Page 25 of Hawk
Our breakfast is delivered quickly and I start to spread the butter on top of my pancakes like she does. We’re quiet for a couple of seconds to get our breakfast ready to eat.
I take a bite and look at my daughter. Her eyes are boring into me, begging me to tell her what’s going on. I know there’s no way out of this.
“Our house got burned down back at home,” I murmurer.
“Yeah, I know!” She cries out.
When I got my first good paycheck, we picked out that house together. I know this is going to be hard for her, but she wants to be treated like an adult.
“Yes. Howie called me last night when I got back inside from my walk. No one knows who did it exactly, but I think we know who is responsible.”
I’m cutting a piece of my pancake and plopping it in my mouth when she drops her fork on the plate. “Why is this happening? Why did we have to leave in the first place?”
Her voice is raising higher and higher. I can tell how angry she is, but she knows the gist of why we had to leave. I never kept it from her. She understood the second I got assigned as prosecutor to Vitali’s case, things were going to change.
“Riley, you knew what my new job meant. We had to leave because something like this could have happened while we were in the house!” I exclaim.
She shakes her head and stuffs a piece of pancake in her mouth. I can tell this conversation is lost on her and she doesn’t care anymore. I can see she’s shutting down on me which could mean only one thing.
She’s going to run from me.
“Why? Why though? I don’t understand what he did that was so bad he would want to kill you or me.”
I never told her the full story about the case. Mainly because no kid needs that image in their mind.
“Are you sure you want to know?” I ask her and drain the rest of my coffee.
She pushes her plate aside and looks at me dead on. “Yes. If it means our lives are in danger, yes.”
“A man killed a whole family. Parents and their kids. I was in charge of convicting him and the jury agreed with me. After the trial, he threatened us. He threatened to kill everyone I love and I know he would do it.”
I probably should have sugar coated it a little more, but she wanted the truth.
“Holy shit,” she mumbles.
“Holy shit, indeed.”
We have finished our breakfast and the waitress is coming back to clear our plates. She has a funny smile on her face as if she’s keeping a secret.
“How was everything?” She asks.
“Really good. Thank you. Do you have our bill?”
“It’s already been paid,” she whispers.
