to be in my car somewhere along I-45 between Dallas and Houston."
"I don't recommend that. You'd probably be summoned right back."
Chief gave him a long incisive look. "Cut to the chase, Lawson. Are you suggesting that I had something to do with this woman's death?"
Lawson merely turned his back on him and headed for the office door. "Two-thirty, third floor of police headquarters downtown. Ask for me." He opened the door. As guessed, the uniformed cops were standing just beyond it. "You might want to call one of those NASA lawyers before the meeting." He started out, then paused and turned back. "You're too recognizable to hide for long, Colonel. Just in case that's what you were considering."
"You've demonstrated your faith and loyalty, Brother Dale. Far beyond my expectations."
Dale Gordon, speaking to Brother Gabriel by phone from his room, shivered with delight. His throat was tight with emotion. "Thank you."
"And you're absolutely sure that Gillian Lloyd has been properly sanctified?"
Brother Gabriel had a real way with words. The reporters on Dallas TV were calling his mission "an act of seemingly unprovoked violence." Gillian Lloyd's sanctification had made all the local midday news shows. They showed video of her house with policemen going in and out. They showed the gurney bearing her body being wheeled down the front walkway toward the waiting ambulance. It had torn a bright yellow blossom off one of the chrysanthemum plants at her front door when it was pushed past.
The reporter standing on Gillian's street with her house in the background had termed his mission a vicious homicide. But the reporter didn't understand. Few would understand that it was neces sary for Gillian Lloyd to be ki ... sanctified.
"Yes, Brother Gabriel, she was sanctified."
"Did she suffer?"
"No. I was swift and sure, as you instructed, as you promised I would be when the time came. I felt the strength and sense of purpose you said I would feel."
"You've done well, my son."
Dale Gordon blushed hotly with pride. No one had ever called him son before. His father had disappeared before he was born. Mother had called him many things, horrible things. Never son.
"Give me an account, Brother Dale. I want to share it with the disciples here in the Temple."
The Temple! Brother Gabriel was going to praise him to the disciples who'd actually earned the right to live with him in the Temple!
The words tumbled from him. Never had he spoken so eloquently. With the same precision with which he'd carried out his mission, he briefed Brother Gabriel on it. He enhanced the basic facts with small details so that Brother Gabriel would realize how attentive he'd been to his task.
"To the best of your knowledge, you left no clues?" "No, Brother Gabriel."
He didn't mention touching the drinking glass in the kitchen. It wouldn't matter anyway because he'd never been fingerprinted by police. Even if they found fingerprints, they couldn't be traced to him.
Nor did he mention writing on the walls. That had been a last-minute inspiration, one he'd thought of all by himself. Mother had always used ugly words. They were very effective to make a person feel low and worthless and deserving of harsh punishment.
He reasoned that Gillian Lloyd deserved to be hurt and insulted with ugly words. After all, she had tempted him beyond his ability to resist. It was her fault he had committed the sinful act of mortifying his flesh. With her so near, lying naked on soft sheets, he couldn't help himself from touching his nasty thing and rubbing it until it got hard. He didn't tell Brother Gabriel about that, either.
"Excellent, excellent." Brother Gabriel's melodic voice was like a soothing hand stroking his head. "Because you've done so well, I'm giving you another assignment."
If Dale Gordon hadn't already been lying in his bed, cradling the knife stained with Gillian Lloyd's blood, he probably would have collapsed from joyful disbelief. "Anything for you and the
"I don't recommend that. You'd probably be summoned right back."
Chief gave him a long incisive look. "Cut to the chase, Lawson. Are you suggesting that I had something to do with this woman's death?"
Lawson merely turned his back on him and headed for the office door. "Two-thirty, third floor of police headquarters downtown. Ask for me." He opened the door. As guessed, the uniformed cops were standing just beyond it. "You might want to call one of those NASA lawyers before the meeting." He started out, then paused and turned back. "You're too recognizable to hide for long, Colonel. Just in case that's what you were considering."
"You've demonstrated your faith and loyalty, Brother Dale. Far beyond my expectations."
Dale Gordon, speaking to Brother Gabriel by phone from his room, shivered with delight. His throat was tight with emotion. "Thank you."
"And you're absolutely sure that Gillian Lloyd has been properly sanctified?"
Brother Gabriel had a real way with words. The reporters on Dallas TV were calling his mission "an act of seemingly unprovoked violence." Gillian Lloyd's sanctification had made all the local midday news shows. They showed video of her house with policemen going in and out. They showed the gurney bearing her body being wheeled down the front walkway toward the waiting ambulance. It had torn a bright yellow blossom off one of the chrysanthemum plants at her front door when it was pushed past.
The reporter standing on Gillian's street with her house in the background had termed his mission a vicious homicide. But the reporter didn't understand. Few would understand that it was neces sary for Gillian Lloyd to be ki ... sanctified.
"Yes, Brother Gabriel, she was sanctified."
"Did she suffer?"
"No. I was swift and sure, as you instructed, as you promised I would be when the time came. I felt the strength and sense of purpose you said I would feel."
"You've done well, my son."
Dale Gordon blushed hotly with pride. No one had ever called him son before. His father had disappeared before he was born. Mother had called him many things, horrible things. Never son.
"Give me an account, Brother Dale. I want to share it with the disciples here in the Temple."
The Temple! Brother Gabriel was going to praise him to the disciples who'd actually earned the right to live with him in the Temple!
The words tumbled from him. Never had he spoken so eloquently. With the same precision with which he'd carried out his mission, he briefed Brother Gabriel on it. He enhanced the basic facts with small details so that Brother Gabriel would realize how attentive he'd been to his task.
"To the best of your knowledge, you left no clues?" "No, Brother Gabriel."
He didn't mention touching the drinking glass in the kitchen. It wouldn't matter anyway because he'd never been fingerprinted by police. Even if they found fingerprints, they couldn't be traced to him.
Nor did he mention writing on the walls. That had been a last-minute inspiration, one he'd thought of all by himself. Mother had always used ugly words. They were very effective to make a person feel low and worthless and deserving of harsh punishment.
He reasoned that Gillian Lloyd deserved to be hurt and insulted with ugly words. After all, she had tempted him beyond his ability to resist. It was her fault he had committed the sinful act of mortifying his flesh. With her so near, lying naked on soft sheets, he couldn't help himself from touching his nasty thing and rubbing it until it got hard. He didn't tell Brother Gabriel about that, either.
"Excellent, excellent." Brother Gabriel's melodic voice was like a soothing hand stroking his head. "Because you've done so well, I'm giving you another assignment."
If Dale Gordon hadn't already been lying in his bed, cradling the knife stained with Gillian Lloyd's blood, he probably would have collapsed from joyful disbelief. "Anything for you and the
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