46: Chapter 46 New Clues

Frank steadied himself and gave a sheepish smile. "I'm back, aren't I..."

"Back?" Fiona glared at him. "Do you have any idea how many days I've been looking for you?"

"Do you know what it's like to run from Chicago all the way to New Orleans, all by myself, with no money, nowhere to stay, asking around and searching everywhere... do you have any idea what that feels like?"

Her voice grew louder and louder.

"Three days! Three whole days! Your phone wouldn't go through, I couldn't find you, and the people at the hotel said you never came back!"

"I thought you were dead! I thought you'd done it again, died in some gutter somewhere with no one to care!"

Frank's smile froze. He muttered, "Fiona..."

"Don't call me that!" Fiona roared. "Do you have any idea how old I am? Do you know how many messes I've had to clean up for you over the years? Do you know how tired I am?"

Frank stood there, saying nothing.

Shaun stood nearby, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.

He hadn't expected Fiona to break down and explode like this right now.

He glanced over at Ballard.

He saw that Ballard had already set her suitcase by the door, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, looking like she was watching a show.

Shaun coughed.

"Um... why don't you two talk? I..."

"You stay right there." Fiona didn't even turn her head. "You're a witness."

Shaun: "..."

A witness? A witness to what?

Fiona turned back to Frank and said coldly, "Tell me, what on earth were you doing?"

Frank opened his mouth. "I..."

"Don't make up lies." Fiona interrupted him. "Every time you're about to lie, you lick your lips. You just did it."

No one knows a father like his daughter.

A single small gesture from Frank, and Fiona had caught him.

Frank froze, subconsciously closing his mouth.

Sure enough... this guy was about to start "spinning a yarn."

Fiona's voice suddenly dropped a few notches. "Frank, do you know why I came to New Orleans?"

Frank didn't speak.

Fiona continued, "It's not because I missed you; it's because of Debbie!"

"She said that before you left, you told her you were going to New Orleans to find a treasure, and that once you found it, the whole family would have a good life."

Hmm... In the beginning, within the gallagher family, Debbie was indeed the one who cared about Frank the most.

"Do you know how old Debbie is? She thought you could actually strike it rich, she thought you were finally going to do something serious this time."

Frank's expression changed, and he followed up with, "Debbie..."

"Yes, Debbie." Fiona stared at him. "Your youngest daughter. Before you left, you told her, 'When Daddy comes back, we won't have to worry about money ever again.'"

"She believed you. She's been waiting for your call every single day."

Frank's lips moved, but nothing came out.

Fiona took a step forward and said, "Do you know what the most ridiculous part is? I almost believed it too."

Her voice finally began to tremble.

"I thought you'd actually changed this time, I thought you finally wanted to be a father, I thought..."

Fiona couldn't continue.

She turned her head away and took a deep breath.

Frank stood there, motionless.

After a long while, he spoke, his tone unusually serious. "Fiona, I know I'm a bastard, I know I don't deserve to be a father, I know all the trouble I've caused you all my life."

He paused, then continued, "But this time... this time is different."

Fiona turned her head to look at him.

Frank looked up, and for the first time, there was a look of seriousness in those eyes that were always so cunning.

"That treasure is real. I'm not dreaming, and I'm not just listening to someone else's tall tales. I saw it with my own eyes."

"What?" This exclamation came from Shaun.

He stared at Frank and asked, "What did you see?"

Frank said, "Before I was captured, I found a map in an abandoned shack."

"A very old map, at least over a hundred years old. It showed the swamps of New Orleans, and marked a spot... that spot is where the treasure is."

As Frank spoke, he looked at Fiona and said, "I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing it for you all. For Liam, for Carl, for Debbie, for..."

He paused. "For you."

Fiona stared at him and said, "Frank, do you know what you're saying?"

"You know that legends about 'treasures' like this are nine times out of ten fake."

"This one is real," Frank said very seriously, "because... that cop went looking for it too."

Shaun's ears perked up. A cop? White?

Fiona noticed it too. "What cop?"

Frank looked at her and said, "The cop who died, Joseph White."

"Before I was captured, he met with me. He asked if I had heard about the treasure, and he said he had clues too."

"Hmph... Of course, I couldn't work with him, so I just said I was wandering around. But I knew he was looking for that thing too, so it definitely isn't fake."

Fiona fell silent.

Ballard leaned against the doorframe, her gaze sharpening.

Shaun stood to the side, his mind racing.

Frank had actually met Joseph White! That was a clue he had never even considered.

So he quickly asked, "Frank, do you know how that cop died?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know. After I was caught, I didn't know anything else."

Shaun frowned. It seemed Frank really didn't know anything else, so he let Frank and Ballard go settle in.

He still needed to sort through the clues provided by the Supreme Witch and Frank in his mind.

...It was an hour later by the time Frank came out after his shower.

He had changed into an old T-shirt and sweatpants he'd dug up from somewhere; they were clearly a size too big, hanging loosely on him.

His hair was still wet, sticking to his head in a mess, but the disheveled look on his face had finally been washed away quite a bit.

He stood in the second-floor hallway, looking around. "Fiona?"

No answer. He walked along the hallway and pushed open a half-closed door.

Fiona was sitting in a chair by the window, looking at the moon outside.

Hearing the door open, she turned her head.

Frank looked around and asked, "Did you clean this up?"

Fiona nodded. "I was bored anyway."

Frank sat down opposite her. He looked at Fiona, and Fiona looked at him.

It was rare for the father and daughter to be able to get along so peacefully for a few seconds.

But it only lasted for a few seconds. Frank continued, asking, "Fiona, what's your relationship with that... Shaun?"

Fiona paused. "What do you mean, what relationship?"

Frank leaned forward. "You're living here... he must have let you stay here."

"So this house is his, right?"

"Such an old estate, such a huge place—how does a cop like him have a house like this?"