by Unger, Erin;
The woman blinked hard. “I already talked to the authorities.”
He thanked God when she didn’t try to close the door before he could explain himself. “I am aware that the state troopers were here, but I had a few extra questions. You are Mrs. Adcock?”
She nodded.
Please don’t ask for I.D. Please let the EMT uniform be formal enough. “It’s about a woman named Madeline Clare.”
“They said my son may’ve taken that woman.” She blanched. “My son did a lot of things wrong, but he wouldn’t do something like that. He couldn’t.”
Joze shook with impatience.
She went on, “You believe he was a stalker? That’s what they indicated.” She pulled her heavy sweater a little tighter around an average frame and sniffed.
The lights of the huge entryway cast a glow around him. “I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s a real possibility.” She seemed to crumble a little. “I—we have reason to believe Dr. Adcock could’ve brought her here. Are you sure you haven’t seen him or her?” He pulled out his phone to show her a picture he’d snapped of Maddie the night he’d stayed late. “See?”
“They showed me a picture of her, and I’ll tell you what I told them. I’ve never seen her before. My son hasn’t been here—” She sucked in air through her nostrils and started to weep. “I can’t believe any of this.”
He raised his hand. “I understand, but…what if he was here, and you didn’t see him?”
She glanced back and then moved out the door and pulled it closed. “I guess it’s possible. But why would he bring her here?” She fidgeted with a button on the sweater. “We haven’t had a thing to do with him since the trouble.”
How much did she know that she wasn’t telling the authorities? Was it possible she really didn’t have a clue about both of her sons’ whereabouts? Better take the heat off the possibility her son had done something horrible before she stopped talking. “Please. Can you think of anywhere he could’ve gone for privacy here or somewhere else?”
Mrs. Adcock crossed her arms. “No.” Her brows furrowed together. “Well, there used to be an old bunker in the forest. We had it built when the Cold War was in full swing. But it was sealed up years ago.”
Breathless, Joze put his hands together as if to pray. “Please, tell me where it is.” He strained to stay until she answered, ready to make a run for whatever direction she said.
“You think he put that woman down there?” her voice rose, shock evident in her wide eyes. She treaded across the porch and stopped at the corner. “Down the hill and to the left. Let me get the flashlight, and I’ll show you where.”
He hurdled off the porch. “It can’t wait. She could be hurt.”
The woman gasped. “I’m so sorry. I never thought…” She hurried back to the door. “I’ll meet you down there. There’s an old fence post. When you see it, you’ll find the bunker straight ahead about fifty feet into the forest.”
Joze pulled his phone out and called 9-1-1. Then he ran at full speed down the walk. When the dispatcher answered, he gave the address, stated the emergency, and then hung up, almost dropping the phone on his way past the terraced sections of yard closest to the house.
“Maddie!” He yelled over and over.
Dark shadows closed the tree line in secrecy. He skidded to a stop at the post. His hand slid across the wood, smooth from years of hands touching it. Where, where, where? “Maddie, I’m coming.”
He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and shined it into the forest. The old leaves from the fall remained encased on the ground, unmoved by the wind of spring. His nerve endings jittered, sending adrenaline through his body.
Straight ahead, he avoided a fallen branch bigger than his thigh, its fresh wound of light wood shredded at its base. No noticeable path led the way. He squinted into the darkness and kept as straight as he could. Ten paces. Twenty more.
The ground was undisturbed. He threw his hands out in frustration. What were the chances she was here if it looked like no one had been in the woods for years? “Maddie.” His voice echoed around the trees.
A scuffle and what sounded almost like a whisper caught him off guard. A small mound of leaves marked a change in ground level. “Maddie!”
Her voice carried through the woods as if miles away. Joze rushed to the mound, put the flashlight between his teeth, and then began to shove the leaves away. A graying cement encasement began to show. Thumping met his efforts to clear the top. His hand landed on something long and metal. A crowbar holding the locking mechanism closed. He grabbed the flashlight to get a better look. “I’m here. It’s OK.”
Maddie belted out a call, “Joze.”
He pulled the crowbar out of the loop to a lock and yanked on the cement hatch door. It gave with much grumbling. The unmistakable odor of death reached up and knocked him back a pace.
Maddie tried to climb out of the hole. Joze scooped her up and held tight for a moment before pulling back. “I thought I’d never find you.”
She held tight, her eyes darting around the wooded area. “He could come back,” she gasped. “It’s the doctor. We have to get out of here.”
Joze pulled her close again. “He’s dead, Maddie.”
“Are you sure?” she sobbed.
“Yes. Are you hurt? Any broken bones?”
Maddie scrunched into his grasp, quivering. “No,” she spoke through chattering teeth. “Just cold—”
He checked over her body to her wet ankles and feet, the odor slightly coming from her. “Was there water down there?”
She let go long enough for him to pull the thermal plastic blanket from his bag. “The rai-rain was pouring in.”
Joze fought the urge to kiss her all over. “It’s OK. You’re out and safe. And I’m never letting go of you again.”
He tucked the blanket around her. Then he took her pulse and checked the blue of her lips. “Think you could make it up the hill? The ambulance is on its way.”
Maddie nodded.
He pulled her up. Questions pummeled his thoughts. But now wasn’t the time to get answers.
The flash of a light fell on them. Mrs. Adcock held an umbrella in one hand and the flashlight in another. “Miss, I’m so sorry for what my son—” She didn’t finish.
Maddie’s grasp loosened. “I hate to tell you like this,” she still hadn’t gotten control of her shivering, “but I think one of your sons is…down there.”
The lady’s knees seemed to give, and she swayed. Joze had no choice but to release Maddie to catch the woman. “Ma’am, hold on. I’ve got you.”
Shock hit him in the chest like a hammer on an anvil. Maddie had been stuck down there with a dead body for three days? “We’ll let the police check it out.”
Mrs. Adcock shuddered. “And all this without us even knowing.” Her tears returned. “Poor Keith.”
Maddie fell against a tree. “You mean Robert.”
The lady shook her head but didn’t elaborate.
Joze eased her back against another tree. Her skin paled to almost white. He didn’t want to injure the woman more with accusations. “I’ll explain later.”
Voices called down the mountainous slope. Lights recoiled back and forth. “Is anyone down there?”
Joze eyed Mrs. Adcock. “We’re here.”
He picked up his flashlight and shook it back and forth until the fire and rescue workers thundered to a halt in front of them. He stated Maddie’s vitals and condition and then the older woman’s, and gave her symptoms of shock.
All the shuffle and noise rebounded off the trees. He went straight to Maddie as soon as a fellow EMT worker took over care of Mrs. Adcock.
One of them stepped in his way. “Dude, I’m not leaving her side.” He gave his credentials and the guy moved in front of them to get a look at her. Maddie clenched his hand in hers as they put her on a backboard. He waited for them to strap her in and carry her up the hill.
Her nails almost dug into his palm. “D
on’t leave me.”
“You’ll be lucky if I let you out my sight for one second.”
She turned up the corner of her mouth.
At the ambulance, Joze climbed in with her. His chest heaved with pent-up stress. How could he tell this woman how much she meant right in the midst of a near death experience?
48
When the doors to the ambulance closed, Maddie shut her eyes for a moment and sucked in a breath. Joze had to know she’d accepted the truth about God. She had to tell him God had been protecting her down in the bunker. She shook off the cloying fear vibrating through her even though she was safe. “God saved me from this, Joze. I know it now.”
He pulled back, widened his eyes, and then knelt beside her. “He’ll never leave you, even when you think He’s far away.”
“I get it now. I got things right with Him while I was down there.” Maddie tried to turn her head to see him.
He stilled her. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear it.” The next words he couldn’t stop from leaving his mouth. “I love you, Maddie.”
She laughed and he jerked his eyes to hers. “I love you too.”
His soft lips gingerly touched hers and pushed away the lingering shock. She couldn’t move, but there was nowhere else she’d rather be than with Joze.
“Woman, you’re mine from here on out….”
She rolled her eyes then laughed. “OK, if you insist.”
49
With her diploma in one hand and her other arm wrapped around Joze, Maddie smiled at the camera in her mom’s hands. This was a day too long in the making. All her fears and disbelief had been buried in the tomb a month ago. But what about Mom? All the little things Maddie hoped to see change were still the same. Well, except the night Mom rushed to the hospital in Massachusetts where the EMTs had taken Maddie after her rescue. She’d begged forgiveness for her mistakes as a mother and for not believing Maddie. But now?
Maddie shook off the melancholy. Nothing was going to ruin this big day—even the thought that Aunt Lonna wouldn’t be there to see her succeed.
Joze tweaked her nose. “What’s up?”
With a quick squeeze, Maddie inhaled his enticing cologne and then released him. “You know… Let’s pack up and head home.”
He followed the trail of her gaze to her mother. “Don’t let it get to you. She has to find it on her own.”
With a nod, Maddie waved for Mom to join them. Acceptance. That was her new mantra about her mom. “Come on. I can’t wait to see my new apartment.”
The cousins barreled toward her, Aster in the lead. “Phew, what a long line. How many people graduated with you?”
“Oh, over a thousand.” She embraced the two young women. “Thanks for being here.” With her hand outstretched, she managed to pat Devin on the shoulder before the pile broke up.
Devin smirked. “Yeah, I wanted to miss it, but…”
She smacked Devin across his bicep. “Ha.”
Joze gave him a fake punch in the arm too. “Be nice to my girl.”
Her cousin didn’t deflect it in time but laughed. “Just kidding.”
Where had Mom gone? Maddie checked the emerald lawn where she’d been standing. An ounce of fear pelted her nerves before she could stop the reaction, but then Mom appeared beside her car. Maddie took a deep breath.
Her mother dipped her head and gave a secretive smile. “We have something for you.”
“You do? What is it? A nice down payment for my apartment?”
Aster and Jocelyn tittered and joined Mom. “You already got that.” She raised the corner of her mouth.
Her cousins helped Sassie pull a thin box wrapped in graduation paper from behind her back, and it wasn’t small.
After Maddie tore open the graduation present, she stopped and put her hands to her mouth. A mixture of Aunt Lonna’s aromas met her.
“We found this in one of her cabinets. She must’ve been working on it for your graduation.”
How had she missed it in all their searching? Maddie pulled out the handpainted art piece.
“And, I finished it…for her.” Mom’s mouth pinched together.
A love offering from both. Maddie swallowed hard. “Thanks, Mom.”
She made out the areas Mom had worked on, but they fit beautifully with her aunt’s part. Perfect. A treasured gift to remember Aunt Lonna by.
Joze squeezed her shoulders. “Not to take from this moment, but I have something also.”
Grasping the present, Maddie turned.
Joze was on one knee. A ring sparkled in his hand.
She put up a finger. “Wait a minute. I thought we agreed you’d pick something more special…” The cousins gasped.
Joze jumped to his feet and sprinted after Maddie as she ran and called over her shoulder, “I’m only joking.”
Joze caught her in a bear hug and dipped her. “Take it back.”
Giggles kept her from answering.
“Well?” He didn’t let her up but tickled her side with a free finger.
“OK, OK,” she gasped. “I will marry you.” She wrapped her arms tight around him and kissed him for all she was worth.
A Devotional Moment
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. ~ Luke 6:44
Although there are times when people practice deception for a good cause (such as when a law enforcement officer has to go undercover to catch a criminal) many times in life lies cause a lot of damage. We are led to believe one thing, but what we’re shown or what we think we know doesn’t go with what we feel. Despite what we see, something tells us all is not as it seems. We recognize something is false and must remain cautious. Oftentimes, we’re forced to find comfort in the fact that justice will prevail when the truth is finally revealed.
In Practicing Murder, the protagonist is stalked by someone who believes she knows about a deception from long ago. Scared and alone, she has to place her trust in a person from her past who lied to her. Despite their history and her hesitation, she must depend on his efforts to discover the truth. Her heart cries for justice, but the evidence points to the wrong conclusion. She is worried that she is attempting to “pick figs from thorn bushes” when her heart chooses to believe he has changed. But the truth will out and love overcomes all.
Have you ever let down your guard and been deceived by someone you thought could be trusted? It’s a difficult place to be and makes us wary of trusting anyone else in the future. Have you ever been deceived into thinking ill of someone else, only to find out later that you were lied to and so misjudged an innocent person? This is also a difficult place to be—both as victim and perpetrator. But as Luke tells us, “each tree is recognized by its own fruit”, and a person’s true colours will eventually shine forth through their own actions and emotions. When you are wronged, don’t worry. God will avenge. Forgive. When you’ve wronged someone else, do what you can to remedy the situation. Then, don’t worry. God will extend mercy. In all circumstances, bear good fruit.
LORD, TEACH US TO SEEK TRUTH WITH DILIGENCE. LET OUR HEARTS RECOGNIZE DECEPTION AND SHINE A LIGHT TO REVEAL WHAT WE NEED TO SEE. MAKE US EVER TRUTHFUL AND MAKE US WARY OF THOSE WHO DECEIVE. IN JESUS’ NAME WE PRAY, AMEN.
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May God’s glory shine through
this inspirational wor
k of fiction.
AMDG
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