The Paladin: Lazarus

Prologue

Friday

December 31st

My dad sat me down at our kitchen table while the rest of our family was gathered around the TV, eating Chinese food, until the ball dropped. New Year's Eve wasn't a particularly exciting time in our house, we didn't throw a massive party or anything. We all just sat watching TV, channel surfing, once in a while flipping the channel back to Ryan Seacrest talking about the ball drop that hadn't happened yet. Your average family New Year's. Though the talk that my dad and I were having was most definitely a New Year's first.

"That time, huh?" I asked.

"You bet," he answered with a slight groan as he sat down next to me. "I know this is the last thing you want to talk about, given all the crap that's happened. But let me start off by saying that despite the fact that I'm supremely uncomfortable with what you do—and frankly I'm scared shitless for you—I am proud of you," he insisted.

"Thanks, Dad. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you—there were a lot of times when I wished I could. But telling you I'm the Paladin...it's not exactly like telling you I lost my virginity," I pointed out.

"Have you lost your virginity?" he inquired.

"No, but that's not the point," I replied awkwardly.

He chuckled a little, ruffling my hair.

"Guess not. You know I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't a little hurt you didn't tell me. I mean, I'm your father, Booker. You should be able to come to me with these types of things, but then I find out that you went to Gerry before me."

"To be fair, telling Gerry was something I did out of necessity, and now I'm regretting it. I just didn't want to compromise you, is all. I know you take your job as a cop very seriously and I didn't want to put you in a bad position with work. I mean, now you've gotta lie to the people you work with. Quinn, Johnson."

"Are you two going to come in?" my mom asked, poking her head through the doorway. "The ball is going to drop in five minutes."

"We'll be there in a minute, Lise," my dad assured her. My mom nodded and headed back to the living room.

"Plus, now you've gotta keep it from her and the twins,"I pointed out. "I shouldn't have gotten you into this crap."

"You let me worry about keeping the secret, Book, okay? From now on, no more lies. When it comes to my family and my work, I always will put you guys first, that clear? I want you to feel like you can come to me. And look, I don't need every detail—I don't think either of us wants that. Just keep me in the loop, you know? And if you need help, don't be afraid to ask. Because my priority is your safety."

"I will, Dad."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"All right then. Now come on, let's act normal and actually do something like a normal family." The two of us got up and joined the others in the family room, me between Blake and Marian, my father next to my mother. Less than a minute before midnight the knocker sounded on the front door. Clack! Clack!

My mom groaned. "Who could it possibly be at this hour?" I got up to answer the door and she put up a hand. "Honey, you're going to miss it!"

"Spoiler alert, Mom. The ball drops, everyone cheers, then we wait a year and it all happens again. Besides, it's probably something important if it's this late." I headed to the door. I opened it, and standing in the cold December night I saw Samantha, beautiful as ever. though something was wrong. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot and her lips trembled. She had been crying. "Sam?" I said, not knowing how to greet her after the way we'd left things.

"Booker, it's Johnny!" she blurted. "He's in the O.R. right now!"

Behind me the living room erupt with cheers as the ball dropped, while I stood with my jaw on the floor. "What?"

"Rosa called Gerry a half hour ago. It's bad, really bad. The doctors said he's touch and go, and that if he pulls through he might be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life."

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. Like all the air had been forced out of me. What had happened? Why Johnny? Then I saw Samantha's expression, her eyes welling up as they looked deeply into mine. She clutched me and for that moment I forgot everything that had happened between us, clutching her back, trying to hold back my own tears. This was not the time to crack.

"I'm scared," she sobbed, through my sweatshirt. "What if we lose Johnny?"

"He'll be okay. Everything will be okay. I'm right here," I assured her, holding her tightly. Knowing full well that nothing was okay.