A dozen men sat around the bar and at the few tables. Their eyes danced from her to me and back. Emma’s cheek glowed red from the monster’s backhanded blow and my face couldn’t have looked any better, given the beating I’d taken. Strangely, the fact that I was so heavily armed didn’t seem to register with them. “Daddy?” Emma said, and I followed her gaze to a well dressed man in the back. He sat at a table, a deck of cards in his hand with several cards laid out in front of him. He scrunched his face up and looked at us. His eyes opened wide in surprise when he realized that his daughter stood beside me. Emma stormed up to the table and glared at him. As I approached to stand beside her, I saw his hand move as if he meant to slide it inside his jacket. My hand moved quickly to the butt of my rifle and hesitated. He knew he’d never draw his weapon in time, and pulled his hand back to the table. “Daddy… You’re a part of this,” she whispered and I could hear the heartbreak in her voice.
