Retribution (The Protectors 3)

I took a few sips of the coffee as I made my way to the elevator. The bitter liquid helped clear my muddled thoughts and I threw out the coffee before I entered the ICS ward. The unit was home to nearly a dozen immunocompromised kids and it was both humbling and encouraging to see the children of all ages and their families who were going through the same things Matty and I were. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to any of the other parents yet, but Matty had already made friends with a little girl named Susie who was a year younger than him and was halfway through her course of treatment. He’d spent some time playing with her in the toy room and I’d nearly cried when I’d gotten to see my little boy being the kid he was meant to be. In those few minutes, he hadn’t been sick and I hadn’t had to deal with the prospect of losing him.

“Daddy!”

I smiled as Matty welcomed me before I’d even gotten the door to his room completely open.

“Hey, buddy,” I said as I hurried to the bed and carefully wrapped my arms around him. I gave Seth a smile over Matty’s shoulder.

“Seth and I are playing Tic Tac Toe,” Matty said excitedly as he pointed to a piece of paper with dozens of Tic Tac Toe squares on them.

“He’s beating me,” Seth announced grumpily.

Matty chuckled. “You can win next time,” he promised.

“Deal,” Seth said with a laugh. “Hey, didn’t you want to show your dad something?” Seth asked.

“Oh yeah,” Matty said and then he was searching the bed for something. He finally pulled out a doll I didn’t recognize. “Look what Hawke brought me!”

My heart lurched at the mention of Hawke and I felt a sliver of disappointment go through me that I’d missed his visit. “Wow, cool,” I said.

“It’s Hawkeye,” Matty explained.

“That was so nice of him,” I said. “Did you say thank you?”

Matty nodded, but then his face fell. “He said he had to go away for a while.”

“Hawke said that?”

“Uh-huh. He said he might not be able to come back.”

I glanced up at Seth who gave me a slight nod. “He left this for you,” Seth said as he reached for a folded over piece of paper sitting on a small table next to Matty’s bed.

My fingers shook as I saw my name scrawled across the front of the note. Inside were just a few words, but they shook me to my core.

Take care of your son, Tate. --H

My knees felt weak and I had to search out a chair. I shook my head in disbelief and I looked up at Seth. “Did you read this?”

Seth shook his head and I handed him the note. He read it and then folded it closed.

“When did he leave that?” I asked

“About an hour after you left.”

I leaned back in the chair and watched Matty play with his doll. Hawke was letting me go. I couldn’t believe it.

“Why would he do this?” I asked. I had no doubt that Seth knew exactly what Hawke’s plans for me had been since I was sure Ronan would have told him.

I wasn’t sure if Seth was going to answer me or not, but before he even had the chance, there was a knock on the door. Mira, the second shift nurse entered.

“Hi Matty,” she said.

“Hi,” Matty returned and then he was holding up the doll. “Look what I got.”

“Hawkeye,” Mira said knowingly. “He’s my favorite.”

“How come?” Matty asked as Mira came farther into the room.

“Because he doesn’t have any actual super powers, but he’s just as brave as all the other Avengers.” Mira bypassed Matty’s bed and came up to me.

“The billing office asked that I give this to you,” she said as she handed me a piece of paper.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Your receipt.”

Mira turned her attention to Matty before I could question her further. I studied the piece of paper and felt my heart constrict painfully in my chest when I saw Hawke’s name again in the payer section. I shifted my eyes to the bottom of the page and sucked in a breath when I saw the balance. It was a negative number. A really big number.

“What is it?” Seth asked.

I glanced up to see that Mira had left at some point and Matty and Seth were once again playing Tic Tac Toe.

“He prepaid the bill,” I managed to say. “For Matty’s treatment.”

Seth’s eyes held mine for a brief moment and I swore I saw a hint of a smile drift over his lips before Matty demanded his attention again. I sat back in the chair and let my eyes fall back on the receipt.

What the hell did this mean?

Chapter Nine

Hawke

I held the rifle against my shoulder as I watched the headlights bounce along the dirt road that led up to the house. I’d grabbed it long before the car even made the turn from the secluded highway that bordered the property, because it was rare to see any kind of vehicle making the journey across the pass this time of night. And since my only neighbor owned a huge cattle ranch, I knew the man was already in bed since he was up before the sun even rose. It was likely just some poor soul who’d taken a wrong turn somewhere and gotten lost and was seeking directions, but I was hoping the rifle would make it clear that I wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat.