The Crimson Fall (The Sons of Liberty Book 1) Read Free Page A

and fix that side of things now would surely end his new and rising career ten times faster and a hundred times easier than it had taken him to build it over the past three years. After careful thought, Adam finally spoke the words he hoped his son needed to hear.
    “Judah, I love you. Don’t worry about me or the elk or whatever. You’re not a failure and I really love being out here with you no matter what. And missing that shot . . . well, it’s just one of those things that happens. And it happens to the best of us. Now look at me.”
    Judah raised his head but looked off to the side, obviously trying to hide the red in his eyes as he rubbed the few tears off his cheeks with his shirtsleeves.
    “Yes, it was an easy shot and yes, you could have nailed it, but I don’t think that means you were necessarily meant to. I know I haven’t been around much and I’m working on that. I have a feeling things will calm down in the next year or so, and that’s going to give us a lot of time to be together. So I’ll make you a deal. I promise you that I will be standing right next to you one day when you see the perfect shot. Your perfect shot—the one that you cannot afford to miss. I promise you, on that day, you won’t fail and you’ll no longer be my boy. You’ll be your own man.” Adam looked toward the trees, searching for any miracle that they would find the animal again, but he knew it was long gone, and their time to leave had come. “Now, what would you think about heading back home and getting some of Grandma’s good cooking? Beef jerky and beans can only go so far.”
    The boy tried not to give his dad the gratitude of a laugh, but finally he chuckled.
    “Sure, Dad,” Judah said. “Let’s go.”
    They talked little on the way back to the camp and were packed up and on the road by late afternoon. Adam knew the best thing for Judah would be to process his thoughts about the failed hunt himself so they spoke about other things. Judah first talked about his classes and what he wanted to be when he grew up . . . at least, for that particular week. Adam raised his eyebrows when Judah began to tell him about the very pretty girl with dark brown hair that wouldn’t stop smiling at him when he saw her at school. Judah then mentioned how he was thinking of starting a rugby team back in Denver next year. Adam had often spoken about his collegiate rugby days, but never had he pushed the sport on Judah. The thought that perhaps his son wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps after all made Adam proud.
    As his boy talked on, Adam took it all in quietly with a delightful grin. He was rarely able to spend the time he wanted with his family anymore, and failed as the hunting trip was, it had been a much-needed break from his busy and stressful schedule.
    Adam’s earpiece began to ring, causing his nVision display—the tiny digital screens embedded in his contact lenses—to light up. But instead of blinking with his wife’s picture as he had expected, it strangely labeled the number as an unknown caller. Curious as to who would be calling from an unregistered phone, Adam touched his earpiece and answered the call.
    “This is Adam Reinhart.”
    The sound of rain and car horns filled his ear. A door thudded shut, cutting off the sounds of a busy street, and a ruffled voice began speaking in the background, though all Adam could understand was the word airport . After a few moments, a familiar voice spoke, labeling the mystery caller as anything but a mystery.
    “Adam, it’s Joe.”
    The sound of Joe’s voice immediately prompted Adam to smile. He swiped his right hand toward the radio, motioning for the nVision device to switch the audio to the truck’s stereo system.
    “So, how’s my big brother doing, huh? Did you get a new number? Hey, I just put you on speaker. Say hello to Judah. We just got back from his first hunting trip. You should have seen the size of—”
    “Adam, I need you to take me off