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Vic Costas turned off his headlights and idled slowly down the alley behind Parmeter’s house. Only the sounds of his tires against the graveled surface and the chirping of crickets in the thick summer air contrasted the blackened silence of the wee, pre-dawn hours. He rolled to a stop behind a hedge, shut off the engine and pulled his .357 out from under the seat. Soon he would savor the sweet nectar of retribution and rid the world of a murderous pedophile.
Marjorie had grown used to Vic’s new regimen over the past 14 months,
now she hardly stirred when he arose at 3:00 AM for his “early morning walk”. She just figured he was driving to Restin Park to use the track, after all, walking was good therapy against the insomnia he acquired following Emily’s tragic death. She wasn’t aware he was stalking Parmeter, making notes of his comings and goings, assessing locations, timing his movements. She couldn’t imagine her husband was determining when Parmeter would be vulnerable like their poor little Emily. Dear, sweet Marjorie, Vic thought. She’d never comprehend the depth of his loss, or fire in his anger; for what of Emily, sweet Emily, forever stilled at six years,… how he hated Parmeter!
Vic couldn’t blame the cops, they had Parmeter in custody even before they found her body. He closely monitored their investigation, and being an insurance investigator himself, was more than a little familiar with the value of compelling evidence, they had all they needed. Likewise, the prosecution was professional, the D.A. did her job, but that judge, that spineless, fool, buying Parmeter’s insanity plea,…. out after just 24 months in Graymore, free to kill someone else’s child. Well, not this time, Vic thought to himself, as he checked the magnum loads of his revolver and screwed on the silencer,…..not this time!!
Soon, headlights from Parmeter’s driveway illuminated the trees, he was getting home from the plant. Vic quietly slid over to the passenger side for maximum concealment by the hedges, and carefully pulled on the door handle. Stuck!…The stupid handle wouldn’t budge! He had never had a problem with it before. He returned to the driver’s side, opened that door and started to step out.
From a distance to the rear of his car, a woman’s scream shattered the silence and drew his heart out from the abyss. “Help me,…help me….….Somebody please help me!” She cried.
Vic looked down the alley and saw flames through upstairs windows of a large, older home, and the lady clad in pajamas outside screaming. He slid his gun back under the seat, and quickly backed down the alley. When he reached her, the woman told him her six-year-old was trapped inside. Vic dampened his shirt in a mud puddle, then charged toward the front entrance. He kicked open the locked, front door and rushed inside.
In the dense and caustic smoke, his eyes immediately watered and his nose began to run. He dropped as low as he could to the steps and hurried up the staircase. At the top of the stairs, the intense heat began to penetrate his clothing. He heard the sound of a child coughing and followed the noise to a bedroom near the back. Clutching, grabbing flames leaped out at him from the sides of the room, but he quickly scooped up the unconscious child. Vic felt the cuffs of his pants ignite, as he leaped steps in a nearly airborne descent to the front door.
The waiting fire and rescue crews immediately engulfed the pair, wetting them down and administering oxygen. They were laid on separate stretchers side by side, and with her mother at her side, the little blonde girl opened her eyes and looked over at Vic. “Victor?…thank you for saving me.” She said softly. “My name’s Christen.”
“You’re welcome Christen, but how did you know my name was Victor?”
“I saw Jesus and He told me.” She said, as Vic and the mother looked at each other in astonishment. “He asked me to tell you that Emily is safe with Him.”
Vic’s eyes filled with tears.
“He wanted me to tell you to stop being angry, ‘cause vengeance is His, and He’ll take care of it….. He just wants you to trust in Him!”
Vic returned home later that morning at last a free man. He abandoned his search for retribution, pursuing instead a life conversion through Jesus Christ.
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