The Astonishing Dax Edmund

Chapter 8:

His ex in-laws were pleased to see him fall.

"I apologize to the public for my nonchalance towards the plight of my loyal customers."

Shannon clapped slowly and so did the crowd.

Dax went down the podium with Shannon.

He saw that she was uncomfortable. She lowered her hand. "Let's go, I bet those lessons can't wait." He muttered.

Shannon held his arm. "I bet they can't."

Dax smiled. "Thank you for your time."

"You don't need to thank me." She said and took her leave.

Shannon adjusted her headband when he dropped her off.

"You know you should wear a dress more often."

"Who says I don't?"

Dax waved a hand, he watched her until the car drove out of the apartment. He squinted his eyes and faced the road. He had a lot on his plate.

Dax returned home, he heard the car tires and the stones crackling when the car slowed to a stop. He blinked when the driver adjusted the mirror and the lights flashed across his eyes.

He hopped down hoping to get some sleep and he got a guitar pick from the errand boy. He went to the white drawing board for some reminders. The marker squeaked against the white board, his eyes swished from left to right as he scribbled the words down and stepped back.

The anchorman orated about his apologies. There were mixed reviews and the sales were going up again.

Dax ensured that there were security guards stationed on every elevation of Haven Homestead and the police report said that the fires were not an accident.

Estelle Delaney, his private i, came to visit him. She brushed a hand through her coarse brown hair when the breeze from the ceiling fan tousled it. "Sorry if I'm late. Can I sit?"

"Certainly." He said holding out his hand, pointing to a brown Corinthian leather chair. He sat crossing his legs at his arm chair. He heard the noise from the television coming into focus, he touched the remote and the volume bars went down to an odd number. He grimaced and switched to an even number.

Estelle swallowed felt at her leather workbag. She yanked at the zip, it whizzed open and she dipped her hand in to feel for the crisp, thick and heavy file. And the cold laptop from lack of use. She blew a breath.

"We got this from the fire accident."

Dax gulped hard thinking about the piece of evidence before she opened the laptop.

She squinted at the bright light from the monitor, tapped on the keys, the windows blinked before she zoomed in to the file.

Dax was breathless when he noticed the hermit crab picture graffitied on the wall. "They're not even hiding."

The loan sharks were seeing the effect of his work. He swallowed hard imagining his mother's screams of terror as the killer jabbed her with a knife.

His hand balled to a fist and he felt his jaw clench while he grinded his teeth. He felt an unsettling lurch in his stomach. He inhaled and exhaled, covering his face to keep out those unsavoury thoughts.

"They wouldn't." He said to her thinking of his next move. They were merely just reacting to him.

"This is serious."

Estelle rubbed her chin. "Indeed. They're upset."

Bryson arrived hoping to offer some assistance, his golden hair glowing and his shoulders were set. "I came as soon as I heard. What's the story?"

Dax smiled at him. He felt old and used up. "It seems like you're going to be with me a lot more than usual, Truman."

Bryson held his hands together.

"We're beefing up security, make sure there are many positioned on each elevation."

"Aye aye, boss."

"Why would they attack you?" Estelle asked.

Was it a personal vendetta against the Edmund family?

She found her files and opened it to read, her eyes skimming every last word to find some similar pattern that could put her on the right track. She lowered herself to the beanbag and adjusted herself to feel comfortable against the beanbag. Her hands felt cold when she flipped her laptop open. She squinted at the lights coming from the monitor bearing a grim look on her face while she studied the history and murder of Mr and Mrs Edmund.

She heard Bryson's footsteps behind her and felt the heat of his body when he leaned over to check on the screen.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Connecting the dots." Her fingers danced and the laptop keys clicked. Her eyes rolled up and down as she scrolled taking in all the details. She almost unconsciously reached for a cup of coffee but looking over the expe

"It's too late for a research why don't you take a break."

"I think I'll be fine." Estelle said stubbornly.

"This is what I've been waiting for."

Dax was unnerved but he was agitated that he was in the same melting pot with his parents' killers. Why was he afraid when this what he wanted? Of course it was his fault but he needed to put the loan sharks to justice after all. He was only doing his job and he would stop at nothing to win this war.

...

Bryson brushed the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief. He was done with security work for the day, he went home to his security work for the day. He watched where the headlights of his car flashed on the cream wall of his house. He tapped on his steering wheel trying to listen to the last part of his music.

His wife folded her arms at the doorway while he loitered in the car cursing and trying to keep the place clean.

Bryson took his backpack after a hard day's work, his shift was over and he climbed down. His boots crunched against the stony porch and he met his wife who kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm back."

"What were you doing in the car?" She rolled her eyes. Then looked inside.

"Cassie, your father's back."

Bryson grimaced as his preteenage daughter waltzed in. Although she had his blue eyes, she had her mother's brown head full of hair.

His in-laws smiled.

"It was my birthday today." She brushed her hair aside and folded her arms as if she had caught a cold.

Lisa his wife gazed up at him in expectation. Bryson hated that he had to be in the spot like this, he could feel his sweaty palms and his throat tightening.

"I bought you a present. I hope you like it."

Lisa face-palmed.

Bryson winced at his wife absent mindedly. "What did I say?"

"Yeah, I saw, grandma and grandpa came around with gifts." She pointed at the pile.

Bryson touched his chest on the verge of explaining himself to her. "At least I remembered Cassie, you've gotta give me credit for that, huh? Up top." He raised his hand for a high five and her face turned beet red.

"You always do this!" She blurted running up to her room.

"Cassie, don't you dare walk away from me." He said and brushed his forehead when the door slammed shut. "Lord help me."

Lisa held his shoulders, she was barely his height.

Bryson felt like he wanted to disappear into thin air. He didn't want to face his daughter anymore. No matter what he did, it would always backfire. "What do kids want?" He said dejectedly.

"She's just upset."

He looked at Lisa like she was some manual that had the answers to everything. His mouth fell open to say something but...

Bryson's in law's laughed. "We got better gifts than you did."

"She didn't even look at my gift. Is that what all this is about? Kids are spoiled and it's all your fault." He pointed at them, they always smothered her with gifts and interfered.

Monique gasped. "Don't you dare pin this on me. You're the one whose upset our granddaughter."

Bryson was on the verge of crying. What was he doing wrong? He felt his chest heave when he took a deep breath in and deep breath out. He was trying to be the best father he could be and to provide. While trying to become the chief of security.

He knocked his head against the wall.

"Even you can't come up with a solution."

"Maybe try communicating with her." Lisa said going to Cassie's room.

...

Dax steepled his hands in his office, he exhaled, his plans went down the drain after he lost the deal with Mr Johnson but Mr Vitaliy, owner of Vitaliy's restaurant was still onboard with the partnership.

"I have to say, I commend your dedication to your work." Mr Vitaliy said when they had a tour around the opulent restaurant.

Dax smelled fresh bread in the air.

His bodyguards were behind him.

As they sat in the meeting, Dax felt tense, his palms were wet from nervousness. He cleared his throat. "I want us to try something new and keep up with the times. In order to stay relevant."

Mr Vitaliy raised an eyebrow and poured himself some red wine. "I think we're fine, it's not worth the risk."

Dax brushed his hand down his face. He recalled the night he stayed in front of his drawing board. "I think the pros outweigh the cons. I've done my research and I think we're in a good position to try this new marketing strategy."

"Tell me more about this decision."