Page 76 of Samson

“I wasn’t in the car, and it wasn’t an accident. The crash was meant for me. I was in deep on a case.”

“The one connected to what the agent brought you?”

“Yeah. They were trying to stop me, so they pushed my car off the road, except I wasn’t in the car. It was only Tanya and our daughter.”

Delilah pressed her hand against her mouth. “Samson. I—that’s horrible. You lost your daughter too? I don’t know what to say.”

“Riley didn’t die. She was okay. But she was with her mother at the end, and it took her a long time to get over that. And it’s all my fault.”

“That’s horrible. But it’s still not your fault.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. I was careless and cocky, and I thought I really was invincible back then. But I wasn’t. They broke me that day.”

“Did you get them in the end?”

“No. It’s my biggest failure, but after the crash, I couldn’t keep going.”

“Where’s your daughter now? Does she live with you?”

“No. I wouldn’t do that to her. I knew I was not a good person for Riley to be around, so I let my mother-in-law raise her. Riley’s lived with her since that time.”

“Do you see her much?”

“No. I don’t want her to see me this way.”

“And that’s why you live the way you do. Trying to fill that emptiness with…meaningless?—”

“Yeah.”

“I bet your daughter would like to see you. How old is she?”

“Almost fifteen. She’s the most precious thing to me on the entire planet, and I never see her.”

Delilah reached a hand across the table and rested it on his. “Thank you for telling me that.”

“You can’t tell anyone. No one knows about her, and that’s the best way I can protect her. That’s one thing you need to make sure you don’t ever let slip.”

“No, of course not. I would never—but Samson, maybe you don’t need to do all this. If you stopped putting yourself in danger, you could have her in your life again.”

“This is what I’m made for. How can I do anything else?”

“You said you weren’t following God anymore.”

“He might not want me, but that doesn’t mean I can stop fighting for what’s right.”

She nodded. “I understand what you’re saying, but I think you should at least consider seeing her.”

“For you, I’ll think about it.”

“No, don’t do it for me. Do it for Riley. She needs to know her dad.”

“Even if she despises me?”

“I never knew my dad. He left my mom when I was little. The time he was actually with us, I never saw much of him. My whole life I wanted him to come look for me. I didn’t care about the sort of man he was. All I wanted was to know he cared about me.”

“I’m sure he did.”

“But to a girl, that’s not good enough.”

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