Page 66 of No Chance

"I'm not going to get a criminal record," one man said. "I agree with Sam. Let's lay low. We should leave the county for a few weeks and let the FBI catch the bastard. Then we can come back and continue our work."

Valerie pushed the door open with force.

The room was filled with eight people, and some of them jumped at the entrance.

"And what sort of work would that be, Abbot Collins?" Valerie said, marching in with her gun drawn and Charlie doing the same.

The color drained from the Abbot's face.

"I ... Nothing ... We haven't done anything wrong. You've no right ..."

"I heard a lot about you wanting to hide your connection to the murders," Valerie said. "But allow me to fill in your thought process. Oh, and no one move, Charlie here is a Vet, and he can get a little flinchy when it comes to loud noises."

"Damn straight," he said.

But Valerie knew he was as dependable as they came. She just wanted to put the group of people on edge.

"You know it's been bothering me ever since we tailed you here," Valerie said to the Abbot. “We figured out that you're interested in apostasy, the act of leaving a religion. And Charlie and I were thinking that maybe the killer isn't picking off people because he hates religion. Maybe, he's killing the people who try to leave it."

There was a gasp from one of the onlookers.

"You don't think I ..." the Abbot said.

"Now that depends entirely on how straight you're willing to be with us," Charlie said.

"I can tell by everyone’s faces," Valerie said, “that I'm right. You're running a group here that helps people who want to leave the church. But I couldn't quite understand what thePost Tenebrus Luxconnection was and then I got it. Poetic in a way. Light after darkness. After leaving the, in your view, darkness of Faith, you bask in being free of it."

"Not quite," a woman in her seventies said, stepping forward. "We're all devout members of the Church. We don'twantpeople to leave it. But we do believe that people need assistance if they choose to."

"And who are you?" Valerie asked.

"I'm Samantha Barker," the lady said. "I work at Ridgewater Monastery as an administrator."

"The phrase'post tenebrus lux'," the abbot now explained, "is meant to mean that when someone is conflicted about their faith, we help them choose a path."

"Why would you do that?" Charlie asked. "Shouldn't you be discouraging people from leaving?"

"Oh, we do," Samantha said. "However, our group encourages the truly weak of faith to leave. It's our belief that the Church has been tainted by disbelievers. People who carry on in the Church for social reasons, status, or peer pressure."

"If they don't believe," Abbot Collins said quietly, "then we'd rather they leave the Church to be influenced by those who have true faith."

"Otherwise," Samantha Barker continued, "our churches and monasteries will be diluted until they no longer resemble the important Christian institutions they are."

Valerie began to lower her gun. She nodded to Charlie to do the same.

"So," Valerie said. "You invite those who seem to be unsure of their faith and then you work with them to choose a path? To reaffirm their faith to the Church or to leave it for good?"

"That's it exactly," the abbot smiled.

It felt incredibly manipulative to Valerie. "You're persuading people you don't like to get out when that's when they need you most. It doesn't seem very Christian of you."

"They don't deserve to be members of our church," Samantha seethed. "But we give them a chance, and if it's clear they still have strong doubts, we give them peace.Post Tenebrus Lux, to find light after the darkness. A life they can be happy in, but one that doesn't dilute the Church. Is that really so evil to you?"

"Right now," Valerie said. "I don't care whether it's evil or not. All I know is that your group harbors resentment for people who doubt their faith. Which one of you is the killer?"

Valerie looked around the room, making sure to make eye contact with as many of them as possible.

"Anyone going to point the finger?" Charlie asked.

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