PROLOGUE
David grimaced and jumped into the driver’s seat of the car, as Larry held the jet black rifle firmly at his hip. He stared through the window at Kyana. She stood by her car with her head held down. As he rolled toward her, he begged her to turn and see him. But he knew she would not. She was too shaken. He, however, was strangely calm given the circumstance. At the very last moment, she did turn, and their eyes locked, hers full of startling fear.
“Don’t she look pretty? Now say good-bye to her for me,” Larry snorted. “DRIVE!”
David’s mind finally raced as he forged onto the highway at greater acceleration. He glanced over the dashboard for something to take Larry out. His eyes caught view of the Bible he had dropped near his left foot, but it was out of reach. He looked at his feet and wondered if he could remove his shoe, as Larry spat insults at him and laughed with smugness and disdain. Every word from his mouth was mockery. But David was not truly listening. He was focusing. Focusing on his escape.
The car vibrated violently, the seat shook beneath him, and the steering wheel rattled, while Larry continued to press him to pick up his speed. David jerked the car to the left, as it skid on the slick pavement. He glanced at Larry, who laughed fiendishly as if at some twisted joke. Something in his eyes told David that this was not just a methodical abduction. Larry’s intent was murder, and David had not a moment to lose.
David’s eyes grew wide with the heightened sense of danger, as Larry forcefully turned the steering wheel and the car thundered toward a vehicle on the shoulder of the road. “You got it now Davy!” Larry squealed with peals of laughter.
Before David could fathom, everything went up in a blinding blaze.
“To bestow upon them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning” (Isaiah 61:3).
