Page 43 of Property of Bull
“I wouldn’t want to intrude.” Clark gives the standard response that seems to roll off the tongue of people whodowant to intrude.
Margo’s smile grows bigger, and I see the mischievous twinkle in her eyes when she tilts her head in my direction. “Oh, it’s no problem, is it, Stryker?”
“You know, Clark, any other time I’d say it wasn’t a problem, but Eli’s been on the road over a day at this point. What do you say we give him a chance to shower and visit with his daughter, before you two talk?”
“Of course, of course. Well, again, sorry to intrude at this hour, I’m just eager to get this solved.” Clark places his hat back on his head before nodding to Margo and stepping back out into the darkness.
Closing the door behind him, I wait to say anything until his cruiser starts up.
“You’ve clearly never been spanked before,” I growl to the little minx standing behind me.
“What? You don’t want him to think we were trying to get rid of him, do you?” she tosses back to me, looking the picture of innocence as I cross to toss back my whiskey. “Does your dad have a warrant out or something?”
“Not that I’m aware of.” Shaking my head, I dash the hopeful look on her face as I call out for Dad to rejoin us. “I need to talk to him. Will you give us a little time?”
Waiting as she takes her sweet time to answer, I realize I don’t hear Dad moving around, so I hold up my finger before going to check on him.
“I never thought you’d have kept all of this,” Dad says when I enter my old room to find him tearing through one of the boxes that I brought in from the damaged shed the other day.
“Will you tell me what was important enough to bring you back from, from wherever the hell you’ve been?” I sputter, not able to set foot in the room for all the paper he’s sorting through.
“There was a man I used to do business with,” he slowly replies, as he continues to sort through the files.
“A friend?”
“A loose associate. He was not right in the head.” Dad’s actions betray how serious he is right now even as he tries to keep his voice light. “Fucker used to call me Eddie. ‘Eddie, you got a nice setup there. I’m going to take notes from you, Eddie.’ Repeating names over and over was like a nervous tick with him. It wasoff-putting.”
“What was his name?” I ask the most obvious question first.
“It won’t matter, he’ll have a different one now. ATF was closing in on us, out in Sioux Falls when we met him for an exchange. That was the day your uncle was shot, and I had a choice to make, us or him. I shot out the tire on his truck, Feds got him with the shipment and the three of us got away.”
“And?”
“And now he’s back.”
“You said, ‘the three of us’, who was the third person?” My question is pointless, I already know it was Frost. Anyone else would have repeated the story.
This time I’m awake and clearly hear a vehicle pull up to the house.
“You get an awful lot of guests in the middle of the night, you know that?” His comment reminds me that he doesn’t know about George.
“Look, Eli Tucker’s going to be in the guest bedroom for a week or so. I need you to use this room,” I start out, knowing he always respected the old man. “George was murdered two nights ago, and the house is closed up for the time being.”
“It was Matt,” my dad says, not even looking up from the documents on his lap. “Fucking manipulative asshole.”
“Really? My money was on Jason,” I snort at his reaction.
“No, Jason would come straight at you—like your Ol’ Lady earlier—and own it. Matt waits until no one’s looking.” He finally makes a move to stand up, his back cracking. “Want to clue me in on why she hates me?”
“Not relevant. How do you want to play this?”
“Well, I didn’t want people knowing I was back. Of course, that was before I realized your house was Grand Central Station.”
“Find what it is you’re looking for then fuck right back off to where you came from. I can handle whatever comes our way.” I keep my voice low but struggle not to slam the door behind me.
Margo
I’m standing in the great room, secure in my father’s arms when I hear Stryker’s voice. I can’t make out the words, but his tone leaves no doubt that his reunion with his dad isn’t going well.
