Legacy

Ch. 1

By Lark

e-mail: <a href="/py/wmailCompose.py?Pyt=TWmail&[email protected]&FormId=,232,5FBAE78,3E59202,76926CFE">[email protected]</a>

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Disclaimer: Mag7 and related characters belong

to Trilogy.

Characters created by the author belong to the

author.

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Hart groaned as the high pitched ringing filled the air. Squinching

his eyes open, he realized that he was in his office, or what passed

for his office at least. What was he doing there? And for that matter,

what was that noise that was making his hangover worse than it already

was? He found the source of the noise. His jacket. Or rather, his

cell phone in his jacket.

"H'llo?"

"Hart, where are you?"

"Mom... hi." He stifled his groan. The last thing

he needed was Kelly Tanner and her obsessions. "I'm at work, why?"

"I just tried your work number. It's disconnected."

It was? He glanced at the extension. Yup, it was.

"I was doing some work." Yeah, reeeeal convincing there.

"Hart--are you drunk?"

"Of course not." It wasn't a lie exactly, he had a hangover now, he

had been drunk last night. "Listen, I really need to get back to work,

was there something in particular that you wanted?"

"Well...yes." Uh-oh, he knew that tone of voice.

"When are you going to get a real job so that you and Karen can

arrange for a real custody arrangement?"

"Mom, I have a real job, and there is a real custody arrangement.

Those are your two favorite subjects, remember? Oh, and my settling

down again." Which would never happen after the disaster last time.

"You barely see your daughter! And I would hardly call chasing down

criminals all over the country a real job." Hart couldn't stifle his

groan this time. Ever since he had quit the force, she hadn't shut up

about bounty hunting being a waste. She just didn't get that he

couldn't handle all that "jurisdiction" crap and the regulations.

Couldn't she just accept that he was still getting criminals off the

street-and for better money- and leave it at that? Probably not.

"Besides," She continued, "The men in our family have been lawmen for-"

"For over a hundred years. I know I know."

"And you should well remember it. And another thing-"

He glanced up as the bell announced that someone had come in.

"Listen, Mom, I have a customer, gotta go."

"But I'm not fi-"

The 'customer' was actually his partner, who actually happened to have

a name worse than his own-Jack Daniels. "What, you were so drunk you

couldn't make it up the stairs?"

"Hardy har har." A small apartment upstairs came with the building, it

was cramped, but suited his purposes. He ran his fingers through his

short, spiky brown hair. It felt like it had been dipped in raw

sewage. "Do I look that bad?"

"Worse. Smell ain't that great either."

"Thanks." He remembered the phone as soon as he hit the top of the

stairs. "Oh, I unplugged the phone."

"Why?"

"Peace and quiet. Forgot the batteries on the cell though."

By the time he had showered and taken more

Tylenol than could possibly be healthy, Jack had good and bad news.

"Gimme the good first."

"We got a lead on the Standish guy."

"Where?"

"That's part of the bad. He's in Boston."

"You go, I have Kayley tomorrow."

"Nope. It’s in my contract. I don’t have to risk my life for lowlife

scum."

"You don’t have a contract."

"Well it would be there if I did. Besides, you’re just soooo good at

it"

"Shut up. What’s the rest of the bad?"

"Karen called."

Hart groaned. Oh well, how bad could it be? Whenhe called, Karen

answered on the first ring.

"Hi, it's Hart. You called?"

"Oh, Hart, good. I was hoping you'd call before we had to leave. I'd

hate to have to go by that office of yours."

"What is it?"

"You can't have Kayley this weekend."

"WHAT!?!?!?"

She answered as quickly as she could. "Sam arranged a surprise trip

for the three of us this weekend only he forgot that it was your

weekend to get Kayley."

Sam forgot. Yeah, right. The man never forgot anything in his life.

Well, almost never. He had this thing about forgetting about

marriages, especially when one got in the way of what he wanted.

"Tell Sam to reschedule."

"I can't, it's Disney World, we already told Kayley, and she's very

excited, and-"

"I'll take her to Disney World!!!"

"Maybe some other time. Well, you can have her next weekend. I have to

finish packing now. Bye."

"Wait, we're not through ye-"

Jack glanced up at the string of curses. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah, I can go to Boston after all."

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Travis didn’t bother glancing over his shoulder. He knew exactly

where his tail was. One would think that whoever would be stupid

enough to tail a cop—well, ex-cop—would at least try not to be so

obvious about it. Amateurs. This was getting annoying. He ducked

into the nearest restaurant—Chinese. Great. Just great.—and waited.

Several people came in. All glanced at him. Nothing new there, he’d

been about as seedy looking as they came the last few years. But one

person made a point of not looking at him. Bingo.

He finished his meal—Chicken Lo Mein, only Chinese he could stand—and

left. He didn’t have long to wait. His tail came out less than a

minute later, looking up and down the street for him. It would be a

shame to disappoint the man.

"Boo."

"Huh?" The man spun around…just in time for

Travis’s fist to connect

with his face.

He caught the man as he fell, nodding to a

discarded beer can on the sidewalk when someone stopped to look.

"My friend here’s had a bit much to drink, he’ll be fine." He looped

the man’s arm across his shoulders, making it seem as if the other was

leaning on him for support. "Come on Jimmy, lets get you home."