Prodigal Son; Malcolm Bright

27.00

Malcolm Bright

Things went Celine still were unsolved, but I now had bigger fish to fry. The case we were working had a connection to my father. They had given him the name of the junkyard killer. With this case hitting so close to home I decided I'd bring Paisley to the station just so I don't end up calling her school every 30 minutes.

That ended up not being the best idea. I walked into Celine's office where I'd left Paisley, and she wasn't there anymore. My phone started ringing, and it was a call from an unknown number.

J. Killer-If you say anything to anybody you won't ever see Ms. Paisley here again

So many thoughts were going through my head, but I simply exited the station trying to appear calm when I was unraveling on the inside.

Malcolm-What do you want?

J. Killer-It's quite simple actually, beg for her back

Malcolm-Please give me my daughter back

J. Killer-Why should I?

Malcolm-Because she's everything to me...

J. Killer-Or maybe you just can't live with the guilt of losing her while you're in charge of her. Would you ever stop looking for her? How do you think Celine would do on a day-to-day basis not knowing if she was alive or dead? She'd eventually forget you, you know

Malcolm-Don't do this

J. Killer-Come find her Malcolm all on your own

He hung up the phone and I could barely unscramble my thoughts to figure out where to go first. I checked everywhere I could think, and I found a clue that eventually led me to the woods, but I didn't find Paisley simply a sticky note with a smiley face on it. My phone started ringing again.

J. Killer-You were so close, you can't ignore Celine forever you know. How about you go home, regroup, start your search again tomorrow.

He hung up again and I felt defeated, all I wanted was my Paisley back. I walked into my apartment seeing Paisley asleep on the sofa. I immediately woke her up and began examining her.

Malcolm: Are you okay? Did he hurt you?

Paisley: No, he said give you this

I opened the note that read 'Next time I won't bring her back' I sighed and looked up at Paisley.

Malcolm: Let's take a trip

I took her to the emergency room and called everybody important, of course they all said I should've said something, but they understood why I didn't. Celine had dived even further into the case and I'd pick her up from daycare at unpredictable times. I walked into the building not seeing her in her usual spot.

Malcolm: Excuse me where's Paisley?

I asked one of the workers on the verge of panic, before she could say anything Paisley walked out with her teacher with a smile.

Teacher: Sorry about that she got some paint on her hands

Malcolm: It's fine, come on P

I was worried I wouldn't be able to protect her, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything ever happened to her. I just wanted this all to be over.