A Late Goodbye

The next day, Jack drove to North Field West, one of the many districts in Grant City. He found a way to locate Razwell Autos, an auto shop that was owned by Hildy's brother Michael, who had studied automotive technology and learned from his and Hildy's uncle, who was also the brother of their late father.

Jack had brought Shadow along. Hildy liked Shadow, and Shadow felt the same way, too, as Hildy had taken care of the dog during the time when Jack was in jail.

"Come on, boy, let's go see Hildy," Jack said to Shadow as they got out of the car. Jack walked up as Shadow followed him. It looked like a car was being serviced as a man in his early-30s was seen talking to a customer about the bill for the car.

"It just looked there was a problem with the brakes," the mechanic said. "I will have to look at it some more. You don't want to drive out there if you have problems with the brakes."

"How long will it take?" the customer said. "And how much will it come out to be?"

"Let me look at it some more, and I…" the mechanic looked up and saw a man and a dog walk up. "Oh, Jack?"

"Hey, Mike, is Hildy here?" Jack said.

"Yeah, she's inside, she is talking with my mom," Mike said.

His mom? Jack remembered that Hildy's relationship with her mother was rocky at times. He also knew that Michael was busy with a customer.

"Tell me where they are," Jack said.

"Just go up the stairs and knock on the door," Michael said.

"Thanks," Jack said and looked at Shadow. "Come on, boy."

Jack wondered what was going on in that moment. In some ways he wanted to catch with Michael, as he got along with him when they were younger when he was in a relationship with Hildy. It was known that Jack and Hildy didn't break up on the worst terms. Neither Jack nor Hildy had gotten over their feelings for one another. He was not sure about getting back with her, at least not in the state he was currently in, but he wanted to see her, which was why he came by.

The door knocked. It wasn't long until a woman in her mid-50s opened the door.

"Oh, Jack? Is that you?" the woman said.

"Hello, Mrs. Razwell," Jack said. "It's been a long time. Is Hildy here?"

"Yes, yes, come on in," Mrs. Razwell said.

The older woman led Jack inside and noticed Shadow with him.

"Um, I didn't see that you brought your dog with you," Mrs. Razwell said.

"Oh, don't worry about Shadow, he won't bite," Jack said. Unless you're a criminal.

"Okay," Mrs. Razwell said. "Hildy! There's someone here for you."

Jack stood around like he wasn't sure how to feel. Although Jack and Hildy had their relationship many years prior, he felt uneasy talking to a couple of people he had not seen in more than a decade prior to this. Only Hildy was the one he was in the most contact with throughout the time. The other two he hadn't seen nor talked to in years. He looked around and noticed that there were some family pictures on the wall. Some were of family portraits of the Razwells together, as Michael and Hildy were children in the pictures, and their father was still alive at that point.

"How have you been, Jack?" Mrs. Razwell said.

"I've been okay, just need to finish what I had started," Jack said.

"Listen, a while back I had heard about your mom, and then I had heard about your dad," Mrs. Razwell said. "I just want you to know that I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Jack said.

"I mean that," Mrs. Razwell said. "I know that Hildy and I have had our…ups and downs." When she paused, she looked down. "It was hard after losing my husband that I started drinking. I wasn't much of a mother to her and Mike after Kevin died. I've been trying so hard to make things better. Mike took me in after I got sober. You were always good to my Hildy. Your father, your mother, I know that they took care of her when I got into some shit a while back. Your mom and your dad were good people."

"Glad to see that you're trying to make amends," Jack said.

"Thank you, and please, I've known you since you were a kid, you can call me Allison."

Hildy walked up and jumped at the sight at what was right in front of her.

"Jack?" Hildy said.

"Hey, Hildy, how are you doing?" Jack said.

"You could have called me and let me know you were coming," Hildy said.

"I just needed to see you," Jack said.

Allison, Hildy's mother, told the two that she will leave them to talk. As she left the room, Jack and Hildy went and sat on the couch. Hildy looked around to ensure that her mother was far enough.

"So what's going on?" Hildy said.

"You didn't hear it from me, but it seems that I have found a way to clear my name and I also might be getting closer to finding my dad's killer," Jack said.

"That's good, but are you sure you think you found him," Hildy said.

"I can't say for certain, because one person who told me, he said that he had been blackmailed," Jack said. "What's crazy about this was that someone else told me gave me a similar promise."

"What was that?" Hildy said.

"They said that I would get a pardon," Jack said.

"That's great!" Hildy said, as if she was happy to hear that. "What do you have to do?"

"I can't say, but it's something I have to do," Jack said and looked away and around to make sure no one was close by.

"By the way, your mom doesn't know about what you have been through, does she?" Jack said.

"I only told her and Mike that I have gone through some problems that I needed to stay for a bit," Hildy said. "But they don't know anything about me getting kidnapped and almost being sold off a sex slave. I'd rather them not know about that."

"That's good," Jack said.

"Listen, Jack, I want to ask you something," Hildy said. "What if you don't find the man who killed your father?"

"I think I might know who it is," Jack said.

"Maybe, but what if everything goes to shit?" Hildy said. "Do you ever think about what might happen if this shit never ends? Do you ever think about saying 'fuck this shit' and going somewhere else and starting over?"

"I'll just be a man on the run," Jack said.

"We could be on the run together," Hildy said. "Jack, I love you, you know that. I always have. Ever since I came here, I have thought about you, whether you might have gotten killed or not. The last thing I want to hear on the news is that you have been killed by someone. I just want you to promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"When this is all over, please let me know."

"I'm going to finish this and this will be over soon."

"I hope you're right." Hildy then turned to look away, but Jack lightly grabbed her chin to have her turn to face Jack dead in the eye.

"Mark my words, I'm close to finding my dad's killer and soon enough, I will be a free man," Jack said.

In response, Hildy nodded her head. As reluctant as she was to accept this, she knew it was something that Jack needed to do. Hildy wanted to help him on his case, but deep down she knew she couldn't do much. Although she had learned how to shoot at a shooting range, mainly to protect herself, she couldn't shake the fact that she had killed someone. It had been self-defense, but until that night, she had never shot a person before.

Hildy leaned in and gave Jack a hug. "Call me when you need something. I will be here."

"I will," Jack said. "I got to head out, but I will call you."

There was something fishy about all of this. Pinnacle had said that Hennessey had ways of getting anybody to play ball with him. He said that Hennessey has a lot of evidence to put Pinnacle in jail, among other people. It made me wonder this, though – Did Hennessey have ways to make Pinnacle have that fast-track execution take place? If Senator Copeland couldn't stop them, it only seemed that Hennessey some connections to extort the senator to play ball.

Not sure if I trust Pinnacle in this case, but if Hennessey blackmailed the mayor, then he must have a lot of evidence to work with him. Shit, he might have a lot of Grant City's powerful criminals to work with him. Maybe that is how he continues to fund for GAC.

I know I have work to do, but there is one thing that I had not done since getting of jail – visit my father's grave.

It was nighttime. Jack pulled up to Peaceful Shores Cemetery. Right as he got out, he opened the door, and out came Shadow as he jumped onto the ground.

"Come on, boy," Jack said. "Let's go visit, Dad."

All that was on Jack's mind was that he wondered if he was close to solving his father's murder. It had been more than seven months, but it felt like only yesterday since he remembered that night. Because Jack's father kept Hildy in the dark about this case, Pinnacle had made it clear as to what Frank was dealing with. If Exner was suspicious about the funds being used for the subway construction, it was likely that there was more to it. But if gold was the issue, what else did it mean? If Pinnacle was willing to help out Jack, the fact that the mayor was still working with an elusive criminal, Fahook Ubduhl, made Jack wonder if Pinnacle was to be trusted, despite admitting to his face that he was involved in "questionable activity."

The darkness loomed over the cemetery with very little light around from any light poles that were around. Jack knew that a visit to his father's gravesite was long overdue, but after getting out of jail, a lot of things prevented him from doing so. With Shadow right behind him, Jack had arrived at the gravesite of his parents, Franklin J. Slate and Dolores M. Slate.

Jack knelt right before the headstone. Shadow sat on the grass as Jack put his arm around him and petted him. Even though Jack grieved for his father from the time of murder to now, it wasn't to say that he didn't grieve his mother either. His mother had been dead for about four years, but he remembered that her death was from an automobile accident that could have been prevented. The person who drove the other car that crashed into his mom's car was under the influence of drugs and shouldn't have been driving in the first place. But what infuriated Frank and Jack more was that the man who crashed the car into Dolores's car was only set to rehab rather than prison because of his connections. One of the many factors of how corrupt Grant City's system was.

"I don't know what more could be done, boy," Jack said as he addressed Shadow. "But when this is all over, we just got to see what our next step will be."

Unbeknownst to Jack, from a distance, a limousine pulled up close to the car that Jack drove, as well as a truck behind the limo.

From the back of the limo, out walked a well-dressed man in a brown jacket, a frilly shirt, and to top it off, he had his hair dyed purple and wore an eye-patch. It was none other than Patch. He picked up his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Okay, men, we look for Slate. Shoot if you have to, but remember, I am the one who is being paid to kill him. If he dies, oh well, I still get a cut, but I get the majority if I'm the one who finishes my best work yet."

Men walked out of the truck. They all had the black outfits and clown masks like before, and the others had the dark purple with the joker masks.

Meanwhile, Jack had noticed some odd lighting from a distance behind him.

"What the hell?" Jack said and looked behind him. With little light from nearby, as the only light came from any streetlights, the only other lights came from flashlights. The lights, however, didn't look like they came from standard flashlights.

Sounds of gunfire quickly grabbed his and Shadow's attentions and they ran as fast as they could to find any headstone that would provide any useful cover for them.

"Jack Slate! Come out, you wanker!" The British-accented voice threw off Jack even more. He knew who that person was.

"PATCH! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Jack yelled. "LET'S FUCKING FINISH THIS!"

But it didn't phase any of the other Mayhem Inc. assassins in the clown and joker masks as they were armed with MP5s and Kalashnikov rifles. Jack was only armed with a couple of pistols.

Jack quickly popped out from behind the headstone and fired three shots. But the assassins continued to open fire. Pieces of rubble broke of some of the headstones from nearby. Jack lied on the ground and saw that a couple of assassins closed on him and Shadow. Jack looked towards Shadow.

"Go get them, boy!" Jack said.

Without hesitation, Shadow quickly ran towards one of the assassins and pounced right onto the one with the joker mask and Kalashnikov rifle. Shadow started biting the assassin as he tried to fight back against Shadow.

"Quick, shoot the fucking dog!" the joker assassin yelled. The clown assassin aimed at Shadow, ready to shoot him.

"Not a fucking chance." The clown assassin turned around when he heard a voice from behind and before he could open fire, Jack pulled the trigger, pumping the clown right in the head with a slug as a big hole was pierced on the clown's forehead and the back of his head with blood and brain matter coming out and the clown dropped.

"Get your fucking dog off of me!" the joker assassin said.

"No, where's Patch?" Jack said.

"Go fuck yourself!" the joker said.

"How original," Jack sarcastically said.

Shadow bit him hard on his leg.

"AHHHH! FUCK!" the joker said. "He's close by, but he will kill you first. Mark my fucking words."

"That's only wishful thinking," Jack said and then picked up his rifle. "Thanks for the gun, by the way."

"You're outnumbered, by the way," the joker said.

"We'll see about that," Jack said.

Jack left the joker assassin lying there. He felt there was no reason to kill him, but out of nowhere, more clown and joker assassins ran through the graveyard. Jack opened fire and dropped about three assassins, but it wasn't it.

BOOM!

Jack looked right beside him. It looked like someone fired a rocket-propelled grenade towards him. Any closer to him, he would have been blown up. Jack ran and saw more assassins gunning for him. Some opened fire towards him, barely missing, but he could have gotten hit.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Oh, fuck me, what next? The sounds of three different shots threw him off. Jack was outnumbered. It was odd how all of these men were gunning for him.

BANG!

The same kind of shot was fired, except this time, Jack witnessed an assassin being dropped. In fact, three other assassins were dropped before that.

"What the fuck?" Jack said and then his phone rang and quickly picked up when he saw who killed him.

"Hello?"

"Mind if I crash the party?" A female voice said.

"Eve? Where are you?"

"Where I can see you," Eve said as she was at a high vantage point wielding a rifle. "Just go find Patch. I'll cover your ass."

TO BE CONTINUED.

Author's note: The next chapter will pick up directly where this left off. Yes, this chapter shares the same title as the cemetery level in the game, but I am not making this into an adventure in a graveyard that looks like something out of Castlevania.

Regarding the names of Hildy's parents, Kevin and Allison, it's actually a reference to the sitcom called Mom, of which I am a fan. Allison is named after Allison Janney, who played Bonnie, while Kevin is for Kevin Pollak, who played Alvin in the first couple of seasons of the show but then his character died.

Next up, Jack and Eve will settle the score with Patch. Stay tuned.