Page 21 of Sins of the Fathers
“And that’s without dragging the Syndicate into it,” Dawson added. “Shit. This is getting so messy. I can’t tell if we’re the targets or the collateral damage.”
Grady’s phone buzzed, and he put the call on speaker. “Colt—what’s up?”
“Knox is waking up. Denny’s negotiating with the doctor to let him go home.”
“How to say ‘Denny doesn’t think Knox is safe in the hospital’ without actually saying that,” Grady replied.
“Yeah. And it’s not just Knox’s safety—If someone’s after him, then other people at the hospital could get hurt. We can protect him at Denny’s.”
Dawson heard the worry in Colt’s voice. “Did something else happen?”
“No. But Denny and I have gotten some info—and I don’t like what we’re hearing.” Colt paused. “How did it go at the bar?”
Dawson and Grady both laughed. “That’s a whole ’nother story,” Dawson replied. “And we made some new ‘friends’—which opens up a different can of worms.”
“Christ, can’t let you two out of our sight,” Colt fake-grumbled.
“Did you expect anything else?” Grady snarked.
“No, but I can hope. How did I end up being the responsible one?” Colt’s question didn’t sound entirely rhetorical.
“I don’t know, but it’s a scary thought,” Dawson agreed. “We’re on our way. See you in a few.”
“Do you think any of this connects to what I found in Dad’s journal?” Grady raised the question Dawson had been trying to avoid.
“I don’t know. It would be bad enough on its own. Maybe Knox was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and heard something he shouldn’t,” Dawson replied, starting to feel the ache from the fight in every muscle.
“But the feds don’t show up unless something big’s going on. I can’t remember the last time the TBSI stuck its nose into things around here. The Kings have had an understanding with them going back a long way. After all—we were here first,” he finished.
They were quiet for a while, and Dawson grew pensive.
“Talk to me, Daw.” Grady interrupted his thoughts. “I can tell when you’re brooding.”
Dawson sighed. “Did you ever have a memory that didn’t seem important at the time, but when you look back on it, it means something completely different?”
Grady frowned. “Maybe. You mean like how watching Brendon Frasier’s ass inThe Mummyinstead of Rachel Weisz’s made me realize I was gay?”
Dawson chuckled. “Sorta like that. Except not as much fun.” He grew silent again, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words.
“The summer before Mom and Dad died—I was almost seventeen. They didn’t exactly hide conversations about bigger hunts, but they didn’t go out of their way to let Colt, Knox, and me know about situations they thought were too dangerous,” Dawson recalled.
“I was fourteen, so they didn’t pull me in on anything harder than some easy hauntings,” Grady replied.
“They mostly sent us on milk runs too—except for a couple that turned out to be more than they expected,” Dawson agreed with a rueful chuckle.
“I don’t know where the rest of you were, but I remember it being late at night, and maybe they thought I was watching a movie or in my room. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Denny were all talking in the kitchen about a dark witch who was helping the Syndicate. Curse coins, enhancing compulsive behavior like gambling, helping cover up crimes by blurring memories—that sort of thing.”
“It would make sense for the Syndicate to have some witches in their pocket,” Grady agreed. “They’d come in handy for those types of things—and more.”
Dawson nodded. “At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Just the grown-ups talking, you know? Not long after that, Mom and Dad were in the plane crash.” He paused until the lump in his throat cleared. “I never heard that the witch was caught. Didn’t think of it afterward, what with everything that happened. But now, I wonder if Denny suspected that the witch had something to do with the crash and steered me away from it.”
“So did my dad stumble onto some unfinished business and pick up the case? He loved your dad like a brother, even if he was adopted. If he caught the scent of a hunt that might stop the person who killed your folks—”
“He could have gotten closer than he knew.” Dawson didn’t like where this line of thinking headed, but they didn’t dare turn a blind eye.
“The werewolf fight that killed him—was that just a hunt that went bad, or did someone want to make sure he stopped poking around into the past?” Grady speculated.
“I think Denny knows more than he’s let on. Maybe he’s been protecting us, or maybe he hasn’t put it all together, but I think we’re overdue for a long talk,” Dawson responded. “Knox and Colt should be part of it—they might have missing pieces and not even realize it.”
