Turning his back toward the wall, facing the kitchen, Danny felt a hand on his shoulder. Stifling a scream, he covered his mouth. Turning his head, his eyes wide, he met the chief’s stare. Pointing to Danny’s shoe, Steelman motioned for him to tie it.
Yeah, Danny thought as he knelt down, that could have been bad.
Chapter 44
“I know it sounds silly. I know you said it wouldn’t happen overnight, but I do feel different. And thank you.”
“Well, that’s called euphoria. Some people don’t understand it. They treat God like they treat everything else and, when the high wears off, they’re as bored with Him as they are with a chocolate bar or whatever other addiction they had before. God has met you half way. And that needs to be celebrated. But you need to remember how you feel right now. You need to bottle it up and save it for those times when God gets quiet. And, believe me, He will.”
As Alex spoke, Calloway seemed to sink in his chair, not unlike a dejected child. In a moment of sheer panic, Alex thought he’d just undone everything he’d done to lead this lost man to Christ.
Oh God, please no!
“I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, Derrick. I just want you to keep things in perspective here. That high you feel is the newness of God. You’re not used to God being in your life, so the realization that He’s there and your spirit suddenly hearing His voice can be a bit overwhelming. I just want you to understand that a lot of the little tingles and excited nerves you feel now will subside. But that’s okay. Your relationship with God deepens over time, just as any relationship should. The tingles are to bring you to God. But you won’t always need them. Eventually God will be a Father and – He’s this way to me at least – a friend. We don’t always tingle when we see our friends, but we’re always happy. Excited even. Now, magnify that feeling a hundred fold. That’s what God becomes to us. Get it?”
“Hey yeah!” He said, his smile returning.
“Stay here,” Alex said. “I want to give you something.”
“Where are you going?” Calloway asked, springing to his feet.
“Just relax,” Alex said. “I just have a gift I want to give you, one brother to another. I left it in the bedroom.”
***
Danny was surprised at how fleet-footed he suddenly became when he heard Alex say he had left something in the bedroom. Quick as a rabbit, he jumped into the open bathroom door. Under the dim lights shining from other rooms, he was able to step into the shower, quickly followed by Chief Steelman, closing the curtain just in time to go unnoticed as Alex turned into the bedroom. He’d stepped on something on the floor. Wasn’t sure what it was, but it almost tripped both of them.
Taking a quiet, but deep breath, Danny tilted his head back.
“It doesn’t really sound like he’s in much danger to me,” Steelman said. “Sounds more like a prayer meeting than anything.”
“Well, I’ve been wrong more times than I dare count about this guy, so I am not taking any chances. For all we know, he’s lulled Alex into some false sense of security. I love that man to death, but we both know he can be a bit gull—”
Steelman’s hand over his mouth silenced Danny’s whispered monologue just in time, as Alex left the bedroom, walked through the hall and, most likely, back into the living room.
“Thanks,” Danny said.
“Don’t mention it,” Steelman said. “No, really. Don’t mention it. Be quiet and follow me this time.”
“I thought you resigned,” Danny said, eliciting a sharp glare from Tom Steelman. “On your six, Chief,” he quickly added.
Stepping from the shower, Steelman drew his weapon. Pointing to Danny, he pointed to his gun, then back to Danny. Nodding, Danny withdrew the small revolver Chief Steelman had given him in the car after they’d escaped the jail cell. It wasn’t that much. A “snubnose” .38. Constructed of light weight titanium, with steel lockwork components, which consists of a keyed, quarter-turn style socket-head screw, the snubnose seemed almost unnoticeable in his belt and, now, in his hand. Certainly, much lighter than his service weapon. It was only a 5 shot revolver, and Steelman gave him no extra bullets, so five would have to suffice, along with the magazine in Steelman’s pistol. He hadn’t gotten a good look at it, but he thought it was a 15-round mag. If we assumed, as Danny would where the chief was concerned, that there was an extra in the chamber, that meant the probability of as many as sixteen bullets in the chief’s arsenal. Standing in the hall, where the carpeted walkway ended and kitchen tile began, Danny silently chided himself for not asking the chief if he had a secondary magazine, should anything go down.
Leaning against the wall, Steelman in the lead, the two men stood, guns prone, attempting to ascertain the situation.
With little more than a foyer separating them from Alex, neither dared to speak.
***
Alex returned from the bedroom quickly, not wanting to leave a convicted criminal alone for too long. Whatever he may be now, Alex was finally letting everything sink in. After what some might term “mission accomplished”, Alex was finally beginning to comprehend the full weight of what had transpired in his living room over the last couple of hours. He’d brought a man to God – or so it would seem. He, Alex Mendez, had successfully, if clumsily, lead a truly despicable man to give his heart to The Lord. He’d done it through what could have only been the power of Heaven itself, without judgment or ridicule. In truth, he hadn’t done it at all. In reality, God had wanted Derrick Calloway’s soul very badly. So much, in fact, He’d taken a man who was little more than a Christian wannabe and turned him into a ministering force that would have made Billy Graham proud.
“Here,” Alex said, holding out his hand.
Stunned, Calloway did not reach his hand out. Regarding Alex with intense awe and perhaps a smidgeon of disbelief, Calloway seemed confused by Alex’s gesture.
“Well, take it,” Alex said, smiling.
Finally reaching a hand up – albeit a shaking one – Calloway took the Bible from Alex’s hand. Opening it, he read the scrawl written on the inner pages.
“Alex, I can’t take this. It has your name in it. It’s yours.”
“It was mine. I give it to you. It was the Bible I got right after leaving the hospital a while back. I’ve come a long way since then. But this is the Bible that first taught me about God. Well, as an adult, I mean. I like to say I’m a recovering Catholic.” Winking at Calloway, Alex sat down across from a stunned, speechless figure of a man.
“Well, I have something for you too, now that I think about it.”
Reaching behind him with his left hand, Calloway leaned to the side, set the Bible on the floor next to his empty Dr. Pepper bottle and finally reached his right hand behind his back as well.
When Alex saw the soft glint of light off the metal casing, he froze.
Chapter 45
Having crept around Chief Steelman, Danny now stood at the edge of the partition leading from the kitchen into the foyer and, ultimately, into Alex’s living room. He could hear them clearly now, but could only see Alex’s profile from his vantage point. So, when Terror filled Alex’s face, Danny turned his head toward Chief Steelman. Motioning toward his eyes, Danny pointed over his shoulder at Alex. Silent, he mocked as if biting his fingers, hoping the chief would get the message. When Steelman nodded, Danny turned and looked again.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Alex asked, his voice obviously shaking.
“I just wanted to—”
“Freeze!” Danny screamed, even before he’d moved from his hiding place. Rounding the corner he darted through the foyer, just in time to see the gun in Calloway’s hand.
They say in moments like this, events transpire in slow motion. For much of his police career, that statement proved true. Whether it was age or just the shock of the moment, everything transpiring before Danny seemed to be happening quicker than Danny could gauge it.
Calloway turned toward Danny, the gun loose in his hand.
“No!” Danny shouted, firing once, leaping directly into the fray. Stumbling, he fell to one knee.
“No!” Alex screamed as Danny fired a second time. A third shot ricocheted off the chair, splintering wood shards, just as Alex tackled Danny to the floor. Behind them, Alex’s front door burst forth. Though on the floor, under Alex, who was trying to wrest the gun away, Danny looked up as Kellan entered followed by Janet Busby, guns drawn as well.
As the echo of gunfire subsided, the confused argument of four police officers filled what was going to be a very deafening silence.
His face blood red, Alex rushed to Calloway’s side.
Still alive – barely – Calloway fought for breath. Lying on his back, a trail of blood wormed its way from the corner of his nose, down the side of his cheek. Another stream flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Now on his feet, Danny could see the wounds more clearly. The first shot had struck him in the shoulder, Danny’s intended target. The second had found a home in the left side of Calloway’s chest. He had, at most, minutes to live.
***
Alex couldn’t believe his eyes. He couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe anything. Shaking like a child trying to escape a tornado, Alex battled against a cacophony of disturbing images, sounds and smells.
“C-Can’t feel my legs,” Calloway said. His voice was garbled, watery. Most likely, his lungs were filling with blood. That emotionless policeman assessment did nothing to quell the anguish inside Alex the civilian.
Alex screamed for someone to call an ambulance and turned his attention back to Calloway.
“Derrick, you’re going to be okay, you hear me? Everything’s going to be okay.”
Danny knelt down beside them.
“Alex, what are you doing? This man just tried to kill you. I saved your life!”
“You idiot! He wasn’t trying to kill me! He was returning the gun he’d stolen from me! I’ve been sitting with him for hours! If he’d wanted to kill me, he would have done it already!”
“But,” Danny stammered. His jaw tightened. “Alex, I saw your eyes! I saw you look scared!”
“I was shocked, yeah, but—Geez, Danny! I’m a cop! I know how to handle myself!”
Calloway reached a hand up to Danny, who took his hand in his. A look of sorrow overtook Danny as he realized what he had just done.
“N-Nev…Never had a b-brother be…before.” Turning his head toward Alex, Calloway reached his other hand out. Alex gripped it tight. “N-Now…now, I h-have two.”
Amid pain and sorrow, Calloway fought to force a smile onto his face.
“You’re going to be okay, Brother,” Alex said. “I promise.”
“I know,” Calloway whispered, his breathing had now become so labored that his words were almost inaudible.
“Hang in there,” Alex said.
“Derrick, An ambulance is on the way,” Danny said, his voice mellowing. Tears had started to well up. Suddenly, Alex realized it too. He’d had a brother once. Now, through the most unlikely of circumstances, God had given that brother back to him.
Empathy overwhelming him, Alex looked at Danny. Still holding Calloway’s hand, Alex cleared his throat, stretched out his other toward Danny.
Unable to smile, Danny took Alex’s hand.
“Brothers,” Alex whispered.
“Brothers,” Danny said.
Looking back to Calloway, Danny said, “You gotta hang on, you hear? We have lots of catching up to do, you and me.” Alex wasn’t sure if it was genuine or had Danny simply been caught up in the moment, but he could no longer fight back his own tears.
“Derrick, hang on, you hear?”
“It’s—” Derrick tried to clear his throat, but grimaced at the pain it caused. A cough shot blood droplets all over, covering Derrick’s lips, chin and jaws.
His face getting redder under the strain of trying to breath, Calloway looked at Alex. “It’s…Okay. I’m go—I’m going…”
“—Derrick stay. Don’t go!” Danny shouted.
“—Going to…s-see m-my f-family. W-wife…dau-daughter.” He tried to smile again. “F-Father.”
Chief Steelman knelt down just as the last word escaped Calloway’s mouth, barely more than a whisper.
“I’m right here,” Steelman said, hesitating just a beat. “Son.”
“What’s that song?” Danny asked.
Having gotten lost in thought, Alex hadn’t even realized he’d been humming.
“Hmm?” Alex said, searching his mind for what song he’d been startled out of humming. “Oh, it’s ‘I’ll fly away’. My grandmother used to sing it to me when I was little.”
Going to see his Father, Calloway had said. Though he’d known exactly what Calloway meant, Alex didn’t have the heart to explain it to Chief Steelman.
Soft, slow – nothing like the manner in which his grandmother had sung it to him as a child, Alex began singing the words out loud. Releasing hands with Danny, they each took a hand with Tom Steelman, then Kellan and Janet as, one by one, everyone added voice to the chorus.
As the singing concluded, Alex bowed his head. Unsure what to say, Alex kept it to himself.
“I can’t find the words,” Alex prayed to himself, “So please hear my heart.”
With that quick, but sincere supplication given, Alex raised his eyes.
Around him, Kellan, Janet, Daddy Tom and Danny Peterson stared at the lifeless body on his living room floor. Shock met some. Grief met others. Confusion was common among them. Relief – Joy even – in some bittersweet form, was Alex’s alone.
***
“Alex, I’m sorry.”
“No, Danny,” Alex said. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what it must feel like for you and the chief.”
“Yes you can,” Danny said. “At least you knew your brother when he died. It’s different for me, Alex. Yeah, I’m sad, because I never got to know him, but he made his choices.”
“That he did,” Alex said.
Brandy padded up beside the couch where Alex sat, leaning back, legs outstretched. Patting the couch, he clicked his tongue and called her up on the couch. As if knowing something was wrong, she curled up beside him, laid a paw on his leg.
“I really should be getting back to the hospital I guess,” Alex said.
“I just talked to Moe,” Steelman said, walking through the front door. He had to step past two uniformed officers that had been assigned the arduous task of carpentry. “He said that Alyson woke up in a lot of pain, so the docs gave her something to help her sleep. Alex, you should know that Lisa’s on her way back to Texas. She left the kids with your mom and aunt I think, but Moe had to tell her about Alyson.
Alex felt the blood leave his face. Closing his eyes, he sighed, tilted his head back on the couch. Buddy, still curious about all the strange onlookers, approached Alex. Rather than wait for permission, he took his cue from Brandy and jumped on the couch beside her, sitting as if half-human – watching the collection of strangers with great interest.
“So, questions are going to be asked, you know,” Alex said. “About you two.”
“Not just about them, Amigo,” Kellan said. His voice caught Alex off guard. Without raising his head, he opened his eyes and looked up at Kellan.
“That reminds me. What were you two doing at my house? Who exactly is in charge at the station?”
“Well, we were tracking you down,” Kellan said. “And, to be honest, tracking these two. Chief, Danny? I am sorry, but I am going to have to take you in.”
“Any idea when I’ll get my firearms back, Kellan?” Steelman asked.
“Chief, you know the drill. One of them was discharged tonight. We will have to run a full investigation and go from there.”
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry right now,” Danny said.
“I’m not going to have any trouble out of you two, am I?” Kellan asked.
“No,” Steelman said. “No trouble. Let’s go.”
“Office
r,” Kellan said, snapping his fingers to draw the attention of a nearby uniform. “Take the chief and Captain Peterson to my vehicle. Put them in the back. Don’t worry about cuffs. But guard the car, you hear me?”
“Yessir,” the young officer said. He looked as Alex expected he would look himself in a similar predicament. How exactly do you ask a young cop to put two of your superiors into a police car? Just like that, Alex said, staring at Kellan.
“You okay?” Alex asked Kellan as the uniformed officer grabbed another nearby officer and lead their two prisoners outside.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”
“Well, I’ve just never seen you have to take on this much authority alone, Kel. What with everything that’s happened to you recently. How can I help?”
“I beg your pardon! What am I? Chopped liver?”
Alex chuckled when Janet stepped out from behind the imposing figure cast by Lt. Kellan Arthur.
“No,” Alex sighed, “You are many things, but chopped liver isn’t one of them.”
“Alex, if you need to go, go,” Janet said. “We’ll finish up and we know where to find you if we need you.”
Careful, Alex moved Brandy’s paw from his leg. Reaching across her, he patted Buddy. Patting Brandy on the head, he informed her of his intentions, waited a beat and stood. Stepping out of the way of one of the uniformed officers, Alex knelt down next to the chair where Derrick Calloway had accepted Christ. On the floor, next to an empty Dr. Pepper bottle, lay the Bible that had been Calloway’s for little more than a few moments in time. In that few moments, it was as if the Holy Book had aged ten years. The corner of the cover had curled. Picking it up, Alex dusted off the splinters that had settled on it. In doing so, his hand brushed something wet, sticky. Flipping the book to the spine, Alex noticed a small blood stain, inking the base. A splattering of red had dotted the top edges of the pages. Some had gotten stained. Others had not.
Placing a hand on Alex’s back, Janet peered around and saw the blood-stained Bible.
Target: Mendez: An Alex Mendez Tale Page 16