He would stop her.
Whatever it took.
4
The Living Word Church, 6:10 a.m.
“Amen.” Reverend Christopher Mahaney lifted his head and gazed at the beautiful crucifix adorning the wall beyond the modest altar.
He had prayed for most of the night. A sweet child was still missing. Christopher’s eyes pinched shut in agony. Another lay dead beneath a snow-covered blanket of earth.
The devil had ascended upon the community of Youngstown with devastating impact, igniting a ripple, the full effects of which were building, broadening, threatening ...
“Forgive me, Father,” Christopher murmured, the anguish seizing his faulty heart again.
He’d begged for forgiveness over and over during the days since the first girl had gone missing. Though his heavenly Father forgave His children freely, Christopher was not so sure he would ever truly be forgiven for this despicable mistake. A sin for which he had no acceptable excuse.
Except that he was guilty of just one thing—giving her what she wanted.
She had cried on his shoulder and told him of her desperation ... of her darkest desires. She had needed him. He had surrendered to the temptation. Then, afterward, she had changed her story. Insisted he had misunderstood her needs.
Anger trickled into his veins. He served his congregation selflessly ... was always there for each and every one of them. Did no one see his own needs? He was, after all, only human.
Christopher resisted the frustration and anger. Ultimately, the error was his. No matter the excuse. The path of repentance was the only road to forgiveness.
Perhaps forgiveness was not the issue ... but punishment.
He squeezed his hands together in supplication.
“Give me the strength, Father, to stand firm during the coming trials.”
When the chosen time came, there was no escaping God’s wrath. As a faithful servant, he would not be so bold as to wish to escape. He was not entitled to mercy. The wherewithal to endure would be gift enough. He must humbly accept whatever punishment his dear Lord decreed.
But not this . . .
His chest heaved with a burdened breath.
She would arrive today.
Mere hours from now.
He had read accounts of her exploits in other towns, with other cases. She left many desolated lives in her wake. Not even the innocent stood in her way. As God had sent forth his faithful servant Ezekiel amid the children of Israel to reveal their sins and to give warning ... she, too, came forth as a revealer and to give warning.
The truth would be exposed, naked in the light, for all to see and be outraged.
There was no escaping. No hiding. Not when one’s fate had been ordained.
Christopher genuinely feared that the Divine decision regarding his having succumbed to the sins of the flesh had already been made.
He was as certain as a lowly human could be.
She was his punishment.
How would he endure?
5
Youngstown Municipal Offices, 1:55 p.m.
