Broken is the Grave

by Candle Sutton

  The knife shook in the man’s hand. Maybe he wasn’t as sure of himself as he wanted them to believe.

  Although if he was on something, all bets were off. And hadn’t he already reached the point of no return?

  “Brother. Please. You don’t want to go down this path.”

  “I gotta.” Knife Man lunged forward.

  His movements felt more desperate than deliberate. Although that didn’t make the knife any less dangerous.

  The police! She’d never made that call.

  Shaking fingers punched in the numbers. The phone rang once, then twice.

  “911.” A pleasant female voice that reminded Bethany of her mother answered the ringing phone.

  “He’s got a knife! Hurry!” The words blurted out of Bethany before she could formulate a thorough and proper response.

  “Ma’am? Who has a knife?”

  The woman was calm, so infuriatingly calm. Didn’t she realize lives were at stake? “I – I don’t know…”

  Zeke darted right and Reuben edged left, creating two targets for the knife-wielding scarecrow.

  “What is your location?”

  “The Loving Hands mission. I–I don’t know the address.” The words hiccupped in her throat as the man stepped forward, the blade arcing in a terrifying reflection of harsh florescent light.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” Zeke’s voice was kind, almost loving.

  How could he be nice to a lunatic who was threatening him with a knife?

  The woman on the phone said something, but the words registered as little more than background static.

  Knife Man surged forward, a whine emanating from his throat. The knife whistled through the air, missing Zeke by inches.

  Reuben circled behind Knife Man, wrapping a massive arm around the man’s throat.

  The operator’s voice grew more insistent but the words didn’t register.

  Knife Man swung his arm down and back.

  “Aargh!” Reuben’s deep voice echoed in the space. He released Knife Man and doubled over, his hand going to his side.

  Reuben drew his hand away and stared at it. Something glistened on the black skin.

  While she couldn’t see it, she knew what it was.

  Blood.

  Reuben seemed transfixed by the sight. Unaware of Knife Man advancing.

  Knife Man brought the blade down.

  Eleven

  “No!” The word wrenched from her throat, echoing loudly in the nearly empty room.

  Reuben twisted aside, landing on his uninjured left side on the vinyl floor.

  Pivoting with surprising agility, Knife Man swung toward Reuben.

  Zeke leapt forward, his fingers encircling Knife Man’s wrist.

  Knife Man shoved against Zeke, who stumbled back a few steps but managed to keep his grip on the hand holding the knife.

  Time stalled as the two struggled. The knife tumbled from the man’s hand, clattering on the hard floor.

  In a movement so fluid it was like dancing, Zeke kicked the knife away, spun around the man, and jabbed him on the back of his knees.

  The man’s legs buckled.

  Barely waiting for the man to hit the floor, Zeke captured both the man’s hands, pulled them behind his back, and sat on him.

  Legs thrashed. The man cursed so loudly she bet her kids could hear it in the other room.

  “Bethany!” Zeke glanced her way. “His legs!”

  Of course. Instead of standing here like some kind of helpless idiot, she should help restrain the man until police arrived.

  She raced forward and sat on the man’s calves.

  The dispatcher’s voice squawked from the phone still clutched in her right hand. Too bad. She had bigger issues right now.

  The legs jostled her like an unbroken horse.

  For such a scrawny guy, he was surprisingly strong.

  If he continued to fight like this, she wasn’t sure how long they could hold him.

  “You’re dead! All of you! I’m gonna kill you all!” The man’s roaring echoed off the walls.

  His jerking body almost spilled her onto the floor.

  It looked like Zeke was having just as much trouble containing the man’s upper half as she was the lower. Sweat beaded the forehead of Zeke’s paler-than-usual face.

  Footsteps pounded behind her. She looked to see two uniformed cops jogging toward them.

  Thank you, God!

  She’d never been happier to see the police in her life.

  She scrambled off the man’s legs as the police descended. Releasing his hold on the man, Zeke positioned himself in front of her, between her and the man who’d threatened him with a knife only moments before.

  As soon as the man was in handcuffs, Zeke stepped away and knelt next to Reuben.

  A small pool of blood collected on the vinyl floor.

  Zeke looked at the police officers. “This man needs a doctor.”

  One of the officers radioed it in.

  Bethany grabbed a roll of paper towels and knelt beside Zeke. She wasn’t sure how much good a few measly paper towels were against a stab wound, but it had to be better than nothing, right?

  Ripping off a few, Zeke peeled up Reuben’s ripped blue t-shirt and pressed them to his side.

  Reuben forced a breathless laugh. “See, bro? This is why I say not to get involved.”

  “You didn’t have to this time.”

  “Man, you the closest thing I gots to family.” A small groan followed the words. “‘Sides, I been on the streets long ‘nuff to know when someone’s bad news and that dude was bad news.”

  “Thank you, my friend.”

  “You’d a done the same for me.”

  Zeke didn’t deny it and Bethany had no doubt it was true. Something told her he was the kind of guy who would chase purse snatchers, pull people from car accidents, and rush into a burning building to save puppies.

  There were certainly worse people to have as friends.

  Zeke pulled off a few fresh paper towels and pressed them gently over the top of the bloodstained ones clinging to Reuben’s side. “How’re you doing?”

  Reuben grimaced. “Been better, but the angels ain’t callin’ me home yet.”

  “Well, selfishly I’m glad to hear that.”

  “Ain’t nothin’ selfish ‘bout you.” Reuben shifted, his face contorting at the movement. “Where’d you learn moves like that, anyhow?”

  “God showed me.”

  The door banged open and she turned to see two EMTs pushing a gurney toward them. She slid out of the way, Zeke joining her a second later.

  “Will he be okay?” She kept her voice low so that Reuben wouldn’t overhear.

  “Yes.” Zeke spoke with absolute confidence. “It isn’t that deep.”

  She hadn’t seen him really inspect the wound. “How do you know?”

  “God told me.”

  Just like that, huh?

  He watched as they loaded Reuben onto a stretcher. “Still, I wish Elly were here. Reuben could be up and walking around if she was.”

  That’s right. Zander had said something about Elly healing.

  The adrenaline faded and thoughts of her kids dumped into her mind. “I need to find my kids.”

  Zeke paused. “In the office. Meg’s got them.”

  She shot him a sideways glance. “How…?”

  He pointed up.

  God. Again.

  Well, time to see if there was anything to this.

  She’d only taken two steps before one of the cops approached. “Ma’am, we need you to stick around so we can get your statement.”

  ‘’My kids. I just need to make sure they’re okay.”

  It was more than a need. Desperation clawed at her. She had to see them. Now. Make sure they were okay. And let them know she was okay.

  “They’re inside here somewhere. They must be scared.”

  The officer’s eyes softened. “Go on. But come right back, okay?”

  S
he pushed through the swinging doors.

  No sign of anyone in the kitchen.

  Skirting the work island, she crossed the kitchen that hadn’t seemed that large earlier but was suddenly monstrous. On the other side of the room, she pulled open the door and stepped into the reception area.

  Still no sign of anyone.

  Zeke had said they’d be in the office.

  “JJ? Pete, Becca?” She called out, rounding the reception desk.

  The door on the other side of the room flew open and all three of her kids rushed toward her. Meg watched from the doorway as her kids crashed into her, rocking her back on her feet.

  She held them close, letting their questions buffet her without trying to answer a single one.

  Thank you, Jesus.

  The prayer permeated her heart as she inhaled the scent of the cheap strawberry shampoo she’d bought the kids. Nothing had ever smelled so good.

  JJ pulled back from her, his eyes anxious. “Is Zeke okay?”

  “He’s fine.”

  “What did that man want?”

  That was the question, wasn’t it? One she’d likely have to wait until later to have answered.

  “I don’t know.”

  But she’d find out. Danger had come too close to her kids this time.

  She needed to find out why. Zeke had been awfully calm during the whole thing. If this kind of trouble wasn’t uncommon for him, then it was time to say good-bye. She wouldn’t do anything to put her kids at risk.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Tobias cursed.

  How had he known this would happen?

  “Hey man, everything okay?”

  Tobias jerked his head around, automatically minimizing the window on his monitor.

  Oscar stared at him, a crooked smile on his round face.

  Forcing out a slow breath, he pieced together his lie. “My buddy’s having a party, but I gotta work.”

  Lame. Was that the best he could do?

  Oscar grinned. “That’s the breaks, huh?”

  As Oscar turned back to the monitor in front of him, Tobias maximized the window on his screen.

  He skimmed the police report. That little punk Willie had gotten himself arrested. Assault with a deadly weapon.

  Just assault. Not murder.

  Although technically it shouldn’t have even been that. The instructions had been to make it look like an accident. Knife wounds were not accidental.

  Knowing Willie, he’d been too high to remember the instructions, much less follow them.

  He should’ve known better than to trust this to a loser like Willie. Looked like he’d have to handle it himself.

  At least he could be pretty confident that Willie wouldn’t talk. Willie was never the smartest guy in a room, but the man was smart enough to fear him.

  Even so, arranging a prison altercation to silence Willie might not be a bad thing.

  Especially since, with his priors, Willie really had nothing more to lose.

  He moved on to the list of witnesses.

  Now this was interesting. The second witness on the list was none other than Bethany Summers.

  What had she been doing there?

  If she and that Zeke guy were spending time together, maybe he could take them both down in one swoop.

  Although after today, he doubted the police would buy an accidental death theory, no matter how convincing he made it.

  Well, as long as they didn’t trace it back to him, he didn’t care how it was classified.

  “Uh-oh.”

  What now?

  He shot a glance over at Oscar, who was focused on the screen in front of him.

  Oscar reached for his radio. “Looks like the Almas are mixing it up with the Aryans. Block B.”

  Closing out of the system, he came to stand behind Oscar.

  Sure enough, a Hispanic man stood nose to nose with a heavily tatted white guy who probably had more bluster than brains.

  “On my way.” He headed for the door, even as he heard Oscar calling for more backup.

  The door slammed behind him as he strode for the epicenter of the action.

  He hoped it developed into something. He wanted nothing more than to knock a few heads together.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  A cool wind swept up off the ocean, rustling Zeke’s hair. Storm clouds hovered on the sunset horizon and moisture carried on the breeze, promising rain in the coming overnight hours.

  Ah, Sovereign Lord.

  The prayer went no further than that, for Zeke felt the Father’s presence in his soul. Not in the way he used to, but the Father was still there.

  That was enough.

  The day weighed on him.

  He’d talked to God about it and been comforted, but the altercation at the shelter troubled him.

  Reuben had been hurt trying to help him.

  Bethany and her kids could have been killed because they were with him.

  More concerning though, was God’s revelation that the incident had little to do with him and everything to do with James. Which meant that Bethany and her family were still in danger.

  At least now he had a name. Just a first name, but still a starting point.

  Tobias.

  It was the same name James had written in that electronic file.

  He’d ask around, see if he couldn’t get some answers.

  For Bethany’s sake.

  Soft footfalls sounded on the deck behind him.

  His first thought was of the man from earlier, which was ridiculous since he was in police custody.

  I protect this boat.

  Peace settled over him. Yes, God had always protected their boat. Trouble sometimes found them out in the world, but God kept a shield around them on the boat. It was a safe place in turbulent seas.

  He turned as Bethany drew up next to him.

  The wind tousled her short blonde curls. Curls he really wanted to touch for some reason.

  The silence between them held a weight that was larger than the two of them combined. Something burdened her.

  Lord, give me wisdom.

  “How are the kids?” They had bounced back from the afternoon’s stress remarkably fast, but had seemed especially fatigued over dinner.

  “Asleep.” Bethany shook her head. “Before nine on a weekend. It’s a small miracle.”

  “Well, it was a bit of a crazy day.”

  That silence dominated once again, before she finally broke it with a sigh. “So earlier… what was that all about? Why did that man come after you?”

  Desperation lingered in her eyes, like she was begging him to say it wasn’t about James.

  He wished he could set her mind at ease, but it would be a lie.

  “I don’t know why exactly, but it was because of James. Because of what we saw on the memory stick.”

  Her curls whipped side to side as she shook her head violently. “No! That doesn’t make sense. He would have come after me. If it was about James.”

  The disjointed sentence tumbled out. He captured her hand, which had about as much warmth in it as the waters surrounding his childhood home, and led her to the bench. Without releasing her hand, he sat, and she dropped onto the cushion beside him. “I’m sorry.”

  Her chin quivered. “But. You knew him. You called him Willie.”

  “He comes around for meals sometimes. I try to learn as many names as I can.” People needed to know that they mattered.

  “But… but… Tobias! You said Tobias sent him.”

  If only he had some answers for her. He shrugged. “God gave me the name. I don’t know what it means or who Tobias is, just that someone named Tobias put Willie up to attacking me. It was the name on the file.”

  “The file…?” Understanding dawned in her eyes. A sob bubbled out and Bethany used her free hand to swipe at the tear meandering down her cheek. “It’s my fault. That you were attacked. Again. You could’ve been killed. Your friend was hurt. Because of me.”

  “Hey.” H
e cupped her cheek, gently turning her face until she met his eyes directly. Tears glistened in the bloodshot hazel eyes staring back at him. “This is not your fault. This is happening because of choices James made, not you.”

  “But–”

  “James made a lot of foolish choices.” He stared at her. She was so close. “The biggest of which was leaving you.”

  Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before closing. She leaned in, pressing her lips against his.

  What…?

  As if it had a mind of its own, his hand slid from her cheek and into her hair.

  Seconds melted together. Sounds faded into the background. Thoughts ceased. It was just him and Bethany.

  With a gasp, she pulled back.

  He blinked her into focus.

  Wide eyes stared back at him. Her fingers went to her lips and she jumped to her feet. Red flamed across her cheeks, painting them the color of the California sunset. “I–I’m s–s–sorry.”

  “Why?” A grin spread across his face. “I kinda liked it.”

  “I–I… it’s late. I’m turning in.” She spun and hurried across the deck.

  As she disappeared inside the cabin, he turned his face to the sky. Darkness had fallen while they’d been out here and stars spread across the expanse above him. He stretched out on the cushion and stared at the artistry of the Creator.

  His tongue passed over still tingling lips, tasting the salt from her tears on them.

  Only a few days and already he was picturing his future with Bethany and her kids in it.

  Maybe the kiss indicated that she felt the same way.

  If he could just keep her safe from the man who killed James, they might have a shot at something more.

  He couldn’t do it alone.

  As his eyes closed on the stars, his heart turned to the One who had made them.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Bethany hurried down the narrow stairs, her face burning.

  She was so stupid! How could she have been so impulsive? She was never so forward, never. And she had to choose now to initiate contact? With someone so much better than her, someone so far out of her league that it was a small miracle they could occupy the same space?

  Worse than that, she wanted to do it again.

  How had her heart gotten so entangled in such a short amount of time?

  Tears blurred her vision as her feet hit the kitchen floor.