To Protect and Serve (pt. 2)

After losing his daughter to suicide Michael Williams becomes obsessed with finding answers.

Michael Williams sat alone in the dark kitchen, the steam trailing from the coffee in front of him the only source of heat in the darkness. It had been 3 days since he and his wife had buried their daughter Ali and sleep had eluded him ever since. Nothing about Ali's suicide made sense to Michael, she was a straight A student, in leadership, a star athlete, and planning for college, why would she suddenly end her life? Night after night Michael sat alone in the dark searching for an answer, dark circles of fatigue and stress wore heavy under his eyes as he started hopelessly into nothingness. Wearily he pulled himself up and walked to Ali's room, each step he took echoing in his head and heart like a sudden sound breaking the eerie silence of death and pain hanging over the house. Taking a deep breath he swung open the door to her room and was met by a chill that seemed to sweep into the depths of his soul causing his entire body to shiver and forcing him to turn away.  

Composing himself he entered her room and slowly look around, tears filling his eyes as he took in the memories of his little girl. He sat on the edge of her bed and allowed the tears to fall, he cried deeply feeling the pain of losing his daughter tearing at him as though a blade were being plunged deep into his heart. Michael reached under the bed and took out Ali's keepsake box filled with her awards and articles about her, he hadn't been able to bear the thought of looking at pictures of Ali before now but tonight his heart hurt so badly he needed to see her face. His hands trembled as he slowly lifted the lid off the box, he leg out a loud gasp that broke the silence filling the room as he looked down into the contents of the box. Ali had used a black marker to cover her face in every picture of herself and had torn up all the newspaper articles and stories about her. Tattered shreds of her life were all that remained as Michael sobbed loudly, realizing for the first time how much pain his daughter had been in and he had not noticed. As he gently shuffled through the rest of the torn paper and pictures he stopped suddenly as something caught his eye. There at the bottom of the box was  folded piece of paper, taking a deep breath he unfolded it and read slowly, allowing each word to trail off his lips and into his mind; 

A golden shield meant to protect 

A golden shield meant to serve 

A golden shield built of neglect 

A golden shield he did not deserve 

A sweet girl once so pure 

A painful fate forced to endure.   

Tears fell like glistening crystals of pain from Michael's eyes as he read it again and again until his eyes caught a single word written in red at the very bottom of the page. A single word written so roughly it was nearly torn through the paper as though Ali had tried to burn it through the page itself and erase it from her mind. One word he repeated over and over; Knox.  

Michael's face froze as though time stood still. In that moment his face wore no expression, he felt no pain, no sorrow as he silently repeated the name to himself over and over in a trance like state. It was then his expression changed, the tears that so freely flowed down his cheeks suddenly ceased almost as if he had no tears left, the pain and anguish that filled his eyes suddenly vanished as was replaced by the raging flames of anger. His lips twisted into a vicious scowl as he crushed the page in his hand, the same way he planned to crush the man that caused his little girl all her pain. Michael was a different man as he stood to his feet, his once gentle face bore an image of hatred, his eyes burned with a fury that would make the devil himself cower in fear. Though not a tall man standing only 5'8" Michael appeared a giant standing tall, his mind and heart seething, demanding vengeance. As he left Ali's room he took care to close the door gently, no longer would he sit up endlessly mourning and feeling lost, no; now his life had purpose again, he had meaning again; revenge. He went straight to the computer and sat down, turning it on he was nearly blinded by the sudden light filling the hallowed darkness of that house. His eyes remained locked on the screen as he began searching across the Internet for anyone local named Knox. He scanned search result after search result, his eyes furiously reading each line with a fiery passion for answers. Suddenly a local newspaper article caught his gaze. Opening the page he read quickly about a local officer that had recently been awarded for outstanding service. Scrolling down his hand froze and his eyes widened as there before him in a picture was Greg Knox and emblazoned on his chest was a golden shield. Michael knew this was the same golden shield that betrayed his daughter, he knew in his heart that Greg Knox was the one, his body felt like it was one fire as he stared at the picture, his eyes burning a hole through the image as though he tried to destroy Knox with his the hatred coursing through his veins. He stared at the picture for sometime, taking in each and every detail about Knox so he would not miss an opportunity to confront him, he must never forget that face. As he studied his features he mouthed just two words; "got you."  

Laura Williams woke slowly, stretching before climbing out of bed, she shivered slightly as her bare feet touched the wooden floor and she walked to the kitchen. She greeted her husband as she entered but got no response, Michael at the table slowly turning his coffee cup around in his hand as he started intently at the wall in front of him. Laura sighed and poured herself a cup of coffee and joined her husband at the table. They sat in silence for some time, Laura looked at her cup sadly this silence pained her, she had lost her daughter and now she felt as though she was losing her husband. Michael had not been the same since Ali took her life, he rarely spoke to her, he seemed to distant and she could not help him. She stood slowly and kissed him on the forehead before heading to the shower as she choked back the tears of sadness and loneliness that would fall in the shower as they did each morning. After Laura left Michael grabbed his keys and left the house, he started driving to town, his mind racing as he stared down the empty road. Soon he would arrive at the police station, it was time to confront the man responsible for the death of his baby girl. As he pulled up to the station he took a long deep breath, he knew he had to remain calm, this was the time to try to gather information not the time for violence. He painted on his best fake smile and entered, he took a seat after asking if officer Knox was available and was asked to wait. Moments later he felt his breath leave his body as Knox emerged from the back and walked towards him. Michael could hear each step Knox took echo a heavy thud in his heart, growing louder and louder as Knox neared him. After introducing himself Michael shook Knox's hand and shivered slightly as it felt cold as ice touching this man. He felt as though he stared into the eyes of death itself as he looked at Knox, it made him sick to his stomach. During their brief discussion Michael struggled to contain the fire raging in his soul, he wanted so badly to leap across the table and take his vengeance on his monster. He wanted to see the life leave Knox's eyes as he choked the very breath from him but he restrained himself as he questioned Knox about if he knew Ali or had any interaction with her. Knox expressed sympathy for his loss, but claimed to have never even met Ali. Michael never mentioned the poem, he didn't need to, he knew Knox was lying. Knox offered his card and told Michael to call if he needed anything, Michael made it to the car before he threw up. That man did something to his daughter, he drove her to suicide and Michael had shook hands with him; he threw up again, his mind disgusted with himself as he struggled into his car and drove home. He went straight to the kitchen when he arrived home and washed his hands, he ran the water as hot as he could tolerate it and winced in pain as he nearly scrubbed his right hand raw desperately trying to erase any part of him that had touched that vile being. Once he was satisfied with the scrubbing he sat down at the table and began thinking about how to deal with Knox. There was no doubt in his mind the only solution was that Knox had to die, but he needed a plan, he was only going to get once chance at this.  

Greg Knox sat in his office, carefully thinking about what had just transpired. He wondered why Michael suddenly wanted to know if he knew Ali, he wondered for a moment if somehow he had slipped up and Michael was onto him. Leaning back in his chair he chuckled to himself, Ali was far from his first and certainly wouldn't be his last, he didn't make mistakes to even consider he had was preposterous. Knox picked up his coat and smiled as he left the station to go back on patrol, he was perplexed by Michael's actions but refused to allow himself to believe he had made a mistake, he was to careful. Days passed as Michael became more and more obsessed with extracting his revenge, he barely slept and Laura was growing more and more concerned. She pleaded with him to seek help, urged him to go to counseling with her but he was always quick to dismiss her stating he was coping on his own and would be fine. Unbeknownst to him he had become a source of great pain to his wife and was slowly tearing her apart, he failed to see this as he was blinded by hatred and consumed with rage. The fires sweeping through him could only be extinguished with Knox's blood. Michael saw Knox's face in his sleep, heard his voice in the wind, felt his hand in his own, everything around him reminded him of Knox and his hatred grew. His hatred and quest for vengeance grew so strong he failed to notice when Laura left, leaving behind a simple note that she needed time until her husband returned and to call her when he was back. It was only a few days later Michael knew he had to act, he could not bear another moment knowing Knox was out there doing who knew what. He decided the house was the best place, he no longer cared if he got caught or not, Knox was going to die tonight.  

Michael retrieved Knox's card and made the call, he told Knox after their talk he trusted him. He said he found something in Ali's room that explained what happened to her and he needed Knox's help to catch the person responsible for his daughter's death. Knox asked him to come down to the station and make a statement but Michael asked Knox to come up to the house as he did not want to remove the evidence. Knox agreed to come up promising he would do everything in his power to help Michael get justice for his daughter, he hesitated for a moment after hanging up the phone thinking carefully to himself what Ali could have possibly left behind. Michael hung up the phone and shook in disgust and anger at Knox acting like a hero, his days of lying and hurting others was over. Michael paced the house waiting for Knox to arrive, the pistol tucked into his waistband felt like it weighed 1000 pounds and each passing second made his heart race faster. His heart nearly burst through his chest as he saw the car pull up outside. He struggled to breathe as Knox climbed out and walked towards the house, this was it, now or never. The knock on the door resonated through the his entire body as he went to the door, reaching into his waistband. There was not a moments hesitation, Michael swung the door open and the gunshot echoed through the mountains like a firework in the night sky; it was over. Michael slumped to the floor as he looked up at the evil smirk on Knox's face as he slowly returned his firearm to it's holster. Michael struggled to breathe, the shot had struck his heart and he felt the life leaving his body, Knox knelt down next to him and whispered that he never meant for Ali to kill herself. He told Michael how good she was and that he had planned on seeing her again, it was a shame she was gon.e Michael tried with his dying breath to reach for Knox's throat but his strength was gone, as he drew his final breath Knox told him to go be with his daughter. Knox shook his head slowly as Michael faded away, he went to the kitchen, and after putting his gloves on, selected a large knife from a nearby rack. Taking a deep breath he grit his teeth and plunged the knife into his shoulder, he yelled in pain and withdrew the blade soaked in his own blood. Moving back to the door, he placed the knife near Michael after first pressing Michael's hand against the hilt of the weapon. Moving to his car Knox called for backup reporting an officer in distress. Knox reported Michael had asked for help finding out why Ali had committed suicide and when Knox said there was nothing he could do Michael had gone into a rage and attacked him with a knife. Knox had been careful to dispose of Michael's gun and even tracked Laura down to testify that her husband and gone mad with grief over the loss of Ali and was not himself. A ceremony was held to commemorate Knox, he was awarded a medal of valor which he proudly accepted. Weeks later while patrolling a quiet road Knox pulled over a speeding car, he approached the car and shined his light down, there he saw a frightened teenage girl squinting against the bright light. Knox lips twisted into a wicked smirk as he took a step back and uttered but a few words that would forever resonate in this young girl's mind; "step out of the car please." 

 

Author's Note

Please ignore grammar problems as I commonly make punctuation errors, this is about the story not necessarily the grammar.