Empty Is the Grave

by Candle Sutton

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Why weren’t they back yet?

  Rafe looked at the lighthouse door for the dozenth time in the last minute.

  How long had they been gone? It felt like hours, although he knew it hadn’t been that long. Still, shouldn’t they have heard something by now?

  He glanced over at Cortez. “Yo. You hear from Rush?”

  Cortez stared at him for a long second. “No.”

  Would Cortez even tell him if Rush had communicated? Hard to say.

  A weight pressed on him.

  It was an unfamiliar feeling, one that left him feeling both breathless and burdened at the same time.

  What was going on?

  Maybe he was having some kind of panic attack. He’d never had one before, but if ever there was a time for it, now would be the time, right?

  Yet he didn’t feel panicked. Or on edge or even overly worried, all things considered.

  Just burdened.

  Pray.

  The word murmured through his mind.

  But he’d already done that.

  A verse about praying without ceasing filtered through his memory. He couldn’t remember the exact words, or even the context in which it was written, but he remembered the admonition to pray without ceasing.

  Okay. If he was supposed to pray, he’d pray.

  He started with Josiah, moved on to Rush, then prayed for each person in the room with him. He prayed for the police or whoever was coming and that God would stop the people causing all this trouble.

  And he prayed for whatever was going on spiritually. He didn’t understand it all, but it was big enough that God had sent Josiah here to fight, so it must be pretty major, right?

  “You don’t seem like a bad guy.”

  Chloe’s soft words interrupted his prayer.

  He opened his eyes to find her watching him with a strange curiosity. She’d done that a lot since they’d been trapped in here.

  Most likely, she hadn’t spent any time around inmates or former convicts before. He was probably a fascination, much like exotic animals in a zoo.

  “I ain’t perfect. But God’s bigger than my sin.”

  Switch was watching him now, too. “What makes you so sure God’s there, huh?”

  “I felt Him here.” Rafe thumped his fist against his chest. “Dunno exactly how to explain it, but there was a difference, man. Soon as I talked to Jesus, I felt Him do somethin’ in me. Not like He sprung me outta prison or nothing, but I feel Him with me.”

  “Even here?” Chloe’s dark eyes swallowed her face.

  “Yeah. He hasn’t told me I’m gonna live through this junk, but if I don’t at least God’s got me. Jus’ knowin’ that gives me peace.”

  In fact, it was weird how calm he felt.

  Sure, there was some anxiety over what the upcoming minutes or hours would bring, but he had an eerie tranquility about it all.

  “Shhh!” Cortez hissed, slowly pushing up from the wall. “I hear something.”

  Chloe sucked in an abrupt breath, her face blanching.

  Rafe worked to control his own breathing as he strained to hear whatever it was that Cortez thought he’d heard.

  A faint popping noise echoed through the broken window above them.

  More gunfire.

  He’d heard enough today to last him a lifetime. Several lifetimes, actually.

  Were Rush and Josiah in the middle of that battle? Or were they a safe distance away?

  A glimmer of anxiety lit through him.

  What would he do if Josiah was shot? Josiah, the man who had led him to Jesus and who was teaching him to walk like Jesus did?

  It was time to pray some more. Because God was sovereign, but life was still uncertain.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  “Your name.” The wetsuit-wearing, gun-toting man stared at Rush.

  Why did the man care about his…?

  His gaze fell on the small emblem on the man’s left chest. Looked like the San Francisco PD emblem.

  “Sergeant Daryl Rushworth. I’m in charge of the prison work detail on this island.” Or at least he had been, before he’d lost most of his men and the inmates assigned to him.

  The gun never wavered. “ID.”

  Rush held up his open hands and slowly reached for his pocket, withdrawing his badge and prison ID card.

  He tossed it toward the man, who easily caught it and studied it while his wetsuited friends continued to keep their weapons trained on both him and Josiah.

  “SFPD SWAT.” The man nodded at Josiah. “And you are?”

  “Josiah.” Josiah offered a somber nod.

  Yeah. That simple introduction was not going to fly. “He’s one of the chaplains at the prison.”

  The man lifted an eyebrow. “You bring a chaplain along on work assignments?”

  How the heck was he going to explain this one? “Not generally. It’s complicated.”

  “Got ID?” Wetsuit Man didn’t lower his weapon as he assessed Josiah with an impassive expression.

  Josiah lifted his arms in a helpless shrug. “Not with me. I didn’t think I’d need it, since I wasn’t going to the prison.”

  A narrowing of Wetsuit Man’s eyes indicated his displeasure.

  Rush felt his breath catch in his lungs. They didn’t have time for this man’s suspicions. “He’s one of us. I personally vouch–”

  More gunfire peppered the air, causing all of them to instinctively duck.

  It only took a second to realize that the gunfire was not close, probably back at the cave where those men had been assembling.

  The man finally lowered his gun and approached. “Fine. I think you can provide us some valuable intel, but let’s get out of the open.”

  He and Josiah joined the men under the trees.

  “What’s the situation on this rock?”

  While one of the SWAT guys stood guard, Rush recapped what he knew. Which, honestly, didn’t feel like a heck of a lot.

  The SWAT leader nodded slowly. “And you think your men are dead?”

  Rush swallowed the brick lodged in his throat. “Yeah. The enemy got one of their coms and I haven’t heard from anyone, so it seems likely.”

  “What about the prisoners?”

  That was a big variable in this mess. “I don’t know. We brought thirty-five men with us today. I don’t know the status of thirty-four of them.”

  Wait. That wasn’t true. He’d seen at least four dead down on those rocks. “Thirty. I know at least four men are down.”

  The SWAT leader uttered a low curse. “Worst case scenario, we have to assume that they’ve joined up with whatever group is causing this disturbance.”

  That thought had already occurred to him, too. “How many men you got with you?”

  “Right now? Just us.”

  So, four.

  Man. They were toast.

  “But we have a boat waiting offshore. Our mission is to take out any opposition at the dock so our men can land, then we’ll take this island back.”

  Rush nodded. “I can help. Two tours in Iraq, active combat.”

  “I’ll take you up on that. First, let’s get the rest of my team ashore.”

  The man had never said how big his team was, just that they were offshore. He hoped they’d brought an army with them, because something told him they were seriously outgunned and outnumbered.

  Fourteen

  The wait was killing him.

  Zander checked the time. Really? Only two minutes since the last time he’d looked?

  He would’ve sworn at least ten minutes had gone by.

  As much as he tried to pray, his mind kept straying to the island and the occasional bursts of gunfire that drifted across the bay.

  When would they get the green light to approach?

  Would they get it?

  Truly, he had no way of knowing that the divers had even reached the island, much less gotten onshore.

  Please, God. We need to get on that island. Safeg
uard Josiah until we make it.

  The prayer eased his anxiety a little, but concerns for Josiah’s well-being still haunted him.

  If Josiah were here, he’d remind Zander that God had numbered each of his days, and he’d live until God said his time was up.

  He’d remind Zander that God was always good, even in the darkest of circumstances.

  His phone dinged. A text from Elly, asking if he’d seen Josiah yet.

  He winced.

  As much as he didn’t want to respond negatively, not responding would be even worse. He punched out a quick reply.

  Not yet. I’ll let you know. Keep praying.

  He shot up another prayer that Elly would have peace as they waited for news. As sick as she’d been, the last thing she needed was the emotional upheaval she was likely experiencing right now.

  “We have the green light.”

  He whipped around as Sampson, the SWAT Commander, waved to both captains.

  The engines sputtered to life, drowning out any gunfire that may or may not be coming from the island.

  Morgan came up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder. “Better gear up. These boats don’t have a stealth mode. If they’ve got anyone close by, they’re gonna hear us coming.”

  A rock formed in Zander’s throat.

  Morgan was right.

  He hoped those divers had done a good job securing the dock area. Otherwise they might be sailing to their death.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  “Stay here.”

  The man in the wetsuit, who seemed to be leading the rest of the SWAT divers, had pointed his finger at Josiah and given very firm instructions before heading toward the dock.

  As much as he didn’t like defying authority, God’s instructions carried more weight.

  Josiah picked his way across the rocky ground, moving away from the hiding place he’d been instructed to stay in, following the leading of his Father.

  It’d been almost ten minutes since Josiah had last seen any of the divers, or Rush, and in that time he’d heard more gunfire. It sounded as though it had come from the dock, where Rush and the SWAT team had been headed.

  However, God wasn’t leading him toward them.

  No. God was leading him in the opposite direction.

  Why?

  He rounded a cluster of trees and stopped short.

  Four inmates huddled together in the overgrown brush.

  They whipped around to face him.

  Two of them were semi-regular attenders of his Bible studies back at the prison, but he didn’t know the others.

  One of the men, a paunchy middle-aged man named Fred, jumped up. “Josiah? What’re you doing here?”

  He spread his hands to show that he had no weapons. “God sent me to help.”

  Each of the men shook like he was caught in a hurricane, but none of them appeared to be injured.

  Fred came and clasped him in a tight hug. “I’m glad to see you. You have no idea what we’ve been through.”

  Actually, he knew quite well. “How did you get out here?”

  The men exchanged a look. Fred answered. “We were given a choice. Help them or die. So we said we’d help. Then, when the bullets started flyin’ we managed to escape. Been hiding out, wondering when the cops would arrive.”

  One of the other men shook his head slowly. “Never thought I’d say this, but I just wanna go back to my cell. At least there’re rules there.”

  He sensed it was time to head to the dock. “I think our help has arrived. Come on.”

  The men fell into step behind him.

  Every bit of training that had been drilled into him since he’d started working in the prisons said to never turn your back on an inmate, yet he knew that today, in this instance, it was safe to do so.

  The Father had confirmed it.

  He reached his hiding place in time to see Rush approaching.

  Rush whipped his gun up and sighted on them.

  “It’s okay, brother.” Josiah gestured to the men behind him. “They want to be taken back. They can also give us some information on the group we’re up against.”

  Rush gestured with his gun. “This way. Head for the dock.”

  Passing Rush, who stood warily out of arm’s reach, Josiah led the group toward the dock.

  Two police boats bobbed by the walkway. A cluster of officers in tactical gear rushed down the wooden planks.

  One man broke free and sprinted toward them.

  Zander?

  Zander crashed into him, enfolding him in a hug. A bulletproof vest covered Zander’s torso, the hard material bashing against Josiah’s ribs.

  If Zander noticed, he didn’t seem to care. “It’s good to see you. You have any idea how worried Elly is?”

  He could imagine. Regret shafted through him. The last thing he’d wanted was to cause trouble. “I told her to pray.”

  “So did I.” Zander pulled back and shook his head slightly. “But you know all those hormones have really thrown her off.”

  Sadly, that was very true. Elly hadn’t been herself lately.

  “I’m sorry to have worried her, but when God calls…”

  “You answer.” Zander nodded knowingly. “Well, you’re safe now. We’ll get you, and the rest of these guys, on the boat. Then we’ll put a stop to this.”

  Rush led the four inmates on the boat and secured them, then returned to where Zander and Josiah waited.

  “I’ve got a guard, one more inmate, and two civilians locked in the lighthouse. Let’s get them down here, then I’ll help you round up the criminals responsible for all this.” Rush pointed back at the boat where he’d left the four inmates. “I have the captain calling for more boats because according to those guys, we’re gonna need them. They claim we’re up against at least fifty people.”

  Zander flinched.

  Josiah did a brief head count of the SWAT team and police in the vicinity.

  Counting Rush and Cortez, there’d be only about twenty police.

  Then he noticed the boat anchored further off shore. Several smaller boats approached, each one loaded with people.

  That improved the odds greatly, but one very important fact outweighed them all.

  God was on their side.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  “Yes!” Cortez jumped to his feet and pumped the air.

  Rafe stared at the man who rarely showed any emotion but disdain. That reaction could only mean one thing. “Rush say somethin’?”

  “Pirate!” Cortez crowed. “He gave the code word.”

  Pirate. Rush had found a boat!

  Cortez gestured at Chloe. “Help her. We gotta get moving.”

  Rafe reached for one of Chloe’s arms while Switch took her other one. She stumbled to her feet, gingerly holding her swollen foot up, while they each ducked under one of her arms.

  Cortez removed the boards from the door and cracked the door open, surveying the outside before pulling the door open further.

  No gunshots. That was a good thing, right?

  Rafe didn’t want to think about what they’d do if Cortez was taken down right now.

  The guy might be a jerk, but they needed him.

  Besides, no one deserved to be gunned down.

  Cortez gestured for them to follow. “Come on.”

  He and Switch hurried to keep up. Between them, he was pretty sure they bore all of Chloe’s weight, but that was okay. The poor kid needed a break after the night she’d had.

  Movement caught his eye as they rounded the corner of the prison.

  They’d been discovered!

  He pulled back and Switch stumbled, losing his hold on Chloe. Rafe caught her before she went down, somehow managing to keep both of them upright.

  “Come on!”

  Rush?

  Rafe looked up to see Rush, Josiah… and Zander? How did…?

  Zander’s mouth worked but no sound came out for the space of several heartbeats.

  Seconds passed before he shook his
head and waved his gun toward the path behind them. “We need to move.”

  Switch resumed his position on Chloe’s other side and they hurried forward. Zander led the way and Rush took up position at the rear, with Josiah and Cortez flanking them.

  It was weird to see Zander after all this time, but he could see that Josiah had been right. Zander looked good.

  No sign of the drawn and depressed alcoholic Rafe had last seen. Instead, his eyes no longer looked sunken, his body had filled back out, and his movements were sure and steady.

  Although he’d known from the start that Elly would be good for his old friend.

  Why had he waited so long to make things right?

  At least God had given him a chance now to finally do the right thing.

  As they approached the two boats bobbing by the dock, he caught a flash of orange. More inmates. Others had survived?

  Only four were on the boat, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others still hiding on the island.

  Maybe they’d all made it. Wouldn’t that be something?

  Zander led them past the first boat, the one where the other inmates were, and brought them aboard the second boat.

  After helping Chloe get settled on one of the chairs, he turned and clasped Zander in a hug. “Dude, I’m sorry.”

  Zander pulled back, crinkling his brow. “For?”

  “Shuttin’ you out. Really thought I was toxic.”

  “How could you think that?” Zander shook his head. “Never mind. We’ll iron it all out later. For now, I need to get out there and help.”

  “Watch your back, bro.” Dumb thing to say. Zander was a trained cop.

  “Yeah.” Zander hesitated. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta move you to the other boat and put you in irons. Can’t show you any special favors, you know?”

  “Do what you gotta do, man. Don’t wanna cause you no trouble.” Besides, after the morning he’d had? Shackles were seriously not a big deal.

  “Can he stay here?” Red flushed up Chloe’s neck and she averted her eyes. “I feel safer with him around.”

  Really? That was a first.

  He didn’t think anyone had ever said that about him. It was kinda nice, feeling like he was doing something good.