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“Good.” He looked at Jay. “Thanks for coming over. You have time to stay for dinner?”
That was it?
“You’re not mad?” said Hunter.
His dad glanced at him. “Not yet.”
Hunter frowned. “Yet?”
“You’re about to teach yourself a lesson a lot more effectively than I ever could. I’ll be mad if you don’t learn it the first time around.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will.” His father looked back at Jay. “The file for this weekend is upstairs if you want to take a look.”
His uncle straightened. “Sure. I have time.”
“File?” Hunter’s ears perked up. If Uncle Jay was involved, that meant it was Elemental business. His father worked private security jobs on his own. “You have a job this weekend?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” said his father.
“Let him listen,” said Jay. “You said it’s just surveillance for now, right? He’ll be doing it himself soon enough.”
Hunter’s dad smiled and smacked his brother on the back of the head good-naturedly—but his eyes were serious. “I said, it’s nothing he needs to worry about.”
“You know I can keep a secret,” said Hunter.
Hunter’s dad lost the smile. “It’s not about keeping secrets. I don’t want you in on this stuff any sooner than you need to be.”
“But why? You tell me about your private-duty stuff all the time. But this is the stuff I should be learning—”
“No,” said his dad, and his eyes were fierce. “It’s not a game, Hunter. You’re not ready.”
Hunter gritted his teeth. He took every lesson seriously. He followed every rule his father laid out. His skills with a rifle could rival real sharpshooters. Any challenge his father set, he could do it. He had done it.
“I know it’s not a game,” he said.
“Good. Then forget we mentioned it.”
“Is this because I brought a girl home?” Hunter wanted to punch the wall, but he was well practiced in maintaining control, especially when his father was around. He kept his voice even. “You said you weren’t mad.”
“I’m not. And this isn’t a punishment.”
“What good is all this training if you’re never going to let me use it?”
“Hunter.”
“Maybe if you would let me have the chance—”
“Hunter. I said no.”
That tone was final, like throwing up a wall. A point of no return. For a bare instant, Hunter wanted to knock it down, to rebel and throw a fit.
But that would just make his father throw up a new wall, a stronger one.
His father wasn’t waiting around for him to make a choice, anyway. He turned and started through the door, saying, “Lock up when you’re done in here.”
Like Hunter would sit down here and sulk.
