The Portal

Chapter 7

     David had slept soundly but he was woken up by a very loud knocking on the door. It wasn't the knocking that disturbed David more than the yelling that was coming from the front porch minutes after the loud knocking came. David has no idea what was going on, but he was aiming to find out. He didn't even put his boots on as he walked to the front door, and there was his father arguing with what seemed like an officer in uniform.

     "Excuse me," David said as he took a few steps out the door, and stepped in between his father than the officer. "What seems to be the problem?"

     "Who the hell is this?" the officer asked.

     "He's family," David's father replied, "Just in town for a few days."

     "Is that so," the officer said, "Can I have your name?"

     "Sure," David said, as he grinned. "Marshal."

     "Marshal what?" The officer then asked.

     "Marshal isn't my name," David said, as he pulled out his wallet and flashed the big star in the officer's face. "It's my job title: I'm a United States Marshal, which means I'm a federal agent."

     The officer's eyes popped open as that badge was the last thing he had expected to see when visiting that morning. "What are you doing here?"

     "That would be none of your business." David said as he quickly put the badge away. "Do you know what witness tampering is?"

     "I do," the officer said, taking a loud gulp.

     "Do you have any idea how hard it is to secure a federal witness?" David continued, not giving the officer a chance to answer. "I'll rephrase that: do you want your boss to get an angry call from my boss, the director of the State Marshal's office, to chew his ass out because his people are interfering in federal operations?"

     "I suppose not," the officer modestly replied.

     "I didn't think so," David agreed, "My boss is a heated man even on his best days, so you do not want to get on his bad side. So unless your business is more important than ongoing federal investigations that have taken years to slowly build, then I suggest you walk away and do not return unless we call you to. Have I made myself clear?"

     "Yes, I'm sorry." The man said as he backed away and started to walk back to his car. "Won't happen again!"

     "It better not!" David called out, "Or I'll have your shield!"

     David stood there with arms folded as he watched the car leave. He had a small smile on his face as he then turned to look at his father who was looking at him with a stunned expression on his face.

     "What?" he asked his father.

     "I've been taking unwanted questions from that snoopy officer for years." His father informed him, "And that is the fastest I've ever seen him get out of here. That was incredible!"

     "You'd be surprised how even the toughest guys will shrivel up and retreat when they're confronted by a bigger badass." David said, as he looked back to watch the car leave. "He won't give you any trouble for a while. Despite his curiosity, he won't risk his job to find out what's going on around here."

     "That was exciting," his father said, "I can see why you're so good at your job. You were very menacing, I didn't want to mess with you either."

     "We Marshals have a reputation to uphold," David said, "We even have an unwritten rule about wearing cowboy boots to look more imposing."

     "Really?" his father asked.