The Colonel and the Angel of Death
Chapter 2: The Enemy Returns
The day was shining brilliantly, and early spring was showing her beautiful colors in the Pacific Northwest, and Pastor Annie Coburn finished up her second counseling session that day. The couple had come for pre-marital counseling and the inventory Annie had received and the general gut truth she could see was a sign of hope for all three of them. It never ceased to amaze the parson how deep some soon-to-be wed couple's love for each other was, and these two proved to be good fits for each other.
"Well, Todd and Amy, we are at the final session before the wedding so I want to give you some homework." At the word "homework", the couple groaned as Annie passed them a packet of information.
"Here are some samples of wedding ceremonies you can choose to have me perform. There are several different items you can include, but only 2 of the items are truly law in the sight of God and our government: your vows, and my pronouncement of husband and wife. So go home, talk it over, and bring it back with you to the rehearsal OK?" The couple eagerly nodded, and after a quick prayer, Annie walked them out of her office to the church's front door, and watched them warmly as they got in the care and drove off.
She was just turning away when the church door opened and a shabbily dressed man with a sweater hat pulled low, stumbled into the church narthex.
"Yes?" Annie was startled and then reached out her hand to greet him. "May I help you?"
The man kept his head down, and mumbled, "Мне нужно питание"на русский язык.
"Sorry?" Annie backed away a little, her mind sending a slight tingle of discomfort at the edge of anger in his voice.
He promptly stepped forward, and his hand came out of his pocket, brandishing a short knife at her. He repeated the phrase and shook the knife menacingly at her.
"Sir", Annie again stepped back and put both hands ups. "Sir, we don't have any money on the church property. But I can get you a paper that can help give you food and gas. My secretary, Terry.." at that Annie raised her voice and another woman stepped out from a nearby office. Instantly, Terry froze at the sight of the man threatening the pastor.
"Terry, this man needs some help." Annie tried to keep her voice calm and quiet, keeping her eyes on the man who retreated a few steps when Terry came out. He flicked the knife shut and stuffed it back into his pocket.
The man spoke slowly, struggling with the English words. "I ...need...food." he still kept his face down and away from them, but his feet shuffled nervously. Annie noticed the casual shoes seemed a little too nice for the rest of his clothes, but she filed that fact away quickly.
"Terry, let's get the files of food voucher and fill one out for this man." Annie spoke to the direction of her secretary.
"Nyet." The man jumped forward, the knife out once more, and grabbed Annie's arm. "Go with...you." he grunted and shoved her toward the office door. Terry retreated and they went slowly into the pastor's office, the man's blade pressed firmly against the hollow of Annie's back.
Terry swiftly found the voucher, and passed it first to the man. He shook his head and nodded toward the pastor. His eyes darted around the office nervously, and then settled on a small photo resting on the pastor's desk. In the photo, a tall, handsome man in a dark blue suit was standing against a tree, a smile resting on his lips, and his right arm hooked in the waistband of the slacks. The knife blade sank into the skin of Annie's back as the intruder stared at the photo. She gasped at the thrust, and a small blood trail began to appear on the back of her blouse.
"Hey!" Annie spoke sharply, her heart racing, as the blade imbedded itself in her back even further. "You need me to sign this piece of paper." Her hands shook at the onslaught of pain, as she tried to pulled away from him. He stepped up to her even closer, and she felt his hot breath on her neck. He did pull his knife back a little, as Annie hissed at the knife's retraction. She leaned slowly over the desk, hastily filled the form out, all the time with him pressed up to her back, his body following every moment her body made. She thrust the signed paper at him, and he ripped it out of her hands quickly. She noticed a large gold ring on his left hand, an intricate symbol welded on top of the large band.
"Stay" he ordered, and before Annie could move away from him, he plunged the knife in and out, and then bolted for the door, and headed out of the church. Annie's legs began to wobble, and she crumbled to the rug by her desk.
Terry knelt down quickly and tried to see how bad her pastor was. "Dear Jesus, help me." Annie gasped as she reach out to Terry.
"Call 911 now, and give me John's photo."Terry passed Annie the photo and then used the hard line to call 911. Annie struggled to keep conscious, the searing pain radiating through her entire body. Struggling to control her breathing, Annie turned the photo over, and slipped the back off. By now the blood was staining the carpet, and her stomach was lurching, fingers of darkness closing in the periphery of her sight. Annie swallowed several times as she retrieved her cell phone from her blouse's front pocket and dialed the little used number written on the back of the man's photo.
"John...oh my John...please answer."Annie pleased as she and Terry tried to stuff Kleenex tissues where the knife wound was. The phone rang three times, but then suddenly came alive.
"John...John" Annie struggled upward but groaned as the intensity of the pain ramped up. Instead of John's rich baritone, Chuck Bartowski's frantic tenor voice was yelling over the siren in the background.
"Pastor Annie, oh Thank God." Chuck yelled and Annie could hear the emergency medical tech in the background yelling heart stats at Chuck.
"Chuck, what's wrong with John?" Annie gasped and her heart sank at the sound of Chuck frenzied breathing. Her own pain was forgotten but her frustration at trying to hear Chuck was ever increasing.
"Annie, we are on our way to West Hills with John." Chuck explained and Annie groaned remembering the last visit Casey made to West Hills after being whipped by Nahran Kalid, a Jihad terrorist.
"Dear Jesus"Annie prayed quietly, tears stinging her eyes, as she struggled to stay alert.
"Annie, you need to come. John needs you. Annie? Annie?" Chuck heard the parson's cry of pain and the dropping on the cell phone. Another woman's voice frantically spoke into the phone.
"John, are you there?" The unknown woman's voice hollered."John, you have got to help Pastor!" The other woman was sobbing hard and Chuck tried to calm her down.
"Ma'am, listen, shush. This is Chuck. I am a friend of John's. What's wrong with Pastor?" Chuck bent over Casey's still body, trying hard to listen at the same time he was checking erratic beating of the Colonel's heart.
"She's been stabbed. Oh, dear God, there is blood all over her shirt. You got to help us."
The woman tried to get her sobs under control.
"Listen, what's you name? Terry, right. OK, Terry, have you called 911? Good. You tell them when they come for Pastor to contact General Beckman once then get Annie stabilized. That's right, General Beckman. Tell her Charles Carmichael needs air transport a.s.a.p. We will get a Medivac from Fort Lewis to the nearest helipad and air lift her to John, Ok?" He listened intently and nodded when he heard the woman calm down and take his orders. He quickly signed off and then realized he had said nothing to the secretary or the pastor about the specifics of Casey's condition. He watched the erratic beat and laid his hand gently on his friend's chest, away from the monitor's leads. He breathed in a shaky breath, and prayed a sincere prayer not only for his handler but for the compassionate woman Casey loved.
The unidentified knife wielding intruder was slouched in the black, nondescript sedan parked two blocks from the church's front door. He pulled his hat off and dialed swiftly on a circular shaped phone, speaking quietly into it.
"Da. Target found, connection verified. However, target compromised. Nyet, nyet, cannot neutralize further. Da, will verify transportation of target." He click the phone off and smiled widely at himself in the rear view mirror.
"John Casey, I am not far from you now, comrade." He spoke in a clear, Aussie accent, smiling at the thought, as he started the car and pulled slowly away, watching the aid cars rushing up to the church's front door.