Chapter 266: An Old Face
There's a notable difference in mask-wearing culture between Asia and the West.
In Asia, wearing a mask is a common practice. People might wear one just to shield against dust or wind, or simply because their mother told them to. It's not unusual.
But in the West, it's a different story. There, wearing a mask typically signals that someone is sick. Healthy people don't usually wear them, and if someone does, even if they're perfectly fine, everyone else assumes they're ill.
So, unless there's a specific reason, Westerners generally don't wear masks in everyday life.
That's why Frank found the man in the mask so suspicious. The guy didn't look sick, yet he wore a mask that covered half his face and even used a newspaper to shield the rest.
With the summer heat, this behavior was clearly out of the ordinary.
Frank kept observing the man, and the man seemed to notice. He turned and glanced in Frank's direction.
"Huh?" Frank muttered. He was inside a small grocery store, still a short distance away. He wasn't sure if the man had seen him, but in that brief moment, Frank caught a glimpse of the man's face—and it triggered something in his memory.
Even though the man wore a baseball cap and had most of his face covered, there were still features Frank could recognize.
The more Frank looked, the more familiar the man seemed—not in a vague, "have I seen him before?" kind of way, but the deep familiarity of knowing someone personally.
"Wait a second!" A flash of recognition hit Frank.
Just as he realized who it was, Officer Tony started walking toward the man.
Tony hadn't noticed him at first, but after Frank's tip-off, he too grew suspicious and decided to check him out.
Frank quickly ran out of the store and stopped Tony.
"What is it?" Tony asked, puzzled.
"I think the stalker knows he's been spotted and probably ran off already. No point in sticking around," Frank said, trying to send Tony away.
Tony hesitated, but since he was only here to help, and Frank was the one who asked for backup, he didn't insist. Besides, standing around in the sweltering heat waiting for a suspect was way less appealing than going home to his sexy girlfriend.
After a brief chat, Tony got in his car and left.
With Tony gone, Frank walked straight over to the man and sat down beside him.
"When did you get back?" Frank asked directly.
"The car that was tailing me earlier—that was you, wasn't it?" the man replied. Seeing that he had been recognized, he dropped the act, lowered the newspaper, and removed his mask.
It was none other than Officer Eddie—Karen's biological father.
It had been over half a year since Frank last saw him, but Eddie hadn't changed much. Despite the mask, one look at his face was all it took for Frank to recognize him.
"I thought you were with John and the others," Frank said.
"We split up a while ago. I'm flying solo now," Eddie replied calmly.
Half a year ago, a shapeshifter had appeared in Chicago. The monster abducted Eddie and impersonated him to commit crimes. Though it was ultimately killed, it died in Eddie's form.
By the time Frank and the others rescued the real Eddie, the authorities had already buried the shapeshifter's corpse, believing it was Eddie's body. Officially, Eddie had died in the line of duty.
The real Eddie had become a ghost—alive, but legally dead, unable to show his face in public.
That event had changed him deeply.
After the notorious father-daughter chastity dance incident, Eddie had already become estranged from his family. Their relationship was strained to the breaking point. As a devout believer, seeing a literal monster had only reaffirmed his faith. He decided to become a monster hunter.
He entrusted Sheila and Karen to Frank and left with John and his son to learn the trade.
From then on, Eddie vanished without a trace. Frank had almost forgotten about him.
When John was injured while hunting a monster, he recovered at Frank's place. During that time, Frank learned just how dangerous the supernatural world was, especially for rookies like Eddie. The death rate for new hunters was sky-high.
With no word from him for so long, Frank assumed Eddie had died during a hunt.
So it was a complete shock to see him now—and even more surprising to discover that the "stalker" they were tailing was Eddie all along.
No wonder Eddie had managed to lose them. Tony had only been a cop for a few years, while Eddie was a seasoned veteran with over a decade of experience. His counter-surveillance skills far surpassed Tony's.
And as for Eddie stalking Karen—well, that made perfect sense now.
She was his daughter. He had been gone a long time, and now that he was back, he just wanted a glimpse of her from the shadows. What father wouldn't?
Frank and Eddie chatted a while. Eddie filled him in on his recent life.
After leaving with John and his son, he trained hard to become a capable hunter. With years of police experience under his belt, he caught on quickly and mastered the necessary skills.
After working a few cases with John, Eddie went his own way, hunting monsters across the country and dealing with various supernatural incidents.
He happened to be passing through Chicago on this trip and couldn't resist checking in on his daughter. But since his official identity had been "buried," he couldn't reveal himself. All he could do was watch from the shadows.
Frank understood. Eddie might have made mistakes in the past, but he still loved Karen. He just expressed it the wrong way.
"Karen's changed a lot. She's starting college soon," Frank said, updating him.
"College? Shouldn't she be in her last year of high school?" Eddie asked, surprised.
"She skipped a grade. She's going straight to the University of Chicago," Frank explained.
"Wow… She's really grown up," Eddie murmured, thinking back on what he had seen the past couple of days while watching her. It filled him with complex emotions.
The Karen of today was nothing like the girl from six months ago. It was like looking at a completely different person.
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