Page 94 of Bullseye
“Dad?” Dropping my arm, I pull off my goggles and ear protection and turn to face my father. He’s wearing a cashmere coat that’s opened, exposing a three-piece-suit beneath and an old-fashioned wool cap. The way he dresses always made me look like a schlub in my T-shirts, jeans, and boots.
As he reaches into his pocket, I tense, and ready my finger on the trigger of the gun still in my hand. When he pulls out a white handkerchief and dabs the sweat on his forehead, my senses kick into overdrive.
“How do you ever get used to this Arizona heat? And in the middle of winter?”
“It’s cold at night.”
Neither one of us breaks eye contact.
“What the hell are you doing here, Dominic? How did you find me?”
“A father has his ways.”
“Don Bordono sent you.”
Sighing, my father takes a step closer.
“And what? I’ve become too much of a problem?”
“Something like that. Avery, it’s nothing personal on my end. It’s the only way for me to pay off my debt. You know too much. Damn it, haven’t I always told you not to get involved?”
“Why here?”
“It’s less messy out here in Arizona. It will look like biker violence and not a Bordono hit. And, of course, no one would ever suspect me.” Dropping his head, he removes his hat and runs a hand across his thick gray hair.
“Of course not. Because no father would kill his son…”
“What?” It’s Seneca’s voice.
Whipping around, I see her walking up to me, flanked by Harry and Seth.
Moving to them, I shake my head. “Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here.”
In the intensity of the past couple of moments, I never heard the front door, or any of them enter the range.
“We came to find you,” Harry explains.
“How did you know…?”
Harry cocks his head. “You said in your note, ‘unfinished business’. If you weren’t at the Taphouse, then you had to be at the range.”
“I should have come to talk to you, Harry.” Dropping my gaze, I look at the cement ground and then lifting it again, I look into his eyes. Considering I’ll be looking down the barrel of my father’s gun soon, it’s an odd time to come clean with everything, but my father is old-school. He’ll wait for me to make my peace.
“I need to talk to you, too,” Harry adds.
“You were right to kick me out of the Knights…”
“No.” Shaking his head, he steps closer. “I wasn’t. And thankfully, someone very wise came to tell me I was wrong.”
“Who was that?”
Harry nods to Seneca.
“I just explained that I’m pissed too. But we all have our secrets and regrets. All of us.” She looks at Seth and then Harry before turning to me. “I reminded Harry of how he pretty much ran Tess out of the Steel Knights because he hated women so much. And now, he’s changing, thanks to Celia. I explained that you have a right to change, too.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I do.”
