by T. K. Chapin
He tightened his lips together firmly and then spat blood into my face. He glared at me as blood trickled down the side of his face.
“Do one good thing in your life!” Joe shouted over my shoulder.
I put my hand up to Joe. “Stop.” Turning back to Riccardo, I wiped the blood he spat at me off and said, “That little boy is innocent in all of this.”
He let out a cough and covered his mouth as he turned over on his side. Pulling his hand away, he began to tremble as he saw dark blood smeared across his palm. His face softened as he looked me in the eyes. “I don’t want to die.”
Putting my hand on his shoulder, I said, “Death has lost its sting when you are saved. Have you made a commitment to Christ, Riccardo?”
He shook his head and let out a laugh under his breath. “God would never let a soul like mine into heaven. I’ve done terrible, terrible things. I’m not a good person.”
“Being a good person doesn’t get you into heaven.”
“He’s right, Micah. He doesn’t have a chance at heaven!” Joe shouted. Standing up and ignoring the pain that crept on the outside of my mind, I got in Joe’s face.
“You’d better shut your mouth, man! This guy is dying, and we’re obligated to share the truth! Grace!” Joe’s hardened face softened as he nodded. Turning back to Riccardo, I got back down on my knees and looked him in the eyes. I could see the fear he felt in his soul.
“God doesn’t want a guy like me,” Riccardo said.
“That’s not true,” I said. “God’s a good father and He loves you, regardless of what you’ve done. If you only accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will be able to go to heaven.”
Riccardo began crying and his lips trembled as he directed his eyes to the sky. “Lord!” he cried out. “Save me . . . I don’t deserve You. But please, please . . . save me!”
“Ask His forgiveness,” I added gently.
He sniffed and continued, “Please forgive me of the—” Tears came pouring out of his eyes more and more as he choked up on the words he was trying to speak. “Please forgive me of the wickedness I have done.” He coughed again. More dark blood came up.
My eyes watered as I pulled Riccardo close to me. Putting my face into Riccardo’s shoulder, I held him close and said, “You’re going home to paradise today, Brother.”
As I let go of Riccardo, he drew his final breath and said, “He’s being taken to Billings . . .” Then Riccardo was gone from earth.
Joe came and helped me up to my feet. “I can’t believe you did that,” Joe said leading me over to the truck. “I could have never—”
“Hey.” I looked up at him and said, “You did. You stopped when I said to give him grace.”
He nodded as we got to the truck. Opening the passenger side door, he helped me in. Checking my arm, I saw the blood gushing and the pain I had so easily ignored was inching itself back into my mind.
“Grab the shirt on the floor,” I said with a shake of my head.
He grabbed the blue shirt and made a tourniquet for my arm. Hearing sirens approaching in the distance, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Rick showed up in his car and rushed over to me. Looking at me for only a second, he shouted back at the EMT and said, “Get over here!”
“How are you here?”
“I followed the sirens.”
I nodded and said, “William is heading to Billings.”
“How’d you figure that out?”
“Riccardo told me.”
“Okay. I’m going to head back to the police station and wait there for William to get picked up.”
The EMT pushed by Rick and began inspecting my arm. Rick pulled away and ran back to a cruiser. Another EMT came over and looked at Joe. Looking up to the sky, I thanked God that I was there; even if it was a horrific scene, a soul was saved that day.
CHAPTER 19
Getting out of surgery late that evening, I opened my eyes to find Joe asleep in the chair beside my bed. Smiling, I stayed put and relaxed while I praised God for his mercies that day. God had protected my life from being taken, and I was thankful beyond measure for that and for Blake and William soon being able to reunite.
Taking the disposable water cup that sat next to my hospital bed, I drank the contents and then crinkled it up and tossed it over at Joe. It smacked him in the face, waking him up.
He blinked his eyes open, and when he saw I was awake he leaped up from his chair. “Micah!” he said, smiling. “How are ya feeling?”
“I’m okay,” I replied. “Did they find William yet?”
“They got him. He’s on his way back to Ocean Shores from the Tri-Cities.”
I let out a relieved sigh and smiled a grin from ear to ear. What a blessing he was alive and well.
“You seem awfully chipper,” Joe admitted at my bedside.
“God is good.”
“Dude. You could have died today!” Joe said with a bit of agitation. “We saw people dropping around us like flies. Toss in the fact that you just lost Jasmine—”
“What’s your point?” I asked, interrupting him.
He put his hands up and dropped them to his side and said, “I don’t get how you can quickly turn so positive.”
I laughed. “God’s amazing. He’s been carrying me through it all, man. His power is shown to me over and over again. I’ll admit it: when I lost Jasmine I was shaken to my core, but He found me. He carried me. I was a sheep that strayed from the flock and He came and rescued me.”
“You don’t need to preach to me.” He walked around the end of my bed and over to the hospital window. “I’m a Christian . . . I killed someone today. Not just one, but two people.”
“You also helped lead one to Christ.”
He turned and looked at me. “That horrible man?” He laughed and looked back out through the window. “He isn’t going to heaven.”
“Knock it off, Joe.”
“What?” He came over to my side and continued, “You can’t just be a horrible person and get into heaven.”
“If you repent and accept the Lord into your heart, you better believe you can. Don’t forget the talents story,” I replied.
“Why would God let horrible people into heaven?” Joe asked. “I guess I’m just confused.”
“He sees Jesus when He looks at us that are saved. It doesn’t matter how bad your sin is. There is no difference between telling a lie once or killing someone. Sin is sin is sin. If you repent and accept the Lord as your Savior, you’re in.”
“I don’t believe that,” he said sharply.
“C’mon. Grace is what God gives; Justice is what we deserve. Nobody is perfect, and if you make one mistake in this life, you are guilty and deserving of Hell. Nobody is perfect, and we all need Jesus.”
Joe nodded. “Just hard to let myself be grouped in with a cold-blooded killer.”
“Don’t view it like that then. View it like he’s a human who has made mistakes. If you tell one lie, you are a liar. If you look at someone lustfully that isn’t your spouse, you’re an adulterer. It’s a matter of the heart, not outwardly acts.”
“All right. All right. I get that. Maybe I’m just freaked out about killing people?”
“Yeah. That makes sense. I can’t argue with you on that.”
He laughed. “Before today, I’ve maybe shot a gun once in my life. Today, I killed two people and saw a third get killed. Not just a person, but one of the men of God I looked up to for decades. Then, I watched a good friend get shot. Oh, toss in the fact that I found out the men I spent over the last decade looking up to were crooks.”
“I bet you’re pretty rattled.”
“Yeah, man. I’m pretty shaken up!” Joe put his hands on the railing of my bed and clutched as he leaned his head over and dipped his chin to his chest. He looked up at me and said, “It’s hard to not just feel so mentally screwed up right now.”
“Have you talked to Betty?” I asked.
“No,” he replied, lettin
g go of the bed. He began pacing and said, “Tell her I shot two people and—”
“Go home and talk to her,” I said. “Sit her down and just lay it all out. It’s not a phone call type of thing.”
“Okay. I told your wife over the phone . . . she needed to know you were going into surgery. Sorry.”
“Oh, jeez,” I said, shaking my head.
“She’s on her way over,” he said as I pulled the hospital room’s phone over toward me. He walked over and helped me get it closer to me.
“Denise has to be freaking out,” I said as I began to dial.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” The phone began ringing and I looked at Joe. “Go home and see your wife and family.”
He nodded and headed for the door. As he was in the doorway, I called out to him.
“Joe,” I said. He turned and looked at me. “Pray that God gives you peace. It’s going to be hard, but it’s Him who can give you peace of mind.”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
Denise came on the line in a panic. “How is he? Is he okay? I’m driving as fast as I can.”
“Honey. Calm down a little bit. I’m fine and resting.”
“Oh, thank goodness.”
“Please slow down. Don’t get yourself killed by driving so fast.”
She began crying. “I was so worried about you.”
“Did Joe fill you in on what happened?”
“He only said you were in an accident and went into surgery. Didn’t go into detail. My mind has created some pretty insane scenarios.”
“I’m sure what actually happened will be far crazier than anything you came up with . . .”
“Tell me.”
“I’d rather have waited for you to get here, but I’ll go ahead and tell you now.”
CHAPTER 20
Denise arrived at the hospital sometime during the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t hear her come in, but I did wake up later that morning to find her asleep in the chair by my bed. I smiled as I looked at her; she looked like an angel. Even though I had seen her only a week earlier, it had felt like it had been years.
An hour went by before my nurse came in to check on my vitals and give me a dose of medicine for the pain. As she talked to me, Denise woke up and I leaned to see past the nurse and lay my eyes on my wife.
She smiled at me.
“Are you listening to me?” the nurse questioned.
“Change the gauze three times a day. Got it.”
She turned to Denise and said, “It’s important.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure he gets taken care of,” Denise said, looking at the nurse and then over to me. “I’ll be with him.”
My smile grew and my heart warmed at her words. The nurse left and Denise got up and came over to me. Leaning down, she kissed my forehead and said, “I should have come with you in the beginning.”
“It’s all right. You seem to be doing a lot better. Plus, I wouldn’t have wanted you there yesterday.”
She nodded and said, “I’ve really been turning to God more than ever before, and I used to think I had a close relationship with Him.”
“That makes me so happy to hear.”
“I never knew how much I didn’t rely on God until—”
I raised my hand and touched hers. “I know.”
She smiled. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I said while rubbing her hand.
“Are you hurting?”
“I’m okay.” The phone rang in my room. I reached over and grabbed it. “Hello?” I said, bringing it to my ear.
“Hello, this is Officer Craig from the police department. Are you the guy who called in with the tip for finding William?”
“Yes, that’s me, Micah. How is William?”
“William’s here at the station. He’s pretty shaken up, but he’s okay.”
“Thank you, Jesus,” I said out loud, praising God.
“Jesus? You mean Lieutenant Daniels. He found him. And you, for getting Riccardo to tell you before he kicked the bucket.”
Shaking my head, I said, “No. Thank you, Jesus. He’s the one who deserves the credit. It was after Riccardo gave his life to Christ that he told me where William was.”
“Interesting,” Officer Craig replied. “Well, we have a few more questions for William to see if he can tell us anything else about his captors, but after that we will be releasing him to Rick, who’s here at the station with him.”
“Sounds good. Can I talk to Rick for a moment?”
“Sure.” The police officer put me on hold until Rick got on the phone a few moments later.
“Hey.”
“Blake on his way?” I asked. “Or what’s the plan?”
“What about we meet you at William’s old place?”
“All right. I’ll head there after they release me from the hospital here shortly.”
Hanging up with Rick, I broke the news to Denise and she was just as happy as I was about William finally getting his big brother back after being gone for so long.
As we waited for me to get released, Denise and I spent the rest of the time playing cards and praising God. As Denise helped me into the car after I was released, I sat in the passenger seat and looked at her with a warm, affectionate smile.
“What is it?” she asked.
“God.”
“What about Him?” she asked, holding the door open as the nurse took the wheelchair back toward the hospital.
“He knew. Knew I was going to come to Ocean Shores . . . knew I’d take the steps I did.”
“Yeah.”
“I was so stuck in my grief, I didn’t ever realize that He was still working and doing things I knew nothing about. He worked it together for good.”
“It’s hard to swallow the idea that Jasmine dying was part of His plan.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think He planned it, I think He knew it would happen and He worked it for His glory. He led me out here and to meet William.”
Denise looked up at the sky and said, “He’s always working.”
“Yes, He is.”
She smiled at me, closed the door and came around the front of her car and got in.
Arriving at William’s house, we knocked on the front door. There was no answer, so we journeyed to the back of the house. Through the tall grass on the sand dunes, we saw William running up the beach.
Taking Denise by the hand, I walked with her down the path that led over the sand dunes and down to the shore. As we walked out to the beach, William looked over and stopped as he saw us. Sprinting over to us, sand kicked up behind him as he approached. Smiling as he arrived, he asked, “Where’s Blake?”
“What?” I replied. “I thought he was with you? Rick said he was on his way.”
“Rick said he was with you . . .”
“Where’s Rick?”
“I’m right here,” he said from behind Denise and me. We turned and stood next to William as he walked down the last few steps and into the sand. “Blake’s not coming.” He turned and looked up at the beach house as he continued, “The answers you need are in there. In the office. Check the desk.” Rick put his hands in his pockets and began walking down the beach.
“No,” I said. Running across the sand and up to Rick, I grabbed his shoulder. “Stop, Rick. Where’s Blake? Why isn’t he coming now? We had an understanding!”
He swung his shoulder back, releasing from my hold. “He’s dead!”
“I’m calling the police!”
“Why?”
“They released him thinking that you were bringing him to his brother. You lied to the cops!”
Rick shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Micah! I’m the kid’s uncle.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I’m his uncle. That’s why I tried to keep my distance through all of this. Everybody in town knows that. I didn’t want to take in a kid after the parents died, and Charlie took him in. I got word from Blake’
s old girlfriend that you were sniffing around and I took advantage of it. I wanted justice for Blake and his parents, and for that kid to have a good home. You know, a family that loves him. I think you’ll do that.”
Dumbfounded, I turned and saw William and Denise in the distance. They didn’t hear a word. Looking back at Rick as he continued walking away, I said, “Why didn’t you want to take him?”
Rick came back over to me and yelled, “I didn’t have the time nor the energy for a kid! I didn’t want that life! And Charlie only did it for the money.”
“What was all that man of God talk?” I asked.
He laughed. “Since when did being a man of God make you perfect?” He turned and continued down the beach.
“One last question for you, Rick.”
He stopped and turned around.
“How come William didn’t recognize you?”
“I never saw him more than a couple of times in his life. I’m free to go now?”
I nodded.
He turned and left.
Walking back to Denise and William back near William’s house, I shook my head.
“Where’s my brother?” William asked.
I bent down on my knees and met him eye-level. My eyes watering, I said, “Your brother is in heaven.”
William almost darted away, but I caught him in my arms and pulled him in close. He began squirming and wiggling as he screamed. Denise dropped to her knees and her eyes began to water.
“I want my brother!” William shouted as he cried. “I want my brother! He was supposed to come for me!”
“I know . . . I’m sorry,” I said as he slowed his squirming. “We’re going to take care of you.”
He sniffed and said, “What happened to him? My brother?”
Looking up at the beach house, I thought of what Rick said about the office. “Let’s go find out.”
Inside the office in the house, I began to lift papers and move documents that were strewn out across the desk. Then I began to go through the drawers. Arriving at the last drawer, I pulled out a paperweight to find nothing. Nothing is in this desk! Rick lied! I thought to myself. Dropping the paperweight back into the drawer, I heard a hollow thump when it hit the wood. Bending at the knees, I knocked on the wood that lined the bottom of the drawer. It sounded hollow. Taking the paperweight, I busted the wood and found a secret compartment underneath. Opening it, I found a stack of papers. Pulling the bundle of papers out onto the desk, I looked over at Denise and William. I wasn’t sure how Rick knew where these papers were, but judging by the looks of them, it was where Charlie kept all his important documents.