The Shepherd Read Online Free Page A

take form, but he pushed the thought away. It was too horrible. He couldn’t bring himself to consider the possibility. And yet, he did.
    When he looked into his wife’s eyes, he knew that she had followed the same train of thought to the only possible conclusion. If only one of them could survive, it had to be Ashley.
    The look in Emily’s eyes conveyed what she was thinking. I love you. I understand. And it’s okay. His wife, the love of his life, the woman with whom he planned to grow old, nodded her head and closed her eyes.
    He picked up the gun and raised his shaking hand. He placed his finger over the trigger, but he couldn’t bring himself to squeeze. He lowered the gun.
    How can I kill the woman I love? He searched his mind again for an alternative. The only way to save his daughter was to kill her mother. An idea began to take form, but it was such a long shot.
    He raised the gun again. He knew that he couldn’t move forward without his wife’s consent, but she had made her feelings clear. Her courage and resolve gave him the strength to do what had to be done.
    He took aim and squeezed the trigger.
    ~~*~~
    Jim sobbed into his hands. He prayed and begged for God’s forgiveness. He wanted the pain to end, but his beliefs told him that suicide might keep him from seeing his wife again in the next world. He couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without her.
    The gun fell from his hand and struck the hardwood floor with a metallic thud.
    Ackerman spoke as he reached down and sliced the rope that restrained Jim’s feet. “Well done. Let’s move onto another game. We’ll call this one… The Easy Way or the Hard Way. I’m going to give you a choice about how you die. Option number one is a shotgun blast to the back of the head. It would be quick and painless, but you would be very, very dead. Option number two is that I let you run out the backdoor. Of course, this means that you would have to leave your daughter behind, but don’t think about that. You don’t have a choice in the matter. If you stay, I’ll blow your head off, and she’ll be left alone with me anyway. Besides, I don’t care about your daughter. You’re much more fun to play with.
    “I’ll give you a head start, and then I’ll come and find you. I won’t use the shotgun. I’ll use a knife. It will not be quick. It will be the most agonizing death that I can give you, but there is always the possibility that I won’t find you or that you could overpower me. That’s the decision that you have to make. Do you give up now and put an end to all your suffering, or do you hold on to the hope of salvation and face the possibility of a gruesome end? You have thirty seconds…”
    With one last, long look at his baby girl, he stood and bounded toward the back door. He didn’t want to leave her behind, but he didn’t want her to watch him die either. Ackerman was right. He didn’t have any other choice.
    His mind screamed one singular thought: revenge. He no longer cared about his own life or how he died, but the killer had given him a chance to avenge his wife’s death, and he would take it.
    He exited the back of the house and ran headlong into the awaiting arms of the dark forest.
    ~~*~~
    Behind Jim, in the kitchen of the trooper’s once peaceful home, Francis Ackerman Jr. picked up the phone and dialed. The man on the other end of the line answered on the fifth ring.
    “Hello, this is Father Joseph. How may I help you?”
    “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”
    Silence answered.
    “Are you there, Padre?”
    The man on the end of the line exhaled slowly. “I’m here, Francis.”
    “I’ve killed three tonight, and I’m about to do another…a cop.”
    “Why do you call me? Is it just another of your games?”
    “No. I just…I just needed someone to talk to. And you’re all I’ve got.” He clenched his eyes shut and fought back the tears. “I’m so tired, Father.”
    “Through the Lord, you can find peace, but