Can You Be My Dad Just for Tonight?

For several seconds, Jackson couldn't hear anything except the dead silence coming from his phone.

Daniel's last words kept repeating inside his skull.

You were the one who locked the door.

Ryder was the first to speak.

“What did he say?””

Jackson lowered the phone.

Nobody moved.

“What did Daniel say?”” Ryder demanded.

Jackson looked at the key hanging from the chain around his neck. He had worn it for nine years, tucked beneath his shirt, telling himself it was a reminder of a night he could never undo.

Now it felt like evidence against him.

“He said I locked the door.””

Ryder stared at him.

“What door?””

“The side entrance at the garage.””

Marcus slowly stood up.

“You told us you found it chained when you arrived.””

“I did.””

“Then how could you have locked it?””

Jackson's jaw tightened.

“Because I had the key.””

The words landed like a gunshot.

Cole stepped away from the workbench.

“You've had the key all this time?””

Jackson nodded.

Ryder grabbed the back of a chair, his fingers digging into the wood.

“Are you telling me you could have opened that door?””

“I didn't know Daniel was inside when I arrived.””

“But you knew the door was locked!””

“I KNOW THAT!””

Jackson's shout silenced the room.

Emily flinched on the couch.

Denise immediately wrapped her arms around her daughter.

Jackson saw the girl's frightened expression and forced himself to lower his voice.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart.””

Emily stared at him.

“Did you lock Daddy inside?””

He couldn't answer.

She slid off the couch and moved closer to her mother.

“Mommy?””

Denise held her tightly.

“It's okay, baby.””

“Did Mr. Jackson hurt Daddy?””

Jackson closed his eyes.

He had faced bullets without blinking. He had watched men bleed on concrete and carried friends out of burning buildings. But nothing had prepared him for a little girl asking whether he had killed the father she had never known.

“I don't know what happened that night,” he finally said.

“But I promise you, Emily, I'll find out.””

Ryder laughed bitterly.

“That's convenient.””

Jackson turned toward him.

“Say what you need to say.””

“I've spent nine years thinking Victor burned Daniel alive. Nine years blaming myself for not getting there sooner. And you've been wearing the key to the door that trapped him around your neck?””

“I didn't know what it meant.””

“You never thought to tell us?””

“I thought the key opened Daniel's tool cabinet. He gave it to me before the fire. I didn't realize it fit the side entrance until the building was already burning.””

Marcus stepped between them.

“Both of you, stop. Victor is still out there, and Daniel just called us from somewhere he clearly doesn't want us to find.””

Ryder pointed at Jackson.

“We're not done talking about this.””

“No,” Jackson replied.

“We're not.””

He pulled the key from beneath his shirt and placed it on the workbench.

It looked ordinary. A worn brass key with a small notch near the base.

But as Jackson stared at it, a memory surfaced.

Three days before the fire, Daniel had stood beside this same workbench, holding the key between two fingers.

If anything happens to me, Jackson, you need to keep this safe.

Jackson had laughed.

What are you expecting, a bank robbery?

Daniel hadn't laughed back.

I'm serious. Promise me.

I promise.

Then Daniel had gripped his shoulder.

And whatever you hear about that night, don't believe the first story you're told.

At the time, Jackson had thought his friend was being paranoid.

Now the memory made his stomach turn.

“There's something else,” Jackson said.

Everyone looked at him.

“The night of the fire, I received a text from Daniel. It said he needed me at the garage immediately.””

Marcus frowned.

“Why didn't you mention that?””

“Because I deleted it. I thought it was just another message about the argument we'd had.””

“What argument?”” Cole asked.

Jackson rubbed his face.

“Daniel had discovered that money was missing from the club's accounts. He believed someone was using our garage to move stolen property. He wanted me to confront Victor.””

Ryder's eyes narrowed.

“And you refused?””

“I told him he was seeing enemies everywhere. I said I was tired of him questioning everyone.””

“What did he say?””

Jackson swallowed.

“He said I was protecting the wrong man.””

The room went quiet.

Denise looked down at the memory card in her palm.

“Daniel told me something similar. He said the person who betrayed him wasn't a stranger. It was someone he trusted enough to give a key to.””

Jackson stared at the brass key.

“Then we need to get to that garage.””

Marcus shook his head.

“Not without a plan. Victor gave us a deadline, and he knows Denise escaped. He could have people waiting there.””

“We can't leave Daniel alone.””

“We also can't run straight into a trap and leave Emily without anyone to protect her.””

Cole raised a hand.

“I'll stay with Emily and Denise. Frank can help me move them to the safe location Marcus arranged. We'll verify every person who approaches before opening the door.””

Emily immediately stood.

“No!””

Cole knelt in front of her.

“Hey. I'm not leaving you. I'm staying right here.””

“But you're one of Daddy's friends.””

“And that's why I'm going to keep you safe.””

She looked at Jackson.

“Are you going to find Daddy?””

Jackson knelt beside her.

“Yes.””

“Even if he thinks you hurt him?””

The question nearly broke him.

“Especially then.””

Emily studied his face for a long moment.

Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, faded drawing.

It showed a house, a crooked tree, and five stick figures standing together. One was taller than the others. Another had a pink dress.

“My daddy drew this with me when I was little,” she said.

“Mommy said I was too young to remember it.””

Jackson accepted the paper carefully.

On the back, in Daniel's handwriting, were four words.

Family always comes home.

Jackson pressed the drawing against his chest.

He would not make another promise he couldn't keep.

This time, he would bring Daniel home.

Marcus checked the time.

5:24 p.m.

“Ryder, get the bikes ready. Jackson, you're coming with me. We'll approach the garage from the service road and check the perimeter before we go anywhere near the entrance.””

Ryder picked up his helmet.

“And if Victor's there?””

Jackson looked at the key on the workbench.

“Then we'll find out why he wanted us to believe Daniel was dead.””

They were almost out the door when Emily suddenly called after them.

“Mr. Jackson?””

He turned.

She was holding the photograph of Daniel beside the four bikers.

“Daddy said something to me in a dream last night.””

Jackson walked back to her.

“What did he say, sweetheart?””

Emily swallowed.