“Well, clearly I didn’t,” Cindy muttered. She took a deep breath. “Okay, as the resident church crime solver it falls to me to figure out who killed Ben.”
“It falls to us,” Traci corrected. “We’re your posse.”
“Hey, I don’t have a posse,” Mark protested.
Traci rolled her eyes. “No, you just have an entire police force.”
“Yeah, but not all of them like me.”
“Boo hoo,” Traci said.
Mark ended up with such a look of mock hurt on his face that Cindy actually started laughing out loud.
“That’s what I like to hear,” her dad said, beaming.
Her agitation and frustration eased up as she realized that she wasn’t helpless sitting in this room. She could and would solve the mystery of what had happened to Ben so that when Jeremiah walked through the door they’d have one less problem to worry about. She looked around affectionately at those around her. They really were like her posse, always there for her, always willing to help her hunt down the bad guys. And, in the case of Traci and Mark, they had actually even ridden together. In that moment she realized, perhaps for the first time, just how lucky she was, how blessed she was to have all these people to stand by her. She wasn’t alone and that was the best feeling in the world.
“Okay, posse, everyone saddle up. We’ve got some outlaws to bust,” she said with a grin.
“Yee-haw!” Joseph yelled suddenly making them all laugh until they cried.
~
Jeremiah was almost finished with the man he was interrogating. The guy was fading, and he didn’t have much time left to try and get information out of him. He’d bled quite a lot from the bullet wound in his shoulder and the pain from his other shoulder had taken its toll.
“Stay with me,” Jeremiah commanded as the man looked like he might pass out. “The other five men besides you, where can I find them?” Jeremiah asked.
“I don’t know. I swear. We’ve been meeting once a week. We don’t know where each is in case of this,” Shirazi said.
Jeremiah believed that, frustrating as it was. He was certain he’d extricated as much information as he could from the man. He stood up and pulled out his gun.
“Wait! You said you’d consider letting me go to the hospital.”
“I did consider it. And I decided, you really belong in the morgue,” Jeremiah said.
He lifted the gun up, ready to aim at the man’s head. When suddenly Shirazi smiled. Then he laughed. A chill went up Jeremiah’s spine. He had missed something. Something vital. While he’d spent the last twelve hours figuring out how he was going to find them, they had spent the last twelve months figuring out how they were going to kill him. He thought he’d found the terrorists when in reality they had trapped him.
“You never look to the left or the right,” Shirazi said.
In that moment Jeremiah realized that he was standing in between two bombs.
11
Mark was pleased at the direction things had taken. Cindy was on task now, focusing her energies on how they could clear Jeremiah’s name instead of trying to formulate escape plans that at the best would be futile and at the worst deadly. It also felt really good to laugh for a while.
Sometimes life was too serious. Actually, it was that way far too often. He wanted to find ways to lighten the mood more often. Given his job he often saw the worst parts of society and human nature. It was good in his off-time to focus on the best parts. Looking around the table he realized that these people were the best parts. He didn’t know how they’d all become like some sort of bizarre family, but they had.
He was grateful that Ryan and Rachel would grow up knowing these people and being influenced by them. And that wasn’t just because he knew Joseph would buy them ponies.
He smiled at the thought.
“What scheme are you hatching?” Geanie asked, catching his expression.
“I was just thinking about the ponies you and Joseph are going to buy Ryan and Rachel,” he said.
“Darn straight,” Joseph said with a grin.
“Imagine if one of them grew up and went to the Olympics for the equestrian events!” Geanie said.
“One of them? Why not both of them?” Joseph said.
“I’m personally hoping for a musician,” Traci said.
“A rock star?” Geanie asked.
“Or a violin virtuoso?” Joseph countered.
“I’d be happy if they can do Chopsticks on the piano,” Mark said. “Course, I’m thinking Rachel will grow up to be Wonder Woman.”
“I’m Wonder Woman,” Traci said, taking mock offense.
“You certainly are,” Cindy reassured her.
“Thank you,” Traci said pertly.
“How about Princess Leia?” Joseph asked. “Still royalty and a warrior and a great leader.”
“Does that make Ryan Luke then?” Geanie asked.
“Oh no, I don’t need either of my kids force choking me when they don’t want to eat peas and carrots,” Mark said emphatically.
“Darth Mark, I’ll never rule the galaxy with you,” Joseph said, brandishing his spoon like it was a lightsaber.
Mark couldn’t help himself. He hit Joseph’s spoon with his own. “Joseph, I am your father,” he said in his deepest voice.
Traci had taken a sip of water and ended up spitting it all over Geanie as she started laughing.
Joseph leaped to his feet. “Hello, my name is Joseph Coulter, your wife has spit water on my wife. Prepare to die.” He brandished the spoon anew.
Mark got up. “Why am I always the villain?” he asked, holding his own spoon aloft.
“If you have to ask-” Joseph said with a smirk.
Mark crossed spoons with the other man and they both took up fighting stances.
“See, I’m thinking the twins could be the greatest Olympic fencers the world has ever seen,” Joseph said.
“Why do you guys keep picking rich people sports?” Mark asked.
Joseph raised an eyebrow. “Um, because when it comes to the Olympics they’re pretty much all rich people sports. You know how much money all of those athletes have to raise for training, competition, travel, equipment, all of it?”
“See, this is why Ryan’s going to develop a love for football, play in high school, hopefully get a scholarship for college, you know something I can afford,” Mark said.
Joseph lowered his spoon suddenly and had a stricken look on his face. “You’re kidding me, right?”
Mark lowered his spoon, wondering why the other man was looking at him that way. “What?” he asked. “I don’t make a lot of money, so I’m hoping they’re both smart enough or talented enough or both to help pay for college.”
Joseph looked at Geanie who was still drying the water off herself. She caught Joseph’s look and shrugged.
Joseph turned back. “Mark, we told you we set up college funds for them when they were born, right?”
“Yes, and we appreciate that so much, but college gets expensive, and with inflation, I worry.”
Joseph shook his head. He stepped forward and gripped Mark’s shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about Ryan and Rachel ever.”
“That’s sweet, but-”
“But nothing. We set up a million-dollar trust fund for each of them the day after they were born.”
Mark was flabbergasted. He stared at Joseph and had no idea what to say. He finally turned to Geanie who just nodded. Traci had tears running down her cheeks as she leaned across the table and hugged Geanie.
He turned back to Joseph and hugged him. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome. We don’t have a lot in the way of blood family, but you guys are our family.”
Mark pulled away and cleared his throat. “There’s something Traci and I have been wanting to ask you. We want to put you guys down in our will as Ryan and Rachel’s guardians if anything were to happen to us.”
It was Joseph’s turn to grab him and hug him tight. Mark could barely breathe, and he was surprised at the amount of emotion he felt coming off the other man.
“We’d be honored,” Geanie said.
Mark pulled away and wiped his eyes. “Okay, that is officially enough crying for today.”
“I agree,” Geanie said, her voice chipper, but with a slight edge to it.
“Spoon truce?” Joseph said, holding up his weapon.
“Spoon truce. For now,” Mark said with a grin.
“How about you mighty warriors clean up the dishes since you’re already up?” Traci suggested.
Mark groaned. “Dishes? But we just had a moment.”
“You’ll have an entirely different kind of moment if you think us girls are doing it,” Traci said tartly.
“Yes, Dear,” Mark said.
Don chuckled. “The two most powerful words in the English language.”
Mark couldn’t help glance over at Don’s wife and son who were keeping to themselves. He didn’t want to even guess at how that relationship worked.
~
“Good call on dishes,” Cindy said as Mark and Joseph got to work. “There’s not that much to clean up, though.”
“Oh, don’t worry. We’re not taking turns,” Traci said. “Mark’s here with us 24/7 so he has plenty of dishes to make up for.”
Cindy couldn’t help but smile at that even as she desperately wished that Jeremiah was there with them. She looked at her dad who was staring at her intently. He gave her a little nod, as though acknowledging that he knew what she was thinking.
She glanced over at her mother and brother. Part of her felt bad that they were isolated, but she reminded herself that they had chosen that. They could have eaten with the rest of them like her father. That would mean supporting her in some way, though, and maybe they just weren’t capable of it. She wasn’t surprised by her mom, but she’d expected a little more from Kyle, especially after all the effort she’d gone through to try and connect with him more.
“Wishing you had your extra special dartboard?” her dad asked.
“How did you know about that?” she asked, eyes wide.
He chuckled. “I saw it the last time we visited you a few years back. I actually thought it was funny. You’ve gotten really good at darts.”
“It actually saved my life two years ago,” she said.
“Really? Now that’s a story I’d like to hear more about.”
She smiled. While she tried to tell her parents about her adventures, she knew that her mother didn’t always seem to care and probably didn’t share everything. Cindy also managed to keep most of the really scary stuff under wraps. Maybe that had been a mistake. Their mom worshipped Kyle and he did dangerous stuff all the time.
She lowered her voice. “This awful bad guy and his buddies cornered me in an Irish pub.”
Don cocked his head to the side. “I remember something about St. Patrick’s Day and catching bad guys at a pub, but I don’t think I heard anything about darts.”
She nodded. “Well, they had me trapped and they were going to kill me. I grabbed darts out of a dartboard and was trying to threaten them, so I could get to the door and escape.”
“And they underestimated you?”
She nodded. “I hit some guys in the face,” she said.
“Wow! I’m impressed. A bit scared that it happened in the first place, but definitely proud.”
“Thank you,” she said, glowing at the praise.
He smiled at her. “A lot of people underestimate you.”
“Tell me about it,” she said, glancing at her mom and Kyle.
He reached out and grabbed her hand. “I know it’s frustrating, but you can use that to your advantage.”
“I never thought about it that way,” she admitted.
“I know. You’re an amazing woman and I’m very, very happy to see that you’re not as afraid of the world as you were for so long.”
She nodded. “Jeremiah was a big part of that.”
“I know. So were they,” he said, indicating the others there. “You’ve made some amazing friends. I hope you treasure them.”
“I do.”
“Good. Now enough serious talk.”
“Well, we should get to work on solving Ben’s murder,” she said.
“In a bit. I had something else in mind for right now.”
“Oh, what’s that?” she asked.
“Who’s up for a game of Clue?” he said loudly.
“Ooh, me!” Geanie squeaked, raising her hand.
“She loves games,” Joseph said, turning from the sink with a laugh.
“Oh, and you don’t,” Geanie said, sticking her tongue out at him.
“Of course I do, but compared to you I’m an amateur.”
“Yeah, well, I think I can whoop all of you crime solvers with one eye closed,” Don said.
“Challenge accepted!” Geanie shouted.
Cindy had to laugh at her friend. A moment later, though, she said, “But we have important work to do.”
“Yes,” Don said, “and we’re all still exhausted. Playing the game will help stimulate our creative juices. It will be fun and therapeutic as well as an excellent warm up.”
“I never would have thought about it that way,” Cindy admitted.
“That’s why you need your dad,” he said with a grin.
“I piled the games on the floor over there,” Traci said, pointing.
“I’ll go get it,” Cindy said. She stood up and stretched. Maybe her dad was right. Some downtime would probably go a long way to helping them all recuperate a bit and tackle things fresh.
She turned and walked toward the games. She loved Clue. She and her dad and Lisa used to play it a lot when she was little. She eyed the other games. Maybe after Clue they could play-
A sudden wave of terror washed over Cindy, so intense that she actually screamed out loud and collapsed onto the floor. Everyone ran to her.
“What’s wrong?” Mark was the first to ask.
“Jeremiah,” she panted. “Jeremiah.”
She couldn’t get any other words out to explain what she was feeling. All she knew was that something terrible was happening to him. She began to sob in fear and pain.
Geanie dropped next to her and grabbed her hand. “God, we ask for your protection over Jeremiah right now,” she began in a strong, clear voice. “You’ve protected him more times than I can count. You’ve protected us all. Please God, watch over him, bring him safely through this and home to us quickly.”
Geanie’s voice started to shake as Joseph sat down and grabbed her hand. “Father, heal whatever needs healing. Give him strength, courage, and wisdom to see what path to take.”
Traci sat down and grabbed Cindy’s other hand, holding it gently. “God, help him. Help us.”
Cindy’s father joined the circle and began to pray in a deep, calm voice.
~
Mark could feel panic taking hold of him. He felt completely and utterly helpless. He wanted to throw himself at the door, demand that the agents outside release him so that he could go help his best friend, his brother.
He felt eyes on him and he turned and saw Traci looking up at him. He walked to her. She reached up her free hand to him and nodded. He took it and she tugged him down next to her. Don grabbed his other hand in a firm grip. And just like that he was part of the circle.
“Save him, please,” the words burst out of him. Tears started streaming down his face. Traci squeezed his hand hard and he clung to her and Don as he began to shake.
For just a moment it was as though he could feel the emotions of everyone else in the circle, their pain, their fear, and then, their hope and their resolve. A strange sense of peace settled over him. He was still afraid for Jeremiah, but something deep down told him that whatever happened, they would get through it.
Around him the others
continued to pray, sometimes in short bursts, other times lengthier. He didn’t speak again, just sat and tried to breathe deeply, not ready to understand what was happening but grateful that it was.
He didn’t know how long they sat there. It could have been minutes or hours. He lost all sense of time.
Suddenly he heard a door open.
They all stopped, turned and looked. Martin stood just inside the door. “Everyone okay?” he asked, his brow furrowed,
Cindy leaped to her feet. “What’s happened to Jeremiah?” she demanded.
“How did you know something happened?” Martin asked sharply.
Mark felt like he was going to be sick as he stood up. He moved next to Cindy, sensing that something terrible was about to happen.
Cindy walked forward until she was standing inches from Martin. Mark walked with her but held back slightly so he could watch both of them. Behind him he could feel the tension coming off everyone else in the room. It was like the whole world was holding its breath, waiting.
“What happened?” Cindy said, her voice clear and ringing.
“We’re not sure yet,” Martin said. “There was a bomb blast.”
“And?” she said.
“We’ve got people going through the rubble.”
Martin looked like he wanted to be anywhere but right there. Mark recognized the look. It was how cops felt when they had to deliver the worst news any loved one could get. He felt a lump form in his throat as tears stung his eyes.
“Have you found him?”
Martin shook his head.
“But you found something,” Cindy said.
Martin nodded. “I’m sorry. It’s not good. The place was reduced mostly to ash. There’s not much that’s going to be found. We’re going to have to check for bone particles. But we did find-” He sighed and dropped his eyes. “Cindy, I’m so sorry. We found two of Jeremiah’s fingers.”
12
“It doesn’t mean he’s dead,” Mark half-shouted before anyone else could react.
Martin gave him a look that said otherwise, but he refused to believe it. The C.I.A. agent didn’t know Jeremiah like he did. The man was a survivor.
In the Presence of Mine Enemies Page 9