Twenty-Three
Bullseye
The sun was slowly rising as I stepped onto the porch. I always loved mornings. Mornings were peaceful, perfect, without mistakes. I could sit and watch the sunrise forever and die a happy man. But like all things in life, eventually, shit needed to be done, and blood needed to be spilled.
“She will be fine, Bullseye,” Reaper said, coming out to stand next to me on the porch. “Savage won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I should be with her. She is my responsibility.”
“I get it. I really do. I hate being away from Remi. My woman is pregnant with my kid, and I’m not there to protect her. I want to go to her right now, but if I did that, I would be putting her life in danger.”
“Do you think babies know?”
“Know what?”
“That we’re gone? I haven’t seen Hailey in almost a month. She is getting bigger day by day, and I’m not there to see it. Do you think she will remember me when she sees me?”
“I think she will remember your voice. That little girl loves you, Bullseye. You are her dad. She knows you. She will always know you.”
“You know, when she was born, I wasn’t there. I missed it. I wanted so badly to be there when she was born. Instead, I was in hiding because Savage and I didn’t get along. I didn’t get to hold Kitty’s hand or Hailey when she was born. I hope you don’t miss that. You need to be there for your kids’ birth.”
“I plan on it, brother. Nothing but death will make me miss that.”
“How is Remi doing?”
Reaper chuckled. “She can’t see her feet. She says she looks like a beached whale. I doubt that, though. All I see is my beautiful woman who is carrying my kid. I don’t think Remi understands how much I truly love her.”
“She knows. She may hate the situation, but she knows that.”
“I know you said you didn’t want to hear it, but I need to apologize for hiring you to kill Pops. He may have been a son of bitch, but he was a good father. I hate that you didn’t get to see that part of him.”
Shaking my head, I said. “I had my Uncle. Moonshine was a good father. He taught me everything I needed to know to be a man. Have you heard from Player? How is Layla?”
Reaper laughed. “Well, Player is going to kill Massacre, and Layla is doing good, according to Player. Apparently, she is happy to be away from California. Wherever they are, she is happy.”
“That’s good. Layla was always too good for this life. She never really fit. Mom and Moonshine did their best to protect her. In the end, it wasn’t enough. I want you to know that when this shit ends, I will be going after Jekyll. I have a score to settle with him.”
“I know.”
“Reaper!” Phantom shouted from inside the farmhouse. Turning, I followed him back inside to find Ghost and Phantom huddled over her damn computer.
“Damn woman, you cluck louder than that damn rooster. What is it?”
“Fuck you, asshole. Just making sure I got your attention.”
“You got it. Now what?”
“Gadget got the cameras up and running at the Plantation. Come look.”
Walking around the large table, Reaper and I looked at the screen as we saw a small boy sitting in the grass playing with a red firetruck. He looked small for his age, pale and withdrawn. His shoulder-length jet-black hair was blowing in the wind. The little boy was the spitting image of Matrix. Down to the silly grin his father sported on occasion.
“Matrix, get in here!” Reaper ordered.
Within seconds, Matrix was staring at the computer screen. When he wiped a tear from his face, none of us said a damn word. We didn’t know what Matrix was going through or had been through. I could only imagine what the man was feeling seeing his son for the first time in a long time.
“Samuel.”
“He is being watched by a woman,” Phantom said as she typed something into her computer. Instantly the camera zoomed in on the woman in question. She was a pretty young thing. She couldn’t be no more than twenty, maybe twenty-two. She had long wavy brown hair and looked scared to death as she constantly looked around her.