Chapter 75
Melvin knew it was the Lord who had allowed Madison McAlister and her boyfriend to escape unharmed. He knew better than to say that, though.
He was under no illusions now—if he did something that threatened the security of what his friends had created here, they would…take him out to preserve it.
Of course…they would not ever come to the light, they had spent two-thirds of their lives, most of their adult lives really, doing evil works. Covering those works. They had no incentive to change now.
But that terrified Melvin. He did not want blood on his hands now. Not now. He had repented.
Yet, there were men and women who had lost their lives through his own indirect actions.
He did not know how to reconcile that with the man he was now.
All he could do was go forward. Pray that God would seek his vengeance and would protect the innocents.
But he knew…the world did not work that way. Not with the evil that was in it now.
If he wanted this to stop, he was going to have to find a way to do it himself.
And be fearful of what the Lord would do now. For He did not bear the sword in vain. God said “thou shalt not kill”. Multiple times.
He just wished he had someone who would listen to this. To understand what he had to say now. To tell him what God would wish him to do now.
He had never struck someone down with his own hands. He had never physically harmed anyone, and never even killed someone line-of-duty. But his actions, his inactions, they had led to the deaths of innocents.
But for the cowardly, the faithless, and the murderers…
Melvin bit back the nausea as he left. Riely, his friend’s granddaughter, was in the living room. Usually, she was hidden in her bedroom.
Riely had gotten taller since he had last seen her. Her grandfather kept her away from his TSP associates, for his own reasons. Melvin understood—he did not want Skylar around his friends or some of the others. He just did not want her seeing that part of his life.
“Hello, Riely. It’s very early, honey. You should probably be in bed.”
It was a school day for her—or maybe not. Spring Break might be this week or possibly next. He did not know, and she was still in pajamas.
She just blinked at him, with her father’s bright blue eyes. She was a beautiful child. No denying that. She would be a beautiful woman someday. But there was a broken, ethereal quality about her that always made him want to be gentle with her.
Not his Skylar—that girl was as tough as old shoe leather and always had been. She’d come out of the womb that way, he was sure of it. She’d be a wonderful doctor someday. She was his greatest accomplishment.
He did not agree with how her grandfather was raising this child though. She always seemed so sad and heartbroken.
“Goodbye, Riely. I’ll see you next time, okay?”
She just nodded, toying with the necklace she wore. “Good—goodbye, sir.”
And then she turned. And was gone.