Chapter One: Memory (Pt 1)08:19 Sep 23 2011
Times Read: 564
My name is Memory Davis. I was born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. Labor Day weekend 2011, I wanted to join some friends on a camping trip. So, I sent my kids to stay with their father for the weekend, since there was going to be activity there I didn't want them to witness (drinking, possibly people having sex and swimming nude). After the long weekend, I drove up to Kansas City to pick them up. It was early in the morning…about 6 AM. Pulling up to Xavier Michaels' street, I knew something was wrong. There was everything there. Police, ambulances, fire trucks…and then I seen the coroner. I through my truck into park, and ran towards the house, looking for the familiar largeness that was X. I ran up to the crime scene tape, and crossed under it. That's when I noticed the stretcher with that largeness.
Frantically, I screamed out my children's names.
"Melissa!!! Sarah!!!"
"Ma'am, you can't be in here. This is a gruesome crime scene," someone said, grabbing my arms.
Pulling myself away from him as hard as I could, I yelled at him. "Screw you, buddy. This is my ex-husband's house! My KIDS are in there!"
Then a gentle voice was right behind me, "I'll take it from here, Stevens."
"Are you sure, sir? She seems to be taking things…"
"I said I got it."
"Yes, sir."
I looked up and with worry in my tone, I asked, "What in the hell is going on? What happened? Where are my kids?"
"Ma'am, why don't we have you come sit down over here", he said with compassion, but professionalism.
"I'm not going to do a damned thing until you tell me where the hell my kids are," I said, ignoring all care for his authority.
"I really think you should sit down," he sighed.
I knew what he was going to tell me. I just really didn't want to hear it. I could feel my heart racing, the tears starting to well up in my eyes. I did follow him to an open ambulance and sat on the bumper. After I gained some sort of composure, I just looked at him and told him what I didn't want him to acknowledge, "They're dead, aren't they? All of them. X, Melissa, Sarah…"
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," he mumbled.
"Who did this? Who could do this? They're just babies!"
He let me weep for a minute trying to grasp the way to tell me that it was the whole family. Even X's pregnant wife. She was due in a couple of months, but lost so much blood that by the time she got to the hospital, the baby was already gone.
"My name is Special Agent Graeme O'Conner. I'm with the FBI. I am in charge of this case. I will make it my personal priority to find out who did this to your family," he said looking very seriously into my eyes.
"Why in the…Why is the FBI taking over this? What is the interest?" I said with a dumbfounded look on my face. Why the FBI takeover the county matter? I didn't understand. I couldn't fathom what X had gotten into that would possibly end in this situation.
" All we know is Officer Michaels was working on a case that involved... illegal activities."
" Of course, it involved a legal activities. He's a cop," I said through my teeth. How could he say such a stupid thing? I couldn't decide whether or not I should request another officer to lead this case. I'm sorry not officer, special agent. This guy had to have been a rookie, there was no way else he would make that mistake.
"I meant, that his cover had been blown."
All I could do is gasp at this. X didn't tell me he was on a UC mission, job, what ever. Did he even think about our children? His children? His wife? His family? He could've sent them away. He could have told me no to this weekend. He could've done anything but think about his job. But then he wouldn't be X.
I started to hyperventilate. I just thought of something that would be painful to see, and even more painful to hear. I managed to gasp out, " His parents? Do they know? Who's telling them?"
"The sheriff is taking care of that, personally," he stated looking at me with pity in his eyes. Maybe not so much pity, but it gave me relief that I didn’t have to tell her. Maybe I should go there, help console the pain. They had just lost a son, and grandchildren... one not even born yet, not even given a chance to live.
As soon as I thought I could breathe again, X's best friend, partner, and godfather to my children ran under the tape. He flashed something metallic shiny, I assumed was his badge, and started running towards the house. As he approached the steps, one of the feds stopped him before he could get to the door. I couldn’t be sure as to what the guy said, but it looked as if it really pained him to hear it.
" Acuff!" I yelled with tears in my voice and streaming down my face. He ran to me panic stricken. He can read on my face that it was bad. He clutched me to his chest, almost crushingly, but this is one time I didn't mind. Kile Acuff was the one person who could console me right now-or at least try to. We didn't necessarily get along, but this affected both of us. Together.
"I heard on the radio, Mems. I woke up to go to the bathroom, and heard something about a family on this street. I had to get out here and fight my fear. The one time I didn't want my feeling to be my way…" he tried to say comfortingly. I was just surprised I heard him over my own sobs.
"I don't know how to deal with this, Cuff. I just lost everything never cared about," I managed to croak out before losing it again. He started rocking back and forth like I had done with my children when they had woken up from a bad dream. The more I rocked, the more it started to sink in that would never be able to do that again.
The FBI guy called over a medic to give me oxygen so that I wouldn't pass out. I guess I would pretty pale to them. Maybe a little green, too. While I was alone with my medic making sure all my vitals were intact, Acuff walked away mumbling to Special Agent What's His Name -I couldn't remember at this point. I couldn't hear much about what they were talking about, but it sounded like something bad. Very bad. X wasn’t the type to make mistakes, not when it came to the safety of those he cared about, or his job. I was going to get to the bottom of this. I was going to figure out why I had to plan the funerals of my children.
I lit myself a cigarette, since I could actually breathe now, and walked over to Acuff and this FBI person. I stood there for a while trying to soak in their conversation. It wasn’t anything interesting to say the least; a bunch of police jargon, and other things that my brain couldn’t de-code at the moment. I had been with X for a long time, learning most of it. I tried to remember the meaning of words like ‘ballistics’ but it just wouldn’t click.
As I flicked my smoke to the ground, a large brown SUV, followed by 2 black vans pulled in under the tape. The SUV, I recognized. It was Sherriff David Corruthers. X had gotten very close to him since he was elected 6 years ago, back when we were together. By the red around his eyes, it looked like he’d been crying. Behind him, 4 men pulled gurneys towards the house. He was talking to a deputy when he glanced over to me. He immediately turned and staggered in my direction.
“Memory…I’m so sorry for your losses. We are going to take care of it. All of it. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he said hugging me. I couldn’t help squeezing more tears out of my eyes.
“Easier said than done, Dave. I just want to know who the hell did this.”
“And we’re gonna find out, Mems. We are. This O’Conner guy, he’s the best in the region. We are lucky to have him.”
Even if I tried, I couldn’t control my eyes from rolling. I believed the sheriff, but I didn’t at the same time. This guy was young. He looked more like a business major than a dyed in the wool Federal agent. But, if there was one thing that X always taught me, it was that people were capable of more than they appeared. So, I figured that I would give this O’Conner guy a break. For now.
I turned around to see Acuff right behind me. It was odd to see his expression. He wasn’t sad. He wasn’t angry. He was afraid of something. I followed his eyes and seen that they were starting to bring out my children. I felt the pressure starting to build.
COMMENTS
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TheVampyreNico
03:52 Sep 25 2011
Wow, this sounds like a murder mystery story I like it so far. ~Nico