With shaky hands, I raised my own weapon. Before I could get off a shot, I felt a sharp pain in my head and my world went dark.

Tyler

I SAT IN THE OFFICE of the club, anxiously waiting for Eli to show up. He had said he was on his way from Brownsville with what he thought was a possible connection between Galloway and this Boris Ranko, who had tried to blow us up. I prayed it was one that would finally put an end to all of this. The more time that passed without any new information, the more uneasy I became that everything would fall out from underneath me. I needed answers, and I needed them now.

Focusing on my laptop, my eyes glossed over the massive amount of information we had accumulated since the beginning of this case over a year ago. I tried to separate what I knew to be fact from what I knew was clearly fiction. Unfortunately, what I knew to be true and backed up by physical evidence was lacking. For the most part, all we had was one person’s story against another’s, all of it contradictory. The little physical evidence we did have, from an FBI agent I still wasn’t sure was reliable, supported a story I didn’t necessarily want to believe, although it was the theory I had bought into when I first began to work this assignment. Now, I wasn’t so sure. All I did know was that I desperately needed answers, and I hoped Eli would give me some when he got here.

A figure standing in the doorway caught my attention and I swung my head up, trying to hide my surprise.

“Francis…,” I muttered under my breath, confused about what he was doing here, particularly now that the FBI seemed to know of his existence and had plastered his face all over the national news. I quickly ushered him into my office, hoping none of my staff members had arrived for their shift just yet, and closed the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in a low voice as I gestured for him to have a seat across from my desk.

He briefly closed his eyes as he dropped into the chair. “Saying goodbye.” There was something different about his demeanor. He was no longer the collected former army colonel I had grown to know over the past few months or so. His eyes were dull, his expression blank. His stature was slumped, no longer exhibiting the confidence I saw in him when he nonchalantly strolled into my hospital room as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I could tell this was it. He was finally giving up.

“What do you mean?”

“I know it may not make sense, but I can’t go on like this anymore, not now that the FBI has decided to broadcast my face and identity across the country. If I don’t do this, they’ll never leave Serafina alone. I’m doing this for her.”

“Doing what?” I demanded.

“I contacted Agent Suarez of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I understand you’ve had the pleasure of meeting him recently.”

I nodded.

“I’ve agreed to surrender myself into his custody, effective this afternoon.”

“Francis, you can’t–”

He held up his hand. “I understand the ramifications of what I’m doing. I don’t need you to lecture me about it.”

“But what about Mackenzie?” I urged, my voice growing louder.

“I’m doing this for her. She’s the only reason I’m doing this!” he insisted, the life and passion returning to him as his eyes lit on fire. “To save her from a life of always having to look over her shoulder, never knowing when something I’ve done will come back to haunt her. By doing this, I can take full responsibility for everything, and finally let Serafina live the life she’s been meant to live!” He paused, looking past me at a photograph sitting on a small chest. I followed his line of sight to see him gazing affectionately at a framed picture of the two of us kissing on the beach just after we were married.

“There has to be another–”

“By doing this,” he interrupted, his voice barely audible, “she can finally forget about me, like she should have all those years ago.”

“Did you go see her?” I asked.

Meeting my eyes, he shook his head slowly, remaining silent.

“Why not?!” My body tensed as I struggled to maintain my temper. I had trouble wrapping my head around what I was hearing. “You’re just going to turn yourself in and not even do the decent thing and tell your own daughter about it?!”

“I am doing the decent thing,” he replied harshly, slamming his fist on the desk. “I’ve been sick with this decision since I heard about how she had been interrogated regarding Charlie’s murder! I knew I’d have to do this without saying goodbye. It’s the only way to save her from any more heartache!”

“You left once without telling her!” I bellowed out. “For years, she was convinced you were dead! And now, when it appears as if you are the monster you swore you weren’t, you just get to cut your losses and walk away?! Without giving her an explanation?! What about the rest of us who have agreed to stand by your side and put our own necks on the line, regardless of what the physical evidence actually says?!”

“Cut my losses?!” he shouted, his face flaming red, his nostrils flaring as he jumped up from his chair. His face was mere inches from mine, both of our breathing intense. “I’m losing everything by this decision, but I don’t care! By doing this, I’m giving Serafina her life back! A life that was better without me in it in the first place! But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to tarnish the few memories of me she has left! And I don’t want her last one to be of me saying goodbye!”

He took a protracted breath and ran his hand over his face. Pulling back, he turned his gaze away from mine. His chin quivered as he struggled to fight back the tears that had formed in his eyes. “I want her to remember her father, the man who would do anything for her…not her father, the criminal. And I want my last memory of her to be one of joy, of smiles…not of tears and sorrow. Please, Tyler, I beg you to understand.”

“But she’ll want to see you,” I said, lowering my voice. “Even after you turn yourself in, do you think she won’t do everything she can to visit you?”

“She can’t. Please, keep her away. I can’t bear the thought of my little girl seeing me locked up in some prison. She doesn’t belong there. I can’t put her through that.”

“You’re her family,” I offered, grasping at straws. “The only family she has left.”

He shook his head and began to retreat toward the door. I wanted to stop him, to figure out some way to prove he wasn’t the man the world, maybe even he, thought he was.

“I’m not her family. Maybe I was once upon a time, but not anymore. She has a new family now, but she’ll never be able to enjoy that new family if she’s still hung up on the last.” He pulled open the door, pausing briefly. Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “We will see each other again. I have faith the good Lord knows the truth and will make sure we eventually find our way back to each other.”

He disappeared, leaving me stunned. I sank back into my chair, wondering how I was not only going to tell Mackenzie that her father had turned himself in, but also how I was going to keep her from visiting him. I knew it was impossible. Mackenzie was one of the most stubborn women I’d ever met, and she would do everything she could to see her father. I could just picture her eyes when she went to wherever he was being held to visit and he refused to see her. I hated to admit it, but I understood. If I were in his shoes, I would have done the same thing for the exact same reasons.