yes, sorry, Pres.” Fury walks out, mumbling about this father thing and closes the door behind him. I can almost hear him take a deep breath before he knocks. I leave him a minute, and just as I’m about to shout enter, he knocks a second time and a little louder. Cannon growls and stalks to the door, ripping it open and growling at Fury, “Knock and fucking wait. Not knock, knock.”
Bandit shouts, “Who’s there?” and chuckles to himself. If we had any doubt that he’s been suffering of late, that would confirm it. I see Cannon’s shoulders tighten, and I almost laugh out loud as I imagine his teeth grinding.
“Let him in, Cannon. We were done with Bandit for now.” Cannon takes Bandit from the office back to his room I presume, and Breaker goes with him.
“Alright, you obviously required my undivided attention and now, for all the wrong reasons I might add, you have it. We’ll discuss how you go about getting my attention the correct way, soon.” My eyes burn into Fury’s, and he must feel a little uncomfortable, to say the least.
“It’s my father.”
“Fury, is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“It’s my father, Pres. The one who’s trying to kill Jamie. It's my father.” I’m sure at this point, he doesn’t think I’m listening or paying attention, but I’m baffled by how he thinks a dead man is hunting a live person.
“As if I don’t have enough nonsense to cope with. Bandit is fixated on saving Doc, and now you think a ghost is trying to kill her. What the fuck, Fury?”
“What has Ghost got to do with it? You think he’s spirited her away to kill her?” Fury is half out of his chair before I make the connection between my ghost and his Ghost.
“SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!” You couldn’t write this as a fucking comedy sketch for the TV. “Slowly and calmly, whose father is trying to kill the Doc? One-word answers only!”
“Mine.”
“I thought your father was dead?”
“Yes.”
“So, if he’s dead, how can he be trying to kill your woman?”
