PROMISE KEEPER

Chapter Four

After Sunday school, Samson escorted John and Sarah to children's church, and then led Gram and Lila into the sanctuary. Lila paused at the back pew, clearly ready to sit there, but Samson and Gram continued up the aisle to where they usually sat on the third middle row. Lila followed Samson, and then Gram sat on her other side. Straight white teeth gnawed on Lila's bottom lip for a minute before member after member of the congregation came over to shake her hand and welcome her to church.

Her ultra-long mahogany hair was pulled back in barrettes on each side; the tresses were caught in a ponytail at her neck, resting over one shoulder down past her lap so she wouldn't sit on it, much too thick and long to try and put in a bun. Several women complimented her beautiful hair and Lila blushed, thanking them.

Although he and Gram sang out the hymns, Lila stood silent. Samson realized she didn't know the songs. She'd probably fit in with the kids, singing children's church songs. Hadn't she said she'd only gone to church as a child? Samson silently prayed.

Steve, his good friend and well-respected minister, opened the sermon. "'Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.'"

Lila fidgeted with the hair lying across her lap. Gram was taking notes and handed the Bible to Lila. Lila held it for a heartbeat or two before whispering to Samson, "I don't know where Proverbs is."

Samson opened the Bible to the scripture and handed it back to her. He had his own Bible, turning back a few pages to the next scripture indicated by Pastor Squire. "'There are those who speak rashly, like the piercing of the sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.'"

AvengingAngel flashed across Samson's mind and he, who knew better than almost anyone not to ever truly bond with anyone online, prayed for her. She was headed for big trouble with that rash e-mail she sent, starting to play head games with a dangerous crew.

He'd met all kinds online, had worked under more aliases than he could recall, tracing hackers, tracking them to the exact spot where they transmitted when they broke the law. With warrants and working with the proper authorities for the various crimes, hard drives were seized and hackers were busted. He protected the National Infrastructure, yet never before AvengingAngel had he ever seriously thought of any of the people he met online other than during duty hours. He witnessed to her time and again online, forging a friendship, and prayed for her often as God laid her on his heart since the day they met nearly six weeks ago.

When the minister had finished a story related to the last verse, he quoted a final one. "'He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is hasty of spirit exposes and exalts his folly.'"

Well this time Samson was certain Lila was uncomfortable, shifting in the pew until the service ended. People mingled and fellowshipped. While Gram visited with friends, and the crowd thinned to retrieve their children, Samson asked Lila, "So, what did you think?"

She shot him a lopsided grin. "I think you sat so close to the front that the minister was speaking directly to me."

Samson laughed. Yes, God was definitely convicting her. Yet he didn't understand how today's message really related to her. He'd never seen her angry or speak rashly, but he had seen a sad desperation she tried to hide . . . hope deferred.

As they made their way to John and Sarah, loading everyone in the car, he prayed for God's will again and then more. Jesus, help me not to fall in love.

Samson was equally attracted to two women. One woman was a sweet and lovely kindergarten teacher who had some hidden agenda; the other woman, a nice and funny woman online who was trying to play hard ball with the best hackers in the world. Neither were believers. Neither were possibilities for the union Samson insisted upon, a triangle of man and wife with God at the center. He had prayed and waited patiently for years now.

They ate out, but Lila tossed money down on the table this time. Samson had wanted to shove it back into her hand.

Lila wasn't supposed to be working today, so he didn't know if she would stick around for the day or not. She didn't, taking off with city map in hand. Yet when she came back home, she appeared bone weary and dejected. She smiled though, when the kids came running up to her in the living room.

Sarah rushed, "My tooth's loose. Feel." She opened her mouth.

Lila wiggled the obviously loose baby tooth and then she wiggled the one next to it. "You're gonna loose both top middle teeth. Then all your S's will sound like Th's. We'll have to take some pictures and make a cassette for your mom and dad."

John humphed. "That's nothing. Feel mine." He opened his mouth and wobbled an eyetooth with his tongue.

Lila obligingly felt the tooth and grinned. "Yours is holding on by a thread. Want me to pull it? I used to pull my sister's. Then you can leave it for the tooth fairy."

John snorted. So did Samson.

After Bible reading and prayer that night, John stuck around after Sarah went to bed. "I don't believe in the tooth fairy." In an instant, he yanked out the eyetooth and handed it to Samson. Never having experienced this situation before, unsure how his brother dealt with pulled baby teeth, Samson pulled out his wallet and handed a bill to John.

"Five dollars!" Lila exclaimed. "Wow. I used to get a quarter. Inflation or what? At that rate, after Sarah loses her two, you'll bankrupt the tooth fairy. I teach kindergarten, I know. It'll be a regular pull-a-thon, baby teeth everywhere."

Samson laughed and they all said goodnight.

First thing the next morning, Lila surprised him in the kitchen. He was usually the first one up, starting and ending each day on his knees, worshiping the Lord. Although she was drinking coffee and had the morning newspaper open in front of her, she was gnawing on her bottom lip. When she saw him, her face blazed hot pink and she slapped the newspaper shut, saying in her honey-dripped drawl, "Good mornin'."

"It is seeing you first thing."

Although her face reddened again, she folded the newspaper carefully and laid it on the table where he usually sat. Then she rose and retrieved a mug before glancing his way. "Want some coffee?"

Samson almost said yes. "No. Thanks anyway. I want to get to work extra early to talk to someone. Have a blessed day, Lila." With that, he strode from the house so she wouldn't start questioning him about his work.

If he were correct, then AvengingAngel was in the central time zone. At least her chatting schedule fit in with someone working morning to late afternoon for that time zone. What he believed were her evenings and nights had been his hours when he worked that crazy twelve hour night shift for his buddy last month. At least until the other day after she sent the e-mail; then she was logged on during the hours he thought she worked.

But she wasn't in the chat room when he logged on under a different alias, one of the ones the international set of hackers knew well and accepted as one of their own . . . a computer genius. There were only twelve of them, including him, in this chat room started by the most elite hackers of the time. However, according to the room count, there were thirty-five people there. That's how many computers were logged on from the dozen.

His heart beat a little faster as the day progressed and this time instead of simply toying with ideas, the hackers hatched a plan, a big attack, the United States of course, developing a grand scale invasion. They wanted to choose their targets carefully, wage war against multiple targets simultaneously. Big names. Big companies. Cripple them. Hold them hostage while they stole all the business and member information. And naturally, leave an untraceable trail.

Nothing definite was decided but the stage was set. Samson was in. These guys were going down. Some of these hackers were bored teenagers, college students, and hackers by profession. Then talk shifted to AvengingAngel and her e-mail. Nearing the end of his shift, he was almost livid with her when she logged into the chat room.

He logged onto a different computer, into the same room but with the nickname she knew, and sent her a private message immediately. It took her a very long time to answer. He wondered how many of the other hackers were sending her private messages.

PromiseKeeper: I told you to stop coming in here!