A Softening of The Heart
Staci Cohen opened her eyes and gasped. She was blind. There was nothing she could see but black. Pitch black. It was the most disorienting, terrifying experience she had ever gone through. Panic set in and she began to wave her arms, trying to grab something that would give her some kind of focus. That would reel her back in from her terror.
She tried to scream, but found herself choking on dust. A fit of coughing followed. As she coughed, she realized she was laying on a hard surface. It felt like a cold, cement floor. After her coughing subsided, she sat up. She managed to get a hold of her panic and bring it down to a level she could tolerate, yet she feared being blind. She feared the darkness. Memories of being locked in a basement or a closet by an overbearing control freak of a husband resurfaced. She had to force herself to remember two things.
She was no longer married to that man.
She was a child of God’s.
She took a deep breath and swallowed. “God…please, help me…”
That’s when she remembered what had happened. She had just been rescued from the clutches of a killer and was with Michael Lenox when the quake struck. The floor had literally dropped out from their feet and they had fallen.
“Michael…” she said. “Michael! Michael, where are you?”
Frantically, she felt her way in the darkness. She came across a piece of the flooring and someone was under it.
“Michael?” She used her hands to feel what she couldn’t see. Someone was laying on the floor under a pile of debris that had once been the floor of the warehouse above. She felt his face and knew it was Lenox.
But Lenox wasn’t responding.
“Oh, God…please d-don’t take him! He doesn’t know You yet.” Tears in her eyes, she continued to feel her way over Lenox. There was a beam over him and she already knew she couldn’t move it. She couldn’t see exactly where it was so even if she could move it, she had no way of knowing what would happen without her vision.
Some of her vision was returning as her sight adjusted to the dark, but not enough to see by. She saw dark shapes that she couldn’t recognize. She realized that she wasn’t blind. She and Lenox were in a dark place. There was no light because the collapse of the warehouse above them had blocked it almost completely off. What light from the sun that managed to shine through nooks and crannies was not enough to give her the light she needed. Only enough to almost make out her surroundings.
She used her hands to feel Lenox’ face and leaned her head closer. She was relieved to hear that he was breathing. He wasn’t dead. He was unconscious.
“Thank You, Lord,” she said, grateful for an answer to her prayer. Wiping at her tears, she tried to think of what to do next.
There was only one thing she could think of.
“Help!! Somebody, please help us!!”
There was no response to her pleas.
She called out once more for help, but was once more overcome by a fit of coughing. As she tried to get control of it, she heard Lenox.
“Could you keep it down here?” he said as if they weren’t trapped beneath a collapsed warehouse. “I’m trying to sleep.”
Staci couldn’t help it. She smiled. “Michael…? Michael, are you okay? Are…are you hurt?”
Lenox groaned. “I can’t see…” He paused as he felt with his hands the debris he was under. “My legs are trapped under this…blasted pile. I don’t feel any pain…Just can’t move them.”
“No pain?”
He shook his head even though he knew she couldn’t see the gesture. “No. No, I don’t feel any pain.” He used his hands to feel the beam on his legs. He tested it by pushing, but it didn’t move. He was certain if he put more effort into it, he might be able to move it. The only reason he didn’t try it yet was because he was uncertain what would happen if he did. He could end up dislodging more of the warehouse to collapse on them. He could do something that might break his legs. Without being able to see, he didn’t trust the dark.
Staci put her hand on his arm. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Y-you gave me a scare.”
“Boo,” he said.
“Oh, good. You have a sense of humor after all.”
“Yeah. You know what else I’ve got?”
She hesitated. “No…what?”
“A flashlight.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. It was the size of a marker and when he turned it on, it improved their sight greatly. With a light source, they could now see their surroundings.
They were completely surrounded by debris, wooden beams and broken bricks. It was like being in a very confined crawlspace in a basement. Lenox shone the light around, but any way he looked was very much the same. Then, he shown the light onto the beam on his legs.
“Wow,” Staci said. “God is really looking out for you, Michael. Maybe you should stop ignoring Him and come to Him, don’t you think?”
The beam was at an angle just above his legs with a huge chunk of broken wall also wedged under the beam. It was the broken wall that prevented the beam from collapsing further. It had kept Lenox’ legs from being crushed. He discovered that he could actually move his legs to the side and pull himself out from under it completely. Once he was out from under it, he turned to face Staci and sat on the floor in front of her.
“That was fun,” he said.
“Do you always carry a flashlight with you?” she asked him.
He nodded. “All good agents do. In case we get lost in the dark.”
“What else do you have?”
“I have my gun, but not even I believe we can shoot our way out of this one.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “Are you trying to be funny? Is this the Lenox humor I was told you didn’t have?”
He shook his head and reached into his jacket again. This time, he pulled out a cell phone. “Is this funny?”
She shook her head. “Funny, no, but I’m glad you have it.”
He flipped it open. “Kirk to Enterprise. Come in, Enter…prise.”
She gave him the look.
He grinned. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.” He tried his speed dial and put the phone to his ear. After a short pause, he said, “Great. We still have access on the cell. I’m being directed to Bear’s voicemail.” He paused. “Al, Staci and I are trapped under a warehouse…Wait a minute. Why am I calling you? Ace and Rookie are topside somewhere. Never mind. Just get a hold of them and get out here as soon as you can.” He broke the connection.
“You called me Staci,” Staci observed.
He looked at her. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is, but you call me ‘Doc’. I like it when you call me by my name.”
He paused. “Are you okay?”
“Yes and no. I can’t control my words quite well when I’m scared, but I’m okay as long as…as long as you’re with me. And I’m glad that you’re okay.”
He looked at her for a moment. Then, he tried another number. After one ring, it was answered. “Ace…”
“Knox, man, is that you? Are you and Doc okay?”
“We’re okay. We’re just…trapped. I don’t see anyway out for us without you guys digging us out.”
“We have a few guys up here, man, but I have to tell ya…We need help. I think we’re on our own here, Knox. We’re seein’ a lot of smoke over Albany and help isn’t comin’”
Lenox let out a sigh. “Yeah, I figured it was bad. Just…go get help, Ace. I know there had to be a handful of people with you. You can’t possibly dig through this to help us. Get some help, and come back.”
LeBeau began to protest. “We’ll get you out of there, Knox! If we have to dig with our bare hands, we--”
“That’s just it. You are digging with your bare hands. Listen to me. Go. Get. Help. Staci and I are alive. We’re not going any where. We’ll be here when you get back.”
“Okay…Alright…but I don’t like leavin’ you like this.”
“Get over it.”
“Right. Okay. I’ll…be back as soon as I can.”
Lenox closed the cell phone and put it in his jacket. “Well…I guess we can do nothing but wait.”
Staci nodded. “Okay. And while we wait…I know what I’m going to do.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to witness to you.”
What kind of God could sit by and let this happen? Sheriff Hoag asked himself for the hundredth or so time as he remained on his knees beside the body of a man he once called family. Then, he answered his own question. This isn’t God’s fault. This is Bollinger’s fault. That man killed my friend!
He looked up toward the heavens and raised a fist. “But that doesn’t put You off the hook! How many people are You going to keep taking from me? Peter was my only…” He stopped. He closed his eyes and put his face in his hands.
He was filled with anger.
His wife died of cancer seven years ago. His only son one year after that was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Peter Chase had been the only one left that he considered as family. Now Peter was gone.
“Why, God…?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “I don’t understand.”
“Sheriff!” a voice called from above.
Hoag looked up. David King and John Saint looked down from the top of the cliff at him. “Bob!” Saint exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
Hoag took a deep breath. “No, I’m not. Peter is…Peter’s dead. That…” He stopped, a number of expletives going through his mind. “That man killed him.”
On the cliff, Saint turned to King. “Where is Bollinger?”
King shrugged. “Amber said that he was gone when she went to check on him.” He looked over the cliff. “Sheriff, we have help coming. We will toss a rope down and pull you up.”
“I’m not going up without Peter!” Hoag shouted.
“Of course.”
Moments later, with the help of a few others who have come from the campsite, a rope was used to pull Peter Chase up. Saint, King, and Anthony Morris gently moved him away from the side of the cliff and laid him on the ground. Saint’s eyes filled with tears. Chase had been his friend. He looked across Chase at King.
King reached over and put his hand on Saint’s shoulder. “I am truly sorry for your loss, my brother.”
Saint nodded.
Morris cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, too, David. Here I was, trying to be convinced that you were a snake, when all along the snake was Bollinger.”
“There is one true symbolic snake that must be guarded against, Anthony, and as much as James Bollinger is at fault for Peter’s death, he is not the true enemy.”
Morris regarded his words.
As they were speaking, some of the men from Camp Wood had thrown the rope back down to Hoag and then pulled him up. When Hoag was at the top with the others, he joined King, Saint and Morris next to Chase. He looked down at his friend, battling with his emotions. Then, he looked and saw Amber with a group of others.
She shook her head. “Bollinger’s gone, Sheriff.” She paused. “I guess I didn’t hit him hard enough.” She approached them. She handed Saint a number of wrapped bills. “He was going to take this. It’s from the $60,000.00. He took some of it…but not all of it.”
Morris shook his head. “A thief and a murderer. And I almost believed him.”
King looked at him. “There is no need for you to be hard on yourself.” He turned to Hoag. “Sheriff, I know that words cannot express enough consolation, but Peter was standing on solid ground before he died.”
Some of the others around them thought he was talking about the earthquake. However, something in what King said registered in Hoag. The Sheriff turned his head and met King’s eyes. An understanding passed between them.
Finally, Hoag nodded. “That’s right. He was always searching for something. Always looking for a purpose. I had come to believe that he would never find it, but…he did find what he was looking for, didn’t he?”
King nodded. “He did.”
For a while, no one spoke or even moved. They were all having a silent time for their private thoughts and prayers.
Hoag took a deep breath. “I have to take him home.”
Saint nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
“No…No, you stay here.” He glanced at King. “I can’t pretend to understand what’s going on here with you people, John, but I know you’re needed here. I’m just grateful that Peter was able to…have friends like you during his last days. I’ll take him home.”
“Bob…you can find the same thing Peter found. I know the emptiness you’re feeling will be filled.”
Hoag hesitated. “Yeah…Maybe. For now, I just want to get him home.”
Saint nodded.
Without another word, they helped him move Chase through the woods and back to Camp Wood. Once at the campgrounds, Saint and Hoag placed Chase in the back of Hoag’s car. Hoag climbed into the car next and drove away. Saint watched him go.
King put a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be okay, John.”
“How do you know that?” Saint asked, turning to look at his friend.
“Because the Lord is preparing his heart.”
“Preparing his heart for what?”
“For Himself.”
Fuller and Salvadori shared a silence as they stood facing each other in Fuller’s office. It was as if they were sizing each other up. They were trying to gauge each others strengths and weaknesses. After a time, Fuller began to ask God in his thoughts why He had allowed him to be trapped in a room with the Antichrist. For what purpose? All things happened for the good to those who loved Him, so what good could this meeting possibly have?
“You don’t trust me,” Salvadori said.
Fuller frowned. “Why do you care whether I trust you or not?”
“I suppose I share a common trait as all people do. I desire to be liked by others. To be trusted. I am, after all, a man for the people. I want what they want. And I intend to give them what they want. But enough of that. Let’s talk about you, shall we?”
“I’d really rather not.”
“You and I are not entirely different. You are a man of principle. I could use a man like you working for me.”
Fuller looked at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“Thank you for the offer, but I decline. I’ve settled for the career I’m in.”
Salvadori pursed his lips. “A prestigious career, I am sure. I was under the impression that sitting behind a desk and delegating authority was an old man’s job. One who is facing many lonely years of retirement. If you work for me, you could be out there working directly with the people. You could have anything you want. You could travel across the globe, helping to pave the way for a new world.”
Fuller grinned wryly. “Oh, there’s a new world coming, alright, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Because I am the Antichrist?”
Fuller didn’t respond.
“I am trying to have a conversation with you and offer you a chance at greatness, but for some reason I fail to see, you insist on insulting me with talk of your one God and His new world.” He took a step forward. “Changes are coming that you are ill equipped to face, Director Fuller. I warn you, if you continue on this path, you will not meet a happy end. You call yourself a Christian?”
“I do.”
Salvadori nodded once. “Ah, but I have another name for those who call themselves Christians. I call them…subversive. I call them dissident, rebellious, revolutionary, insubordinate, seditious…Need I go on?” He didn’t give Fuller an opportunity to answer. “The actions of Christians in the days we are now living in are beginning to be seen by the world as traitorous. You cannot possibly hope to gain anything by abstaining from the ways of the new world. A new world where fingers are not pointed at those who are living in sin. Sin is meaningless! There is no sin. There is only that which seems good in our eyes. Once we all see that, then there will be no more wars. No more crime. All sedition will be purged from the earth. The question you must ask yourself is where will you be standing when these changes are fully instated.”
“I know where I’ll be standing. In the same place I’m standing now.”
“Then, you are a fool.” Salvadori turned and paced away from him. He stopped and turned to face him once more. “You have already lost. You have no comprehension of what you will be facing.”
Fuller paused to regard him. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Salvadori also paused as he looked at Fuller. Finally, he said, “Your ex-wife is getting married. What number husband will this make for her…? Five?”
Fuller stared at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to respond.
“I came here for many reasons, Director Fuller…but I had thought it would have been a pleasant surprise for you to receive an invitation to her wedding personally by me as a friend to your ex-wife. She is, after all, marrying one of my chief executives. A man who is as visionary for the future as I am.”
Fuller realized then of what he was facing. He was facing a man who knew him. He wondered what else Salvadori knew…and then he found out.
“Danielle Marie will be there, too.”
_____________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment