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Alex disconnected the call, then sat down on the couch again and turned up the TV’s volume. The camera showed people gathered in front of the stage. All kinds of people. Young, old, different ethnic groups. All of them appeared to be truly touched. Tears streamed down the faces of most of them. How was this any different from what people in the Circle believed? Her own words came back to her. “From what I’ve heard about Christians, they believe people can change.” The Book said nothing about that. People’s lives had been decided for them. They had no choice. Adam Walker believed he was fulfilling some destiny already designed for him.
Christianity gave you a choice, though. It was probably one of the reasons he hated it. But what about this “plan”the preacher talked about? Was it the same thing? Did God have your life all planned out? Alex had felt such a tug at her heart when the minister spoke, but she knew what she wanted out of life. What if God called her to ... be a missionary in some other country? She shivered at the thought. Might be nice for some people, but not for her. She doubted she could ever be a Christian if she had to surrender her future to God. She didn’t know Him. Didn’t trust Him. Didn’t trust anyone.
She’d just downed the last of her coffee when her phone rang. Logan. She didn’t really want to go to lunch with him and Monty. She was still fighting her fear of germs, and it continued to be a struggle.
“Stop it, Alex,” she said out loud. “You don’t have to do this. You can stop. You’ve done it before.” But when she answered her phone, her hand shook.
“Good morning,” Logan said. He sounded sleepy.
“Good morning,” she answered back, trying to sound chipper.
“Hey, I just got up. It will take me a while to get ready. Where do you want to have lunch?”
“Why don’t you and Monty go without me? I’m going back to the CP.” She shared her thoughts about Walker and new converts to Christianity. “I called Harrison and suggested that Walker might be trolling churches, looking for a woman who ... who...”
“Accepts Christ?” Logan said.
“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” It sounded odd to hear him say it like that. She’d never felt Logan was pushy about his religion. Still, something about the vernacular embarrassed her. It sounded so ... hokey.
“What did he say?”
“He thought they should follow up on it. Once again, he’s having the police contact churches in the area where we think Walker is hunting, this time for information about recent converts. It seems like a stretch, I know, but we’ve run out of ideas. The strange thing is it matches Walker’s psychology. He wants a woman he’s certain is a virgin—who knows about a woman who converted years ago?—and it helps him to strike back at the God he hates and thinks is false.”
“So he hates Christians, but he’s willing to accept the belief that someone who converts to Christianity is cleansed? Wow. That really doesn’t make sense.”
“I think it might to him. Gives him a perfect way to offer a sacrifice to his god. In his delusion, Walker sees this as a truly divine sacrifice.”
Logan was quiet for a moment. “Well, it’s worth looking into, I guess. Hey, if you’ll wait a bit, I’ll go in with you.”
“What about lunch?”
“We can pick up something on the way. I want to see if we can help identify Walker’s sixth target before it’s too late. I’d like to look more closely at your new-convert idea.”
“Okay. How fast are you?”
“Faster than you think. I’ll come over when I’m ready.”
“You’ll call Monty?”
“Sure. My guess is he’ll want to come.”
“Yeah, probably.” Monty had worked tirelessly since he’d arrived in Kansas City. She was certain he’d want to be with them.
“You okay?” Logan asked.
Fear slithered up her spine. “I’m fine. Why are you asking?”
“Because of the other night. If you need to talk, I’m always here.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m fine. Let’s just concentrate on finding Walker, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll be by in a bit.”
When he hung up, Alex stared at the phone. She should have kept her life private. Why had she shared any of it with Logan? Had she made a terrible mistake? The answer to that question terrified her.
