Silent Killer Page 0,41
have to, but I wanted to.”
“Oh, I see. Just where are you? I hear a lot of background noise.”
“We’re at the Catfish Shack. We just ordered dinner.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Lorie said. “Please don’t do anything stupid just because you’re upset.”
“Don’t worry about me. And don’t wait up.”
“You didn’t take your purse,” Lorie reminded her. “That means you don’t have a key, but it doesn’t matter, because I’d have waited up for you regardless.”
“See you later.” Cathy ended the conversation and handed Jack his phone. “Thanks.”
“I guess Lorie was worried about you,” Jack said.
“She’s a good friend.”
“I always liked Lorie back when she and Mike were together.” Jack shook his head. “Damn shame about those two. I’d have laid odds back then that by now they’d be married and have a houseful of kids.”
“Life seldom works out the way we think it will. Fate can play some cruel tricks on us.”
“You’ve had it awfully rough, haven’t you, honey?”
She looked into his eyes, and their gazes locked. He reached across the table, clasped her hand and held it tenderly.
“Discussing the past or anything unpleasant is off-limits tonight, okay?” She couldn’t bear to think about Mark and how he had died—how, for the entire length of their marriage, she had cheated him. And she certainly didn’t want to talk to Jack about how she had spent this past year at Haven Home.
“Sure thing. Tonight we’ll pretend that God’s in His heaven and all’s right with the world.” He tugged on her hand. “Come on, Kit-Cat, let’s dance.”
Kit-Cat.
Cathy’s heartbeat accelerated. No one else had ever called her Kit-Cat. It had been Jack’s pet name for her that long-ago autumn when they had been lovers.
She rose to her feet and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. Without a moment’s hesitation, she went into his arms. He held her close, but not too close, their bodies almost touching. And then she closed the narrow gap between them as she laid her head on his shoulder.
Chapter Nine
Where man’s laws fail, God’s laws do not. No one is above the wrath of the Lord Almighty. Sinners must be punished. God’s law demands retribution.
What I have done, I have done in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. He has given me this holy duty to stop the evildoers from defiling His name. These wolves have hidden themselves in sheep’s clothing and have preyed on the weak.
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” Isaiah 13:11. I hear You, Lord. I know there are others who must be punished. I will find them and destroy them.
Sitting here alone in my room, I gaze out the window at the stars and wonder if heaven is out there, far away, beyond the moon and stars. Or is heaven another dimension, not a part of the universe as we humans know it?
I long to be in heaven, to walk the streets paved with gold, to hear the angels sing, to sit at God’s feet and know His goodness. Who I am here on earth will not matter in heaven. All my burdens will be eased, all my heartaches soothed, all my sins forgiven.
I must not cry. Tears serve no purpose. I must be a strong soldier for the Lord. I must fight the good fight if I want to receive my eternal reward.
I have sent three wicked men to the fires of hell. I know that Satan has marked their names in his book of eternal damnation.
Mark Cantrell—adulterer; Charles Randolph—thief; and Brian Myers—pedophile.
I will not stop until I have done all within my power to rid the world of such perverted evil. And God will be pleased with all that I do. He will transform me from a child conceived in sin, born in shame and degradation, the living proof of man’s evil, to a place of honor at His side. I will be purified by His power.
Show me the way, Lord. Take my hand and lead me to the others who must be punished.
Jack figured he was a fool, because only a fool would play with fire. And that’s just what Cathy Cantrell was—hot and dangerous. She had no more idea now than she’d had all those years ago just what kind of effect she had on him. Yeah, him and the male sex in general. She possessed a kind of womanly sweetness that made it damn near impossible for a man to resist her.
He’d