Solutions: The Dilemma of Patience by James Gerard (manga ebook reader TXT) 📖

and embraced her with loving arms, “She never died.”

 

“Get off of me,” she shouted while pushing Michael away.  “Where is she?”

 

“Mary,” cried out Valerie.

 

“Just be patient Valerie.  I promised you that I’d find her.”  She looked back at Michael, “Where is she?”

 

“She’s hidden away for now.”

 

“Then take me to her,” demanded Jacqueline.

 

Michael looked down again to see the precious smile on Valerie’s face.  “First, who is she to you?”

 

He witnessed an expression that hinted at shame, yet also spoke of sadness.

 

“She’s my sister.”

 

“What was that?”

 

She looked directly into his eyes, “She’s my sister.”

 

“She is your sister?”

 

“What, am I stuttering?  She’s my sister.”

 

Michael could sense a cloud of vulnerability descend upon the woman he had known as a cold, tough, and calculating master of deception.  Everything was making sense.  He could see that what had occurred within the last half hour was in itself an orchestrated show of deception, but one born of desperation rather than out of hatred.  And within the crafty act came the sense of a sincere plea for help.

 

“What do you want of me?” asked Michael.

 

“Are you deaf and blind?" she answered with a look of stress on the face.  "Help me!”

 

The vulnerability and desperation came through loud and clear, but the plea momentarily blocked the logic of the situation.  To Michael’s utter amazement she seemed to have yielded to a power greater than the one that had held her captive, kept her in bondage, and had her carry out the lies with a fervent passion.

 

Yet, while Michael saw the change of heart by what was seen and heard, by the evidence of the sweet and loving face of a sister no one had ever known of, he was well aware that beyond such physical conventions it was faith that was witnessed.   His Lord’s loving embrace was delivering Jacqueline from the darkened depths of her mind.

Wait and See

 As Michael strolled back to the road he could not stop contemplating what had just happened.  It was something that still reverberated with disbelief, yet the outcome was fantastically wonderful.   Before his very eyes the woman feared by all the believers, by all in the fiefdom of Los Angeles, was seen begging with humility.

 

He looked around and noticed her slow and carefree pace.  It was a pace that hinted at a relief she never experienced before.  Somewhat remarkably, she dared to further humble herself by taking the lead position without the protection of the rifle.

 

But coming around the corner Michael, seeing his friends still held at gunpoint, was reminded that what had occurred could still be an illusion.  There was still a possibility she had crafted the perfect scheme to end the existence of all believers.

 

The sound of clicks created by hard heel boots tapping the pavement caught the attention of his friends, but none of the members of the small assault force gave any clue as to their leader’s presence.  It was as if none of them dared to contradict the orders to keep a watchful eye on the captives.

 

“Listen up boys,” Jacqueline shouted, “change of plans here.”

 

The men remained vigilant to the orders given, but Philip and Troy stared intently at Jacqueline.

 

“You two, back in the truck,” she commanded.

 

Michael could see the apprehension in their stunned faces.  They apparently believed that he had been executed, and they would be shot in the back once they obeyed the command.

 

“Did you hear me?  I said ‘back in the truck!’”

 

Troy and Philip each stepped backwards with their arms still raised in the air and slowly turned around.  The armed men still held the aim of the rifles as if waiting for the order for the kill shot, but the two climbed back aboard before such a command could be given.

 

“Hey, this way,” Jacqueline commanded.

 

The men spun around.

 

“It seems Michael here has had a change of heart.  He has agreed to take us to their secret camp.  I’ll be riding with him in the bus in the lead position, followed by them two, and with all of you taking up the rear.  Do you understand?”

 

In unison a “yes ma’ma” was shouted.

 

“Hey, you two in the truck, did you hear?”  She pointed at two of the security personnel, “Join them.”

 

Both nodded an affirmative.

 

The truck roared back to life and drowned out the idling engines of the two security vehicles to either side of the road and the roaring engine of the fortified beast of a truck acting as a blockade.

 

Michael glanced at Jacqueline as she strolled alongside him.  This time her face appeared as if it was wracked with worry, but he could not be sure.  It could have been the look of stress as she thought about the dilemma that she was facing.  He wanted to ask what her plan of attack was, but the rumblings of the powerful vehicles rolling just behind them at a snail’s pace prevented such a question.

 

Jacqueline held up a hand.  The convoy came to a halt.  As the two moved closer to the cries and screams coming from inside the bus, Michael found himself caught between a rock and a hard place.  If this was all a ploy, he reasoned, death would be delivered to the very people that had found security in a safe haven.  But now it was too late to consider any means of escape even if it were possible.

 

Michael entered the bus and sat in the driver’s seat.  Without a word spoken, Jacqueline sat directly behind and cuddled up with Valerie.

 

The engine was fired up.  The bus lurched forward.  The steering wheel rotated as far to the left as possible and the bus responded by swinging around towards the road and slowly swung onto the path.

 

Michael kept shifting the attention from the side mirrors that reflected the monstrous images behind and the rearview mirror that held the cozy image of Jacqueline and Valerie as well as the rest of the precious souls.

 

The image of a warm and tender woman embracing and stroking her sister was almost too surreal to believe, but the reflection appeared true to form.  The view offered a picture of Jacqueline that few or none had ever seen.

 

As eyes kept glancing into the mirror, the tender image was juxtaposed with an image of the maniacal creature that had confronted him just days earlier.  For a reason that was never explained, she appeared shortly after an anonymous tip had led to the capture inside the main warehouse at the complex.  To receive that type of intimate cruelty for a mere believer was simply unheard of.  He had suspected that whoever made the call somehow suspected he had been conspiring with Councilman Neumann, and thereby was deserving of the punishing wrath personally administered by Jacqueline.

 

Minutes away from the isolated haven, doubts began to swarm the thoughts   If she had indeed had a miraculous change of heart, had sincerely sought out help for those she had hijacked, then why the assault team?   Or, that all of this had been born out of sadistic pleasure and was just a clever ploy to rid a large population of believers that had escaped from the control of the state?

 

The bus wandered a little to right for the side mirror to reveal the faces of Philip and Troy travelling close behind.  They appeared in a state of panic as the two members of the assault team guarded them from behind.  Both held their eyes forward and rode silently down the road.

 

Michael could only hope that neither was planning a surprise attack once reaching the ramp leading down to the underground fortress, for stowed away under the front passenger seat was a small arsenal of assault weapons.  Also, hundreds of the same type weapons were stored at the haven as well, and Troy, via an encrypted satellite message, may have dispatched an alert to warn of the small invasion force fast approaching.

 

The weapons had been pilfered from the inventory of the central security office by a fellow believer still hiding amongst the predators of the state.  Although the brother had acted independently with the intent of providing a strong defensive barrier to a surprise attack, Michael and others saw it as a strategy born out of logic rather than reliance on their Lord for protection.  Yet, too many argued in favor of such a defense and the will of the majority prevailed—the guns would be used.

 

A hill rising subtly out of the landscape came into view.  Michael took one more look at Jacqueline.  Her arms were still embracing Valerie yet her eyes were fixed ahead.  The stare, however, was apparently overshadowed by some deep thoughts running through the mind or else she would have noticed the road was coming to an end.

 

The bus drifted one more time to the right.  Michael stared intently at his two friends looking for any subtle signs that served as a signal of their intent, but frozen faces stared back in the reflection.

 

In a matter of seconds the road would end.  All the vehicles would have to stop.

A Surprise Reunion

 Michael jumped off the bus and quickly flashed a subtle hand signal to Troy and Philip if they indeed planned a surprise attack.  He then looked to Jacqueline.  She was just stepping off the bus.  He was hoping she had not witnessed the secret gesture.  He looked back at Troy who nodded an affirmation that the message was understood.

 

As Michael came around the front of the truck there were no sounds or movements coming from just behind the camouflaged entrance.   Such a detection of the slightest movement, the whispering of any sound, would indicate that Troy had been successful in sending the warning to those inside.   As far as he could tell, no surprise counterassault was in the works.  The blades of dry grass were motionless.

 

“What?  We have to walk now?”

 

“First,” Michael spoke harshly, “tell me what you are up to.”

 

“Again,” sighed Jacqueline, “I need your help.”

 

“If this is some sort of scheme you have going on then I warn you now that we are willing and able to wipe you out.”

 

“Oh, what mighty words from of all people a believer?  I thought your God was against such violent methods.”

 

“Trust me, when it comes to my God I have no problem taking out his enemies.”

 

“Well then,” she chuckled, “I guess I’m ready to order the utter annihilation of you and the fools you’re protecting.  Just one word from me and in a matter of seconds this entire area as far as you can see will be bombarded and burnt to a crisp.”

 

“And you’re willing to die along with us?”

 

“Why not?  My legacy will be set in stone: The heroine who gave her life in destroying the enemies