by Joy Ohagwu
Robert clasped her hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb, enjoying the glint of his ring on her finger before he met her gaze. “I just thought we’d gotten to such place where we can live quiet lives. Then this happens.” He turned to her with worry creasing his eyebrows. “What do I tell him? I mean, I care about my men and women, and most importantly, about you and Ritz and our coming baby.”
Ruby returned his handclasp, her delicate fingers resting in his with sweet confidence and, with her free hand, tilted his chin to look into his eyes. “Dear husband, you and I both know you have overgrown your captainship for a while now. You’re a great leader, but maybe, just maybe, it’s time for you to assume leadership at a higher level?”
She let her hand drop. “Of course, if you don’t think it’s in our best interest, or if the Lord leads us to say no, I’m perfectly content. You know I’m not power hungry at all. Matter of fact, a quiet life is so attractive right now. But I want you to know that, with great talent such as yours, comes even greater responsibility. And our human tendency is usually to run, not to face it. I love you, Robert Towers, and wherever the road leads us, I’ll be right there with you cheering you on. We pledged to support each other, and you’ve helped build up our home, helped me grow my business into an international entity, and this could be God saying it’s your turn, my love.”
Robert cocked a brow. She called him what he usually called her, and it sailed straight to his heart. Robert smiled and kissed her. “On second thought, I do recall we had our honeymoon in the White House. Fantasy says, I might want to revisit our room there with you, you know, for old times’ sake.”
She chuckled. “Okay, don’t get carried away, Emerald Eyes. We need to pray first, get solid confirmation about the Lord’s will in this, and let the Lord guide us. We don’t take a step without Him.”
Robert took her hand, and they went on their knees. “And whatever the Lord says, that’s what we shall do.”
“Agreed,” Ruby chimed.
EPILOGUE
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Pete Zendel, senior pastor of the Living Faith Bible church, paced the altar of their new church sanctuary—courtesy of the Towers’ generosity—and brimmed with inspiration for the sermon he was preaching. The church was full for the Sunday worship service, and the audience was very engaged. He was not sure why, but he felt an unusual presence of God particularly at this moment. However, he preached on. Light spilled through the church entrance, and in its wash, an SSPD officer strode into the church.
Zendel swept his gaze away, choosing to remain focused on the Lord and on his message. “Sometimes, when you are working hard, trying to solve a need, it seems the enemy is fighting you. Working to cut you off from the prize, delaying your blessing, your breakthrough, your healing, your deliverance, your family’s salvation, your divine inheritance.”
He paused at the center, and his voice boomed. “But he forgot that God gave you a promise. An irretractable promise. That with every temptation, every temptation, e–v–e–r–y temptation—” He pounded his feet on the platform, and the church roared to a stand. Zendel pointed skyward. “God! God! God! Shall make a way of escape.”
Applause, shouts of “Amen!” “Halleluiah!” “Praise God!” followed with cheer.
He reached one end and squatted to a young mother with a baby rested on her knees. “So when you’ve done all that you can do and it appears the problem is still there, still staring at your face, still mocking you…”
He straightened, feeling the anointing on him strongly and returning the other way, pausing in front of a man who had tattoos sleeving his right arm. “Or when you’ve tried your best and feel cut off at the knees at every turn…” He spun and paced the length of the altar.
The SSPD officer stood, gaping in shock at the middle row, mouth dropped open.
Zendel turned to the audience and pointed skyward. “Jesus will make a way for you. Trust Him, even when it doesn’t make sense.”
He stopped, and the audience calmed, sitting back down again. “Trust Him even when it seems like all hope is lost. Like everyone has turned their backs to you. Like you’re alone and with no one. Trust Him. He will make a way out, specifically for you, but only if you stay trusting Him till the end. God bless you.”
Zendel set down the microphone on the podium and pivoted to leave, but felt like the Lord wasn’t done yet, even though he was out of preaching time. So he reversed and knelt down in worship. He bowed his head to the ground and, after a moment of prayer, stood again and reclaimed the mic.
A short burst of laughter slipped through his lips as he spoke. “See, I know a thing or two about escapes. I escaped from a tough prison once.” The SSPD officer, involved with the case at the time and an eyewitness, shifted in his seat, yet Zendel continued, “I had the money, the connections, and the technological know-how. So, I plotted an escape, and my boys executed it perfectly. I broke out of jail as scheduled. But guess what?” He pinned an arm to his hip.
The congregation grew silent in anticipation, ears perked. A good number of them, who had joined the church recently, only heard that their pastor was an ex-con, but never heard any details. It wasn’t something he brought up often either. Silence reigned in the congregation. “I got caught within hours by a very…elite team and was sent back to prison, a different prison this time.
“That was physical imprisonment, but there are other types of captivity that are not physical but are even more binding. Those kinds of freedom beyond what the eye can see are what everyone looking at me now needs to have.” He pointed to the church audience. “True freedom in every way is guaranteed in Christ alone.”
He rolled up his sleeves, feeling hot despite the winter weather, attributing the heat to his present activity. “When I received Jesus in prison, I became free even though I was bound. And after serving time enough, I was set free by the law, and I stand before you today in true physical and spiritual freedom.”
Applause rang out again, plus a few whistles.
He shouted over the noise. “Am I proud of the things I did? No. Would I wish I could go back and change things?” He clapped a hand on the podium. “Absolutely. Can I?” He shook his head with regret filling his heart. “No.” He placed the other hand on his chest. “Therefore, I embrace the chance I have, today and now. That is what we all have. You can’t change the past, but you can choose a better future.”
Cheers rang out again. He raised a hand to call for calm, and they quieted.
“You don’t know true freedom until you know Jesus.” He let out a short laugh. Then he sighed. “No amount of physical freedom, wealth, power, or prominence can guarantee you eternal life.” He scanned the congregation, willing understanding for their hearts. “I want you to get this. You can only be really free through Christ Jesus. By ordinary standards, I consider myself a smart man, if I can humbly say so. And I knew and still know that I need Jesus.”
He pointed to them. “What about you? Do you still think your smarts will get you entry into heaven? I have news for you. The spiritual realm works very differently and has a very different rule of engagement, one you can’t successfully navigate unless you’ve got the key. Jesus is that Key, the only key to everlasting life and true freedom.”
Calm settled over them again as he hit the core of his message. “Will you accept Jesus today? Will you give Him a chance to prove to you that no matter what man says about you, He has a better, fail-proof plan for your life and sees you differently? If so, will you please come forward so I can pray with you?”
A couple of people rose, and reverence for God enveloped the audience as they reached the altar.
“Thank you for honoring God and coming forward. This is the most important decision of your life. A choice about where you will spend eternity. A choice that good deeds do not substitute for. A choice for Jesus. Please bow
your heads and let us pray.”
Before closing his eyes to pray, he gleaned the SSPD officer’s shadow as the man rounded the edge of the congregation and cornered toward the church office area. Then Pete closed his eyes and prayed with the new converts, adding a silent prayer that, whatever the SSPD officer came here for, God would help him handle it accordingly.
Charlie slipped past the ushers, smiling at them as they looked at his uniform, their eyes laced with curiosity. He knocked and entered Zendel’s church office, informing the pastor’s secretary that he was there to speak with Zendel.
As he sat, his mind traveled through Zendel’s journey, and he could not help but marvel over how God changed people. Watching Zendel preach and feeling the presence of God in the audience had been…weird for him.
Hearing Zendel take a single Scripture and preach on it so powerfully…Charlie rubbed his hands together, almost trying to grasp in the shock radiating over him. Granted, he had not been there from the beginning. But what he saw brought his hesitation about Zendel to a halt. He would never, in a million years, have predicted today in Zendel’s future. Maybe Robert was right.
He admonished himself not to write off anyone in Christ, no matter how bad their pasts were.
“Detective,” Zendel coolly spoke as he entered the office, reaching out a hand toward Charlie after removing his suit jacket and hanging it up on a coat rack by the door. The man appeared a bit older than the last time Charlie saw him, a few months back when he checked Zendel’s place to ensure he still complied with the terms of his release. It appeared he did.
Charlie stood and shook his hand. “Zendel. Um, Pastor Zendel.” This was going to take some work to get used to.
Zendel shook his head. “To you, I’m simply Zendel or Pete. No need to shrug on a new title that won’t match how you know me. Like I said in my sermon, we all have a past but shouldn’t be defined by it.” He ushered Charlie into the main office and shut the door, rounding to his desk. “How can I help you?”
Charlie exhaled and hoped Robert knew what he was doing by sending him here and by choosing Zendel for something of grave importance. He was against the idea of roping Zendel into something that was, by all previous indications, his worst temptation. So, he began with the supporting details. “Captain Towers sent me here to ask you a question. He needs a yes or no.”
Sliding into his desk chair, Zendel frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Of course, I’m happy to assist Captain Towers and his family in any way I can.” He looped his fingers together and settled them on the desk in front of him, looking straight at Charlie.
Charlie felt like his soul was being rummaged. He was trying really hard to see those serious eyes in a new way. But knowing how deadly the man had been, a chill still ran through him.
Was Captain Towers right in making this selection?
He wasn’t as sure as he’d been a moment ago. Maybe he could go instead for whatever it was. But Robert said he’d discussed with Ruby, gotten her consent due to the special circumstances, and relayed their choice to the Director of National Security who accepted. Pete Zendel simply had to say yes, and it was a go.
Charlie looked away, avoiding the intense probe from Zendel’s eyes, and up to the plaque from the Council of Prison Evangelical Ministers Association hanging on the wall behind Zendel’s head. He swallowed down his reservations. “Captain Towers’ daughter was kidnapped a few days ago. She was rescued and is home safe now. However, it was determined that the situation surrounding her kidnapping had to do with the masterminds of a thwarted plot for a mission he went on two years ago. They traced him home through a device he recovered. That device became invaluable to our investigation and critical evidence for a possible indictment. However, as a result, they targeted his family. Now, it seems, more people could be in danger—many more—and he needs to send someone for a second mission with the goal of finding the individual who had kidnapped his daughter, extracting him, and bringing him to justice. There are other details to share, including how it connects to this town, Silver Stone, to Captain Towers and his family, and even possibly to the nation at large. But those details can only be shared when you become need-to-know.”
Zendel listened attentively without interjecting, so Charlie continued.
“The Director for National Security is on board and has approved your selection as the man for the job, should you accept. You were chosen based on your particular skillset and your knowledge of the underworld and your vast experience with unfamiliar tech at the cutting edge of security. It had come down to two choices—Captain Towers or you, and he can’t go for many reasons….”
“Need-to-know basis, correct?” Zendel finally said in a quiet tone.
Charlie nodded. “Exactly. So, are you willing to go for it? Please, a simple yes or no will do.” Truth be told, Robert had asked that Zendel be invited to the SSPD for this conversation, but Charlie had objected when he heard about it moments later, citing that Robert’s family details could slip through a casual conversation—information which Zendel was never to know about—so Robert relented and sent him to Zendel’s church instead.
According to Robert, they had twenty-four hours to obtain a reply and to start prepping him for the mission—details of which even he didn’t know—so Charlie wasn’t about to waste a minute. “In addition, the daughter’s kidnappers had asked for The New Rulebook in exchange for her. We’re still working out the reason why.”
Zendel’s expression grew clouded. “That should be an impossible request. If they could gain access to it, I would know.”
Charlie frowned. “Really? How?”
Tapping his index fingers together, Zendel stayed silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice took on a grieved tone. “I had a tracking device secretly planted at the base of the machine.”
Charlie’s eyes shot up. “So you know where it is?”
This was not supposed to happen. He was going to loop Robert in on this, fast.
“No, I don’t.” Zendel shook his head. “I tailed the signal until I lost it at the National Security Building Offices as its final location many years ago after I’d landed in prison the second time and met Jesus.”
Zendel sank back and smiled. “Funny thing was, I wasn’t trying to get it back, though I could have at the time, had I been so inclined. I was making sure it was safe and out of criminal hands. That was the sole purpose of checking on it, and I’ve had no contact or connection with it for the past sixteen or so years, most of that being intentional distance. In fact, being who I am today, I would destroy it if I could. It’s a sad reminder of the man I used to be.”
He bowed slightly, then looked up. “I did a lot of terrible things to bring that program into being, and I would reverse each one the first chance I get—not that I could.”
He leaned forward with an intense expression drawing his eyebrows close. “I liked the Towers’ daughter when I met her two years ago. She seemed sensible, and I’m sorry to hear she was kidnapped. I’m glad that she’s home safe. I do have one question. Why would someone kidnap a child who knows nothing about it when the parents, who do, are still alive?”
Charlie exhaled, still realigning himself with the news that Zendel had installed a tracker on his equipment. But he chided himself not to be surprised. Knowing the man, it would have been odd if he didn’t. Again, accepting the new man in front of him was hard. Coming here, he’d thought he was mistaken, but now, he agreed Robert might’ve made the correct choice. It was just unfamiliar to look at Zendel in a new light while discussing his evil past.
Charlie appreciated afresh how God sees us differently after salvation when even man cannot. “I’m glad to know you didn’t take any steps to recover The New Rulebook when you had the opportunity, Pete,” he finally replied. “And to your question, I’m not sure why they took Ritz and not Ruby or Robert.”
“Matter of fact, if they would take anyone, I would assume it would be Ruby, since among the three of them, she saw it f
irsthand. Something does not add up.” Zendel looked up again at Charlie, and their eyes met. “Please extend my greetings to Captain Towers and his wife. Tell them I’m happy their daughter is back home safe and sound. I’m available to assist them in any way I can.”
Zendel paused, and Charlie thought in that moment, that the probable reason Ruby hadn’t been kidnapped was because she wasn’t publicly reachable within the forty-eight-hour time frame the kidnappers had issued. She ran her business from home, and they kept their home address completely unlisted. Ritz was the only person without security who was out and about in public enough to be grabbed with the least resistance. Yes, it was getting clearer to him.
Zendel cleared his throat, drawing Charlie back from his thoughts. “About your request, I’m rusty when it comes to being active in potentially dangerous situations. I hired men to do it when I got high up enough. More importantly, I’m now a Christian. Considering my history, many won’t see me as an innocent participant in anything, let alone an important mission. I’ve never done anything good, so Captain Towers is placing a lot of unearned trust in me—him doing so baffles me to my core. And should things go sideways, I would most likely be regarded as a suspect first, and I would really hate to go back to jail, unless God allows it. But I won’t make it happen by my own hands.”
He stood to his feet. “Tell him I’m going to honor his trust in me by taking this to God in prayer today. I should give you an answer before sundown. However, I appreciate the offer, and whatever the Lord leads me to do, that’s what I’ll do and will communicate such to you.”
Charlie could understand the man’s hesitance, but also admired his reliance on the will of God to lead him. Everyone around him seemed to have grown more cautious with seeking God’s leading amid important decisions—a very good thing. And one way or another, what the Towers chose, and what Zendel opted for, would impact him invariably. He hoped and prayed that those would be good consequences.
