Web of Deceit (10 page)

Seconds later two
more gun hammers click into position. Chip and Elliot are walking side by side
with their weapons leveled at the frozen men.

“Don’t shoot!” The
youngest pleads as he raises his hands.

“We’ll cooperate!”
The other raises his hands as well.

Frank yells to the
remaining man. “You—join your pals! Get your hands up!”

The oldest of the
three men, with graying hair, puts his hands into his pockets. As the police
close in steadily on his position, his eyes perceive Elliot flanking him. He
considers his friends and calculates his remaining options.

“Now!” Frank yells
louder.

In a weak voice,
the youngest pleads to his resisting partner. “Raise your hands, man. It ain’t
worth it.”

“You disgust me,”
the oldest answers. Without hesitation, he pulls a concealed .38 special from
his right pocket.

“No-o-o!” Beth
screams in shock as her open-and-shut case slips from her grasp.

With one, quick,
fluid motion, the oldest man brings the gun to bear inches from the youngest
man’s right temple and pulls the trigger.

Bang!

The oldest man’s
gun recoils as the bullet exits the young victim’s left frontal lobe.

Frank squeezes his
trigger and the hammer drops, sealing the older man’s fate.

Crack!

Frank’s gun sounds
as the round enters the old man’s chest, shattering a rib and piercing the left
atrium of his heart.

Machine like, the
man ignores his fatal injury and catches himself from falling by planting his
right foot in the dirt. His only purpose is to end the life of his remaining
partner. His .38 drops no more than six inches as it travels toward his
remaining target.

Crack!

Frank fires
another round, striking the upper lobe of his target’s right lung and spinning
him before catching sight of Elliot entering the kill zone.

Elliot, already at
a dead run before the gun was pulled from the assailant’s pocket, dives forward
to tackle him. Elliot’s collision causes the assailant’s .38 to discharge as he
buckles and collapses to the ground. Elliot rolls off the fallen murderer and
confiscates the .38 special from his weakening grip.

The fallen man
breathes heavily, choking and trying to get a word out.

“Nick?” the
surviving accomplice says in shock, waiting for an explanation.

Nick opens his
mouth, struggling to clear his throat with each gasp of breath. His mouth
overflows with blood as he clears his throat again. “I was being nice.” More
blood gurgles up through his trachea and fills his mouth. Clearing his throat
once more, he manages to say, “You’re already dead.” He hacks a mouth full of
blood up and spits it out. “You’ll wish I did it.” A deep sadness comes over
Nick’s face, and he stops fighting. Frank watches him welcome death by letting
himself drown in his own blood.

Fear and dismay
overcome the lone survivor as he gapes at the dead bodies of his accomplices.

“I’ll call it in,”
Chip says over his shoulder, as he jogs back to his car.

*   *   *

Standing close,
Beth watches as Frank handcuffs the sudden mute, reads him the Miranda rights,
and takes him to his squad car. A gnawing sadness eats away at Beth.
They
kidnapped Sarah for who knows what. So two people died. They brought it on
themselves. All we need is, one, to find out what’s going on. Why do I … feel
so awful inside?

Elliot comes near
to Beth who is leaning up against her Jeep and reaches for her long, auburn
curls that are covering her bright green eyes and pushes them away from her
face. “You all right, hon?”

“Yeah, I’m OK,”
she says, lying.

Elliot leans
against the Jeep next to her. “First time seeing something like this?”

“Yeah,”

“It’s OK. The
shrink at the police force said those feelings are normal, and they make little
pink pills for ’em,”

“Oh really? How’s
that working out for you?”

“Why don’t you go
check on Sarah and let her parents know we got ’em.” Elliot avoids the
question.

“What are you
going to do?”

“Frank will send
some investigators over, and we’ll go through the garage and apartment. I’ll
let you know what we find.”

“You sure?” Beth
asks.

“Yeah, I’ll either
have them drop me off or I’ll call you when I’m done.”

Beth stares at the
ground and then upward at the sky, lost in thought.
Hell? Heaven? Scary;
wonder
where those guys went?
“OK, but keep me informed. I want to know what’s
going on.” She gets in the Jeep and rolls the window down halfway.

“I promise,”
Elliot says. “Let me know how Sarah’s doin’.”

“I will.”

Beth rounds the corner
in the hallway leading to Sarah’s room. As she approaches her room, she hears
laughter. Beth opens the door a crack. “Excuse me,” she asks a nurse. “Can you
tell me where they moved Sarah Perkins?”

“Oh, we didn’t
move her. She’s right over there.” The nurse points to the bed surrounded with
people.

Irritated, Beth
snaps, “Sorry to be blunt, but do Sarah’s parents realize this has become a
nurse’s lounge?”

A familiar voice
pipes up. “Stop being so serious and come over here and say hi.”

“Sarah? How can
this be?”
Beth hurries over to the bed and reaches around her friend to
give her a gentle hug. “What’s goin’ on? This doesn’t make sense. The doctor
explained you were in a deep coma. How could you wake up so soon?”

Sarah and the
nurses laugh. “It’s the power of prayer,” Sarah says. “God woke me up!”

The nurses leave.

“With everything
that’s happened to you today, you’re either the luckiest person I’ve ever met
or maybe you are on to something. And … this God you’re always talking about is
real, and he’s got your back,” Beth says.

Tears well up in
Sarah’s eyes. “Oh Beth, he loves me, and he loves you too. Jesus tells us in
John 3:16 that ‘for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him should not parish, but have everlasting life.’
”

“But if he loves
you so much, why would he let all this stuff happen to you?”

“We can’t see it
at the time, but God has a reason for everything that happens. Romans 8:28
tells us ‘we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ ”

Beth sighs. “I
don’t know about that, Sarah. I just don’t see anything good coming out of this
mess. If I could’ve stopped all this from happening and protected you, I
would’ve in a heartbeat.”

“Yes, but that’s
because you can only see a small picture of what has been shown to you at that
moment. You see the short-term pain it has caused. Where God sees the big
picture.” Sarah explains with her arms wide apart to illustrate. “Like a puzzle.
In order to finish the puzzle, every piece must be placed. Blessed is the name
of the Lord.”

Beth glances at
the IV in Sarah’s arm. “What vintage of wine do they have in that bag of
yours?”

Quick to retort,
Sarah says, “Ephesians 5:18 says, ‘be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit.’”

“En ingles, por
favor.”

“Too much alcohol
can give you a false comfort that soon goes away. But God will send you a true
comforter that will stay with you forever. Jesus explains this in John chapters
fourteen, sixteen, and seventeen.”

“Do you have the
whole Bible memorized?”

“No,” Sarah
replies with a touch of sorrow.

Beth stares at her
friend for a moment. “You really believe all this stuff, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Sarah’s
eyes sparkle, and her face lights up. “God has given me such a peace. It is
just unexplainable. And I love him.” Tears come to the corners of her eyes. “I
speak the truth.”

Beth is
speechless.
I just don’t know what to make of you, Sarah.

“Hello,” Elizabeth
says as she and Edwin walk through the door with four large coffee cups. “I
knew it!” she says. “I ordered two coffees and one mocha latte. They
accidentally gave me two mochas and they were going to dump the other one out.
I insisted that I would take it because there must be a reason.” Elizabeth
hands the extra latte to Beth. “God knew you would be here and this one’s for
you.”

“Thanks.” Beth
feels a gentle smile form.

Edwin sits next to
Sarah and hands her the other mocha latte. “When Sarah woke up and told us the
story of what happened, she said it was a shame she never did get her coffee.”
He laughs. “She loves Odell’s. So we had to go get our little girl one.”

“Oh no,” Beth
gasps. “ I broke Odell’s door today, and I have to take care of it.”

Edwin laughs.
“That was you? Well, don’t let that bother you. The waitresses were just abuzz
about what happened. The door was already repaired by the time we got there,
and I’m sure Odell will understand. Besides, I can pay for any damages. We’re
just glad that you two are all right.”

“Thanks, but I
want to pay for the door. It’s no problem.”

“Do you want me to
cut a check from the hotel?”

“No, he doesn’t
know about the hotel. I’ll write him one from the agency—I think my insurance
will cover it. I was technically on a case when it happened,” Beth says. “Oh,
the case.” She moves her gaze to Sarah. “We found the guys that did this to
you.”

“How did you find
them?” Sarah asks as everyone focuses on Beth.

“It was the oddest
thing. They were the same guys that swiped Elliot’s tires yesterday.”

“You’re kidding,”
Sarah says.

“No, we don’t know
what the connection is yet. But Frank is questioning the guy, and Elliot is
going through the garage where we apprehended them.”

“Which guy?
Weren’t there two? Is one still out there?” Edwin asks.

“Actually … there
were three,” Beth’s countenance saddens. “Two of the men decided to cooperate,
which upset the third. To sum it up, he killed one and died trying to kill the
other.”

“Oh, Beth,”
Elizabeth says. “Were you there?”

Beth nods. “I’ve
never seen anything like it.”

“We’re just glad
you’re OK,” Edwin says.

“Yes,” Sarah and
Elizabeth agree in unison.

A double knock
sounds at the door. “Hi, is this Sarah Perkins’s room?” a familiar monotone
voice says.

“Yes, it is,”
Elizabeth says, opening the door.

“Symphony.” Sarah
greets her, delighted. “I’m so glad you came to visit.”

“Yeah well, I
heard what happened.” Symphony pulls an old, banged-up guitar out of a black
gym bag and hands it to Sarah. “I thought you might want to do some of that
praising stuff you do.”

“I’m truly
touched, Symphony.” Sarah tunes the bass string. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, I
gotta go. I hope you feel better.” Symphony excuses herself.

“Wait. I wrote a
new song for God. You must hear it.”

“OK,” Symphony
says. “But only because you look really bad.”

“Excellent.” Sarah
cheerfully strums the guitar.

Sitting on the
couch, Beth watches Symphony’s reaction with amazement as Sarah sings.

Praise, praise.
Blessed is the name of the Lord.

Praise, praise.
There is none like my King.

With power over
the mountains

and power over the
sea.

With power over
the valley, Lord,

and power over the
storm in me.

Praise, praise.
Blessed is the name of the Lord.

Praise, praise.
There is none like my King.

She finishes her
song with a smile. “What do you think?”

“Sounds OK, but I
don’t get the storm part,” Symphony replies.

“Well, you know
how life throws problems at you, causing frustration, confusion and sorrow? It
can be quite overwhelming, like a storm.”

“Yeah, but you
don’t have any of those, and you just fell out of a van.” Symphony says.

“I know Jesus
calmed the storm that stirred inside of me. He gave me a peace that no one can
take away. Not even the impact of a paved road.” Sarah stares into Symphony’s
cold brown eyes. “Jesus wants to give you peace too. He is just waiting for you
to ask and believe.”

“Yeah, well, I
have to go,” Symphony says.

“Thank you for
comin’ and thanks for the guitar.”

“OK, see ya
Tuesday.” Symphony leaves.

Beth gets up and
moves closer to Sarah’s bed. “See you Tuesday? Yesterday I said, ‘See you
Monday,’ and she directed me to her pin. ‘Day by Day Man.’ ”

“You’re her boss.
That makes you an authority figure. I’m her friend. We have dinner on
Tuesdays.”

“So I pay her, and
I don’t get respect, and you cook her dinner and get all kinds of respect?”

“Actually, she
cooks me dinner.”

“Huh, you must
have a magnetic personality.”

“It’s Jesus. His
love draws people to him.”

“Well, I don’t
know about that, but I do know you have something special in order to get her
to befriend you,” Beth says. “Anyways, since you are feeling better, I should
go meet Jade. Do you have her address?”

“Yeah, it’s in my
coat pocket. She might not see you without me, but I’ll call ahead and let them
know what happened.”

“Thanks.” Beth
reaches down to hug Sarah good-bye.

Elizabeth pulls a
Post-it from the pocket of Sarah’s coat draped over a chair and hands it to
Beth. “Is this it?” She shows it to Sarah.

“Yes.”

Elizabeth hands
the address to Beth and gives her a hug. “Please be careful. My ‘mom alarm’ is going
off the charts,” she says to Beth.

Sarah and Beth
smile at each other because they have both heard that before.

Edwin draws close
and puts an arm around Beth and squeezes her. “We love ya,” he says with a
twinkle in his eye. “But there is one thing we can all be sure of—we’re not
guaranteed a tomorrow. You know this more than anyone,” he says directly. “One
of these days you may die on a case, and as good a person as you are, if you
don’t know Jesus, you will split hell wide open. Don’t listen to the lie. There
are no friends in hell, only enemies filled with torment. This may sound harsh,
but I speak the truth.” Edwin gives Beth a big bear hug. “I love ya, but
nothing compared to how much Jesus loves you.”