The Death of a King

Chapter 17

Afternoon - 6:07 - Jax Dean
Do you ever have that memory. That single memory you hold on to, that gives you hope? When that gun shot goes off. There's no memory in the world that could help me in that moment. My eyes are scarred. I can feel the blood on me and see the dark sickly red dripping down to the floor. The worse part is looking up at Luke, who's eyes were dead of any light. It shocked me to see the same eyes that were burning with fire hours ago, was now cold and icy. I can only think that this is the final straw that breaks him. The fight is gone, and I can't blame him. Who could? A man can only handle so much before he snaps. This was his moment. His time to lash out. Luke screams, rushing out to the storm before I can even say anything.
He has a gun in hand, the same one from the bag. He still had it. He disappears outside and I can hear the gun shots going off. A few moments later the shots stop. I wait for him to return. He finally comes back and he slowly walks towards me and John's body. He stops to his knees in front of me.
"I'm...sorry."
I'm taken back. He doesn't look at John and cry. He focuses on me, and apologizes for nothing. I don't blame him. I would have to be the worse person ever to blame him after what just happened. "Luke...don't apologize...We can't stay here."
"I don't know what to do...he's gone."
That's all he can say. It's taking all his strength to not collapse and give up. I can see it in him. I do The only thing I can do, and hug him. He doesn't cry, he doesn't weep. He just lays his head on my shoulder and we sit in silence. The snow hitting the roof of the warehouse is the only thing that breaks the silence. It was all quiet. The ringing of a phone goes off. It startled both of us. It's not my phone because Luke reaches into his pocket and answers the call. His voice broken. "Hello?"
I can't hear the other end of the call, but I can see his facial expressions change. I can see his eyes darting left and right and all over. His mind is racing. You could say that a spark had started. I know what a spark can do to someone. The phone call lasts for minutes. After the call ends and he puts his phone back in his pocket. He gets up and helps me up.
"We have to go. We...have to go see my father."
"What...now?"
"It's important."
Under different circumstances I would have looked at him crazy. This didn't seem like the time to go and visit someone in prison. After everything that just went down. It seems that we haven't had a single minute to really take a break and rest.
"Sure Luke, let's go. I'll drive."
"Go to the car and get ready...I'm going to take a minute with John."
So I leave him. I leave him to his demons for that minute. Getting to the car I finally get to break down myself. I had seen a man murdered two feet from me. His blood is on my face, my clothes. I want to curl up into a ball and sleep or cry. Which ever one helps me cope. I find whatever towel or anything I can use to wipe my face, and get the jacket out of the bag and put it on. I hear the slam of the warehouse door and look over to see Luke. He opens the passenger side door.
"We're coming back for him. He's going to get the funeral he deserves. His family is going to know what happened. He will get the justice he deserves. Hear me? I...owe him that."
In that single moment I see just how gentle his heart is. How it beats for everyone around him that he loves. He puts the prison into the GPS and it comes up on the screen. The snow has died down quite a bit. We have service now so it means that the roads might be open again for everyone to drive on. I doubt anyone will do that but you never know. I turn off towards the road and we head off to another one of Luke's family members. I'll get to meet James King the billionaire that started this all. "Who called you?"
"Ashter, he wanted to know why I wasn't back if I was just getting John back..but he also had news from Mark..he talked to Mark and he knows what he's after. Ashter knew about the secrets and never told me. That I needed to see my father one last time."
"Will you be ready for that?"
"I don't know. I'll figure it out. We all have to face our fears some time."
That was that, we stayed in silence. I think it was mostly him who needed the silence and I decided to give it to him. If I was in his place, I would freeze. I would just stop. I couldn't keep fighting not like this, not with this ferocious storm. He took his break and now he's right back up and fighting. It's something that energizes me to fight by his side. It's the least I can do. The King family has more secrets than I or anyone thought they had. What was it that Mark wanted? Why couldn't Luke give it to him? Whatever it is, it's worth killing over. I'm not sure what could be that important that you would face storms, take hostages, murder in cold blood. All for a flash drive? It doesn't add up and it doesn't make sense. I hope both of us get the answers we want from his father. I might just get more questions then I started with. The prison is finally in view and it is huge. "It's maximum security. I assume you know why he's in here."
"Doesn't everyone? When that went down the news was all over the place."
"I know, it was the first time he didn't want to be on front page."
"I can see why, it was horrible for the entire city."
"That's my family for you...always causing trouble."
We arrive at the front gate and the guard stops us.
"What are you two doing here. You know it's been storming for the past two days?" Luke reaches over and hands him money.
"I'm Luke King, I'm here to see James King."
"Oh...right away sir. Parking is to your left."
The guard opens the gate and we go towards the parking, besides the police cruisers and prison buses and vans no other car is here.
"How did you do that? Its like he just dropped all rules to let you in."
"I make sizeable donations to this prison, they really like me and most of their pay checks are because of those donations."
"Gotcha.."
"Let's head in, sooner we leave the better."
He gets out and heads towards the entrance, I soon follow. The first thing that hits me is the heat. It feels fantastic but I still get a chill from being in a prison for the second time. The first time was when I visited my dad because of his assaults on my mother. I swore I would only see him once while he was in there. When I did, he promised he would change. I believed him. When he finally got out I had to deal with him everyday since. Staining my furniture, stealing my money, ruining my relationships with anyone I got close to. I couldn't escape him. He was latched onto me and became my burden to forever hold on too. I wonder how he's handling the storm. If he thinks I'm dead, or worse. I hardly think he'll miss me until he goes into relapse from not drinking anymore. Luke signs into the front desk and asks to have a visitation with James. They tell him to hold on and wait a moment. So we take our seats and sit quietly. No one else is here but the front desk clerk and some guards. It's scary.
"Mr. King, we're ready for you to come in."
So here we are. Walking down the hall about to meet one of the most powerful people Chicago had, until Luke. The guard stops us. Tells us all the rules of visitation. Opens the door and follows us inside. The table is empty until we sit down. A minute later and the other door opens and there he is. James King in person.