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~~((The National Jelly Bean Day Special -- page 7 of 10))~~
Raul wished that he'd understood that about his father sooner. He might not have been so bitter towards the man all throughout his teenage years.

And now, it was too late. Lucio Blackburn was dead, killed by falling debris, apparently. Raul hadn't even seen it happen. The Triplets had only been informed of it by Horatio, who'd led one of the teams that sifted through the rubble for missing people.

He was sad, of course.

But not sad enough, he thought.

Perhaps that was a strange thing to chastise himself for. What was the appropriate level of sadness that he should feel at the death of his father? Trying to quantify emotions was a foolish endeavor, surely.

But... it wasn't that simple, was it? He couldn't ignore the fact that he was more broken up about Ismael's death. The proof was self-evident.

He was a bad son.

Maybe if he'd loved his father more, been more attentive, he would've been there when it happened. Maybe he would've even saved him.

He rubbed his forehead, then his eyes, trying to clear his mind. The mission. Focus on the mission. Just because there was downtime didn't mean he should allow himself to get distracted.

He waited, keeping eye on the narrow road. It remained empty the whole time. He hadn't seen a single vehicle this entire time, he realized.

Sure, this wasn't exactly a main road or anything, but it was still the primary means of reaching Miro from Ridgemark, one of the largest cities in Vantalay. Shouldn't there have been more traffic?

Hmm. Didn't bode well, did it?

The first text finally arrived. Esai was in position. Shortly thereafter, a text arrived from Adan as well. They were both ready.

Raul still had to wait, though, for them to observe the town and give him the go ahead. If there was anything obviously wrong with Miro, they would be able to give him a heads up.