CHURCH LADY P.I.: Part # 11 (In The Truck)

CHURCH LADY P.I. Part # 11

(IN THE TRUCK)

REMEMBER: This is a mystery and it must be read in order, including the  Introduction, then Part 1, Part 2, etc. Also read the Companion Blog Post from my Personal Blog, "Laura-Lee Was Here" called, "FINALLY FINISHED: Church Lady P.I.". There are clues everywhere. (LR)

Marc, who sat directly to my right, gave me a worried look. He had felt me tremble and was taking off his jacket to give it to me. I didn't bother to argue with him.

He asked me calmly, as one might speak when they come across a wounded animal and are not quite sure what reaction you'll get, "Are you alright, Mai?"

"Yes!" I almost shouted.
"Except for being close to winning the prize for densest person on the planet. I'm just fine." I uttered with deep sarcasm.

I quickly got control over my emotions as I realized what I knew and that I would have to reveal some difficult truths to Ginnette who was sitting on my left. Surely she must have felt me tremble as well.

I turned slightly so I could look directly into her eyes. I was trying to decide how much to tell her, which she must have guessed because  she said to me with forced but obvious control, "If you know where Sarah is, then let's hear it. I can handle it. I need to know what you know."

I took a deep breath and began to list and weave my way through the things I did know, thinking it was a good idea to share it out loud to make sure I was thinking right and drawing the correct conclusions. Although my  years of experience, not just as an investigator but as a follower of Jesus, told me I had encountered the Truth once again.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, took a deep, cleansing breath and began:
"Follow me. Here's what we know. Here's the facts we have in front of us."

 I could actually feel the three other people in the truck with me compose and brace themselves to give me their complete attention.
I continued.
"Let's begin with what Bert knows."

He actually wiggled in his seat, apparently pleased that he had not only contributed to my conclusion but was being listed first.
"His conspiracy theories may seem a bit wild and crazy on the surface, sorry Bert," his face fell for just a moment but he recovered quickly.

" but let's look less at what they are and more about who is involved: the 'Cathedral' church with it's baby selling, the High School with it's prostitution ring, and Harker's store with his 'lobotomy tea'."
"That comes down to the Reverend and Mrs. Wright and Mr. Harker. Are you with me so far?" I glanced around at the other people in the truck cab and everyone nodded.

"Then we have the fact of a church that apparently believes the Bible from cover to cover, but nobody brings a Bible to the service. It's very easy to lull people into laziness when it comes to Bible reading. It starts by them putting the Scripture verses on the screen for everyone and before you know it people are saying, 'Oh. I don't need to bring my Bible today. They'll put the verses up on the screen anyway.' "
"Except it's gotten to the point where the Bible is being misquoted often and nobody even notices because nobody has brought their Bible to follow along and check up on whether or not they are accurate."

"Then we have the fact that Ginnette is being asked to play a hymn over and over, whether or not it's appropriate. She doesn't bother to argue about it after a while because she's being given a ridiculously high salary to play a few songs each week. Sorry Ginnette."

She waved her hand in her dismissive way, but her eyes were starting to tear up and betraying the depth of her emotions as she was following along with my reasoning and perhaps realizing that her own foolishness might bring about some horrible consequences for Sarah.

Marc put his hand on my arm, "What do the inaccurate Bible verses and hymns mean?" he asked somewhat excitedly.

"I just chalked it up to human error until I heard you knock on Bert's door. That little code between the two of you that announces that it's you at his door. When you first knocked I didn't know what you were doing. But once you told me what song it represented, I could hear it immediately."

"You told her our knock code?" Bert interjected with a rather hurt look.

"She's going to be my wife, Bert. Plus, she's an investigator. How long do you think I could have kept it from her?" Marc quickly responded.

Bert shrugged it off. Obviously deciding not to be hurt by this supposed "betrayal" of high school buddy secrets.

Ginnette said emotionally but with restraint, "Please. Please. Keep going!"

So I kept going. 
"The Scriptures and hymns are a code. They are messages from Reverend Wright to people in the congregation. If you know what you're listening for it's very obvious, but if you are clueless that there even is a code, you won't hear it. As clueless as Mr. Harker's tea is making the town. Another one of Bert's conclusions."

He gave a small smile that showed he was pleased with himself for getting it right again.

"Then of course we come at last to Sarah's bunnies."

I paused and glanced at Ginnette again. She had closed her eyes and I saw pain etch itself on her face, but then just as suddenly it disappeared as her eyes popped open and she nodded for me to continue.

I did continue, but I put my hand on her shoulder as I did and went forward with gentleness. 
"What you might not know, Little Mommy, is that your daughter is a very smart child. When her bunnies started disappearing and reappearing and sometimes not coming back at all and you'd buy another one ... ? " I paused

"And very cheaply from that B*****d Harker!" she inserted.

"Yes." I squeezed her arm to show my support and agreement.
"Well. That's when she started naming them and 'Booby Trapping' them."

Ginnette frowned at me, "What do you mean 'Booby trapping' them?"

Marc and Bert echoed together, "Yeah. What do you mean, 'Booby trapping them?' " 

They glanced at each other because they had shot out the same words simultaneously, but then immediately focused on me again for the answer.

"She was making marks on them in a way that is so small and subtle that only she would notice. Something that a grown-up or someone without an intimate knowledge of the Bunnies wouldn't notice at all. That way she could keep an accurate record of which Bunnies were coming and going."

"That little Dickens." Ginnette said with obvious admiration.

"Yes. Quite ingenious. I doubt that even most adults would have thought of that."

Then I hugged Ginnette even tighter with my left arm I had placed around her and spoke with as much gentleness as I could when I looked deep into her red eyes and said, 
"But I think they figured that out and I believe that's why she's been taken. She simply knows too much. She can trace and track the comings and goings of those blasted bunnies and it's put her life at risk."

I paused just a moment to let that sink in. 
"That's why we've got to find her as quickly as possible."

I felt Ginnette's entire body tense and brace itself as she looked back into my eyes, "Tell me the truth Mai. I have to know. Do you think we're too late? Is my baby ... dead?"

"No!" I blurted out, with more firmness then I was actually feeling at the time.

"How do you know?" Ginnette asked slowly, searching my face for the answer.

I thought for a moment. How did I know? Then the words came into my mind. Words not based on the clues I picked up here and there but from a lifetime of evidence of being "sure" and "certain".   { Hebrews 11:1 }

"Because Jesus is involved." I responded bluntly.

She shook her head and looked down at her hands in her lap that were gripping and twisting a pretty little hankie with the word 'Mommy' badly embroidered on it. Something I hadn't noticed before. She said in not much more than a whisper, "I wish I could have your amount of faith? But right now all I feel is fear."

"I think you have more faith than you actually realize. Remember. Jesus told us we only need the tiniest amount of faith to move an entire mountain. But add this evidence to your 'tiny' faith.
What are the odds that I would come to this town now? That I'm an investigator? That I attended that church? That I ran into your daughter and became involved in this entire thing? That the people and information needed to solve all of this is found in the memories and perceptions (I glanced up at Bert) of the four people in this truck cab right here and now? And on and on it goes. One or two coincidences can be explained away. But when you look at the odds of all these factors coming together right here and right now ...?"  I left those questions hanging for a moment.

"This is no accident. Even the fact that there are currently more than 50 people united in prayer in the living room of Marc's Aunt and Uncle's house. 
"No. Sarah is still alive and I think we are about to find her too."

Ginnette's head shot up from where it was continuing to look at the hankie she was rotating in her hands.
I could tell she was daring to hope for life. The life of her daughter. When her eyes met mine she asked, "How. What makes you think we're about to find her?"

"Because we are sitting in a muddy, rain drenched field that most vehicles wouldn't have any chance to get out of. Yet we just happen to be sitting in the only vehicle for probably miles that is capable of maneuvering it's way through even the muddiest of fields and back-roads. Bert's truck. No way is that just another coincidence!"

Ginnette actually dared to allow herself to smile.

I turned to Bert and asked, "What do you say, Bert? Are you ready to 'save the day'?"

"Absolutely!"

"Then start her up and let's get out of here."

Bert did just that. And as he revved up his engine a few times by  pumping his gas pedal, he suddenly looked at me and said, 
"Uh. Where are we are going?"

I actually hadn't thought that far ahead. I had been swept up into the emotions of what I was saying , but the 'minor' detail of knowing exactly where Sarah was being held had eluded me.

 Then Marc spoke the first words he had said in quite some time.
"It's okay. I know where we're going."

We all looked at him. He answered matter-of-factly, like it should be completely obvious to all of us. "We're going to 'Mount Zion' !"

Bert nodded. Put his truck in gear and off we went.

LINK to Next Part # 12 "Up the Mountain"



FINALLY FINISHED: Church Lady P.I. from Laura-Lee Was Here Blog (COMPANION POST)


CHURCH LADY P.I.: Introduction





Copyright 2015 "The characters and events in this story are not meant to represent any persons living or dead and are entirely a product of the imagination of the writer." LR