Part I-Chapter 30: GOOD MEN

 

 

 

Chapter 30

Good Men

(Ó 2007)

 

Late May, 1996

Navy Pier, Chicago

“Is that where were going to be daddy? Way out there?” Asked five year old Nadine Rose Todd of her father as she was pointing out to the waters of Lake Michigan.

“Yes sweetie,” David replied to his daughter, “way out there.”

“Wow.”

She sat on his lap as they rode on the one hundred forty eight foot Ferris wheel, which is the most eye catching attraction at Navy Pier. Navy Pier, located near the Streeterville area, on the shores of Lake Michigan, near downtown Chicago, opened to the public just three years earlier after a two year, one hundred fifty million dollar reconstruction. The result is a very successful recreational area that attracts more than eight million visitors a year.

They both were now at the highest point, the very pinnacle, of the slow rotating ride. Nadine Rose, although securely held by David on his lap, wanted to look down to the ground.

“I can see Mommy with Uncle No and Aunt Mari Daddy, see?” She said pointing downward.

“Yes sweetie I see, but don’t let Mommy see you trying to see her, she gets nervous.”

Nadine then looked to the other side to view the Chicago skyline, she then asked, “Could we go to the top of one of those buildings?”

David smiled and pointed to the John Hancock Building, “OK, do you see that big one there with the two big antennas on top?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, they have a nice restaurant on the top, maybe we can go there on your next birthday.”

“Really? Can we?”

“Sure.”

“Promise?”

“Yes sweetie, I promise.”

“And can we sit by the window?”

David then gave out a short laugh. “You sure like being way up in the air don’t you?” He asked her and it was true, ever since she was a baby, she loved it when David would pick her up over his head, or hold her out in front of him as he played with her and pretended she was an airplane. Even on the flights to Arizona for vacations, Nadine Rose would always want to sit by the window. She would spend the entire time looking out to the ground, watched as the clouds floated by, and even would look straight up to see even higher up into the sky. It seemed to David that the ride on the airplane, both to and from their destination, was the most enjoyable part of the trip for Nadine Rose, and was what she looked forward to the most.

“Yep.” she answered.

“I know why.” David said to her as he held her a little closer and tighter.

“Why Daddy?”

“Because that’s where all of you angels come from.”

Nadine Rose hugged her fathers’ neck and kissed his cheek. It was a perfect moment to this perfect warm clear day. To say that Nadine Rose Todd is a pretty little girl is a great understatement. Nadine Rose Todd is a stunningly beautiful little girl; she would actually have people stop to turn their heads to look at her as she passed by. With her caramel colored skin, light curly brown hair, and an ideal straight row of white baby teeth. However, the only thing that was more blue than the waters of Lake Michigan, or the clear sky above it was Nadine Rose’s most dazzling characteristic, her crystal blue eyes, that she inherited from her Grandmother Rose, David’s mother. And today, wearing her pink Cookie Monster t-shirt with the matching pink shorts made her even more adorable.

Their passenger car began to make its slow decent downward. As David held his little girl he wondered again just what it was that he had ever done in his life that granted him in such favor with God that He would bestow him such a wonderful gift as his Nadine Rose. The love he had for Nadine Rose almost frightened him sometimes, it was that strong. Regina’s father had once told him that’s the way it is between fathers and daughters that he always felt that love towards Regina since the moment he first held her on the day she was born.

“No matter how old they get, how big, or how many kids they themselves have, you will always see her as ‘my little girl’.” He once told David.

It was also at times like these that David would have the thought, and right now that thought was more enhanced because he could see the distance of the horizon from all directions, that some where out there, right now, either riding a bike or playing with friends, there was some “little bastard” out there, who someday is going to come along and make Nadine Rose fall head over heels in love with him, and that “little bastard” will then steal her away from him.

However, recently other notions began to come to his mind. Thoughts of the father of Stephanie Morris, and the ordeal he still is going through after his little girl was beaten and raped. He thought of all the other fathers of the victims of Billy Freeman and Raul Ortega. The fathers of the little girls who were taken by the likes of Gregior Divic, and who rented them out to men like Mitchell Bartholomew. He thought what he himself would do to anyone, anyone, who would bring harm to Nadine Rose. He thought that if someone would ever do such a thing to her that he would kill them. But then … no. “No,” David thought, “I wouldn’t kill them. I would do what he’s done. The vigilante … the ‘Spinal Tapper’, as he and Noel began to refer to him. I would do what he did. I would make them suffer. I would make so that they would wish that I had killed them. They would hate me, everyday of the rest of their miserable lives; they would be consumed with that hate for me, because I did not kill them.”

“Why are you squeezing your hands so hard like that Daddy?” Nadine Rose asked.

David realized that these feelings he was having of anyone bringing harm to his daughter, in the ways that he has witnessed himself over the past few years, was actually making him angry. Angry enough to cause him to clench his fists so tightly that Nadine Rose felt it.

“What? Oh nothing punkin, just thinking, look were almost down, let’s get ready to step off.”

Their passenger car slowly came to the exit area. The Ferris wheel was designed to deliberately rotate very slowly, slow enough so that while one group exit’s a car, another group can enter, also it gives the passengers time to enjoy the spectacular panorama. David now stood up, picked up Nadine Rose in his arms and held her securely to him as they came to the exit point.

“Ready punkin?” David asked.

“Ready.”

“One … two … three, and were … off!” David said and stepped out of their car. He then made his way down the steps that led away from the Ferris wheel, all the time carrying Nadine Rose. He strolled toward the walkway where his wife Regina was waiting for them along with Noel and his wife, Mariola. 

“Mommy!” Nadine Rose exclaimed, “I saw you and Uncle No and Aunt Mari from way up there! You all were so little!”

“And we saw you way up there baby girl,” Regina said, and then she glanced at David, “yes we saw you putting your head over looking down.”

David just shrugged, “I had a good hold on her the whole time.”

“I know you did baby.” She said, kissing his cheek.

“Did the boys get the tickets for the boat ride?” David asked. Before he took Nadine Rose on the Ferris wheel, David’s two sons went to get tickets for one of the large speedboat excursions that takes passengers out onto Lake Michigan for a tour of the lake and Chicago shoreline. The tours are unique because they use large power boats built for speed and will travel at a high rate of speed once out on the lake.

“Yes baby and it won’t be leaving for a little more than an hour or so. So let’s get something to eat if were going to be out there for awhile.” Regina said, because the boys insisted on taking the long boat rides that not only tours the shoreline, but the Chicago River as well through the city.

“Daddy, can we go on the Ferris wheel again?” Nadine Rose asked.

“Sure sweetie, I take you again before we leave.”

“The Merry-Go-Round too?”

“Yes punkin, the Merry-Go-Round too.”

Nadine Rose then gave her father a tight hug around his neck. David looked at the face that Regina was giving him, one of disapproval. “What?” He asked.

“You spoil her David.”

“I know, I know,” he said to her, then he smiled and added, “But I can’t help myself, it’s just in my nature, I spoil you too.” 

With that comment, Regina answered David with a smile and another kiss on his neck.

“Let’s go eat,” said Noel, “our boys are with yours, and we know then what it’s going to be for lunch.”

“Burgers and Malts?” Asked David.

“Yeah,” answered Noel in a sarcastic tone, “burgers and malts … again! I guess were just going to have to suffer through that … again.”

“The sacrifices we make for our children,” said David in the same sarcastic tone, “I hope they appreciate what we do for them when they get older.”

“Oh my Gut,” said Mariola in her deep Polish accent, “Let us go Re-geena, before dee crap gits to dip.”

The five of them began to make their way towards where David and Regina’s two sons were waiting with Noel and Mariola’s three boys. They saw them at a large, round, outside table where they were talking and laughing. David and Noel’s boys had become best friends, they always “hung out” with each other, going to movies, each others houses or playing sports together. The boys saw their parents approaching and all waved to them and pointing to the large table that they had claimed for themselves and their families. 

The adults all waved back and gave signs of their approval for such a good job in finding a good table with such a great location. However, just as they were making their way into the direction of their sons, a voice called to them from behind.

“Sergeant Todd? Sergeant Jaworski?”

The adults stopped and turned to see who was calling them. David and Noel looked at the man who was the source of that voice. He was wearing beige khaki golf pants; olive short sleeve polo knit shirt and sandals. Both David and Noel knew that they had seen this man somewhere before but couldn’t place where. He had a stocky build, broad at the shoulder. David and Noel both were trying to place him, they had seen his face, however something was very different.

His face, that’s was it, they knew the face, but he was dressed differently from when last they both had seen him.

“Why, if it isn’t Special Agent Wren of the FBI.” Said Noel, and as he did David then realized who the man was.

“Yes, Agent Wren,” said David, “fancy meeting you here.”

“Well, I would say that too, but this is not a coincidence,” Agent Wren said as he extended his hand in friendship to them, “I found out where you both were from your dispatcher.”

David and Noel shook Agent Wren’s hand and introduced him to their wives, and Nadine Rose.

“I apologize for interrupting your time with your families,” said Agent Wren sincerely, “but I haven’t much time and I was wondering if I could have a few minutes with you both.”

“What is this all about Agent Wren?” Asked Noel.

“Chris.” He said, “Please, call me Chris.”

“OK, Chris,” said David pointing to himself, “David,” then pointing to his friend, “Noel.”

“OK, David and Noel, can I have a few minutes of your time?”

“Sure,” answered David, he handed Nadine Rose over to Regina, “We’ll be just a few minutes, order me the usual, OK?”

“Sure baby,” said Regina, “Cheeseburger with grilled onions, fries, and a chocolate malt?”

“Yeah, you know how much I love chocolate.” He said to her, then raised his eyebrows up and down like Groucho Marx.

“David!” she exclaimed and took their daughter, “It was nice to meet you Chris.”

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Todd, Mrs. Jaworski, Nadine.”

“It’s Nadine Rose!” Insisted the little girl.

“Oh I’m sorry, Nadine Rose.”

“And it’s Regina, and this is Mariola.”

“Thank you, Regina, Mariola. It will be just a few minutes I promise.”

Regina, carrying Nadine Rose and Mariola the turned and made their way to where the boys were sitting. Once they were at a fair distance away, Noel turned and asked, “OK, Chris, what gives?”

“I just came to inform you that Jay has personally taken Gregior Divic to a federal medical facility in Springfield, Missouri. We will be keeping him there because we cannot keep watch on him here, we don‘t have the conveniences here to do so.”

“And Jay was going to inform us of this when?” Asked David.

“When he wanted too.” answered Chris.

“Meaning never.” Said Noel.

“That is correct, probably never, or when you both would find out. Whichever would come first”

“So then,” David began to inquire, “just why are you informing us?”

“Because like I said David, I don’t have much time. I’m finally being transferred. I have to report to the bureau’s facility in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday, I’m busy packing myself and my own family right now.”

“You married?” asked Noel inquisitively.

“Yes, seven years now, I have two daughters of my own.”

“Forgive me for saying so Chris,” said David, “but you seem to be very happy that you’re leaving.”

“I am, for one thing, I’m finally getting involved with what I joined the bureau for in the first place.”

“And what would that be?” David inquired.

“Behavioral Sciences.”

“Behavioral Science!” Exclaimed Noel, “You mean that ‘Hannibal Lechter, Silence of the Lambs’ stuff?”

“That’s it.” Chris answered proudly. “I just got my PhD in psychology a few months back, I’ve been working to get this position ever since I joined the FBI.

“Jeez Chris,” Said Noel with an expression of surprise, “I guess I had you pegged all wrong.”

“I can understand that, considering who I was forced to be partners with over the past few years.”

“Then I would venture to say,” said David, “that your partnership with Jay is over, and that would be another ‘thing’ that makes you happy that you’re leaving?”

“You would venture correctly David, I see consider my partnership with Jay Boldini as sort of a ‘right of initiation’ for my career in the bureau.” Chris then smiled and added, “if you think I’m happy with this, you should see my wife Theresa, she’s ecstatic.”

The three men let out a friendly laugh together; they were becoming friends because of a common adversary, one Agent Jay Boldini.

“Seriously guys,” Chris said, “Jay, without all the psychological terms I’ve had to deal with over my schooling, to put it in layman’s terms, is a born asshole, I’ve known that fact since I’ve known him, but with this last ordeal, this Divic thing, I really saw the true Jay. He and Divic may be on opposite sides of the tracks, but they are one in the same. Besides, he and the bureau are going to be parting ways soon.”

Noel then asked, “How do you mean.”

“The Bureau has always just been a stepping stone for Jay. He has other ambitions, political ambitions. He joined the Bureau to use it as a way to get something on his record. He has always looked for that one big arrest, or one big thing that he can put on his resume’ to use to bolster himself for a career in politics. Jay’s from Vermont, and he’s keeping his eye out for any opportunity for any congressional seat that may open up for him.”

“Vermont huh?” Noel asked, “Yeah it figures.”

“I just want to warn you both to watch out for Jay,” Chris said sincerely, “he may not be in politics as of yet, but he’s acting like a politician, if you know what I mean. I believe that he thinks he may have found a ‘magic ticket’ let’s say, to finally get his political ambitions to start to become visible to him.”

“Meaning?” David asked.

“Meaning Gregior Divic, and all the names in that file.” Chris answered seriously. “He didn’t take Divic down to the Springfield facility just because of the medical attention that they can give him. Jay took him there so that Jay could keep an eye on him; keep him where he wants him. Because Jay has been in contact with everyone in that file. Yes, Jay makes it look like an official investigation, and he’s going to get Divic to inform on those higher up than him, all the time protecting Divic from retaliation. That’s why he’s down in Springfield. But Jay will also be protecting the people whose names are in that file of Divic‘s, in return for, shall we say, favors.”

“I get it,” David said, “burning the candle from both ends. Divic gives Boldini the names he needs for the big bust, hence bolstering Boldini in the eyes of the Bureau for now, and the eyes of the public for later. Boldini gets what he wants from Divic, then gets what he want from the people in that file by keeping a lid on ol‘ Greg.”

“That’s right David,” agreed Chris, “and you said yourself that you both saw all the names in that file.”

“Yeah,” Noel injected, “names of very important and powerful people. People who are gonna do anything for anyone who is in the position to protect them.”

“Correct Noel and all those people in that file are now witnessing the public crucifixion of Jared and Mitchell Bartholomew at this very moment.” Said Chris.

Noel then added, “Yeah, and if Jaybird there can protect these people by keeping ol’ Greg there on ice down in Missouri …”

“Then those people can be of service to the career of a future candidate for congress from the great state of Vermont,” injected David, “powerful and rich people, who are connected with other even more powerful and rich people, not only here, but all over the country; who can be influenced to helping this candidate not only with his election campaign, but also once he is in office.”

Noel then said, “Divic just became his key to a seat in congress, and that may just be the beginning, he’s not going to this extent just for a seat in congress, there has got to be bigger ambitions down the road. 


“Precisely guys,” Chris said, “I’ve been with Jay for a few years now, had to eat some of his shit too just so that I could survive, only because he is my superior. He, in my opinion has illusions of grandeur, I know because I’ve listened to his bullshit for all this time. He wants the power so bad, that he is going to fail to get it.”

How can you be sure?” Asked David.

“It’s just the way these things happen David, Jay wants the power and the perks that come with public office, and he really doesn’t want to do the job. The way he’s going about it, it’ll blow up in his face. Besides, I still have some confidence in the American public, they’ll see through him.”

“Apparently you haven’t lived in Chicago long enough,” Noel said laughing, “You should see what keeps getting elected to the city council here.”

The three men laughed at the comment, but Chris held up his hand to make a point, “Nevertheless, be careful of Jay, he knows, that you both know, of all those names in Divic’s file. He’s going to watch for any move that you may make on them. Those people have become very valuable to him and his ambitions, he’ll do crazy shit to you if he thinks that you’ll do anything to destroy his golden ticket as you say. To him this is more that any golden ticket, this to him is the Holy Grail itself”

David asked, “He really wants what he wants that badly, huh?”

“Yes, David, that badly. You should of seen him with Divic that morning, Jay’s eyes lighting up with each bit of information Divic gave him. Jay knowing how to use it and with whom to use it against. I didn’t know who was disgusting me the most. Jay with his ambitions, or Divic discussing his ‘business’. You know I can take the people who try to justify their narcotics trade, and Divic was doing that pretty well, but when he was discussing the human trafficking part, especially with the kids, well, lets just say that I too wanted to finish what your guy started.”

“That explains why you both were in there all morning with Divic,” Said David, “we both had a notion that the ‘Pink Book’ was the main topic of discussion.”

“That it was,” Chris continued, “I guess Divic was a learning experience for me you might say. His behavior in justifying the kidnapping and selling of women and children. He made out like they were a commodity, like produce in a supermarket. He had to dehumanize them and turn them into a product to shield himself from any of his own human emotions of guilt and conscience. He even told us of how there was a disruption in the ‘supply line’ of the ‘product’ once in the mid eighties from his suppliers in Europe.” Chris emphasized this by making quote marks in the air with his fingers. “But he then said that like any other challenge to a business, things were done to correct that disruption, the problems were resolved, things got back on track and continued for the better.”

Noel then showed his amazement by saying, “Friggin unbelievable.”

“Well, anyway,” Chris said as he began to conclude his visit, “I should let you both get back to your families; I have to get back to mine and finish packing up. Jay’s going to shit on Monday when he gets back and finds out that I’m going.”

“You mean you haven’t told him yet?” asked Noel.

“Hell no, I’ve been taking his shit for years, this will give me the chance to throw it all back. Now, not only does he have the chore of pacifying Divic and strong arming the people in the file on his own, but he’s got to team up with a new partner, and whomever he gets, well let’s just say it isn’t me. Who knows, I may be investigating him someday with some corruption scandal or something. I just know that’s going to come.”

“Well Chris,” David said extending his hand, “I’m glad you took the time to find us and tell us this.”

“Yeah, Chris,” said Noel, “We really appreciate it. Like I said, I had you all wrong; I guess I owe you an apology.”

“Don’t worry about that Noel; I would have been doing the same.”

“Good luck to you then with your new venture there in Virginia.” David said.

“Thank you very much guys, good-bye.” Chris said and then turned to go. He took a couple of steps, then stopped and turned back around. He saw as David and Noel were just starting back to their families, there backs were to Chris when he called out to them, “Oh by the way guys, you’re on the right track.”

David and Noel turned back. David asked, “On the right track?”

“With your vigilante, what you said to Jay at the hospital that day. The difference between a serial killer and a vigilante? You were right about that. Any progress on that?”

“No,” David said, “We are still with zero on that.”

“That’s because your guy does not want to be found. Can I give you my opinion, my theory on your guy? I took the liberty to look over some of the findings in your case.”

Noel and David approached Chris, Noel said, “Oh you did huh? OK, Starling, tell us what you think.”

“As you know,” Chris began, “a serial killer is acting on an impulse, probably because of some traumatic experience that happened to him or her personally, meaning to their person. But a vigilante, he’s committing his actions because he believes he’s doing it for the common good of society. There are two types of vigilantes, the ‘lone wolf’ and the ‘instigator’. Your guy sounds like he could be a combination of both. However, speaking as a new forensic psychologist, and I may be wrong, but then I could pass that off as just a rookie mistake, I feel there is not only the motive of doing the common good for society, I have a feeling that there is another motive here.”

“And what would that be?” Asked Noel.

“Revenge.”

“Revenge?” David asked inquisitively.

“Yes, revenge. I think that something tragic may have happened to the man you’re looking for, not to him personally, but to someone close to him, someone he cared for very much. You know a wife, girlfriend, lover, sibling, child or parent. Something so tragic, that it would make a good law biding man do the things he’s done.”

David wore an expression of confusion, “You think that a regular Joe could do the things he’s done, to actually paralyze four men?”

“Yeah, we both think that our guy may have had some sort of Special Forces training to be able to pull off some of the stunts he’s done.” Said Noel.

“Have you investigated that?” asked Chris.

“Yes, we have,” answered David, “and we have thought of something similar. We checked out any and all men within a thirty mile radius who are either current, retired, or reservists in all military branches who are in Special Forces, you know Green Beret, Navy S.E.A.L.S, that type of stuff; and we did investigate if any loved ones of theirs has been a victim of a crime, especially a sex crime. Still we have come up with nothing. You say revenge, why?”

“Have either of you guys ever seen the movie, ‘Death Wish’?”

“You mean that movie with Charles Bronson?” asked Noel.

“Yes, that’s the one,” Chris answered, “look at Bronson’s character; he was an architect, peaceful, everyday guy, until his wife is murdered and his daughter raped, right in his own home. He had a skill, he was good with guns, and when someone gave him a gun as a gift, the emotions and grief took him over, and even though he let someone know that he did not like guns, and that he was even a conscientious objector while in the military, he did what he did. I’m saying that if someone, anyone, who has someone they care for deeply, someone they love very much hurt, violated or even killed, well I believe that any person can reach a certain brink and has it in them to find some way to avenge that loved one, even to the point of what your man is doing. After all, we human beings are still animals, with an animals instincts. Instincts that we are able to suppress, until were pushed over a line; and everyone, man or woman, has their own personal line in the sand.”

“I believe that I would have to totally agree with you Chris.” David said as he remembered his own emotions just twenty minutes prior when his fists were clenched during his contemplation of anyone hurting Nadine Rose.

“Tell me guys, see if you can answer this,” Chris said, “who is the most famous fictional vigilante in the world?”

David and Noel shrugged there shoulders and Noel answered, “You tell us.”

“You are going to find my answer is ridiculous, but the answer is … Batman.”

“Batman? Are you kidding me?” Noel asked.

“I told you that your would find my answer ridiculous but think about it seriously for one minute.” Chris said holding up his hand, “Bruce Wayne, as a young boy is an eye witness to the murder of the two people in the world he loved the most, his parents. What does young Bruce do from that day forward? He trains his mind and body, dedicates his wealth and himself to do just one thing, seek out and destroy the criminal element of society. He is driven so far with his revenge that he even dresses up in a bat costume to frighten all those that he comes across, also to keep his identity a total secret. It‘s totally psychotic when you think about it, however we can all relate to him because unlike all the other comic book super heroes, Batman is totally human, with no super powers or unnatural abilities.”

“And he only comes out at night.” David added.

“And … and this is a big ‘and’, Noel said, “He is given a hero status by the public.”

“And the police,” Chris added, “the police even end up cooperating with him, when you think about it, the ‘Batman’ notion in your situation is not too far fetched. I will contend that your man may have some sort of military training, that he is also a very strong man, who knows how to fight, he had to learn how to do that somewhere. But, I feel that something happened to someone he cared for deeply, and he is in so much pain about it, that he is taking it out on the likes of those who hurt whoever that person was to him.”

Noel looked to David and then to Chris, “With what he’s done to his targets, it sounds as though our guy may be suffering, suffering a lot.”

“Yes,” Chris said, “he just may be. Anyway, I hope that will help you, and I’ve kept you from your families long enough. I’m sorry once again for taking you from your day, but I felt I had to let you know about Jay and his ambitions before I go.”

“Well we really appreciate that,” David said, shaking Chris Wren’s hand once again, “again, good luck with your new job there.”

“Yes, good luck.” Noel said as he also shook Chris’s hand.

“Well, good-bye then.” Chris said and he turned and left David and Noel. Both men watched as he left and then turned to join their families. David could see as Regina waved to him and pointed down to the table where there was David’s cheeseburger, fries and chocolate malt ready and waiting for him.

When they got to the table Nadine Rose looked up and asked, “Who was that man Uncle No?”

“Oh, that was just a new friend of your Daddy and me Blue Eyes, just a new friend.” - - -

- - - He watched them all from a distance where they would never see him, ‘hide in plain sight’ he once referred to it. He watched them now as they ate their lunch together with their wives and children, these two men that were searching for him.

He watched them the whole time they had been there, since their arrival. He observed them and how they were with their families, they were normal men, just like everyone else, they had loving wives and they showed that they were dedicated to their children, especially the man named David Todd. He watched David Todd with his little daughter, “and what a beautiful little girl she is” he thought to himself. He could see the love in David Todd’s heart for his daughter, even from the distance that he kept himself at.

He saw the love. He envied that love. He remembers.

He watched the man Noel Jaworski, he showed the same dedication and love for his wife and sons.

However, this was nothing new that he didn’t start to learn, when he first started to put the men whose job it was to find him under his surveillance some months ago. He had been watching, studying, and learning about them all this time. He felt that he had to know of these men, these men who seek him.

He knows of where they live and has spent some nights outside, around, and even close up to there homes, close enough where he could see inside there windows and hear their conversations, just like he did with the Bartholomew boy; just like he did with the Bosnian.

He now knew of their schedules and daily routines of not only them but their families as well.

He would sometimes observe them by their police headquarters, and he would even pass close by them in the street. On a couple of occasions he even sat close to them at a Starbucks while they had coffee.

He knew much about them, but that is all he wanted, he just wanted to know of them, these two men, these two good men, who seemed to only want to do the right thing, not only by their families, but with their jobs as well. They were police officers, good police officers, and all they want to do is the right thing … for the greater good to all. But they are frustrated, because not only do they have to contend with the corruption of the people they arrest, but also the corruption of those who hold superior positions above them. 

 

The corruption.

Good men, trying to do good things, only there are just so many obstacles for them. He pitied them.

He watched now as the men, Todd and Jaworski, stood up with their families and made their way towards the area where the tour boats were docked. Apparently they are taking everyone on the boat ride. He stood and began to make his way closer to the docks and he stood close to the building that housed some of the food vendors. He saw as the men took their families to their seats on the boat, it was the man David Todd whom was first seen, because he was carrying his beautiful little daughter, it seemed that she wanted to be seated right next to her father.

He stood and waited, soon the engines of the boat were started and it pulled from the docks and began to make its way outward to the open waters of Lake Michigan. He walked to the eastern most end of Navy Pier, and watched as the boat turned northward, then accelerated and began its tour. He stayed at the end of the dock and watched as the boat returned and made its way southward down to show its passengers the Chicago skyline. He waited for the boat’s return, apparently they all took the full tour and went through the locks of the Chicago River, and gave a tour of the city via the river.

When the boat did return and was docked, it was still easy to catch sight of the man David Todd, when he stood and took his daughter by the hand she was doing a half skip, half dance type move, and he could see her smiling even from his distance. 

He followed them all as the exited the boat, the little girl now leading her father by the hand. He watched them as she took him to the large Merry-Go-Round, and observed as they went around and around while she sat on a painted horse, all the while her father stood beside and supported her on her wooden steed. After that, he followed them all and saw as she and her father once again took another ride on the huge Ferris wheel.

When they finished he watched as David Todd again as he exited the passenger car carrying the little girl, and meeting back up with the others, he could hear the wife of David Todd, the woman of African decent, telling their daughter, “No baby girl, that’s enough for today, it’s time to go home.”

 

He now watched as the man David Todd and the man Noel Jaworski both walked hand in hand with their wives and led their families to the building that housed the entrance for Navy Pier, and disappear into the crowd inside as they left.

He waited a few moments, and then began to stroll back to the eastern most end of the pier, and there he gazed out onto the lake. He felt as the wind blew warm on his face, and felt some of the spray from the waves as they gently collided with the pier. He looked across the vast water first to the east and then to the southeast. It was then a thought came to him as he looked again southeastward.

“Mama,” he gently whispered to himself, “I think next week I‘ll pay a visit to Mama.”

　

* * *

　

END OF PART ONE