Lynx
Page 37
‘You do that often?’
‘I’ve been improvising most of my life.’
‘You’ve got that kind of money?’
‘It’s a long story.’
‘Let me meet the girl,’ Nazarian said. ‘Then I’ll decide.’
‘I thought you already promised.’
‘I need to see her to know for sure. I don’t know why. It’s instinct. A fatherly thing.’
‘How will you let me know?’
‘I’ll nod.’
‘And if it’s not right?’
‘I don’t know. But don’t force this on me. It’s a commitment you know nothing about, if we’re going to be honest. I need to make the choice on my own. I can’t stress how important that is.’
‘I understand.’
‘So where is she?’
Slater lifted a hand up, in full view of the Land Cruiser, and beckoned.
101
She stepped out of the passenger seat. Small and gentle, with her wide eyes locked onto Frank Nazarian. Seeming to understand that this was more than likely her new father.
Nazarian turned to Slater, and he nodded a confirmation.
It couldn’t have been more than a couple of seconds.
Shien had that effect on people.
She made it across the street, casting a shy glance in the direction of Abigail and Anastasia, and then she stepped up to the pair of them.
‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Hi, Shien,’ Nazarian said. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
‘You too.’
Nazarian pushed himself to an upright position.
‘I’ll be right back,’ he said to Slater. ‘I need to talk this over with my wife. She needs to be on board, obviously. But I’ll explain what you told me. Every word of it.’
‘You two share everything with each other?’
‘Of course. I love her.’
Slater smiled.
Nazarian sauntered away, and then it was just the two of them.
‘You’re not looking good,’ Shien said.
‘Thanks.’
‘I mean it.’
‘I couldn’t agree more.’
‘You need to fix yourself up.’
‘I happen to be very good at that.’
‘Is this goodbye forever?’
‘If you want it to be.’
‘I don’t want it to be. But if it’s goodbye for now, then it needs to be goodbye forever.’
‘You sure?’
‘You told me I’m only ten. But I can make up my mind with something like that. I can do the right thing.’
‘You’re the toughest ten year old I’ve ever met.’
‘Have you met many?’
‘I’ve seen them around. Most of them seem like pests.’
She smiled. ‘You going to be okay without me?’
‘Almost certainly not.’
‘But it’s in your DNA, right?’
‘Right.’
‘I just wanted to say that you’ve done more for me than anyone else would, and I don’t know why. I don’t know if I’ll ever work it out. But I can’t put into words how thankful I am, Will. Thank you so much. For everything. That’s two times in a row you’ve put me on a new path. I don’t really want to know where those paths would have led without you. It scares me. I can’t lie about it. It keeps me awake at night and it gives me bad dreams. But that’s better than actually living it.’
‘There won’t be a third,’ Slater said. ‘Not with these people. They’ll protect you. They’ll look after you. They’ll give you what I wanted you to have all along. I’m so sorry for what Williams did. I can’t put that into words either.’
‘Maybe words aren’t the best for a situation like this.’
‘Maybe not.’
‘We could talk for hours and we wouldn’t scratch the surface.’
‘I agree.’
She hugged him, nestling into his barrel chest, and transferred all the emotion she wanted to put into words, but couldn’t. And he did the same, and then they parted, and Frank and Anastasia Nazarian approached with warm smiles on their faces and open arms, and Slater figured it couldn’t get much better than that.
So he stood up and nodded to each of them and used the rifle to hop back to the Land Cruiser, where he sat motionless in the driver’s seat, in a world of pain but feeling none of it, watching each of the Nazarians hug Shien in turn through the tinted glass. He watched them pile into the family sedan and back out of the driveway and take off down the quiet suburban street, until they disappeared from sight, leaving him alone.
He lowered his forehead to the steering wheel, and he breathed a sigh of relief quite unlike any sensation he’d ever experienced, and he cried tears of joy for the first time in his life.
Then he put the truck into gear and accelerated, because his life was nothing without momentum.
And he smiled.
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Books by Matt Rogers
THE JASON KING SERIES
Isolated (Book 1)
Imprisoned (Book 2)
Reloaded (Book 3)
Betrayed (Book 4)
Corrupted (Book 5)
Hunted (Book 6)
THE JASON KING FILES
Cartel (Book 1)
Warrior (Book 2)
Savages (Book 3)
THE WILL SLATER SERIES
Wolf (Book 1)
Lion (Book 2)
Bear (Book 3)
Lynx (Book 4)
BLACK FORCE SHORTS
The Victor (Book 1)
The Chimera (Book 2)
The Tribe (Book 3)
The Hidden (Book 4)
The Coast (Book 5)
The Storm (Book 6)
The Wicked (Book 7)
The King (Book 8)
The Joker (Book 9)
About the Author
Matt Rogers grew up in Melbourne, Australia as a voracious reader, relentlessly devouring thrillers and mysteries in his spare time. Now, he writes full-time. His novels are action-packed and fast-paced. Dive into the Jason King Series to get started with his collection.
Visit his website:
www.mattrogersbooks.com
Visit his Amazon page:
amazon.com/author/mattrogers23