Last Days (Last Days Trilogy #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

image is on it.”
    Rose smiled. “Just like the size of a man’s hand is no indication of the size of his...”
    “Rose,” Marcus interrupted, and then shook his head “All I’m saying is that we don’t know. And we’ve never known for certain the height, weight or appearance of anyone that far before our time.” Marcus looked up. “Until now.”
     

Seville, Ohio
     
    “Seth, just a sec.” Reggie sat at Eliza Leon’s kitchen table, tightening a screw on the back of the video game controller.
    “Hurry! We want to play,” Seth beckoned.
    “Will you please be quiet?” Reggie looked at him. “Here.” She set the screwdriver down and handed Seth the control. “Here. I hope Kathleen kicks your butt for being so impatient.”
    “Yeah right.” Seth smiled and darted into the living room.
    Reggie picked up her coffee cup and walked to the pot by the sink where Eliza, Marcus’ mother, was wiping down the counter. “Janice bowling tonight?” Reggie asked.
    “Yep. Every other Wednesday I got Kathleen. And I’m glad you bring Seth over.” Eliza turned around. “How’s Seth getting along in school this year?”
    “Still getting picked on.” Reggie poured some coffee. “He’s so small. So he’s a target. I tried to help but… well, you know.”
    “I remember those days. Poor Marcus. Always getting picked on.” Eliza moved to the kitchen table and sat down. “He was tiny too. But...” She let out a sigh. “...that was back in the days when I could protect him.”
    Reggie raised her eyebrows, and then joined her. “Eliza?”
    “I can’t protect him anymore. Not now.”
    “Marcus will be fine. No one’s going to hurt him.”
    “I’m not worried about someone hurting him. I’m worried about his soul.”
    “Eliza, God gave him the brains to do what he’s doing.”
    “Yeah, and he’s taken that gift and slapped the Good Lord in the face with it.”
    “I disagree.”
    “You would. I got a call today. Guess who?”
    Reggie shook her head.
    “The Pope.”
    “Not the Pope.”
    “The one and only,” Eliza said. “He wants me to appeal to my son, to make him see the error of his ways.”
    Reggie chuckled. “Don’t you think people are being a little ridiculous over this?”
    “How can you say that? You know what The Shroud stands for.”
    “I know what people believe it stands for. I also know what historians and experts say.”
    “Marcus said it was the image of Jesus.”
    “Well …” Reggie sung her words.
    “So you doubt my son is an expert?”
    “I think Marcus said whatever would draw the most attention. What if the historians are right? What if it wasn’t Jesus wrapped in that cloth, but some murderer or criminal who was crucified for crimes that...”
    “Regina!” Eliza gasped.
    “I’m just saying. What if the cloth isn’t the burial shroud of Christ? Then don’t you think God’s getting a good chuckle out of all this commotion?”
    “I don’t think any of us should presume to know what amuses the Lord.”
    “Marcus needs your support.”
    “That’s not going to happen. This is against every Christian thing I taught him.”
    “You don’t think his upbringing had a lot to do with this?”
    Eliza looked oddly at Reggie. “How can you say that?”
    “I can say that because history proves it.” Reggie smiled. “Remember when Marcus was younger? He was always trying to come up with logical explanations for Christ’s miracles. You used to get so mad at him. Like his theory about the loaves of bread and the fish. He said everyone watching Jesus was so consumed with him that no one noticed the apostles sneaking in more food. Or... how about his walking on water theory? You hit the roof.”
    “The lake was iced up.” Eliza shook her head with a smile. “He reached for anything.”
    “And he still is.” Reggie grabbed Eliza’s hand across the table. “Only this time, Eliza, your son is reaching for the biggest thing he can find. And he needs us. Whether you