“Physically, yes, but my sweet Hannah will need counseling. She was a trouper during our escape, but now she won’t stop crying. If only I could—never mind. Justice will rain down on those two women and their nephew.” Sadie cleared her throat. “We’re at a highway café. I notified the cops, and they should be with you soon. Are you guys OK?”
“Irene, Vicky, and Travis are our guests.” Coop chuckled. “They’re a bit tied up at the moment.”
Vicky mumbled through her gag.
“That’s great. I got away from Vicky by using one of the tactics you teach, Cooper.”
“Really? Which one?”
“After Vicky took us to the stone cabin, she locked Hannah in the bedroom and left Zach on the floor within her reach. She tried to make me sit in a chair. But she had no weapon, just physical strength. When she wrapped her arms around me from behind, I went limp, as if I’d fainted. She couldn’t keep hold of my dead weight and let me slide to the floor. When she checked to see if I was conscious, I jabbed my elbow at her head and rolled over on top of her. Hit her again, this time knocking her out. I freed Hannah, picked up Zach, and we ran.”
“The fake faint works well, especially if your opponent is not much bigger than you.” Coop squeezed KC’s hand. “We’re thankful you’re safe.”
“An hour into our trek, Vicky came by on a bicycle, but we hid in the brush.”
“Good thinking.” KC could only imagine the bravery shown by the woman. “Um, did you ever see Vicky use a walkie-talkie? Travis said he had quick access to her.”
“No, but she hinted he often visited her cabin.”
Thumping from the bedroom. The kid or his aunt was awake.
“What about a stash of hidden money?” asked KC.
“Oh, yeah. Vicky mentioned something about funds she and Irene bilked from Duke Levasseur’s acquaintances. Did Travis find the money?”
“Not for want of looking. Irene confessed she’d hidden it outside under a flowerpot. Which reminds me, I need to retrieve the loot. But it’ll have to wait. Get rested, Sadie. I have some unfinished business. We’ll see you soon.” Coop ended the call and returned his phone to his pocket.
KC smiled. Yeah, and she was the unfinished business. The chat with Sadie acted like a tonic. For a moment, KC forgot about her throbbing shoulder.
“Our ordeal is almost over.” Coop drew her close and whispered, “I want you to be the first to hear me pray out loud.” He gave her no time to respond. “Dear Father, thank You for keeping watch over us, for protecting us all. No lives were lost here today, and…that’s most important. Uh, that’s all. Amen.”
“Amen.” KC savored the warmth from his arm and from his words. “Thank you, Coop. I’m honored.” She turned toward him. “Before the phone call, you quoted scripture to me.”
“I’m not a complete ignoramus.” He stroked her cheek. “Whatever happens here today, I want to thank you for freeing me from my spiritual apathy, from a life of hum-drum existence. Now I won’t continue to shrivel up inside. Thanks, Kitty Claire Briggs.”
KC’s skin tingled long after he removed his hand. “And I need to thank you for opening my eyes to the possibility that I can have a bunch of kids to shower with love.”
“By yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll adopt kids as a single parent?”
The sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. Who came up with those figures? Gnawing her bottom lip, she looked outside. The subdued glow of early morning fog seeped across the porch.
“KC.”
His raised voice startled her, but she made an extra effort to look him in the eyes. “It all depends on you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I never got the opportunity to reply.”
The frowning question mark on his face vanished, and he grinned. “KC, will you marry me?”
“I can’t answer that yet.”
“Why?” A serious V formed between his brows. “Do you need more time?”
She picked at a stain on her jeans. “No.”
“Um, help me out here, KC. Should I go old-school and ask for your parents’ blessing?”
Giggling, she placed her hand on his chest. “Mom and Dad would love that, but nooo.” She paused to hold him in suspense a moment longer. “I want you to kiss me first.”
The grin returned. “There’s nothing I’d like to do more, but I thought under the circumstances…”
She cupped her hand over his scar and drew his head toward her. Their lips met in a gentle touch, which deepened and intensified. The cabin living room swirled away to be replaced by a green, flowery glade. She could even smell lilacs and carnations and roses. Time to breathe. KC reluctantly pushed away and drew in a deep breath. The lingering fragrance of the flowers clung to him. Her imagination, of course, but it filled her with joy.
“I have a question for you. When we’re married, we—?”
He bolted upright. “You agree? KC, you’ve made me the happiest man in the world. And I didn’t have to face your father.” He slipped his hand behind her head and kissed her, a firm, no-nonsense melding of their lips and souls.
If they didn’t have company… She pulled away and avoided his smoldering eyes. “I’m serious now, Coop. You agree we can adopt kids, right?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” He sighed. “I’ve wanted to call you my sweetheart for so long. My sweet Kitty Claire.”
“You’re getting off the subject. How about children of mixed race?”
“Naturally. As long as at least one girl looks like you and has gray eyes.”
“And one of the boys has to grow up to be tall.” And with God’s blessings, she’d see that day. Now it was her turn to sigh, and with the soft expulsion of air, her doubts about her future seemed to evaporate.
“I have a request. KC, my sweet, let me hear you say those special words, please.”
Resting against his chest, she grinned. She knew what he wanted her to say, but instead, she prolonged the moment. “You mean ‘I don’t want a big wedding’? Those words?”
“Our wedding can be whatever size you want. Try again.”
“How about ‘I don’t want to wear a fancy white dress’?”
This time he groaned. “You can wear whatever color dress you want. I’ll even wear a teal, did you hear that, a teal tuxedo. Third time’s the charm. I hope.”
“No, I mean I don’t want to wear a dress.”
“I could ban all dresses at our wedding. How’s that?”
“Perfect.” She snuggled next to him, his arm across her shoulders, safe and content. “Coop, I love you.”
He touched her chin and raised her head. The love that poured from his eyes turned her insides to mush. Good thing she was sitting down. “Kiss me again, Coop.”
“With pleasure.”
Approaching sirens faded into the distance as the scent of flowers enveloped them.
A Devotional Moment
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. ~ Psalm 37:5-6
Being Christian means that we allow God a place in our lives. We are supposed to consider our actions to be sure they are in keeping with what God has commanded to make all lives better, not just our own. But because we are humans with the free will, sometimes our actions speak louder than our words. In public, we may sometimes do things without thinking, without taking into account whether it is beneficial. It is at this crucial decision-making point that God wants us to consider our words and actions, because justice will prevail. Taking a bold step without thinking is rather like leaping off a cliff just because you can. Consequences can have terrible results.
In Justice at Dawn, the protagonist’s past hurts him. His regrets are piling up, forcing him to relive terrible moments in his life. But God never intends one to suffer endlessly.
Have you ever been so impulsive that you didn’t think before you a
cted? Did you have serious and/or long-lasting consequences to pay because of that choice? Have you ever made a decision that didn’t hurt you straight away, but hurt someone else — like divulging a confidence because you’re momentarily angry with a friend, of example. But all decisions have consequences, and when you make a bad choice, even when you think you aren’t hurt, you are. God sees everything and judges accordingly. Harsher yet, the world sees and those come-back-to-haunt-you decisions can be devastating and debilitating.
But, if you take a step back, trust in Him, ask His guidance in all things, the two things will happen: You will be guided to choosing the right thing so that you become a bright beacon for others; and your past mistakes, those things that haunt you, will be burned into oblivion so that they can no longer have power over you.
LORD, OPEN MY HEART TO RECEIVE YOUR BLESSINGS SO THAT I MAY REAP THE BENEFITS YOU PROMISE. IN JESUS’ NAME I PRAY, AMEN.
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May God’s glory shine through
this inspirational work of fiction.
AMDG
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Justice at Dawn Page 26