Finnegan

I stared at my reflection in the small mirror above the prize booth and questioned every single decision that had led me to this moment.

This was not how my Saturday was supposed to go.

"You look amazing, Dad." Angel was beside me, all dimples and barely-contained giggles, fiddling with the purple mustache plastered to her upper lip. It kept threatening to fall off every time she laughed, which was constantly.

"I look ridiculous." I grumbled, itching to rip off the mustache. But I promised Angel we would do anything she wanted today, and only an asshole broke his promise to his daughter.

River sidled up at my other shoulder, a monocle perched on one eye and a deep red mustache curling above her lip. She arched a brow at me like she’d planned the whole look.

"We look like the world’s most dysfunctional Victorian family," Henry joined in, planting himself behind us with his arms folded. His bloody mustache was the largest of all four.

A mischievous laughter escaped me — Henry looked more ridiculous than the rest of us put together. Suddenly my mustache didn’t feel so bad. Angel squealed, snatching River’s hand and mine and tugging us back toward the arcade floor.

Back when I was younger, I used to like the arcade. Now I couldn’t possibly understand why I didn’t. It was noisy as fuck, so many crash sounds and beeping. Then there was the annoying blue an red lights that made it hard to see shit.

There were some children screaming somewhere near the back, their shrieks threatening to pull me under. I loved quietness. Under any other circumstances I would rather be at a dentist right now having my tooth pulled out than be here.

But Angel came first. She always did and she was more important than my comfort.

"Dad, come on," she tugged me toward one of the claw machines, pointing at a stuffed animal inside it. It looked kind of bear wearing sunglasses. "You’re doing this one. You have to get him for me Dad, I’m naming him Finnegan Junior."

"Are you saying I look like a bear?" I lifted my hands like paws and growled. Angel cackled, her head tipping in a chuckle that had my lips tugging into a smile.

I fed the token in, and she rose up on her toes beside me, coaching me on how to grab the bear. River wandered over to the machine next to ours while Henry came up at my shoulder.

"Your mustache is crooked," he teased.

"Don’t start."

"I want the Finnegan Junior too," he whined in a high, tiny voice.

"I don’t sound like that, Uncle Henry," Angel shot back, flapping her arms and clucking at him.

While she and River ganged up on Henry, he leaned in close to my ear.

"That guy you asked me to look into. The one who tried to hurt your girl."

My eyes darted to Angel. She was deep in conversation with River, so I turned back to Henry.

"What about him?"

"He was moved from the station," 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The claw plunged down, grabbed nothing, and started its slow retreat.

"What do you mean moved?"

"He was transferred out of state before the trial. There’s no public record of which judge signed that off but my guy at the police station says the order came from above. He couldn’t get anything further than that."

I straightened slightly, my jaw tightening. Abigail wouldn’t talk to me right now, but I wanted to know who the fuck that guy was and why he had attacked her.

Then I was going to make him beg to be killed.

"Dad, you almost had him!" Angel groaned as I couldn’t get the bear for her. "Again, again."

I fed another token in and tried again.

"Can your guy look further into it?" I asked Henry.

"I already told him to start digging. I’ll have something for you by Tuesday." He paused, the serious look falling off his face while he wiggled his brows.

"Do you want to tell me why you want to find him? Is someone feeling all protective of his precious Abigail?"

"Precious Abigail?" Angel’s head snapped up from the machine. "Who’s that?"

The claw crashed into the side of the machine and I fixed Henry a glare.

"Oops, my bad," He chuckled, holding his hand up in the air.

"Don’t worry about it, princess. Look I’ll get the bear-"

"Is she your girlfriend?" Angel’s eyes widened with delight. "Dad has a girlfriend!"

"I didn’t say that," I muttered, suddenly feeling too hot in the bloody mustache.

"Henry said you have a Precious Abigail,"

"Henry says many things, doesn’t mean you have to pay attention to them."

My daughter cocked her head, a smug smile on her lips as she arched her brow at me. "You know being all defensive only tells me I’m right, Dad."

Well shit. I forgot how smart she was.

"Is she pretty at least?" Angel pressed. "Please tell me she’s pretty. Please."

"You shouldn’t go around saying things like that," I said, trying to redirect her attention to the claw machine. "Let’s get you that bear,"

"Fine, whatever you say. Now I want two bears, if you want me to shut up about it," She flashed me a grin and I sighed, relieved that she didn’t seem angry or torn up about it.

Would Angel accept Abigail? They would get along, right? Abigail could get along with a hedgehog if she wanted to, she was that fucking charismatic.

God, I missed her. Her scent, her eyes lighting up in that bright smile and her sense of humor.

"Angel?"

She didn’t look up from the claw machine as she hummed. "Mm."

"Hypothetically, if I did have a girlfriend," I mumbled, suddenly feeling like I was wearing a pant two sizes small. "Would that be alright with you?"

"As long as she makes you happy," Her green eyes flicked up to meet mine, "And she isn’t a bitch. I have pretty low standards,"

"Language," I smiled, reaching over to ruffle her hair.

She squirmed away, laughing. "Come on Uncle Henry, let’s play mortal Kombat!"

I left her to destroy Henry, walking out to a much quieter corridor. Abigail’s name sat at the top of my recent calls. I pressed dial and leaned against the wall, listening to it ring, hoping and praying she would pick this time.

She didn’t. With a sigh, I pulled up her best friend’s number. Annette picked right on the first ring and before she could say a word, I spoke up.

"Good afternoon, Miss Lancaster, What do I have to do, to get you to hear me out for five minutes?"