“Surprised tosee me or just surprised to see mealive?”
I’d known Stuartfor about three years now, having first met him when he was made deacon at thechurch. He’d quickly gained my father’s favor and was soon moved to thesecurity team, which came as a shock to most of us, as Stuart had always beensweet and soft spoken. Unlike Miller and Mundy, who were exactly the type ofguys you’d expect to be on a security team. Daddy proudly referred to them asthe Deadly Duo. I called them the Bonehead Brigade, but only to myself, ofcourse. Stuart had a wife and daughter, whom he seemed completely devoted to. Icouldn’t begin to understand how a man like that was prepared to commit mass murder.
“Wh…what?How…how are you here?” he stammered.
“Is it true?” Iasked, ignoring his question. “Were you going to shoot us?”
“Your fatherbrought us here to do the Lord’s work,” he replied.
“Answer me!” Ishouted. “Did my father order you to shoot me and the other protesters?”
He nodded,bursting into tears. “Pastor told us that God had instructed him to sacrificetwelve spotless lambs from his flock, including his own daughter. Just as Godinstructed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.”
“And youbelieved him? You believed that it was God’s plan for you to commit the massmurder of twelve innocent people?”
“Thirteen,” hecorrected. “There was to be one more counted among the dead, me.”
“What?”
“After wecarried out our orders, Mundy was supposed to shoot me. Pastor said the storyof being ambushed by the Cauld Ane would be more believable if one of thesecurity team had been killed along with the others. That’s why I was separatedfrom the others when Gunnach’s security team found us.”
“Why would youagree to any of this? To allow yourself to be murdered?”
“All of God’ssoldiers should be willing to lay down their lives in service to him,” Stuartsaid.
I shook my head.“Not like that.”
“We were chosento die as martyrs for God’s kingdom. Can’t you see?”
“You were goingto leave your wife a widow and your daughter without a father.”
“The Lord hadalready seen fit to that, three years ago when I was diagnosed with stage threecolon cancer. I only have a handful of years left anyway.”
“What did myfather promise you?”
Stuart’s eyesmet mine before locking onto the floor. “Pastor promised me that Camila andLeah would be taken care of financially for the rest of their lives. He told mehe would personally see to it that Leah attend all the best schools in thecountry, and that he would find a good and suitable man for Camila to marryafter my passing. Plus, he’d put ten million dollars in a private trust forthem.”
“I can’t believeI ever thought you were sweet,” I rasped. “You’re just as bad as the rest ofthem. You’re all horrible, evil men who blindly dance to my father’s tune.”
“It was you,wasn’t it?” Stuart asked. “You were the one who warned the Cauld Ane of ourattack.”
“That’s right,”I said.
“How did youknow?” he asked.
“Clearly, I’mnot as stupid as you all thought.”
“I never thoughtyou were stupid, but I also never thought you would deny your savior and fallin league with the children of Satan.”
“The Cauld Anehave done nothing but protect me and show me kindness.”
“Instead offollowing God’s true path, you’ve allowed yourself to become a politicalprisoner of the Cauld Ane. You’ve chosen the side of evil, and you will burnfor it.”
“I wasn’t theone who was willing to commit murder and suicide for the promise of money.”
“I was thinkingof my family when I signed that contract with your father.”
“Which wouldhave gone straight into the shredder the second you were dead,” I bit out.
