1 ½ years later.
I sat on the couch in the mansion in Lake Forest, bouncing my 8 month old daughter on my knee. Cooing and making faces at her, my heart grew with every giggle I received from my efforts. My wife, Melissa Dejesus Stevens, walked in to the living room, covered in sweat. I turned our daughter to see her mother, and her hands immediately reached for her.
“You little traitor! I've spent the last hour entertaining you while Mommy was working out and this is how you repay me?!” I scoffed in mock disbelief.
Melissa reached out and took her from my arms, and Haley's arms wrapped around her mothers neck. “My little Haley knows who feeds her, and watches her, and clothes her. She knows who to butter up.”
In fake exasperation I whined, “But I play with her all day long! I'm the fun parent!”
“Speaking of playing with her all day long, you've been neglecting your workouts. Someone's six pack is starting to get smaller.”
I lifted my shirt to see the lines in my abs diminished just a bit, then looked back to Melissa. “Are you calling me fat?”
She smiled. “No. I'm calling you a father.”
I opened my mouth to deliver a sarcastic remark when the door burst open and Tiffany strode through, Lily at her heels.
I rose from the couch and ran behind my sister, hiding from Melissa. “Kiddo! She called me fat!”
Tiffany turned and poked me in the stomach. “Just a little fluff Daniel. Nothing to serious.”
I threw up my hands in frustration. “What is this, make fun of Daniel day?”
Melissa spread a blanket on the floor and set Haley down on it. Lily ambled over to her and the two of them started talking in a language only they could understand. Melissa sauntered over to me, swaying her hips.
When she reached me, she draped her arms around my neck. “Don't worry Daniel, I still love you. Now your daughter is almost out of diapers, go get some and you may just get a treat when you come home.”
I leaned in and took her earlobe in my mouth, sucking gently. Releasing it I whispered in her ear, “And what kind of treat are we talking about?”
“Um, hello! Grossed out Auntie over here!”
I leaned around Melissa's head and stuck my tongue out at Tiffany, then walked to the front door. Reaching high into the closet, I pulled down my old butterfly knife with the black and red handles, slipped it into my pocket and made sure I had the keys for my bike. Giving my wife one more kiss, then blowing one to my daughter, I walked out into the sunshine toward my motorcycle.
I was about to mount it when something pushed into my back and a voice hissed in my ear. “Thought you could get rid of me that easily? Think again asshole.”
I turned slowly, making sure not to scare whoever it was. When my eyes found Mark Winters, I relaxed.
“Hey Mark, what's up?”
He didn't reply, but brought the gun to my forehead. I ducked just as he pulled the trigger, and I felt the bullet rush through my hair. I came up from the crouch, butterfly already out of my pocket. Flipping it open as I rose, I slid the blade into the hollow behind his chin, driving the knife upwards. His body fell to the cement driveway and I stared down at it, the shock of the moment catching up to me.
I'm sorry Mark. I have something to live for now.
I inspected his body and noticed that the sword on his back was not the Wakazashi he had sported last time we met. I kneeled and removed the clips holding it into place, then stood, turning it in my hands.
A sharp gasp behind me caused me to turn and see Melissa on the front porch, hands covering her mouth, eyes wide in shock. I reached an arm toward her and she joined me, then I pulled the blade from the black sheath. I turned the blade until Live by Honor came into view and then I knew.
This is my Ninjato, the one that disappeared with Neal's body!
I looked farther down and my eyes caught the Haley I knew would be there. A piece of paper was wrapped around everything but the H, so I removed it slowly. I turned it so my wife and I could read it together.
For My Best Student. I'm not finished with you yet Daniel.
YOU ARE READING
Ghost Skills
حركة (أكشن)Daniel Stevens is a young man who spent most of his life training as a fighter. Alone in Chicago at nineteen years of age, he finds himself saving a convenience store clerk from being robbed and killed. After thwarting the robber in the only way he...
