Chapters 5 & 6 of Beauty From Ashes

                                                                                                      5.



        Ephesians 6:13; Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.



            Once inside the CID building, Tanner headed straight to her cubicle to eat her lunch. Sitting at her desk she kicked off her Dansko clogs, and fired up her computer.  In between bites of her Italian, she searched for the font on the Q-cards.  She found one called, Arnprior, the appearance of it seemed to match.  She started searching for a meaning that may indicate something for the perp. The only thing she found was a town in Canada with that name.

            Tanner called Tim, “I’m forwarding you the Font I identified from the Q-cards.  Can you check it out for me?” 

          “Sure thing Tanner…Did you hear about the evidence we found at the site?”

          “Bull filled me in, I’m getting everything typed up for the briefing,” she replied.

            Doug stuck his head into the cubicle and spoke to Tanner, “Hey Tanner we’re meeting in conference room six.” 

          Tanner stuffed the last of her sandwich in her mouth, hung up with Tim, all the while sticking her feet back into her clogs. She grabbed her diet Coke, and her computer before heading out the door the conference room six.

          She breezed through the doors just as they were being closed by Chief Glover.  John had saved her a seat, so she made her way to the end of the table.  The CID crime team was there, along with the medical examiner, big brass from headquarters, State Troopers and the police officers that had searched the streets for witnesses this morning.  Tanner began to silently pray. “Lord, help us to put all the evidence out on the table and piece together some leads.  Show us who did this.”

          “So gang, what do we have?” Chief Glover asked.

            His tone was authoritative as he stood before the group of twenty two law enforcement officers with his arms crossed, and his legs spread. Tanner noticed his left eye twitching; never a good sign.

          The medical examiner, George Rollins, started as he usually did, with his monotone relay of words. Tanner watched his mouth as he talked.  His mouth was small and wrinkled, and he had to blow air out of his cheeks to emphasize words…she always found it fascinating. George was a man of very short stature with large hands.  His head was small.  To say his brains made up for his lacking presence was accurate.

          “The female was Caucasian, estimated to be twenty to twenty five years old.  She was in good health.  Cause of death is asphyxiation from a collapsed trachea. The trachea was crushed by something of force. Her cervical spine, at the base of her neck, was separated from a major blunt force impact.  The bullet to her abdomen grazed her large bowel and chipped her spine on the way out. Much internal hemorrhage noted but that was not the cause of death. The gun shot to her upper left chest missed the lungs and heart and was lodged in her shoulder joint.  She had been dead for approximately two hours when found by the jogger, as evidenced by the rigor mortis, lividity and blowflies just starting to lay larva.”

          Ceasor noticed two small demons enter the room and settle by Doug.

            “Her lungs were clean; so she didn’t smoke. No sign of diabetes or any other medical problems.  She did not appear to have been sexually assaulted. There is one other point of interest here.  She was approximately three months pregnant.”

          Two small demons got as close to Tanner as they dared and began to torment her mind with thoughts of the baby she aborted so many years ago.  They whispered to her one phrase several times as they flew by her. 

          “She was pregnant….have you ever been pregnant?” 

          They used the memory to bring fear and shame to her heart.  When Ceasor gripped his sword they backed off in a fit of laughter. 

          When Tanner heard the medical examiner say the female was three months pregnant; she stopped hearing the rest.  Her heart began pounding and her palms got clammy.  Tanner’s mind retreated in prayer as she struggled to focus and not look troubled. 

          I don’t know what the problem with me is right now Lord but this case is causing me to feel so vulnerable and scared.  I know you forgave me for my sin all those years ago so why is this feeling so close to home.  Help me Father to do my job, this isn’t about me Lord.

        “Tanner… Tanner,” John spoke her name as he touched her shoulder.

        “Are you okay?” he whispered.

        “Sorry, just thinking,” Tanner replied while clearing her throat and adjusting her position.

        “You’re up Tanner, let’s hear your take on the evidence,” Chief Glover said.

          She stood with her file and started pacing while relaying her findings. 

        “This appears to be a personal cause homicide, or in other words a non specific homicide. The act does not appear to be for material or personal gain, but more for an underlying emotional conflict that propels the offender to kill.  He is sending a message with the scriptures that were left on her body.  The pamphlet found at the scene for the saving of unborn babies relates to the scripture message but does not fit her being pregnant.  This murder was done for reasons only known to the killer.  The crime fits also because it was committed during the day and with no effort to conceal the victim. A firearm was the weapon of choice which also fits this profile.” 

        Continuing in the delivery of her analysis, she unconsciously bit at her fingernails. 

        “This was a direct criminal act.  The victim was murdered and the killer wanted to show authority over her with his judgment of her, as evidenced by the scriptures pinned to her body.  There is also personation in this crime.  The murderer uses biblical verses.  The crime scene itself does not fit either organized or disorganized; it had properties of both at this point. The young woman struggled, and has defensive wounds on her hands as evidenced by the broken fingernails on the right hand, the blood and dirt under her nails, and the scratches to her neck as she tried to suck air in. She had dried blood on her face, neck, hands, arms, and wrists to show she struggled.  She was shot in the mid abdomen just above the belly button and left chest at close range.”

        Ceasor watched the demons take perverse pleasure in the details of this young girls’ death.  He felt repulsed as they grinned and high fived each other as vile noxious odors filled the room.  He mouthed to them, “One day you’ll get your reward in hell.” They just laughed in response, but with a little less zeal.

          Tanner was still relaying her analysis.

        “The killer took the time to pin baggies, holding scripture, to her clothes after he killed her.  This is interesting because safety pins are hard to maneuver. It would be very difficult to pin through the baggy itself, and the clothes, but not stick the skin; especially with adrenaline pumping.  This would take time.  The whole process had to exhaust him.

              Evidence found on her body was dirt, blood, two silver medium sized safety pins, two sandwich sized zip locked baggies, and two Q- cards with the messages on them. The messages were typed in a font found to be Arnprior.  There was also a small key inside of her sports bra, possibly a house key.”

            As Detective Hasting began his report, Ceasor moved in closer behind Tanner as more demons flocked into the room.  Her other two guardians stood by the entrance door next to detectives Hasting’s guardian. They silently watched the demons move from one trooper to another spreading their evil thoughts as they laughed. Ceasor prayed over Tanner as she listened to John’s summary.

          The angels were outnumbered four to twelve, but their power was stronger because of Tanner and John’s prayers.  Ceasor was more protective of his charge as he was aware of the evil thoughts the demons were spreading to the other men in the room. Thoughts of perverted sexual ideas involving Tanner began to enter several Troopers minds as they fought to stay with the task at hand.  The demons roared with laughter as they watched on                                                                                                

          Detective Hasting finished up his report just as his cell phone rang.  He answered and immediately stood and closed the phone. 

          “We have a missing person report that just came in that matches the description of our victim.  Tanner and I will head to the apartment building across the street from the Riley Park to interview the woman who called it in. Chief, I’ll call you from there.”

          The meeting continued without Tanner and John.  They agreed to meet at the apartment building in thirty minutes. 

          Tanner went to her cubicle to shut everything down for the night.  She was so tired but her mind was racing.  Dreading being flocked by the media upon exiting, Tanner braced herself. The press was gone.  Chuckling to herself, she climbed into the Rover and sped to the apartment building across the street from Riley Park. She sent a quick text of love to Jack.

      Ceasor sat in the passenger seat of the Rover and the other two guardians sat in the back.  Tanner fumbled with the radio as she drove. Instead of turning on her usual rock and roll, she decided to instead turn it to the local Christian radio station, 95.3 FM.  “Lord, fill my mind with your words of hope and peace,” she said outloud.

          Tanner could be seen singing along to the song from Casting Crowns, How Far the East Is From the West.  As the song penetrated her heart with the words of encouragement of God’s forgiveness she could not stop the tears as she worshipped God and claimed the words as her own.



             



          The Arc angel Michael stood beside the Lord God Yahweh in heaven and viewed the scene below from the portal. 

          “Tanner doesn’t know it, but she is giving the angels power with her prayer and worship.  It is a beautiful thing to see,” Michael said to Yahweh.

          “She is the daughter of the Most High God; the time has come for her to know it.  She is drawing closer to me through this trial; as a result she will be stronger, and see herself as I see her. She may finally be able to forgive herself of her past. ” Yahweh replied.   

            As they walked away from the portal, God instructed Michael to be ready with more guardians in the coming hours. 







                                                                                                    6.

     

            James 1:14-16; Then after desire (to sin) has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.



            A sweaty, pale version of Leland paced his living room yelling out scriptures to his empty house.  Dry, cracked lips held spittle captive in the corners of his mouth as he held it open to release the words of God. He felt a strange energy driving his words heaven ward.  No one would recognize him for the calm, soft spoken, deacon of E- Free that he normally was.  He didn’t even recognize himself right now.  He felt empowered and strong. 

          Demons swirled and looped through the air around him, feeding his crazed frenzy.  The phone ringing arrested his rant, and caused him to stop the tirade to focus on the clock; 6:00 p.m. It then took several rings of the phone to clear his head enough to answer.

          “Hello?” he questioned.

          “Hey Leland, its Mark, the prayer meeting is getting ready to start… are you coming?”

        The demons were cursing and angrily spinning around him.

          Rapidly trying to process the information, Leland responded slowly.

          “Ummm, I forgot.  I’m under the weather and not going to make the prayer meeting Mark.  Tell the guys I’m sorry and I’ll catch the meeting minutes on line and be there next time.” 

          “Oh, all right.  Leland, are you sure you are ok?  Do you want me and the guys to come over and have the meeting at your house?” Mark asked.

          “NO! I mean, no, I am just not feeling well and it would only make me feel worse to have to entertain everyone.  Just say a prayer for me and I’ll see you Sunday.” Leland responded.

          “Alright, feel better man.  See you Sunday.”

          Leland slowly hung up the phone and leaned against the kitchen wall. 

          “I’m losing it.” He said to the air.

          He slowly slid down the wall and sat on the kitchen floor. With his head against the wall, he closed his eyes and let his mind go to the memory of Martha that was fighting to be recalled.

          “Honey, do you want a sandwich before you go to the prayer meeting?”  Martha asked him as she came into the kitchen.         

          “Sure, Marty. How about ham and cheese?” he said with a smile. 

            As she went about fixing his sandwich, she hummed one of the songs that she sang at church; Our God is an Awesome God.  Her hands busily worked on his sandwich.  He stood against the wall and just watched her, marveling at how she so eagerly served him.  The dress she wore was light pink and it had a belt at her waist, making it appear very tiny.  She was thin and strong.    He laughed when he realized                                                                                                                 

she was barefooted, she never went without shoes. 

            “You’re barefooted…”

            “I know…for some strange reason I just felt like it,” she chuckled.

            His stomach growled loudly and his mind came back to the present. Staring into the vacant kitchen, he let the tears dry. He stood slowly and awkwardly after several minutes. He was dazed and not feeling right.  “Maybe if I eat something I’ll feel more normal,” he voiced to no one.

            Opening the refrigerator and peering inside he found cold cuts, cheese, and some bread occupying the third shelf.  Milk and red punch were on the top shelf, along with eggs. Molding lettuce took up space in the bottom bucket. 

        “Oh how I miss you’re cooking Marty, even if it’s just your ham and cheese sandwiches,” he moaned out loud.

          Flipping on the TV and sitting in his recliner, Leland ate the grilled cheese sandwich he made and drank some punch.  He tasted none of it.  He flipped through all the stations until settling on the Fox news station.  His eyes glazed over as he listened to Sean Hannity discuss how President Obama was trying to change the scope of his healthcare plan.  He didn’t know what they were talking about; he didn’t care.

          Leaning his head back against the recliner, he closed his eyes and cried.  The tears would not stop. 

        “I miss you Martha, my beloved Marty.  Why did God take you from me?  I cannot do this mission without you.” 

      His guardian felt the pain that his charge was suffering.  He wanted to help him, give him words of encouragement, but he knew they could only come when Leland repented and sought forgiveness from God.  His hands were tied.  He had to watch and wait. He had to watch the evil one’s have their way with him.  Leland was a willing participant in their hands. 

        The tears came to a slow halt as Leland fell asleep.  The house darkened as the sun went down and the demons settled.  The only light was coming from the guardian as he marched around the house praising the living God of the universe, and asking Him to intervene with his charge. 

     



        “Yahweh, this is hard on his guardian.  I wish there was something we could do.”  Michael said to God as they watched the scene below.

        “The wages of sin is death Michael, and Leland has chosen his hardened heart over the truth.  We

must not intervene on the human will.”

        “I know Yahweh. It is not easy to watch them self -destruct.”  Michael said as he turned from the portal.