A Hunter's Legacy pt. 2

You can read part one here: https://vocal.media/fiction/a-hunter-s-legacy

My head sunk, I can’t believe that my father was keeping secrets. He never told me what he was working on. I thought he always kept me informed of his cases and jobs he was working on. I turned to look at the package that was left. I tore off the brown paper to reveal a wooden box. I remember this box. My father kept this box on his clothes chest. I was never allowed to open it. It was his box of treasures. I almost feel guilty opening this box. He must have sent it to me for a reason. He must have known his digging was getting too dangerous.

Opening the box, the first thing I notice is a cloth of my mother’s. Inside this cloth was wrapped a perfectly preserved marigold flower. It was my mom’s favorite. She got sick many cycles ago and never recovered. Since my mother’s passing my sister went with the medical faction to try and learn the old ways so she can help people like our mother. My father and I never saw my sister again. It was like losing two people we cared about. Father went deeper into his work and trained me harder than he ever did. This single flower reminded me of the little patch of marigolds mother kept outside our shack in the shallows. Those were happy moments with the four of us. Our living conditions weren’t glamorous, but we had each other and that was enough.

Underneath my mother’s cloth was another cloth. This one covered something heavier that a simple flower. I removed the object form its cloth covering. It was my dad’s other gun! He had to know what was going on and he must have known he was getting close. The remaining object in his box was a small notebook. This notebook looks old and worn. Many corners bent in to mark special notes. Pictures place inside throughout. Each entry was labeled with a date and a location. He was meticulously documenting everything he was doing. This case must have been something he was working on for so many cycles.

One of the last entries really caught my attention. It was about the new special bullets that had killed my father. It would appear that the military faction has indeed been working on bullets that could ricochet around the room. They felt this would be extremely handy and save on bullets. If their soldiers missed it would ricochet and still hit something. Or their snipers could use them for extreme hard shots. According to these notes it never made it out of the testing phase. It was discovered that after the bullet hit it’s first object like a wall. The material would start to shatter, and by the time it hit another object or the intended target it would not ricochet or penetrate. Instead the bullet would fragment and split apart. Because it started to fragment on the first hit. The bullet would lose to much velocity to ricochet again or do any serious damage to the target.

With this knowledge it would explain why dad was so focused on the sniper and not the bullet. He knew these bullets didn’t work. Did the bullet work as intended after all? Or… was it a set up and there was someone else waiting in the shadows? Surely my dad must have sensed something was odd about the case he was assigned if he knew the bullets were non-functioning. I had to find out more. I know someone I can still trust in the Marshall’s office.

As the sun came through the clouds, I had already been up packing up my belongings. I decided to wear my father’s belt. Especially now that I have both guns. I felt like a part of him was still with me helping me finish what he had started. I needed to see what the Marshall’s had regarding the case with the Aussie Sniper. I needed a clue to tell me where to go next. Perhaps my friend can help me out.

“Can I help you sir?” I was greeted by a desk attendant right as I walked in. “This is new.” I said.

“Yeah, we are finally getting back to some old ways. We’ve been experiencing some breeches lately. Now we screen everyone that comes in.” The attendant noted.

“I’m here to see Marshal Tom if he is available.” The attendant pics up the phone to ring Tom. “Tom… there’s a Hunter here to see you, if you have a moment.” They hung up the phone and looked up at me. “Tom will be up front to get you shortly.” They stated.

“Thank you.”

Tom came to the front and we greeted each other. He brought me back to his office so we could talk in private. “How can I help the son of the best Hunter we had working with us?”

“I was hoping to get more info on the last case my father was working on.”

“Not sure what to tell you man, this is a pretty tight case. Your father was going after an Aussie sniper who had recently acquired ricochet bullets, and you father was a victim of said bullet.”

“I know it seems that way. If you could humor me a little on this one and let me check it out for myself.” Tom seemed hesitant at first. Maybe coming to the marshals directly was not a smart plan.

“You and I go way back when our fathers would work together. My father did everything he could to help your family work their way out of the shallows. The least I could do is help you with this one favor. Came back with me to the file room. Let’s see what we can find.”

So far it would seem that trusting Tom was the right step. Hopefully these files will show me something I can use to find out if my father’s death really was so cut and dry.