In the Midst of my Enemies

Chapter 7 Case Closed?

The FBI waited a day to give Joan time to recover from the shocking events, but ultimately insisted on her returning to the crime scene at the side of the road. Among other things, they wanted to recover the gun. Joan was allowed to bring some family members for moral support, so she elected her father, who could help deal with the police, and her husband.

"There are some weird features in the case," Will commented as they followed the FBI vehicle in the family car.

Yeah, Dad, you don't know half of it. Aloud she said," What do you mean, Dad?"

"Hunter could claim that he used the gun to thwart criminal behavior – mitigating circumstances. On the other hand, the circumstances came up only because he had committed a crime in the first place."

"Yeah."

"And the change in behavior in the middle is mystifying. Why keep hands off during most of the kidnapping, then suddenly decide to tie you up."

Eeew, I'm going to have to bend the truth some. Bear false witness in the name of God, talk about weird. Adam, sitting beside his wife, pressed her hand silently. He understood her dilemma.

"He's a fanatic, Dad. Asked me if I thought God was going to do a miracle and rescue me, and my answer ticked him off." Anxious to change the subject, she asked, "There's something I'm curious about. Why was Professor Begh willing to put up so much money for me? A wonderful gesture, but I'm not that close a friend. He knows Grace better."

"I asked him. He said that he had participated in hostage negotiations in a troubled Near East country, years ago. When his employers wouldn't pay the ransom, the hostages were murdered. This time, it was like an opportunity to do it over, and he wasn't going to risk another killing when he had it in his power to pay."

"It was still a wonderful gesture."

"I agree. But you shouldn't talk about it much."

"What? Why not?"

"Copycat crimes. If somebody knew he is inclined to pay ransom, they might target his daughter for another kidnapping."

"S***."

"I agree, Joan," said her father, instead of scolding her for rude language. "It's terrible that the most noble person in the whole case has to hide his virtue under a bushel."

"I'm going to draw his portrait, and give it to him," said Adam. "At least show him how we feel ourselves."

"The site is up ahead," said Will. "Do you need time to compose yourself, Joan?"

"No, I'm OK."

They joined the FBI crew. The site originally chosen by Hunter for his isolation was not full of

police cars and men in uniform.

"Your original rescuers saw blood on the grass," said the forensics chief. "They came back in got some DNA samples before the weather could wash it away. Mainly we want to retrieve the gun and check it for fingerprints."

"Let me see – he stood right here, and threw it like THAT," mused Joan. "I didn't see where it landed, though."

"We can use metal detectors. We still want you to formally identify it if we find it."

Joan, with time temporarily free, looked around the site, trying to reimagine the events. In the distance down the road, she saw a familiar figure. A kid dressed up with spiky hair and heavy makeup. The FBI people didn't see him; they might have considered him a suspicious character.

"Mind if I stretch my legs a bit?" asked Joan.

"Go ahead, just don't wander too far," said an agent.

"I'll go with you," insisted Adam.

"OK"

They walked up to the odd figure. At that point the woods jutted out a bit, so that one could stand on the other side and be out of sight from the crime site. Joan doubted that that was a coincidence.

"All right," she demanded. "I want an explanation. Why didn't You rescue me?"

"I foreknew that you would be rescued anyway," said Goth God. "To quote Macbeth: if chance shall make me king, then chance shall crown me, without my stir." That irritatingly calm statement matched His tenor voice and doe-like eyes.

"Fine, but unlike you, I'm a human being and I nearly had the hell scared out of me. Unlike you, I can't foreknow that things will turn out cool. And if you had stirred earlier, you could have prevented a lot of sufferings. Two shootings, an attempt to rape me, not to mention all the anguish you put my family through."

"Let me turn the question around," said Goth God. "You had a chance to run away after Hunter threw away the gun and untied you. Why didn't you?"

"I couldn't run with 2 lives at stake."

"Exactly. Except that from my point of view, there were 3 souls at stake."

"Souls? "

"This may sound strange to you, Joan, but Hunter has a great soul. It was why I befriended him in the first place. But for two years it has been corrupted. He thinks he is getting revenge against me; while instead he is simply playing Me. 'I can destroy a church'. 'I can make a deal with the devil'. 'I have Joan Girardi under my control.' But the collapse of his last plan – the knowledge that he nearly had to choose between a killing and a rape and that it was his own doing – will finally shock him into his abandoning his self-righteousness. What was intended as a lesson for you ended as a lesson for him. It will be slow, but he will return. The same is true for the two youths, who will realize how self-destructive their lives have been. Just as your friend Judith realized when she gave herself alcohol poisoning. A certain kind of soul must touch bottom before it can rise again. "

"So this is all about getting Hunter back? I never counted? I was just the girl you met on the rebound, and made a good substitute?" she asked bitterly.

"No, no, Joan, you are precious too. Perhaps a metaphor will help. If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray , does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that has gone astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than the ninety-nine that never went astray. It is the redemption that matters, not the difference between you and Hunter."

"That's the Parable of the Good Shepherd. I'm not a sheep."

"Then look at your own history. Let me remind you of events that happened nearly three years ago. I asked you to date Ramsey, and you did, even though it jeopardized your relationship with Adam. Why? You weren't just being obedient, were you?"

Dammit, why did He have to bright that up in front of Adam? "No. I had this stupid idea that I was supposed to be a redeeming angel, leading Ramsey back to goodness. It didn't turn out that way."

"Not then. But you do understand the desire to redeem."

"Yes," she said reluctantly.

"Don't get too agreeable, Jane," said Adam, suddenly speaking up for the first time. "He must have had some way of redeeming Hunter, if it was that important, without endangering you."

"Oh, yes," said Goth God. "I could have said, Ryan, thou shalt be good. But he wouldn't be Hunter any longer, but my robot. I am omnipotent, but I impose constraints on myself, and preserving free will is one of them. Letting events work themselves out worked."

"Fine. Maybe using our free will, we will choose not to cooperate on your next mission," threatened Adam.

"But you will, once you realize its importance," said Goth God. "Until then, simply think on what I have said."

And the eerie, mysterious Presence disappeared into the woods.

THE END.