Side Story #1 - Colt - Page 52

"How do you...?"

And Colt waited for him, but Fred didn't finish that sentence. Colt decided to take a crack at it. "How do I know that name?" he said.

Fred's gaze wavered. The muscles in his face tensed. And he nodded.

Colt had to wonder why he looked so shaken. Where was this guy's mind at, right now? It seemed he wasn't going to say anything else, so Colt went ahead and answered for him. "I read it in the newspaper archives."

A sliver of realization arrived on Fred's face, as did some of the color he'd lost. "But you... we only just hired you to look into this matter."

"I know. But luckily for you, I've been doing it since your sheriff died."

Fred blinked a few times. "You...?"

Geez, was it that big a deal? Colt supposed he could give the guy a little more. He turned back to the twins and patted their heads. "I came to this town looking for a quiet and safe place to raise my kids. A suspicious death made me question whether or not it really is safe here. So yeah, I've been looking into it."

"I see..."

And Colt had to wait for him again.

"...Perhaps we chose the right man for this job, after all," said Fred.

"Sayin' you didn't think so 'til just now?" said Colt.

"Ah--no, well... this has all just been moving a bit quickly for my liking, I suppose..."

"The more time we waste, the more difficult my job becomes."

Fred just nodded and scanned the ground vacantly, as if searching for his thoughts there.

Hmm. Colt decided to push. "So who was Jason Millerman?"

The other man sighed. "It is... a long story. And difficult to explain, besides."

"Well, I'm a patient listener," said Colt.

Fred rubbed his brow as he took another moment to deliberate. "Many people are under the impression that he was my son. But he wasn't."

"Why the confusion, then?"

"Because... his mother is my ex-wife."

"Sayin' the boy was from a previous relationship of hers?"

"No..."

Ah. "Then you're saying she cheated on you?"

Fred met his gaze evenly. "I did a paternity test. He wasn't mine."

Another reason why Colt had never loved the idea of marriage. But then again, he didn't really know how to feel about it, these days. Apparently, his younger self's idea of a healthy relationship involved a "domestic partnership" with a woman who physically abused him and then later tried to murder their children. Of course, marriage definitely wouldn't have improved things with that crazy bitch, but maybe a dose of humility was warranted here, too.

"Okay," was all Colt could think to respond with.

"I found out a few years after the boy was born," said Fred with another sigh. "Felt like the biggest fool in the world. And his mother, she just... wouldn't let it go. Kept telling people he was mine. Refused to change his last name or hers after the split. I still don't even know who the real father was. She must've been ashamed to be associated with him to have kept it secret for so long. Or maybe she just doesn't even know where he is."

Goddamn. How much drama was hiding in this little town? Fuck.

"So it was an awkward situation for you, then," said Colt.

"You could say that..."

"And yet you decided to cater the event, anyway? Did you know Jason was going to be there?" Not to mention, he'd apparently run straight into the blaze, too, but Colt intended to hold off on mentioning that.

Fred's expression tensed, and his mouth twitched a little. Then he sighed again. "I... I don't know."

Hmm.

Fred's eyes went to twins and lingered on them. "...How old are they, if you don't mind my asking?"

"About two," said Colt.

"Then... perhaps you'll understand," said Fred. "If one day, you somehow discovered that they were not your children. That your trust had been betrayed. And you'd been manipulated. Do you think you would still... hold some lingering attachment to these children?"

Colt didn't even have to think about it. "Yes, I would." But on the other hand, he didn't exactly think that his own circumstances were comparable to a normal father's. After all he'd done to get Thomas and Stephanie, there was nothing in this world that could separate them from him.

"That was how I felt," said Fred. "I... hated his mother. And wanted to remove the both of them from my life. I thought it was fine, at first, because he was so young when we divorced. I figured he wouldn't even remember me. But she kept on telling him that I was his father, and... then there were times when I thought, maybe, he did remember some things, and... I just..." He shook his head as he trailed off.

Colt didn't need him to say more, though. "I understand."

Fred merely returned a nod.

Hmm. Frankly, Colt believed the guy's story. It explained a lot of discrepancies about the fire that had been bothering him. It didn't seem relevant to Rex's murder, but that was fine. A dead end was still an end, and he wasn't struggling for new avenues to pursue in the investigation. "Thank you for telling me all of that. I'm sure it wasn't easy."

The man was looking at the ground again, not saying anything.

Damn. Colt didn't want to be biased, but as a father, it was hard not to feel for this guy.

Rather than jumping into the next set of questions, Colt decided to grab a driver and tee off. His form was shit, as was the accompanying shot, but it gave Fred some time while he observed.

"I hope you're a better investigator than you are a golfer..."

"No worries there." Colt smacked his lips and tossed the driver onto the cart. "I'm probably a better ballerina than I am a golfer."