Page 98 of The Family Cross

I said, “Why would they say that? Did he live there?”

“Time to time, I believe. Choir Boy too. But it wasn’t like I followed Bing Bang around keeping track, you know.”

Hawk suggested we visit a couple of homeless camps we had not known about, one in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and another over in Fairfax, Virginia. He was sad to hear of Anna’s death and seemed upset that her kids and Boog had vanished.

“You think he has the kids?” Hawk asked. “Bing Bang?”

Sampson and I glanced at each other.

“If he does, how bad would it be?” John asked.

The former Special Forces operator sobered, shaking his head as if to rid himself of a biting fly or an equally biting memory. “If Bing Bang is the Firebug, and Anna and her kids and Boog knew, then all bets are off. Especially if he gets to drinking and has a blade in his pocket.”

I got a text from Bree as we left the detention facility. My dad had arrived from Florida, and Nana Mama was asking for me to come home.

Sampson said he’d canvass the homeless camps Hawk had told us to check out and promised to call for backup if there was any evidence that O’Hare was around. I went home wondering how I was going to tell my dad about Charlie.

I got home around four that afternoon and found my father by my grandmother’s side. He was a little grayer at the temples and in the mustache, but no less robust than the last time I’d seen him.

“Hi, Dad,” I called to him, grinning. I greeted Bree, then walked over to where Nana Mama was holding court in the living room.

My dad turned to me, exposing the scar from the brutal facial wound that he’d suffered during the First Gulf War when an oil well he was trying to secure exploded. The blast had killed two men and laid open my dad’s cheek, leaving him with extensive nerve damage that often made him appear expressionless. But there was no hiding his enthusiasm when he stood and came toward me with his big paw of a hand extended.

His hand enveloped mine, and then his hug enveloped me. “So good to see you, Alex. So very good.”

I’d be lying if I said I did not get choked up. He’d been back in my life for several years now, but reuniting with him always brought up old and deep emotions of loss and abandonment. My adult brain knew exactly why he’d left me and my brothers, why he’d created a whole new life for himself. But sometimes it was hard to silence the pain of the little kid who still dwelled inside me.

85

TEARS WELLED IN MY eyes as we pulled apart.

“Good to see you too, Dad,” I said, wiping at my eyes with my sleeve. “I’m glad you could come.”

“Soon as I knew Alicia was stable and in good hands, I was on my way.”

“The surgeries went well, then?”

“Her hip and her femur were badly fractured, but they’re all put back together with screws and plates now,” my father said. “And they’ve got her up on her feet already. Can you imagine? One week later and she’s up.”

Nana Mama asked, “Lot pain?”

“Surprisingly, she says not much, Mom,” he said, going over to her. “She’s not even taking narcotics anymore.”

“Lucky.”

“Very. Both of us are.”

“Like Alicia.”

“I do too,” he said, beaming at her and then at me.

My dad’s wife, Reverend Alicia Maya, was a good woman who’d helped him turn his life around. “She’s always stood by you,” I said.

“So when am I going to see those grandkids of mine?” he asked.

“Before dinner, I expect. Damon and Ali are out but they’ll be back soon, and I asked Jannie to come over too.”

“I am so proud of that girl. It’s incredible what she’s done,” my father said. “I read all about it.”