Now, even after paying taxes on his severance, there had been enough to buy Fred a small house with a well-landscaped yard in Fort Meyers, Florida and a bungalow for himself in Morristown. Fred had initially told Brent he was a fool and refused to have anything to do with the house, but Brent knew that sometime around mid-November, when his garden had died for the winter, Fred would relent and start driving south.
Maggie was back at the Morristown Police Department. She’d had enough deskwork, she said. She liked people too much and loved working cases. She was determined to remain a cop until she stopped working, whenever that would be. Maybe she’d be a cop forever, which was fine with him.
Last night he’d taken her to dinner to give her the ring and finally pop the question. They were never going to live on a fifteen-acre estate in Far Hills or Mendham, but so what? He had what he needed. He’d had it the whole time, just hadn’t been able to see it.
In classic Maggie style, she hadn’t said yes, at least not right away. “Couple things come to mind,” she’d said after she’d taken a sip of wine.
“Like?”
“It sure took you long enough.”
Brent nodded. “We’ve discussed that.”
In the weeks after the raid on Biddle’s estate they’d talked night after night about their lives and their futures, and he’d slowly convinced her that something had changed for him. He’d made a choice, finally realizing that choices themselves were more important than outcomes and that choices came from either strength or weakness. He knew his father and Harry had made strong choices. His mother had made a weak one. It helped him stop believing some kind of incurable defect permeated his bloodline.
“I ought to think about this a long time and make you sweat,” Maggie added.
“You could,” he agreed.
Now Brent glanced over at his uncle as the two of them ambled toward the locker room, and after a second he put his arm around Fred’s shoulders. “By the way,” he said, “I got engaged last night.”
Fred Lucas looked off in the distance and nodded. “Anybody I know?”
“Maybe.”
“Bout time you did something intelligent.”
Brent nodded. Over the past few months he’d been waking up quite often in the middle of the night and thinking about everything that had happened. He’d read everything he could on the Wahaddi Brotherhood and the New Jerusalem Fellowship. He knew he needed to understand men like Abu Sayeed and Prescott Biddle, how they and their followers could so easily forsake their common humanity to embrace violence, all in the name of their selfish and self-serving sense of God.
Some people, like Harry, his father and Fred, chose to honor and defend their fellow man, but these days so many others were choosing narrowly defined groups that rejected anyone who didn’t agree with their strict tenets. Brent had few illusions. He knew it would keep happening some people making the decent, compassionate choice, others acting out of appalling ignorance, superstition, or venality. It was enough to frighten a man into permanent bachelorhood, but in spite of that he was choosing hope. He was getting married. Who could tell if he was right? He shook his head and tightened his grip on Fred’s shoulder. He had to keep hoping.
DON’T MISS THE EXCITMENT
IN THE NEXT TWO BOOKS OF
THE BRENT LUCAS SERIES!
BOOKS BY JOHN THOMPSON
ARMAGEDDON CONSPIRACY
THE HONG KONG DECEPTION
THE BAGDAD VENDETTA
SALEM VI: REBECCA’S RISING
Copyright
Published by Pressque Publishing, Charleston, SC
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or have been used to create this work of art. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, events, etc. is completely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
Copyright @ 2012 John Thompson
First edition published 2008.
Cover image copyright© Pressque Publishing
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, permitted by law. For information contact: Pressque Publishing, Charleston, SC.
ISBN-10: 0985793724
ISBN-13: 978-0-9857937-2-2
Typography by Torborg Davern