Diaz fell silent as he tried to piece it all together, his eyes as cold as the icy ground they stood on. He glanced at Adam.
“He’s telling the truth,” Adam confirmed.
Diaz moved the gun from Lenny’s face. He stepped back a few paces, turned sideways, and placed the back of his armed hand over his mouth, his other hand on his hip.
“Let us go, Diaz. Your war isn’t with us,” Adam spoke in a gentle tone.
Diaz turned his back on them and paced two steps away. They thought the truth had persuaded him to let them go free, but it hadn’t.
It had done precisely the opposite. It angered him even more.
In an instant, Diaz’s mood changed. He swung around, his eyes dark and consumed with rage. He had found a new target.
He aimed the gun at Carrie.
The sudden change of target left both Adam and Lenny unsettled and on edge, their hearts racing with dread.
“Leave her out of this, Diaz. She’s got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me,” Lenny said, his voice low and full of emotion.
Diaz shook his head and sucked the back of his teeth.
“Can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. You don’t have to take your anger out on her,” Lenny begged. He was suddenly reminded of his childhood when he’d spoken those exact words to his father during one of his blow-ups on his mother.
“I’m not. I’m taking my anger out on you.”
His confession left Lenny without words.
“You know, they should’ve named you Losing Lenny. The way I see it you’re a loser no matter how hard you try. In fact, I bet you were born a loser.”
Lenny didn’t comment. His heart was heavy, burdened with years of regret. Burdened because perhaps Diaz was right.
“He’s not a loser, and neither are you,” Adam spoke up.
Diaz gave a scornful laugh.
“Oh wait, this is where you start preaching to me, right? Well, save it. I’m not interested.”
He waved the gun in Carrie’s face.
“You! Start walking.”
When Carrie tried and couldn’t she fell to the ground.
“I can’t,” she sobbed.
Lenny bent down to console her.
“Leave her alone!” Diaz warned, his gun now pointed at Lenny.
“Not today, Losing Lenny. Today is the day I’m going to take away the one thing that’s most valuable to you—her! Then you can feel what it’s like to lose everything you have.”
Carrie sobbed harder as Diaz turned the gun back onto her.
His finger squeezed the trigger.
A shot fired.
“No!”
The sound of a bullet hitting its target rang in the air.
A second gunshot rang out, then a third.
Adam watched as Diaz dropped to his knees and slumped face-first to the ground.
From between the trees behind him, a tactical officer moved closer, his rifle up against his shoulder.
Adam knelt beside where Lenny had fallen on top of Carrie, his body folded over her when he took the bullet in his back and saved her.
Carrie let out a soft whimper.
“You okay?” Adam asked as he tried lifting Lenny’s limp body off his sister.
She nodded.
When he was sure, he flipped Lenny over and onto her lap. With near-frozen hands, Adam moved to Lenny’s neck, his fingers shaking, his chest tight with dread.
“Lenny?” Carrie cried next to his ear. “Lenny, wake up. Please wake up.” She broke down. Her tears freely running onto her brother’s bruised face.
But Lenny didn’t move.
As the tactical team closed in on where Diaz lay wounded on the ground, Carrie stroked Lenny’s cheek where his head lay in her lap. Her tear-filled eyes desperately searched Adam’s face for answers.
Unable to give her what she was so desperate to find, Adam lowered his head to his chest and closed his eyes to seek his own answers.
And in the stillness of the night, between the tall loblolly pines, Lenny sucked in one sharp breath soon followed by two more.
As the oxygen filled his lungs, and his body recovered from the impact caused by the bullet that was blocked by his armored vest, Lenny finally found what he’d been looking for.
It was that very moment that Lenny realized; God had been at work in his life the whole time.
That nothing happened by coincidence and that luck had nothing to do with it.
And it had all come to this moment. The moment where Lenny realized that every good plan he’d ever made and failed at, had come together perfectly. Exactly as God intended it from the very beginning.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future”
Jeremiah 29:11
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TURTLE COVE SERIES- Christian Mystery & Suspense
Gripping faith-filled mystery and suspense novels laced with danger and adventure that
leave you breathless on every page!
**Also suited as standalone novels**
EVERY GOOD GIFT - Book 1
EVERY GOOD PLAN - Book 2
EVERY GOOD WORK - Book 3 (Coming spring 2021)
ALEX HUNT Adventure Thrillers
Fast-paced, clean archaeological adventure thrillers with a Christian worldview.
Inspired by actual historical events and artifacts
**Also suited as standalone novels**
Download the Free series prequel - download.urcelia.com
The PAPUA INCIDENT - Prequel (not sold in stores) Free when you sign up
The RHAPTA KEY
The GILDED TREASON
The ALPHA STRAIN
The DAUPHIN DECEPTION
The BARI BONES
The CAIAPHAS CODE
For more on the author and her books, please visit www.urcelia.com
About the Author
Urcelia Teixeira writes gripping Christian mystery, thriller and suspense novels that will have you on the edge of your seat! Firm in her Christian faith, all her books are free from profanity and unnecessary sexually suggestive scenes.
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She made her writing debut in December 2017, kicking off her newly discovered author journey with her fast-paced archaeological adventure thriller novels that readers have described as ‘Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft with a twist of Bourne.’
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But, five novels in, and nearly eighteen months later, she had a spiritual awakening, and she wrote the sixth and final book in her Alex Hunt Adventure Thriller series. She now fondly refers to The Caiaphas Code as her redemption book. Her statement of faith.
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And although this series has reached multiple Amazon Bestseller lists, she took the bold step of following her true calling and switched to writing what naturally flows from her heart and soul: Christian Suspense.
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A committed Christian for nearly twenty years, she now lives by the following mantra:
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“I used to be just a writer. Now, I am a writer with a purpose!”
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For more on her and her books, please browse her website, www.urcelia.com or email her on [email protected]
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Never miss a new release! Follow her on BookBub (https://www.bookbub.com/authors/urcelia-teixeira)
Every Good Plan Page 16