The Shadow of Death (Psalm 23 Mysteries Book 9) (25 page)

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Authors: Debbie Viguié

BOOK: The Shadow of Death (Psalm 23 Mysteries Book 9)

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That was what had everyone the most frustrated. The evidence seemed to point to her and the others having actively recruited the others, but no one could prove that the Russian government had a hand in it, even though they were one of the few countries who would stand to profit mightily from a war in the Middle East.

With no one alive to question they couldn’t even be sure they had captured all the active conspirators. She did know that Khalid was among the dead as was Solomon’s driver. So, she let herself hope that they had stopped the threat once and for all.

Officially the whole incident was being swept under the rug with drunken teenagers being blamed for the shots that so many people had reported hearing. The Dome of the
Rock was officially closed for cleaning which meant patching bullet holes and scrubbing blood stains. All-in-all the damage done to the structures had been surprisingly minimal in contrast to that done to people.

After three days of what they called debriefing, Jeremiah and Cindy had finally been told they were free to return home. She had secretly worried that after he had helped save the world the Mossad would decide they needed Jeremiah to remain an active member, but they had let him go in the end.

They had been reunited with their luggage, which had been a relief, and she had taken at least six long, hot showers in the last three days. Everything should be returning to normal soon.

Well, the new normal, whatever that was going to look like. She knew one thing for sure, she was coming home a changed person and she knew that Jeremiah might have some surface wounds but the real injuries were to his spirit. She would help him heal. She could be patient. For a while.

They hadn’t talked about it, but every night since as she went to sleep she had relived the kisses they’d shared and the things that they had said to each other.

“I can’t wait to get home,” she said.

“Yeah. When I called Mark he said they had a surprise for us. He said he’d pick us up at the airport, too.”

“That will be good. I wonder what the surprise is?”

Jeremiah shrugged. “He didn’t say.”

Cindy glanced down at his hands and noticed with a start that he had not yet taken the
platinum ring off his left hand.

“You’re still wearing the wedding ring,” Cindy said softly.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Jeremiah turned and looked her in the eyes. “As a reminder to myself of what I’m working toward. It wasn’t easy for me to shed the darkness the first time. This time it’s going to be even harder I fear. This is to remind me that I’m trying to be a man who is worthy of your affection.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say the word “love”. He was still reeling from everything that had been said between them, the feeling of her lips against his.

“You don’t have to work on being that,” she said. “You already are.”

He didn’t say anything. Extreme circumstances could cause a person to make crazy promises that the real world would never let them keep. He didn’t doubt that Cindy cared for him. He would never doubt that again. But he would not hold her to anything she had said until life had calmed down and he was a semblance of the man she had known for so long. That would give her time to rethink if necessary.

“What is Marie going to say?”

He didn’t care one iota what his secretary would say. That was part of the problem. The killer in him didn’t fit well into civilized society. He needed to cultivate the other part of his personality, the rabbi who cared about people and their thoughts and feelings. It was just going to take time to make that switch. He had done it before. He could do it again.

And he knew she would help him.

He reached out and took her hand and squeezed it in his. “Have I told you today how beautiful you are?”

She shook her head.

“Then I’m an idiot and clearly a blind and mute one at that.”

She smiled and it was the most beautiful thing in the world to him.

He cupped her cheek with his hand. “You are the most radiant creature that walks the earth.”

He started to bend down. He wanted to kiss her. He hesitated, though.

“Don’t be that way,” she said. She twisted her fingers in his hair and pulled his face down to hers. She kissed him, not a gentle kiss, but a kiss that held a promise of days to come for them. He closed his eyes and held on to that promise, happy to kiss her until those days were their present and not their future.

Mark was waiting at baggage claim, anxious to see Cindy and Jeremiah safe and in one piece. Jeremiah hadn’t been able to explain anything to him over the phone, so he was hoping to get some answers as well.

At last he saw them and he waved. Cindy ran forward and threw her arms around him joyously. “I’m so happy to see you!” she said. Usually she was a little more reserved and it took him by surprise, but he hugged her back.
Her hair was cut super short and he wondered what had happened to it. Before he could say anything she stepped away and he turned to Jeremiah.

Mark had looked coldblooded killers in the eye and seen more warmth than he saw in Jeremiah’s eyes now.
The man’s face was a smooth, cold mask. Mark had known for a long time that Jeremiah hid things from him and that he had a tremendous poker face, but even when they didn’t know each other, he’d never looked this cold and unattached.

It shook him. He forced himself to take a deep breath. “Right. Well, let’s get your luggage and get out of here,” he said.

Ten minutes later they were all in the car and headed back to Pine Springs.

“I’m sorry Traci isn’t here,” Cindy said, clearly disappointed.

“Oh, you’ll see her when we get where we’re going,” Mark assured her. “Now, tell me what happened.”

They took the rest of the drive to fill him in and by the end he was completely floored. There were several things they were clearly leaving out, but he at least got the basics.

“Thank you, Mark,” Cindy said. “Your information helped save the world.”

He felt suddenly warm inside. “Well, it’s not every day you get to help do that,” he said.

“Where are we going?” Jeremiah asked as they neared the hospital.

“Oh, to see Traci and meet a couple of new friends. You see, while you two were busy stopping World War III we were having some excitement of our own back here.”

He felt himself grinning.

“What is going on?” Cindy asked.

“Wait and see, but I can assure you, it’s quite wonderful.”

Fifteen minutes later Cindy turned away from the window where she had been staring at the babies. “You’re right, it is quite wonderful.”

“Well, now that you’ve met Rachel and Ryan, how about you say hi to Traci? They’re finally letting her out of this place today. They kept her four days longer than either of us expected and we’re going a bit crazy.”

The reunion was a joyous one. Cindy and Traci kept hugging and crying and asking each other questions and then talking over each other. Mark found himself busy watching Jeremiah, though.

Jeremiah wasn’t okay. Mark could tell just by glancing at him. It worried him a bit. “Rabbi, you all right?” he asked, purposely calling him by his title in an attempt to remind him of his current life instead of his old one.

Jeremiah didn’t move, and Mark felt himself growing more anxious. “Rabbi!”

He shook his head and turned to Mark. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes which looked hard and cold.

Jeremiah moved closer to him. “What is it, Detective?”

Whereas he’d used Jeremiah’s title to try to make him more at ease, Jeremiah used his to put distance between them.

“Dang it, man, don’t do that to me,” he said, keeping his voice low.

Jeremiah just stared at him.

“It really messed you up, didn’t it?”

Jeremiah was silent and inwardly Mark cursed. All the progress they had made in trusting each other seemed to have been wiped out by a week-and-a-half of trouble.

Mark refused to back down. He locked his jaw and stared at the other man, willing Jeremiah to engage with him.

After nearly a minute Jeremiah blinked twice. His face relaxed, just for a moment. “Yes, it did,” he whispered.

Then the cold, detached mask slipped back into place and Jeremiah turned back to the others.

Mark breathed a sigh of relief. The Jeremiah he knew wasn’t dead, just really, really lost. Lost was something he understood. Once upon a time he’d been there himself. He could work with that.

He glanced at his watch. It was getting late back east.

“If all of you will excuse me a moment, there’s a phone call I have to make.”

Mark walked out into the hall and down to the room where the premature babies were. He stood outside and got out his phone. A moment later he was calling Asim’s uncle in Detroit.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Kazmi, it’s Detective Mark Walters.”

“Detective, I was hoping to hear from you again.”

“I promised I’d call when I had news,” Mark said.

“You have found my nephew’s killer?”

“I have found out who killed him, yes.”

“And have you arrested him?”

“I couldn’t. The people responsible for his death died a couple of days ago. In Israel.”

There was a meaningful silence on the other end of the line. “Ah, I see,” he said at last, very quietly and with sorrow in his voice.

“I am terribly sorry,” Mark said.

“As am I. I told you, Detective, anger, hate they poison the mind and turn a man into a monster.”

Mark could tell that the man understood that he had been telling him that Asim had been killed because of his brothers. “I am not at liberty to say very much.”

“No one is these days it seems.”

“I think there is something very important that you should know, though.”

“I am listening.”

“You know how you said you believed that Allah had spared him so that he might one day do something great?”

“Yes, he was a big believer in peace, and I always prayed he would help win the peace.”

“He did.”

“He did?” the man said, his voice full of wonder.

“Yes. He was killed because he was standing up for what was right. And his death actually gave us the information some people needed to stop a new world war from starting.”

“Are you being truthful in this?” the man asked, hope starting to fill his voice.

“I am. His act of courage that led to his death, and your willingness to help me understand why he died were directly responsible for saving hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives. You were right. Allah spared him when he was sixteen so that when he was twenty-one he could make the sacrifice that would save us all.”

“We may not always know what action of ours today may affect others tomorrow.”

“Or even the world,” Mark added.

On the other end of the line Asim’s uncle began crying and praying, part in English, part in Arabic, but Mark understood him perfectly clear. “Mr. Kazmi, you were right. He was a great man and there are many who will not forget what he has done.”

“Thank you, thank you, you cannot know what this means to me. He was my nephew, but he lived in my house and I cared for him as if he were my own son. I loved him.”

Mark turned his head so he could look at his two little angels, sleeping away. “I do understand,” he said softly.

“If ever there is anything I can do for you, Detective, you will let me know.”

“I will. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Mark hung up and struggled for a moment to get his own emotions under control. Calling Asim’s uncle had been the least he could do. Now the man could be at peace and know that his nephew was the hero he’d always imagined he would be.

Now if he could just help Jeremiah find some peace everything would be right with the world.