Make Haste Slowly

by Amy K Rognlie

  “Brandon?”

  “Maybe.” Why did everything always come back to Brandon? “Tell me again why you said it’s your fault that Brandon was killed.”

  “I’ve gone over it and over it. He came to me that morning.”

  “The morning he died.”

  “Yes. He came to meet with me. He was all excited to show me the letter he had received from an old friend of his.”

  My heart skipped a beat.

  “This friend told him that God loved him and would forgive him. All the things I had been telling him for months.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “He asked me if I believed all of that was true.”

  I waited, but he didn’t go on.

  It sounded like he was crying.

  “Houston?”

  “I’m so ashamed.” His voice was tortured.

  “It’s okay. Take your time.”

  “I…I had been struggling so much with my own faith. Why does God allow such terrible evil in His world? Why won’t Nicole see the trap she is in? Then the baby on top of it.” He pounded his fist on the ground. “What chance does that little girl have in this world?”

  I felt for his hand, but he thrust me away.

  “He came in all happy that morning, but pretty soon he was pushing me again. Accusing me of killing a man, then demanding answers about God. I finally lost it.” He groaned out loud. “I shoved him out of my face and screamed at him. Told him I didn’t know. That maybe it was all a fairy tale or a big fat lie. That he could only hope that if there was a God, that He would have mercy on him for all of the filthy sins he had committed.”

  Oh, Houston.

  “He—he threw the letter down and ran out the door. I could hear him cussing and raging, but I didn’t care.” His voice was muffled as if he had dropped his head into his hands. “I’m supposed to be a pastor. The mouthpiece of God. A shepherd. And I didn’t care.”

  “I’m so sor—”

  “Don’t say it. I don’t deserve anyone’s sympathy. Brandon was thrust out into eternity without God because of me. I deserve to die in this filthy hole at the hands of a madman.”

  The sudden steel in his voice scared me.

  “No, Houston.”

  “Yes. And that’s what I was going to do until you showed up. I’ve got to get you out of here.”

  “No. Only God could know the state of Brandon’s soul. You cannot be the judge of that.” I grabbed his knee. “Listen to me. If you die in here, that’s two lives wasted. Brandon’s and yours. Do you think that’s what God wants?”

  “I don’t know anymore. I don’t even know if I was ever truly a Christian.”

  “Of course—”

  “No. No ‘of course.’ I’ve watched your life since you moved here. Saw what you’ve been through and how you’ve still genuinely served God. Marvelled at your faith in the power of prayer.”

  “But it’s—”

  “No. You and Dot. Todd. Even Mona. You all have something that I don’t have. I’ve never had.”

  “How could you be a preacher and not—”

  His bark of scornful laughter made my heart hurt.

  “Believe me, I’ve asked myself that a million times. I know all the verses. Know all the right stuff to say. Took all the classes. But I never accepted the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers.”

  I was speechless.

  “It’s too easy. I can’t believe that I don’t have to do anything to earn it.”

  All the more reason for us to get out of here, I thought. I wasn’t entirely certain Houston wasn’t out of his head after being in a dark hole for three days. We could discuss this again once we were out of this place.

  “I’ve got to find my glasses.” I grunted, trying to get onto my hands and knees in the cramped space. “When that guy comes back in here, we need to be ready.”

  Houston snorted. “Right. Ready for him to bash our heads in, no doubt.”

  “You can’t give up, Houston. ‘The worst is not, so long as we can say, “This is the worst,” right?”

  “Leave it to you to quote Shakespeare at a time like this. What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to find my glasses.” And hoping I didn’t find a huge spider or a scorpion while I was at it. Or a snake. I froze. Were there snakes in here? What if I put my hand right on top of a huge—

  Keep going, Callie. If we didn’t get out of this place soon, we’d have a lot more to worry about than snakes. I inched further away from Houston, patting the dirt floor blindly as I went. The closer I crawled toward the door, the more I could smell the stench. “I take it this is a real taxidermy business and not just a front?”

  “I would assume so. At least, I hope that those are piles of deer and hog guts out there, not—”

  I gagged. “Hush. We need to have a plan. When’s the last time you heard from Nicole?”

  “A long time. I was afraid he had done something terrible to her. That’s partly why I wanted to talk to you that night. I finally heard back from that safe house in Waco and they have a spot for her. I was hoping maybe you could help me talk some sense into her, but then—”

  “Mona thinks she saw her this morning.”

  “What? Where?”

  My hand grazed over something. “I found them!” I sat up triumphantly and bonked the back of my head against a beam.

  “Where did she see Nicole?”

  I rubbed my head. “At a gas station in Granger. Mona and I were on our way there when I saw the sign that was in my dream, so I stopped to try to find you and—”

  “Good Lord, Callie!” Houston’s voice was horrified. “Why did you stop? You should have gone to rescue her, not me.”

  “We will find her.” Somehow, I knew that in my spirit. “But first we need to get out of here. Do you know if there are other buildings around here besides this one?”

  “I don’t know. But I hear a lot of coming and going. Car doors slamming; people’s voices. It’s not exactly hunting season, so I don’t think there could be that many people coming here for taxidermy services.”

  How long had I been here? Surely Todd and the police were on their way by now, but I wasn’t willing to sit here in the dark and wait. I stared at the faint outline of light around the wooden door. “I’m going to see if I can see anything.”

  I stood up and pressed myself against the crack around the door, then jumped back, stumbling over something soft.

  “Someone’s coming!”

  I huddled on the floor, holding my breath.

  The door opened slowly.

  I gasped.

  “Nicole!” Houston’s whisper was strangled.

  She stood framed in the doorway, a gun in her hand. Her usually perfect hair was dishevelled, her eyes wild. “I have to kill you,” she said.

  Her voice was dull. Dead.

  Dear God.

  I scooted backward toward Houston, and in the faint light, I suddenly realized what I had tripped over. My purse.

  “Nicole, don’t do this.” Houston edged toward her. “Think of your baby.”

  “I have to,” she repeated. “He won’t love me anymore if I don’t.”

  “Keep talking to her, Houston,” I murmured. I only needed a minute.

  “But I love you, Nicole.” His voice behind me was calm, soothing. “Put the gun down, honey.”

  “I have to kill you.” Her eyes glazed over. “Brandon killed the cop, so I have to kill you. He told me.”

  I slid the Taser out of my purse, keeping it under my leg. What if I missed? What if she wasn’t alone?

  God, help me.

  “Who told you, Nicole? Who told you to kill me?” Houston inched closer to her.

  She was getting flustered. “Vic!” she screamed. “He owns me.”

  I pulled the trigger.

  “Vic owns—” She crumpled in a heap, dropping the pistol as she fell.

  I snatched it up and stuck it in the front pocket of my shorts. “Let’s get her out of here!”r />
  He gaped at me.

  “Now! We’ve got to take her with us, Houston!” I gave him a push in Nicole’s direction, realizing that I had dropped the Taser. I picked it up. “Will this thing fire again?”

  He jumped up and grabbed Nicole, throwing her over his shoulder. “I don’t know, but we probably don’t have much time.”

  I peeked out of the doorway. “I don’t see anyone,” I whispered. “If we can get to the trees, we might make it back out to the highway.”

  We looked at each other.

  “God didn’t bring us this far to abandon us, Houston.”

  He nodded. “Let’s go, then. We’re sitting ducks here. Give me that gun.”

  I handed him the pistol, then poked my head out of the door. How were we both going to make it across the clearing to the woods?

  “Someone just drove up. We need to go now! Go!”

  We burst out of the door, Houston right next to me, Nicole flopping over his shoulder.

  “Stop!” Someone yelled.

  I heard a whizzing sound. I kept running.

  “Run, Callie! Run!” Houston was now behind me. What was he doing?

  I made it to the trees and crashed over a log. I lay still, panting. I lifted my head in time to see Vic bearing down on Houston, trying to grab Nicole from him.

  Was I close enough to tase him?

  I had to. It was our only chance. It was either him or us.

  A calm descended upon me as I aimed, and I felt an invisible hand on top of mine, steadying me.

  Vic and Houston thundered toward me.

  Jesus, help me!

  I pulled the trigger.

  The kickback jerked my arm up, and I screamed.

  The next thing I knew, Todd was beside me in the underbrush.

  He cradled me in his arms. “Thank God, Callie. I can’t believe—”

  “Did I get him?” I struggled to sit up.

  “You got him, sweetheart.” He pushed my hair off my face with a trembling hand. “About blew his leg off.”

  What? “But I just sh-shot the T-Taser.”

  “No way, Callie.”

  I couldn’t stop shaking. “Houston.”

  “He’s fine. He has Nicole.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “God saved us, Todd.”

  He hugged me to his chest, smoothing his hand down my back over and over. “That He did, darlin’. That He did.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A day later, we all sat around my kitchen table. Todd, Aunt Dot, Harry, Houston, Lonnie, Mona, Rob, and I.

  “I can’t believe it’s finally all over.” I stroked Annie’s head.

  Mona’s eyes were still red. “I can’t believe my best friend almost died.” She sniffed loudly, and Rob patted her hand.

  “And I can’t believe you shot Vic with a pistol.” Todd tightened his arm around my shoulders. “You’re a brave woman, Callie Erickson.”

  “I didn’t mean to. I thought I had the Taser.” I glanced at Houston. “I really thought I handed you the pistol and kept the Taser.”

  He grimaced. “It’s a good thing you didn’t miss.”

  “I still don’t understand how everything fits together.” Aunt Dot rubbed her bare ring finger. “So it was Brandon who killed the guy who you found on your step, Callie?”

  “Yes. But he was apparently just the hit man. Vic is the one who ordered it.”

  “And Earl helped cover it up.” Todd took a swig of his iced tea.

  Houston cleared his throat. “And I didn’t help matters any by tasing the homeless guy. But I guess Brandon was biding his time to kill the P.I., and when he saw me with the Taser, he figured he could capitalize on that and pin the murder of the detective on me.”

  “But unfortunately for Brandon and Vic, I arrived on the scene in time to see the P.I., not the homeless guy,” I said.

  “So what happened to him?” Aunt Dot looked horrified.

  Todd winced. “I suspect Vic finished him off once they loaded him up in the ambulance. Probably dumped his body somewhere.”

  “Then he and Earl talked to Brandon and came up with the story of the homeless guy being the body that I found under my tree.”

  Rob gave a low whistle. “I always figured Earl was crooked. But I didn’t think he’d go that far.”

  “Brandon was his nephew though, remember?” Mona sighed dramatically. “I guess blood is thinner than water.”

  That would be “thicker than water.”

  Todd cleared his throat and I made myself not look at him.

  “So sad.” Aunt Dot twisted her wedding ring around. “But what about the festina lente thing?”

  “Uncle Garth.”

  “What?”

  “Last night after I finally got in bed, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking and thinking about everything, and that was the last piece that didn’t fit together. I couldn’t believe it was just by chance that that note was in one of the books that originally came from your attic.”

  Understanding dawned in my aunt’s eyes. “You think your Uncle Garth wrote that note to you but never gave it to you?”

  I nodded. “You know how he and I always liked to do word puzzles and brain-game kind of things together. I think he must have made that one up for me sometime, then used it as a bookmark and—”

  “And then—”

  “And then I thought back to that first day Mona and I were at Willowbough telling you about the whole thing. We saw a stack of letters on your nightstand. I assumed they were from your inmate friends.”

  Mona nodded. “But it freaked us out because it looked like one of the envelopes had the festine lente symbol drawn on it.”

  I took Aunt Dot’s hand. “Those were letters from Uncle Garth, weren’t they?”

  “Yes. I was reading them one last time before I put them away for good.” She glanced at Harry and blushed. “Harry and I, you know…well, I had to make peace with my past, too, Callie.”

  I bent down to hug her. “I’m so happy for you, Auntie.”

  “Aww.” Mona came over and joined the hug, wiping her eyes.

  I finally pulled away. “So. There you have it. Mysteries solved.”

  “You really are Nancy Drew.” Todd put his arm around my shoulder and winked at Mona.

  She grinned at me. “Does that mean I’m George?”

  I rolled my eyes. “No, I think you’d make a better Bess.”

  “What exactly are you saying, Nancy? I can be brave when the occasion calls for it.” She squared her shoulders.

  Rob gave her a loud peck on the cheek. “That’s right. My sweetie is a very brave woman. After all, she married me, didn’t she?”

  Mona snorted, and we laughed.

  “What now, Callie?” Aunt Dot asked. “What’s happening with Nicole?”

  All eyes turned to Houston.

  He smiled sadly. “I visited her in the hospital this morning. She agreed to go to detox when they can find her a spot.”

  “That’s a start.” My heart went out to him.

  “Yes. She was so high yesterday when she—” His voice broke and he lowered his gaze to the table.

  Aunt Dot scooted her wheelchair closer to him. “God is going to deliver her, Houston.”

  He shook his head. “I want so badly to believe that,” he whispered. “They destroyed her, Dot. They forced her to use drugs so they could control her. They ravaged her body. They—”

  “We can’t give up hope.” I glanced around the table. “God allowed her to be rescued. And Vic and the pimp and all of the other guys they rounded up this morning are going to go to prison for a very long time.”

  “And think of the other girls,” Todd said. “When they raided the house that was on the property with the barn, they found a couple of other girls, plus the records and information for at least ten or fifteen more. We’re going to find those girls and rescue them, too.”

  “And then what?” Houston raised his head, his eyes blazing. “There’s not enough safe hous
es to help them.” He pounded his fist on the table. “I know. I’ve tried for two years to find places. They will need intensive counseling to even be able to function as human beings again. Where are we going to find that for fifteen girls?”

  “We’re not going to find it,” I said. “We’re going to build it.”

  Everyone turned to look at me.

  I sensed the power of the Holy Spirit as He suddenly filled the room.

  “Uncle Garth’s been in Heaven for more than ten years. But God sent me that message from him when it was His time—our time.” I sat up straight in my chair, my hands shaking. “We all sat in that seminar. We all wept over the plight of these girls. We all pledged to pray that God would break the power of the enemy over the Texas Triangle.”

  Tears flowed down Lonnie’s face.

  “And He did. He is.” I looked around the table. “What happened yesterday was not just for Nicole. How do we call ourselves followers of Christ if He has laid this in our lap to do, and we don’t do it?”

  Todd grasped my hand. “I’m in.”

  Aunt Dot nodded and nodded. “We have to do it, Callie. I could write a column about it for the Star.”

  “Let’s do this thing.” Rob scraped his chair back and stood, his hand on Mona’s shoulder.

  Houston laid his head on the table, weeping.

  Silently, we gathered around him, surrounding him with our love.

  “Let’s pray,” I said.

  We bowed our heads and closed our eyes, but no one spoke.

  It was a holy moment. The weight, the enormity, settled upon me. How could we, a little group of friends in small-town Texas, accomplish such a huge thing?

  Festina lente, Daughter.

  Make haste slowly.

  Go in My power. Loose the chains of injustice. Set the oppressed free.

  Festina lente.

  Now, a Sneak Peek at Book Two

  WHERE THERE’S A WILL

  Chapter One

  Two things happened at once. My phone rang, and every nerve in my body snapped to attention like weary soldiers who knew the drill.

  Middle-of-the-night calls are never good. “Auntie. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Erma, darlin’. I’ve been praying for her all night, and now she’s not answering her phone. I know it’s early, but I need you to check on her.” The tone of Aunt Dot’s voice brooked no argument.