Redemption is Here
By Morgan Kelley
©Copyright 2015 by Morgan Kelley LLC All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or in an information storage or retrieval system without written consent from the author. All characters are fictional and any similarity to real life or individuals is coincidental.
©Copyright 2015 cover photo ‘Old Misty Graveyard at night’ by Ilikesoup. Purchased from Dreamstime.com December 02, 2013
Other works by Morgan Kelley:
Standalone Novels
The Junction
Serial Sins
The Blood Betrayal
FBI Thriller Series
The Killing Times (Book 1)
Sacred Burial Grounds (Book 2)
True Love Lost (Book 3)
Deep Dark Mire (Book 4)
Fire Burns Hot (Book 5)
Darkness of Truth (Book 6)
Devil Hath Come (Book 7)
Consumed by Wrath (Book 8)
Redemption is Here (Book 9)
Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series
Celestia is Falling (1)
Vegas is Dying (2)
Christmas is Killing (3)
Love is Bleeding (4)
Littlemoon Investigations
Blood Red Rage (Book 1)
Lost & Broken (Book 2)
The Carter Chronicles
Sinner Repent (1)
The Harcourte Vampyre Society series
Dangerous Revelations (1)
Dangerous Choices (2)
~~~~ About the Author ~~~~
Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books. She put them both together and began her career as a writer. Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.
Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Redemption is Here (9), Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Dangerous Revelations (1), Dangerous Choices (2), and Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1)
Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her [email protected], or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com.
Tony Magnus Meets His Match...
~Prologue~
Killing definitely wasn’t for the faint at heart.
It takes a special kind of person to take another’s life. The entire process is a bloody mess and often makes you wonder about your sanity. It makes you question everything you’ve ever learned in life.
Is it right?
Could it be wrong?
Then, when it comes down to it, there can ultimately be only one judge. In the end, God Almighty is the only one who has the final answer for those questions. Even for him, life was all about balancing right and wrong.
Good and evil.
Sinner and saint.
That’s why God picked him.
Gazing down from the heavens, the Lord must have known that he was the perfect person to do this type of job.
Why?
He was chosen because he was a dutiful follower who didn't question God’s word. There were people in life who thought first, and then there were those who jumped right into action.
He was the latter.
Yet, taking a life shouldn’t be done easily. It needed to be balanced in careful consideration and judgment. Without that, it would be a bloody mess.
After all, who decided which men and women were destined to die?
When the time came and their number was up, someone had to make the final decision.
Who was strong enough to do it?
He was.
There would be no choice, because he was doing the Lord’s work. When one pictured the great power above, wielding the sword of justice alone to balance the scales, it was nothing more than fallacy.
To believe that God saw and handled everything on his own was ridiculous. He may continually have a watchful eye on everyone, but deliverance of justice could be slow. After all, the Lord was a very busy deity.
So, he had enlisted a little help.
There was nothing wrong with picking one of your creations to do the dirty work. Everyone needs a little assistance now and again, or someone to make spur of the moment calls on the fly.
Well, he was it.
He would watch, pray, and then make the final decision. God understood, because he was overburdened. Let’s face it; mankind is a vile, hideous lot who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about their fellow humans.
Now, he was helping God keep the sinners from corrupting the saints.
It was his calling.
From his childhood, he knew he was destined to handle it. He always wanted to be special, and what better way than to hold the life of another in his hand?
This was the ultimate gift from his Lord. It was something only given out to a few special angels, who he picked to do his bidding.
It was his job to do what he knew to be right.
With the slightest inclination, life was stolen or preserved. It was as close to being holy and God-like as he would ever get. Don’t get him wrong, he knew that he wasn’t even close to being worthy of worship, but with this offered power, he was a marked man.
He was holy.
As long as he remembered who the boss was, he would be fine. To think otherwise would be blasphemous. Instead, he liked to think of himself as the Grim Reaper of sorts. It was his job to listen to God and make his move.
It took planning.
It took patience.
It took cunning.
That’s why he was the chosen one.
The Lord has his plans, and he was destined to be his right hand. Forget Jesus. He was going to be the sword that smote the sinner and saved the saint.
It was his duty in life.
As a child, his mother always told him to remain holy. There were hours spent at church, long periods of bible study, and so much time spent molding him into the precious vessel of the Lord.
It wasn’t wasted.
She always expected holiness from her family. They needed to be above the law of God, living and sinning as little as possible. In her home, you either were on the Lord’s side or you were asking for his wrath.
The choice was easy.
Wouldn’t she be so proud to know that he’d finally reached this pinnacle? Where she never believed he could do it, God had other plans.
He was on top of the world.
Now, nothing could stop him from making his mark on the people he was sent to judge. With this new found power, he was above reproach. Anyone who saw him doing his work would know the truth.
He was meant to be the Angel of Death.
It sent shivers through his body at the mere thought of the title. Where some people lived their lives in a bubble, he didn't. As a follower of God, he was firmly rooted in his faith.
Nothing escaped him. He saw it all, and it was his job to keep track of it. Maybe it was a good thing that he blended in so easily. He could watch, learn, and handle any situation that arose.
For example?
Well, just look at the woman on his prep table.
He was currently cutti
ng into her chest, trying to remove her heart. It wasn’t easy. Who knew the breast bone was so damn thick? After hacking at it for a while, he finally gave up. Instead, with a simple pair of garden tools, he snapped open the ribs, giving himself some space. Now, he had direct access to what he needed.
Her heart.
Oh, she was going to be losing it to him shortly.
After her flagrant actions, there had been no choice.
For weeks, he’d watched her, as she headed in and out of church and town. On the outside, this woman looked pure, but she wasn’t. She’d have her open dalliance with whoever she wanted, only to think she was above getting caught.
Well, she was definitely seen.
He didn't miss any of it.
Oh, and God wasn’t happy.
So, his Angel of Death was called out to do the job. Now, she was dead and ready for the final part of the task.
Her burial.
What kind of hand of God would he be if he killed them and didn't take care of getting rid of the bodies?
A piss poor one, that’s for sure!
This was part of the process for him. He’d take, judge, and then lay them to rest. So, here she was with her chest open and the special jar waiting for her heart. He wanted to leave a message for those who found her years from now. It would be his little clue as to why her life was forfeited.
Yes, he had a flair for drama, but God didn't mind. It was all part of the Lord’s master plan for his creations.
The Angel of Death couldn’t leave a note, because it would disintegrate with time. Yet, a canopic jar would endure! Granted, he stole that little tidbit from the Egyptians, but why mess with something that worked?
Reaching into her chest, there was the sucking sound of flesh and blood as his hand invaded her body. When he felt the squishy sack, he reached in with the knife to cut it free. Once out of the cavity, he stared at it in his palm.
He was in awe of the Lord’s creation.
This one organ helped keep us alive and was said to be the part of our bodies that held love.
It was just one more of his miracles.
Then, he found it all funny. God knew that this woman ‘loved’ a lot of men.
Now, her once beating heart was cold and dead in his hand. It was ironic on so many levels. More laughter filled him. Here was a woman, who bedded so many men, and now she was reduced to a cold, dead corpse.
He shook his head sadly.
None of this would have happened if she had just been better in life. While going to church, she should have paid a little more attention to the sermons on wrath and judgment.
Now that she was being judged, maybe God would take mercy on her, showing her the way.
After all, the Lord was all about forgiveness.
Staring down at her, he saw how that probably wouldn’t happen. Truth be told, some people weren’t worthy of salvation.
Hadn’t he learned that over the years?
Picking up the jar, he stuffed the organ inside before sealing it shut. Staring at the cavity, he brutally shoved the vessel into her chest.
In the afterlife, she would need her heart.
Yeah, maybe she could use it to bribe her way into Satan’s favor. Since she was so accustomed to using her womanly wiles to get what she wanted, Satan just might give her what she deserved.
A long, fire filled eternity.
More laughter came as he prepared the strips. The scent filled his nostrils, giving him peace. It was so familiar and calming that he almost wanted to bathe in it himself. As the aroma filled his senses, he began soaking the strips in the sacred oil. When they were ready, he would wrap her body for burial.
He already had the place picked out.
It was the perfect location.
No one would look there, and if for some reason they did, he wouldn’t be blamed. After all, there would be too many suspects. Then, he could continue his work.
Correction- he would continue God’s work.
One must not forget who was running this show.
Once she was in the ground, the final chapter in her story would be written. God could then forgive her, because she died for her sins. There was still a chance that when she met him in the afterlife, he would let her into heaven.
It would all come down to her repenting.
If that happened, then he’d done his job.
The evil and impure needed to be saved, and he wouldn’t stop until he took care of it.
He couldn’t.
This calling consumed all of him. If he tried to stop, he’d be miserable. For now, he must carry on and save as many sinners as possible.
Then, he’d get his reward when he too was buried.
All his deeds in life would ensure his heavenly retreat in the afterlife.
He was sure of it.
Returning his focus to the woman, he dumped some of the fragrant herbs and liquid into her chest before he began coating her body with them. Next, he would wrap and transport her.
This sinner’s journey was just beginning.
And he couldn’t wait to send her on her way.
It was another job well done.
* * *
Three Hours Later
In the silence of the night, he continued digging the hole. It was right beside the last three that he’d buried out in the middle of nowhere. For him, this was the plan all along.
This spot was ideal.
It stood just outside the church cemetery, oblivious to the living. This one spot spoke volumes of the people buried there.
See, they weren’t worthy of a proper plot.
Not yet.
God had yet to forgive them. Maybe when they were discovered and interred somewhere else, they’d be ready for a tombstone and flowers. For now, they were still impure. God would decide when it was time for them to have their moment. If they didn't ask for his forgiveness by now, here they would remain.
As he got down three feet, he hit rock.
Well then, this would have to do.
Dragging her body, wrapped in plastic sheeting to the hole, he said a prayer before dropping her in. The sick thud of skull hitting rock made him giddy. The sound brought happiness to him in some perverse way.
God would forgive him.
He knew it.
Once more, he had done a darn good job. Now, he could cover her up and get the hell out of there. The rains were coming, and he didn't want to leave too many tracks in the dirt.
No, he needed to stay invisible.
The Angel of Death couldn’t be effective if he wore a sign giving away his calling, now could he?
God demanded he stay in the shadows, and he was fine with that. How could he watch those who were to be judged if they knew it was their time? He couldn’t.
Then, they would be good.
No, he needed to remain hidden to be fair. They all had a choice in their destiny. If they made good decisions, they’d live longer.
If they didn't…
Yeah, well, she was a testament to her choices, as were her three companions in the ground.
There was a major lesson here. It was simple enough. You shouldn’t test God, because you won’t like the outcome.
With the last shovel of dirt, he finally finished the back breaking task. Grabbing all his things, he loaded them back into his truck.
Now, it was time to escape.
Tomorrow was another day, and certainly there would be more sin to find. God would point him in the right direction. Before long, these four would have another friend to keep them company. Since there was an endless amount of land, there could be an endless number of sinners.
It made him giddy.
“Forgive me, Father, for taking joy in my job,” he prayed.
When he heard the whispered words, he smiled satisfactorily.
All was forgiven.
Inside his truck, he stared into the mirror and couldn’t help but admire his power.
Yeah, being an angel was tough work. Yet in
the end, it was worth it.
Not all of God’s helpers were meant to spread joy and peace to his followers.
Someone had to do the dirty work.
And he didn't mind at all…
* * *
Two Days Later
Black Mountain Indian Reservation
Getting out of his rental, he crossed the grass to the meeting house. Everything in Callen Whitefox was on edge. Mostly, because this was his first assignment away from the people he loved.
After returning from Salem, Elizabeth, Ethan, and he went back to living. Just a week ago, they found out that their woman was having a girl. The family was about to get another precious daughter added into their midst, and they couldn’t be happier.
Maybe that wasn’t a good enough description for all of their emotions. They were ecstatic!
Now, Callen was back on the road doing what he did best. As liaison to the Native community, it was his job to mediate. Maybe he was good at it because it was his nature, or it was all due to his ethnicity. It didn't really matter, because either way, this one job was going to be a rough one.
He could already tell.
When Native Americans were forced onto reservations hundreds of years ago, they took it badly. No one wanted their land stolen from them. Instead of what was promised, they were given poor living conditions, disease from the white man, and ultimately their death.
What he was facing down there was very reminiscent of years long ago.
There were more land issues brewing, and it was going to be damn ugly. Already, the Natives were restless, and he’d yet to start the mediation process.
Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) Page 1
