Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) by Straight, Nancy (read full novel .txt) 📗

walked into her yard. Part of her nightly ritual was to leave cat food and milk on the front porch for the cats in her neighborhood. Melanie said she was going to grow up and be a veterinarian so she could help the strays that couldn’t help themselves.” The tears flowed freely from the uncle as he stepped away from the podium to lay a stuffed toy on the top of her casket: a gray plush cat. When he continued, his voice was even more strained than before, “Her seven year old brother Bradley watched a news story last year in late December, about a Christmas tree catching a family’s trailer on fire. The story touched him deeply. The next morning he announced to everyone that he wanted to become a firefighter. He also insisted that his mother give his Christmas presents to the little boy who had lost everything in the fire.” He stepped away from the podium a second time, this time to lay a fireman’s hat on Bradley’s casket. “Both of these children had such bright futures. They were the light of all our lives. Their older brother, Miles, was often seen forgoing plans with friends on the weekends, choosing instead to take Bradley and Melanie to the movies, to a ball game, or to the dog park with their Labrador. . .”

The minister was accustomed to delivering heartfelt sermons, but even he was hardly able to pick up when the uncle found it impossible to continue. The minister chocked out the remainder of the eulogy. The sobs all around us were nearly deafening. This was a family who loved each other deeply, who couldn’t possibly have been destined to have their lives cut so short.

The sobs seemed to diminish a little when a shorter blonde woman stepped to the podium. “When I was asked to give the eulogy for Noah and Jessie, I was honored. Although not family, I was their case worker who placed them in Miss Abbey’s home over nine years ago. The day they were first assigned to me was fourteen years ago. Noah was mature beyond his years, and I’ll never forget his unconventional greeting, ‘We only need your help because I’m too young for a job. If you try to split us up, I’ll slash your tires.’” Laugher intermixed with the sobs as the caseworker went on, “This first meeting with Noah was the epitome of the man he was to become. He was Jessie’s protector, he spoke the truth no matter the repercussions, he was a young man who set the example for all others. Over the years, I can say that knowing Noah and Jessie made me a better person. The two were well-adjusted, thoughtful, respectful, and above all – they were a joy to know. I will miss them terribly, and it is a tragedy that their lives were cut so short. Both would have become exceptional adults. Noah and Jessie had both beaten the odds that were stacked against them. A troubled, addicted, single mother somehow produced two honor students with goals, dreams, and the drive to achieve them. Noah was an athlete in high school and had been accepted to the University of South Carolina on a full-ride academic scholarship. Jessie was a beautiful sophomore this year. She had made the varsity cheer squad and was an athlete in her own right. As a little girl she was shy; she had blossomed into a lovely young woman. Both Jessie and Noah loved Miss Abbey, and I know the three are together still. . .”

Max whispered, “We never should have let that kid take him.” This wasn’t the first time Max had shared this sentiment with me, but being here, in this moment, his pain was unrelenting. I’d had the same thought almost since the moment I’d heard of the tragedy, but something inside me wouldn’t allow me to speak the words out loud.

He continued, more to himself than to me, “We should have found another way. We should have asked Renny for help.” I watched Max’s eyes cloud in front of me and knew his grief was crippling him.

I mumbled, “There’s nothing we can do about it now. There is no way we could have known; stop beating yourself up. The kid’s in jail. What damage can Samael do there?”

“I’m not sure what more damage he can do, but I think we should go see the kid, today. See if there’s anything we can do for him. The kid didn’t ask for any of this. There’s no way he could have known.”

Something had bothered me the entire drive here from Ridgeville. “Samael didn’t have any real control over you. He couldn’t make you do something you didn’t want to do. Even Dakota told us the kid was ill-intentioned.”

As I spoke her name, I saw her. She was sitting four rows from the front, dead center on the other side of the gymnasium. She wore a sleek black dress, satin, with a large white belt, an enormous black straw hat with black netting draped down on the front. She was sitting near the foster mom’s biological children. She wasn’t trying to comfort anyone, only sitting with them, as if absorbing their emotions. She watched Max and me for several seconds longer than was comfortable, then casually waved her gloved hand and turned her attention back to the service.

I looked around the school’s gymnasium. It was by no means the largest I’d ever seen, but it easily held the thousand plus people in attendance. Dakota’s attendance perturbed me; though I said nothing, I wondered what her possible motivation could be.

Several minutes passed as the music continued to play for the service; my eyes continued to bore holes through Dakota’s head. The minister finished the eulogy and the choir began walking to the opposite side of the gym. Dakota stood up calmly, straightened her outfit, walked to an aisle and began her march toward us. I could feel Max’s