69

            They returned to the home of Danielle’s boyfriend so Danielle could retrieve her car.  Until his work was done, Anthony had advised her to pick up Reuben and hide out at a friend’s house.  Although he hadn’t been worried earlier that the zealots would harm his sister and nephew, as they’d seem concerned solely with him, with his newfound knowledge of the importance of their roles he considered them potential targets, and he would not relax until they were safely sequestered.

            As the three of them stood in the driveway beside their vehicles, he peeled several hundred dollars out of his money clip and offered the bills to Danielle.

            “This is for anything you need in the interim,” he said.  “But I hope I don’t have to tell you—“

            “I’m not going to smoke it up, Junior, all right?”  She folded the money into her purse.  “I don’t even feel like doing that shit right now.  I wanna keep my head clear—shit, I need to keep it clear to talk to my baby about everything I gotta tell him, you know?”

            He pulled her into his arms and hugged her, and when he let her go, Lisa stepped forward and embraced her, too.  In the past hour, the two women had found an unexpected kinship.

            “Hurry up and get out of here, Danny,” he said.

            As Danielle walked to the house, his cell phone rang.  The display didn’t give the number, which immediately stirred the hairs at the nape of his neck.

            In spite of his reluctance, he answered—and heard the voice that he expected. 

            “Found you again, Thorne,” Cutty said.  “Did I not tell you that God would lead you to me?  Seek, and ye shall find.”

            How had they gotten his cell number?  Anthony spun around in a circle in the driveway, half-expecting to find the fanatics hidden in the shrubbery.  He’d been so meticulous . . .

            “Is it them?” Lisa whispered. 

            He covered the phone, nodded. 

            Near the front door, Danielle had paused, somehow sensing the changed mood.  

            “What the hell do you want?” Anthony said into the phone. 

            “I have someone who wants to speak to you,” Cutty said.  “Say hello to your nephew.”

            Anthony’s breath stopped.   

            “Uncle Tony,” Reuben said.  His voice was tight as he strug-gled not to cry.  “Man, come get me, okay, please?  They . . . they said they’re gonna . . . gonna k-k-kill me if you don’t listen to them . . .”

            Reuben’s voice snapped, and a sob escaped him.  The sound tore like a serrated blade at Anthony’s heart. 

            “Reuben, listen to me, everything’s going to be fine,” Anthony said, striving to keep his own tone calm.  “I promise you that.  I need you to stay strong, okay?”

            “O-okay . . .”

            “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.  You hang tight, keep your head up.”

            “All . . . all right.”  Reuben sucked in a shaky breath. 

            “Where are you?” Anthony asked.

            “I-I don’t know.  They . . . they got a blindfold on me . . .”

            “Did they snatch you from the house?”

            “Y-yeah.  I’m . . . sorry . . . I know you told me to leave . . .”

            He realized they’d placed a wiretap on his family’s house.  When he’d called earlier that morning searching for Danielle and had spoken briefly to Reuben, they must have traced his call, which gave them his cell phone number—and probably the idea to snatch his nephew, too.

            In hindsight, he should’ve seen it coming.   

            “Don’t worry about it,” Anthony said.  “It was my fault.  You just stay strong while I work on bringing you home safe, all right?”

            “How inspiring,” Cutty said, on the line once more.  “Everything’s going to be fine now that Uncle Tony is on the job.”

            “You keep your goddamn hands off him.” 

            As if summoned by maternal instinct, Danielle raced across the driveway, back to them.  Lisa moved forward to intercept her.

            Cutty said, “I’ve told you before how profanity offends me, Thorne.  Would you like me to vent my displeasure with your language on your nephew?”

            “Don’t touch him, Cutty,” Anthony said.  “Please.  He’s innocent.”

            “I beg to differ.  When I collected him from your family home, this young sinner was listening to music so obscene that I’m rather surprised my ears didn’t bleed.  He’s on the same wicked path that you’ve been walking, a journey that’ll take both of you straight to hellfire and eternal damnation.”

            “He’s only a kid.  Leave him out of this.  This is between you and me.”

            “Indeed it is,” Cutty said.  “You’ve led me on quite a chase.  It is clear that the devil highly values your service, as he continues to aid you.  But my God is far greater than your fallen angel.”

            Anthony ground his teeth.  Cutty had him by the balls, and he knew it, and the wacked-out asshole was going to prolong the agony.

            Lisa and Danielle huddled next to each other, faces tight with trepidation.  He wanted to assure them that everything would be okay, but he had only a fuzzy notion of the play Cutty was going to make, and it was not comforting.  

            “You’ve obviously snatched my nephew because you wanted leverage,” Anthony said.  “Well, now you’ve got it.  You’ve got the ace.  What’re you going to do with it?”

            “I’ve always held the ace, Thorne.  My God is always in control.  He’s the architect of my destiny, the captain of my fate.”

            “God’s been leading you all along, huh?  That’s why we kept giving you the slip.”

            “Trials and tribulations are placed before us to strengthen our faith.”   

            “You have an answer for everything.”

            “Those who serve God have access to his infinite wisdom, Thorne.”

            Anthony wanted to pull his hair out.  It was impossible to hold a reasonable conversation with the guy.  He was utterly committed to his delusional beliefs, and there was nothing more frightening than a man who never doubted himself, who never questioned his actions.

            “What do you want from me?” Anthony asked.

            “Sir.”

            “What?”

            “What are your orders, sir.  Say it like you were taught to do in the Marine Corps, with enthusiasm.”

            “You want me to sound off?”  Anthony almost laughed.  “I’m not going to dishonor the Corps by sounding off to a piece of shit like you.”

            “We have the ace, Thorne.  Don’t test the Lord.” 

            “Whatever.”  Anthony exhaled through clenched teeth.  “What’s your big plan?”

            “We’re going to make a trade.  I turn over your nephew, and you come with me.”

            “Come with you where?”

            “Wherever God decides you must go.”

            “I thought you wanted to kill me.”

            “I am only a loyal servant of the Kingdom, Thorne.  I obey a power greater than myself.”

            “Bishop Prince, you mean,” Anthony said.  “The so-called prophet.”

            “The Prophet.  God’s mouthpiece.  The Anointed One.  Don’t you dare speak disparagingly of him—you’re hardly fit to serve as his footstool.”

            Anthony hesitated.  Presumably, once he gave himself up to Cutty, he would be transported somewhere, and interrogated.  

            They must’ve believed that he’d learned something so damaging to their organization that they couldn’t take any risk on him passing along the information.  They wanted to get him in a cold room, put the screws to him, and force him to confess whatever he knew, and to whom he’d told it—and then they would kill him.  It was the classic interrogation scenario, and once he was in their custody, there would be no bargaining for his freedom, no opportunity to escape. 

            It would be over.   

            Telling them that he hadn’t managed to fully decipher Bob’s messages would prove fruitless, too.  They believed that he possessed the evidence that could harm them, and they weren’t exactly open to debate. 

            He needed time to conceive some kind of counter action, but time was something he simply didn’t have.

            “I don’t know,” Anthony said, stalling for time.  

            “Pardon me?”

            “I’ve gotta think about this.  You’re asking me to give up my freedom.”

            “I’m not asking you, Thorne—I’m commanding you.  Disobey, and your nephew suffers.  Is that what you would like?”

            “Then we make the trade in a public place,” Anthony said quickly.  “We can do it at South Dekalb Mall, it’s in Decatur.” 

            Cutty laughed.  “You’ve no leverage here.  We’re doing this my way.”

            Anthony swore under his breath. 

            “We will make the exchange at a church on Hidden Creek Road,” Cutty said.  “It is called Mount Moriah Baptist.  The building is abandoned, concealed within dense foliage, and has a large parking lot in the rear that abuts a forest.”

            “I think I know where it is.”

            “You’ll come alone.  You’ll be unarmed.”

            “Fine.”

            “Listen to me very carefully, Thorne.  If you attempt any heroics, I will kill your nephew.”

            Anthony glanced at Lisa and Danielle, nodded grimly.  “Understood.”

            “You’ll be there in forty-five minutes.  That’s precisely one-thirty.  Not a minute later.”

            Cutty terminated the call.  Anthony looked at the phone as if it were a snake, and turned to the women.             

            “There’s been a change of plans,” he said.