The Believer

by Kym Davis Boyles

  Greg smiled. “What do you want Leon, to run drugs through JMC and hide the money in the church? You’re almost there so what more can you possibly want? Neither my wife nor JMC will ever belong to you if that’s your ultimate goal.”

  The muscles in Leon’s face tightened as he and Greg maintained their gaze at one another. “Hmmm, really?” Leon smiled, scratching the back of his head. “How is Evan? Was my wife everything that you imagined she’d be when you coveted her? Was it the sex?”

  Greg cocked his head to the side, glaring at Leon. “How’s prison life? Was it anything like you imagined it to be? I’m hoping that it wasn’t the sex.”

  Leon stood up with his face raging, knocking the chair over behind him. “You’re a funny but a stupid guy and you don’t know when to close your mouth.”

  Greg shifted in his seat. His heart was racing but he was never scared of Leon before and he wouldn’t begin to be no matter what situation he was in. “I can’t believe that I ever respected you,” Greg said, looking up at Leon.

  Leon walked closer to Greg and hovered over him. “You never respected me; you wanted to be me. There’s a difference.”

  Greg inhaled a deep breath then exhaled. “Leon, I’d never want to be you.”

  “Is that why you went after my wife and my church and you wouldn’t stop until you had both?”

  “I didn’t go after Evan or JMC. You betrayed them both so you lost them both,” Greg said.

  Leon knocked Greg across the face with a closed fist. Greg felt blood inside his mouth from the blow.

  “Evan betrayed me.” Leon pointed the index finger from his right hand into his left palm with every syllable he spoke. “You really should have accepted the book as a gift. It’s got a lot of good information in it.”

  Greg looked up to the right of the ceiling as Leon spoke, “So, let me get this straight; you conspired on that stupid book so you could get one more jab at Evan? It just wasn’t enough for you that you embarrassed, abused and humiliated her over, over, and over again, huh?”

  Leon smirked as he leaned close to Greg and whispered in his ear, “You don’t know Evan like I do; if I killed you right now, that closet ho will have your baby calling another man daddy in six months.”

  Greg exploded out of his chair, grabbing Leon’s neck with such force that both men fell back onto the hard cracked floor. With his hands trembling, Greg squeezed Leon’s neck with all of his strength as Leon struggled to breathe.

  James drew his gun, rushed over to the men and placed the barrel of the gun to Greg’s temple. “Make one more move and I’ll put a bullet in your brain.”

  Chapter 113

  Looking for peace and wanting to feel some part of Greg, Evan hid in his office, unable to go home without him and unable to be around the chaos of the authorities and news cameras that invaded their church. He was her husband and her best friend but everyone was flitting around like this was some sort of movie.

  There was a knock on Greg’s office door. Evan lifted her head from her arm that was wet from tears, not wanting to answer it. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose then rubbed her hands over her drying curls which she knew were atrocious by this time.

  “Come in,” Evan said.

  “How you doing baby girl?” Evan’s dad asked, walking in with Ben wobbling on crutches behind him.

  Evan took a deep breath. “I miss him so much, Daddy,” she cried. “I just wanted to sit in his office so I could feel him. I just can’t go home without him.” She covered her face with her hands as tears slipped down her already wet cheeks.

  “I know you do baby girl,” Evan's dad said, walking over to her and kissing the top of her head as she sat in Greg’s chair.

  “I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to see Gracie.” She looked over at Ben. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine Evan; you know Maria loves taking care of her.”

  Evan nodded and placed her fingertip to her eye to stop a tear from falling.

  Ben adjusted one of his crutches beneath the pit of his arm. “Evan, I brought your dad in because I wanted to let you know that I think we know where Greg is”

  Evan jumped up. “What? Where? Is he alive?” she asked with her hands shaking, waiting on an answer.

  “We don’t know,” Ben said, “but they’re preparing a tactical team to go in and check it out.”

  Evan looked over at her dad then back at Ben. “Where is he?”

  “We think he’s at this abandoned warehouse outside of town,” Ben answered.

  Evan’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “The warehouse that you found?”

  “Maybe,” Ben said.

  “I want to go. I mean, I need to see him, what’s taking so long to go get him?” Evan headed toward the office door.

  Ben put his hand out. “Slow down Evan, you can’t go anywhere. It’s going to take strategic planning to coordinate this rescue attempt.”

  Ben didn’t look certain and it made her nervous. “Ben, what’s wrong?”

  “I just want to prepare you that it’s not 100% guaranteed that he’s there but they’re working on it.”

  Evan’s heart sank. “They’re not sure? I’m confused.”

  “Agents Harding and Soto were already working on a case that they believe might be closely related to Greg’s case and there’s reason to believe that it’s all intertwined.”

  “What case?” Evan asked. “Is it Leon?”

  “Dear, I can’t say anything right now. I’ll tell you when I can,” Ben said, turning with his crutches toward the door.

  “I’m not stupid, Ben,” Evan said. “I know that there’s not a terrorist group going around kidnapping pastors.”

  Evan's dad touched her arm, “Baby girl, you’re going to have to relax and let them do their job.”

  “This is driving me insane,” Evan cried, walking over to the office window and looking out.

  “Evan, Greg’s my best friend and I haven’t met a better cop so I know that he’ll be alive when we get him out,” Ben assured her.

  Evan turned around, looked at Ben and nodded. She watched him leave Greg’s office and her dad walked over to the door and closed it.

  “Baby girl,” Jeremiah began, “God set you in your position as First Lady because he called and equipped you to be that. Now, you can’t come sit in the house of the Lord several times a week, praying, singing and worshipping but when you need your faith most, you can’t find it. Either you believe Him or you don’t. There is no wavering, child.”

  Chapter 114

  Charlotte looked at the clock in the van. What had possessed her to drive Leon all the way out here and sit in front of a warehouse for over an hour? This was insane; she could get in so much trouble for this. She didn’t know what was going on but she was nervous and they needed to get going. She looked around and took a deep breath. She had to think quickly. She could go inside but then Leon might get upset, or she could sit here and wait and end up messing up her entire life. He had nothing to lose but she had everything to lose.

  Charlotte placed her head on the steering wheel, tapping it lightly with her forehead; she needed to make a decision. She couldn’t take it any longer. What was going on in there? What if Leon was being harmed in some kind of way? How would she ever explain any of this? She opened the van door, putting one leg out, then she changed her mind and brought her leg back in.

  Charlotte put her fingernails in her mouth and began chewing on her already short nails. Maybe she needed to wait. They had to leave; too much was at stake. She opened the van again and closed it back just that quick. Leon said that it was business but he could very well be in danger. She was going in no matter what he thought. She opened the van door and stepped out. Immediately, a vicious grip on her arm flung her heavy body to the ground, causing her face to scrape the gravel.

  “Get on the ground! Get on the ground!” High pitched screams vibrated in Charlotte’s ear while the barrel of four submachine guns were directed at her head. Out
of the corner of her eye, Charlotte saw four or five men with weapons, dressed in black with SWAT insignia across their chests, bullet proof vests, helmets and drawn guns standing around her. Urine slowly trickled down her thighs as she diverted her eyes back to the ground.

  “What’s your name?” one of the SWAT members demanded to know.

  Terrified, Charlotte’s entire body shook with fear; she parted her lips to speak but nothing would come out.

  “What’s your name?” a deep voice shouted again in her ear with a gun to her cheek.

  “Charlotte Johnson,” her voice trembled.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m a correctional officer,” she answered with her eyes stretched wide.

  “Who’s inside?” another SWAT member asked.

  “Leon Ladson and I don’t know who else,” Charlotte spit out with her bottom lip trembling. One of the officers pulled both of her hands behind her back, cuffing her. “No, God please no,” she cried.

  Chapter 115

  James held the gun steady to Greg’s head as Greg rose from the floor with his hands in the air. Officers White and Hernandez also had their weapons drawn on him. Leon lay on his back with his head lifted from the floor; he laughed.

  “I didn’t think that you had it in you, Pastor,” Leon said as he rose from the floor.

  “Hold down, guys,” James instructed the officers who reluctantly put their weapons back in the holster. “This fool is going to sit back down in that chair and he better not move a muscle.”

  James watched Greg pick the chair that had toppled over on the floor and place it upright to sit in.

  Leon stood up from the floor. “Give me a gun,” he said holding out his hand. James picked up a weapon from the table and handed it to Leon.

  William stood up and walked slowly toward the door. “Everybody quiet.” He stopped in the middle of the floor. “Shhhhhhhh.”

  James turned around. “What is it?”

  “I think I hear something,” William said, taking another step toward the warehouse door.

  James placed his gun back in his holster and watched as his officers go ahead of William with their weapons drawn, making their way to the door.

  “Do you see anything?” James asked slowly stepping back.

  James had a knot in his stomach. Something didn’t feel right. This was expected to be a quick job but Leon was drawing everything out with his long winded speech that ended him up on his back. They should have taken Greg out within the first 15 minutes as planned.

  James slowly backed his way up to the old creaking staircase. He needed an out if somebody was coming through that front door and he knew another exit.

  Officer Hernandez looked out the small dust-clouded window to the right of the door. He shook his head. “I don’t see anything.” The men looked relieved, walking back toward the center of the massive space. A large explosive sound caused them all to turn around and draw their weapons as SWAT members swarmed through the door. James placed his hand on his weapon and ran up the stairs as he heard shouted commands and gunfire.

  James scrambled to the upstairs back room and out the exit door where he scurried down the stairs to his car. He hopped in and skidded out the back way, bypassing the cop car and SWAT team vehicles. His heart pounded as he floored it, pushing the vehicle to 100 mph. Looking in his rearview mirror and pulling out his cell phone at the same time, he speed dialed Cai.

  She answered almost immediately.

  “I need you to meet me at the River Walk at the beginning of the bike trail. I need you there ASAP and don’t tell anyone where you’re going. I’ll explain later.” James fought to control the speeding car.

  Wearing a black cape with a hood that covered her blonde hair and oversized sunglasses on her face, Victoria sat in her silver Jaguar near a stop sign across from Devon’s Rice’s house. She had tracked down Cairo Rice. She wanted to face the girl who had come into her home and had the nerve to touch and try on her property. She was waiting for the nerve to knock on the woman’s front door. If she was bold, Victoria could be bolder.

  Victoria had been sitting outside the house for over an hour and a few kids bouncing basketballs passed, laughed and even tried looking into the darkly tinted windows of her Jaguar that was so out of place in the neighborhood. She took notice of the shiny red Mustang in the driveway. Victoria wrote down the license plate number, curious if it was registered to James although it no longer mattered.

  The front door of the house opened, jolting Victoria out of her thoughts. It was now or never. She reached over to the passenger seat floor where she had placed her 9mm. With her hands shaking as she held it, Victoria opened her car door but paused when she saw Cai. She immediately closed her car door. She dropped her head on the steering wheel with the gun still in her hand. She sobbed. What am I doing? What has James reduced me to?

  Tears ran beneath Victoria’s shades as she watched Cai run down the raggedy steps with her cell phone to her ear. She was gorgeous, wearing small denim cutoffs, black boots and a stomach-baring sweatshirt. Victoria knew that there was no competing with that. She took a deep breath and wiped her face. She placed her gun back inside her leather bag and slid it beneath the back seat.

  She watched as Cai started the Mustang and backed out of her driveway so fast that her wheels spun leaving a trail of dust and smoke in its wake. Victoria had started her car as well to head home when her phone rang. It was James.

  Chapter 116

  “Get down! Get down! Everybody on the floor!” SWAT members demanded, running into the warehouse with weapons drawn.

  With his hands high in the air and his eyes wide with fright, William dropped to his knees then onto his stomach as a SWAT member rushed over to him, placing his hands behind his back and cuffing him. Officer White turned and began running to the back of the warehouse.

  “Officer, put your weapon down,” another SWAT member ordered.

  Officer White stopped, turned around, and pointed his weapon at the SWAT team member who immediately returned fire. Greg watched in horror as Officer White’s body hit the ground.

  In utter shock, Officer Hernandez threw his weapon on the ground, raised his hands in the air and dropped to his knees. SWAT members rushed over to him while other officers yelled their commands at Leon who continued to hold his gun on Greg.

  “Put the gun down!” one of the SWAT team members ordered Leon. “Right now!”

  Leon stared at Greg with the gun still aimed at him, his hands shaking as if not caring that he was going to die if he didn’t surrender.

  With his arms raised in the air, Greg kept his eyes on Leon. “Don’t be stupid Leon. It’s not worth it,” Greg said.

  “Put the weapon down,” the SWAT member demanded again, his voice slow and powerful.

  It was something in that last command that told Leon that it would be the last order before they shot him. He raised both hands in the air and turned to surrender as SWAT began rushing over to him. But before SWAT reached him, Leon quickly turned back to Greg and raised his gun.

  “It’s worth it,” Leon said, pulling the trigger and watching as Greg fell sideways out of the chair.

  Chapter 117

  James hoped that his face wasn’t splattered all over television yet; he wasn’t in denial because eventually it would be. But if no one opened their mouths yet, maybe he still had a chance to get out of the country. He didn’t know how he managed to escape but he had. James was meeting Cai at the beginning of the bike trail and he needed to hurry because she was going to be pulling up at any minute. He needed to speak to Victoria. He parked his BMW at the edge of the river bank behind a row of trees and got out. He walked to the edge of the bank and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Victoria. It rang but went to her voice mail.

  “Baby, it’s me.” James took a breath, “This is very important and I need you to listen and pay close attention to what I’m about to say. I need you to bring me some cash, lots of cash and my passport imme
diately to Jackie’s Tavern.” He looked down at his watch. “It’s 3:42, and I need you to be there within two hours. This is a matter of life and death. I love you, baby.” James hung up and looked around. He walked back to his car, opened his trunk where he always had a change of clothes and took out his overnight bag.

  Keeping watch, he took off his uniform and changed into a pair of blue slacks and a white polo shirt. He put his uniform in the trunk and closed it. He stared at the car, rubbed his hand over it as he walked to the driver’s side door. He leaned down and kissed it before opening the door, turning the ignition on, putting it in drive and pushing it with all his might into the river.

  Staring at the car as it sank, James felt a piece of his heart go down with the car. He turned away and ran from the river bank to the beginning of the bike trail.

  Cai pulled up to the beginning of the bike trail looking for James. She didn’t know what was going on or if it had anything to do with Greg’s kidnapping that she and Delilah were keeping up with on the local news, but the police chief sounded frantic on the phone. She saw James running toward the trail and she honked the horn to get his attention. She unlocked the passenger side door and he got in.

  He was out of breath as he settled into the passenger side. “Take the interstate.”

  “What’s going on? Why do you look like that?” she asked, seeing the sweat on his brow.

  “Just drive, Cai,” James said, breathing heavily.

  Cai put the car in reverse and took off toward the interstate.

  “Did you see anything on the news?” James asked.

  “Yes, breaking news about Pastor Greg. Do you know anything about that?” she asked, looking over at him.

  “I’ll explain everything later.”