Joe Dillard - 02 - In Good Faith Read Online Free PDF

looked back at Bjorn.
    “Talk?” she said. “You want to talk to me?”
    “I’d love to,” Bjorn said. “We’ll just sit and talk. I’d love to share what I’ve learned about God’s love with you.”
    She turned to the young man standing closest to her.
    “God’s love,” she said. “He wants to share what he knows about God’s love. That’s nice.”
    She stood for a moment, seemingly pondering Bjorn’s proposal. Finally, she said, “Okay, why not? Just let us use the restroom. Go on ahead. We’ll be there in a minute.”
    The girl turned and walked into the building that housed the restrooms, followed by the males. Bjorn watched them go, then started back up the hill.
    “Do you think this is a good idea?” Anna said. “They frighten me.”
    “She seems filled with rage,” Bjorn said. “Maybe I can help her.”
    “Bjorn, what about the children? What if something goes wrong? I mean, did you see what they were wearing? Those symbols on their clothes, goat heads and Satan? And all the black. They’re hideous. And I could smell alcohol on the girl’s breath. I think we should go.”
    Bjorn took his wife’s hand. “This is a test, Anna. I’m sure of it. It’s God’s way of testing my faith.” He gestured towards the tree line a hundred feet away. “If you don’t feel comfortable, take the children over there and I’ll talk to them alone.”
    Bjorn took a seat at a picnic table beneath a maple tree. The sun was just slipping behind a mountain to the west, the shimmering orange light dancing through the poplar and oak leaves. What a magnificent sight, Bjorn thought; what a magnificent day. What a wonderful time to be alive and well in God’s kingdom. It was a pity there weren’t more people around to enjoy it.
    Bjorn heard an engine come to life and looked back down towards the restrooms. He saw the green Cavalier back out of the spot near his van and pull away. Just then the two young Goths who had been with the redhead came walking over the hill. Puzzled, he stood and started towards them.
    “Is your friend leaving?” he said.
    The short, muscular Goth raised his T-shirt and produced a pistol.
    “Yeah, she’s leaving,” he said, “and you’re coming with us.”

Sunday, September 14
    The voice eased its way through my subconscious and gently brought me out of sleep. I’d been napping on the couch, using the excuse that I’d be starting a new job tomorrow and needed to rest up. When my eyes opened, my wife’s face was smiling down at me. She was offering me something—a telephone.
    “It’s Lee Mooney,” Caroline said. “He says it’s urgent.”
    Already it had started: the extreme importance of all matters legal, especially all matters criminal. I looked at my watch. Almost nine o’clock. I sat up and took the phone.
    “Hey, Lee,” I said to the man who would become my boss in about twelve hours. I hadn’t had a boss in nearly twenty years.
    “Sorry about the Sunday call,” Mooney said. “We’ve got a bad one. What would you think about starting a day early?”
    “What do you mean?” I felt certain, even in my groggy state of mind, that the district attorney’s office and the courthouses were closed on Sunday.
    “It looks like we’ve got an entire family slaughtered out in the county,” Mooney said. “They tell me there are a couple of small children involved. I want to go out there and make sure everything’s done right. Since it’ll be your case, I thought you might want to come with me.”
    I processed the information slowly. My mind illuminated the high points—family … slaughtered … in the county … small children. I rubbed my face and tried to focus.
    “An entire family?”
    “I don’t have many details yet. Do you want me to stop by and pick you up or do you want to meet me out there?”
    I didn’t want to be entirely at his mercy, so I told him I’d meet him. He gave me the location, a place with which I was vaguely familiar. I could be there