God's Weapon

     Levi's thoughts raced to decide his best course of action.  His eyes darted frantically from the road ahead to the rearview mirror, then back to the road again as he sped down the highway toward town.  The scream of the siren undulated as the police car chased him down the hilly highway, bobbing over the slopes like two see-sawing cars on a roller coaster.

     He squinted in an attempt to focus on an approaching vehicle.  As the distance narrowed, he deciphered the red flashing light and a second wailing, unsynchronized with the siren closing in behind him.  The road flattened out and the cruiser slowed and swung around, taking a position to block the highway.

     Levi's mind stalled and he reduced his speed and realized that in a second he'd be boxed in.  He stepped hard on the gas peddle, diverting the truck along the dirt shoulder to avoid the roadblock.  The tires teetered on the edge of the raised embankment and it was all he could do to keep the truck upright and moving forward.  Just when it looked like he was going to rollover, the rubber kicked up a spray of dirt, but then suddenly gripped smooth pavement, screamed for control and straightened out.

     Side roads branched out more frequently now beyond the northern outskirts of town.  Sirens still wailed, but the two cars in pursuit were dots in the distance.  He saw a third one join the chase, almost indiscernible without lights or a siren.  Forced to turn off onto the next dirt road, the change of direction at high speed sent the truck into a skid.  He was familiar with this route and knew that time and the road would soon end.  His luck would run out at the train tracks near Peach Creek.

     In single file all three vehicles gained on him, looming large in his rearview mirror.  Suddenly they slowed and backed off, but why not ...they knew the road dead-ended as well as he did.  Low branches snapped against the windshield as he barreled by at full speed.  He'd badly misjudged the distance in his frenzy and the tracks came into view sooner than expected.  He pumped the brakes and slid to a stop in the dirt, then snatched the Bible off the floor and threw open the door.  Leaping from the truck, he raced toward the incline as memories of a week ago assaulted him when he'd squatted here in the dark and watched his father with Suzann's mother soon after seeing Suzann with Buck.  Again Betty Friday's blood-covered image spilled over that thought, her face twisted in accusation.

    He ran.

     Brakes squealed and he glanced over his shoulder, lost his footing and fell.  Scrambling to his feet, he hurried along the elevated landscape toward the creek, ignoring the orders to halt.  If he could just get over the rise and out of sight, then he'd have a few precious minutes to do what he had to.  He bounded across the creek, his feet never faltering on the rocks and wondered how his pounding heart was not bursting from his chest.  He fought the tall brush and weeds and swiped at a cobweb that attached itself to his forehead and clung to his nose.  Finally, the area around him opened to the clearing and he was where he wanted to be. 

     The voices that had called out urgently were now threatening and coming closer.  He sprinted to the old chimney, slid in the dirt and stopped as his knees nudged the mattress.  He held God's Weapon in both hands and looked up toward the sky and rocked, blinded by tears.  "Suzann."

     Foliage rustled nearby and agitated voices grew louder, searching.  He wrapped a white cloth around the Bible twice to make sure it was completely protected.  Desperate to finish his mission, he clawed at the earth with both hands, then gently laid the small bundle in the hole, replaced the dirt and patted the ground firmly.  He raised his knees onto the end of the mattress and crawled on top.  Through with running and in complete resignation, he lay on his stomach and waited.  Suzann's perfume lingered above the musky stench.  She must have laid her head here, and for the first time he felt close to her; a sensation he'd only dreamed about.

     Eyes closed, his trembling body caressing the frayed and tattered fabric, he sensed the aura of the hunter and heard him gasp over his conquest.  "Levi.  Come on, boy, you're under arrest."