"My Father's Gun" by Dave White

From: Damn Near Dead: An Anthology of Geezer Noir. Ed. Duane Swierczynski. Busted Flush Press, 2006.

On the fiftieth anniversary of his sister's death, Leonard Baker, the man who would be Jackson Donne's father-in-law, goes missing along with a gun. Leonard's wife Sarah asks Donne to search for him. Finding Leonard at the cemetery where his sister is buried, Donne interrupts his attempt to commit suicide.

This story's turning point is not that Jackson saves Leonard's life, but that Leonard helps Jackson deal with a completely unexpected tragedy. "My Father's Gun" doesn't stand alone as well as other stories in Damn Near Dead, but it's fine reading for fans of White's series P.I.