Free Ramsey's Gold (Drake Ramsey Book 1) by Russell Blake Page A

and crossed the room to an armoire. With a nod to Drake, he swung the two wooden doors wide. Drake caught a glimpse of a row of rifles as Jack leaned over and slid one of the drawers open. When he turned, he had a cloth-wrapped bundle. He returned to the coffee table and handed it to Drake, who took it, staring at it with open curiosity.
    “He never went anywhere without it down in South America. Called it his equalizer,” Jack said as Drake unrolled the cloth.
    Inside was the largest knife Drake had ever seen, with a black wooden handle smooth as glass. He slid the blade free of the sheath and held it up to the light, the stainless steel shiny as chrome, the top of the blade a line of wicked saw teeth, the curved cutting edge sharp enough to shave with.
    “That’s a survivor Bowie knife an old friend of mine custom made for him back in the day. The man was a master, long gone to his reward. Twelve-inch blade, Pakkawood handle. You could practically use it as a machete. Indestructible,” Jack said with reverence. “Feel the heft? Balanced. Fits neatly in your hand, and all business.”
    “This was his?”
    “He loved that knife. Had a thing for it.”
    Drake slipped it back into the sheath and inspected the hand tooling.
    “Your dad stamped that himself,” Jack said.
    “What do the initials stand for?” Drake asked, noting the stylized script.
    “He named it after the two most precious things in the world to him. His son and his wife. DAR. Drake and Anna Ramsey. He used to parade around the campfire, waving it like a pirate after a few drinks, saying it over and over. Dar. Darrr . It was funny, but it got old. Anyway, there it is. DAR’s yours now. Which is as it should be.”
    Drake set the knife on the table and sat back against the soft sofa cushions. “Thank you, Jack. You know my mom passed away six years ago?”
    “I heard through the grapevine. I’m sorry. She was a saint.”
    Drake swallowed hard. “She was. Cancer got her, but for a long time I thought it was heartbreak. She never got over him. You could tell. She had plenty of offers, but she wasn’t interested. I used to hate my dad for it. I blamed him. And now that I know that he abandoned us to go chase after some stupid dream…”
    “It wasn’t a stupid dream. He believed he knew where the treasure was, and that it would secure your family’s future for generations. He made a sacrifice. And he did it for you. That was all he ever talked about. You and your mother, and how different your lives would be once he’d found the treasure.” Jack glowered, and then his expression softened. “You probably see it as a selfish decision. It was anything but. I understand how you feel, but you couldn’t be more wrong.”
    “It doesn’t feel wrong.”
    “It should now that you have all the information.” Jack paused. “Son, I’ve been around for a while. Let me tell you something. You don’t have the right to judge others. You can only judge yourself. I know at your age you think you know it all, but you’re not the absolute barometer of good and bad, and you got your dad plain wrong. Was he perfect? Hell no. But he was a good man, and you can take that to the bank.”
    Drake didn’t say anything. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, tired from only three hours of sleep the prior night and the long day.
    “I should go. I would like some of the pictures, thank you. And thanks for keeping the knife for me, and for giving me a feel for who my father really was. It means a lot to me.”
    “He would have wanted you to have it. Drake, he loved you more than you can imagine. Both of you.”
    A crash sounded from the kitchen, followed by a muted curse from Allie.
    “Honey, are you okay?” Jack called, pushing himself to his feet.
    Allie’s voice rang out. “Yes. Sorry, Dad. Damn slippery fingers. I dropped a dish. Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.”
    Jack lowered himself back into the chair, and they sat quietly as Drake paged through the