seen a great light. Show me that light, Colonel, or He may choose a new path for me, separate from the one you walk.”
“Tomorrow,” Turwell relented, “I’ll take you to see our weapon tomorrow.”
“Then leave me now,” Rule said, easing himself back into position of prayer before the altar, “so I may pray my eyes are ready for what they are to behold.”
Rule waited until he was sure Turwell was gone before rising and moving toward his private office placed at the church’s rear. “You can come out now,” he called. “It’s safe.”
CHAPTER 25
Blountstown, Florida
The young woman who’d come to him at the Tampa service that very day emerged from his office, trembling with arms wrapped about herself.
“Come, child, let God warm you.”
Rule took her hand and led her up onto the altar with him. The dim overhead bulbs cast her face in a mixture of shadows and light that only added to her beauty. Her unwashed hair had turned stringy, smelling of must and oil, but still framed her face in a way that made her look sad and hopeful at the same time.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Reverend,” she said, lips quivering. “I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
“God’s house is home to all.”
“I converted to Islam to marry my husband, Reverend. I’m a traitor.”
“There are no traitors here, only those who seek His love.”
“Can you help me?”
“Only He can. I’m merely His vessel.”
“I could never leave the house without my head covered, like I was hiding myself, my true faith. How could I not see it, Reverend?”
Rule wrapped a tender arm around her shoulder. “Because you were deceived, my child. I shall call you Rachel, she too a victim of deception, as the Bible tells us, when she was supposed to marry Jacob. They are born deceivers, these people who welcomed you only to trick you into betraying your faith and God.”
She fell against him, hugging Rule tightly through her sobs, her tears dampening his shirt. “I did betray Him, I know I did!”
“You can still be saved, Rachel.”
She eased herself away from him, still clutching Rule by the elbows. “How, Reverend? I’ll do anything .”
“Your sin lies in your tongue, in the words you spoke against the Lord and your true faith. Salvation comes with a price.”
“I told you, anything ! I’ll pay the price. Just tell me!”
“The object of your sin must be excised, sliced away so it can betray you no more.”
Rachel opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words emerged.
Rule extracted a knife from a sheath clipped to his belt and extended it out to her.
“Cut it out.”
Rachel took the knife, turned it around from one side to the other, watching the blade struggling to glint in the naked light of the church.
“Cut it out, my child.”
She looked back at Rule.
“Slice the tongue from your mouth, so it may never betray you again and find yourself welcomed back to the house of the Lord.”
He watched Rachel start the knife up slowly in a trembling hand.
“In pain there is salvation. In sacrifice there is hope.”
The knife stopped, then started again. She opened her mouth.
“I’m with you, Rachel. God is with you. Prove yourself to Him. Return to His graces.”
The tip of the blade disappeared between her lips, then the rest of it, the young woman’s eyes never leaving Rule’s.
He nodded placidly. Closed his eyes, then opened them. Nodded again. Giving her as much time as she needed, as much as time as it took.
The woman he’d named Rachel jerked the knife up and to the side.
The screaming began.
CHAPTER 26
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
“Right on time, Hank,” McCracken said, coming up alongside the man from Homeland Security, the wind blowing harder off the nearby water in the chilly early morning air.
Folsom shivered and took his gloved hands from the pockets of his topcoat. “Why here, McCracken? Why not just meet at the North Pole?”
“Because I didn’t want to bother Santa
“Tomorrow,” Turwell relented, “I’ll take you to see our weapon tomorrow.”
“Then leave me now,” Rule said, easing himself back into position of prayer before the altar, “so I may pray my eyes are ready for what they are to behold.”
Rule waited until he was sure Turwell was gone before rising and moving toward his private office placed at the church’s rear. “You can come out now,” he called. “It’s safe.”
CHAPTER 25
Blountstown, Florida
The young woman who’d come to him at the Tampa service that very day emerged from his office, trembling with arms wrapped about herself.
“Come, child, let God warm you.”
Rule took her hand and led her up onto the altar with him. The dim overhead bulbs cast her face in a mixture of shadows and light that only added to her beauty. Her unwashed hair had turned stringy, smelling of must and oil, but still framed her face in a way that made her look sad and hopeful at the same time.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Reverend,” she said, lips quivering. “I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
“God’s house is home to all.”
“I converted to Islam to marry my husband, Reverend. I’m a traitor.”
“There are no traitors here, only those who seek His love.”
“Can you help me?”
“Only He can. I’m merely His vessel.”
“I could never leave the house without my head covered, like I was hiding myself, my true faith. How could I not see it, Reverend?”
Rule wrapped a tender arm around her shoulder. “Because you were deceived, my child. I shall call you Rachel, she too a victim of deception, as the Bible tells us, when she was supposed to marry Jacob. They are born deceivers, these people who welcomed you only to trick you into betraying your faith and God.”
She fell against him, hugging Rule tightly through her sobs, her tears dampening his shirt. “I did betray Him, I know I did!”
“You can still be saved, Rachel.”
She eased herself away from him, still clutching Rule by the elbows. “How, Reverend? I’ll do anything .”
“Your sin lies in your tongue, in the words you spoke against the Lord and your true faith. Salvation comes with a price.”
“I told you, anything ! I’ll pay the price. Just tell me!”
“The object of your sin must be excised, sliced away so it can betray you no more.”
Rachel opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words emerged.
Rule extracted a knife from a sheath clipped to his belt and extended it out to her.
“Cut it out.”
Rachel took the knife, turned it around from one side to the other, watching the blade struggling to glint in the naked light of the church.
“Cut it out, my child.”
She looked back at Rule.
“Slice the tongue from your mouth, so it may never betray you again and find yourself welcomed back to the house of the Lord.”
He watched Rachel start the knife up slowly in a trembling hand.
“In pain there is salvation. In sacrifice there is hope.”
The knife stopped, then started again. She opened her mouth.
“I’m with you, Rachel. God is with you. Prove yourself to Him. Return to His graces.”
The tip of the blade disappeared between her lips, then the rest of it, the young woman’s eyes never leaving Rule’s.
He nodded placidly. Closed his eyes, then opened them. Nodded again. Giving her as much time as she needed, as much as time as it took.
The woman he’d named Rachel jerked the knife up and to the side.
The screaming began.
CHAPTER 26
Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey
“Right on time, Hank,” McCracken said, coming up alongside the man from Homeland Security, the wind blowing harder off the nearby water in the chilly early morning air.
Folsom shivered and took his gloved hands from the pockets of his topcoat. “Why here, McCracken? Why not just meet at the North Pole?”
“Because I didn’t want to bother Santa
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