70 x 7

by Dennis E. Hensley

About the Author: Dr. Dennis E. Hensley is the author of more than 60 books, including the novels Pseudonym (Whitaker Publishers) and The Man Who Could Transfuse Time (By The Vine Press). He holds a Ph.D. in English from Ball State University.

Excerpt

Rev. Hal Cooper rechecked the handgun’s magazine, slapped it into the butt of the weapon, and dropped it into his right coat pocket. He leaned against a corner mailbox and turned up his overcoat collar. Detroit was always miserably cold in winter, but tonight seemed an especially bitter night for a murder.

But then, this couldn’t actually be termed a murder.  No, not a murder at all, God forbid.

God?

The young minister’s eyes narrowed. How would God ultimately judge this action of his? Would He understand the necessity?

Cooper shook his hands from his pockets and rubbed them vigorously. No … no, this was not the time to rehash the old debates, the arguments over good and evil, the rulings on just and unjust deeds. He had finalized his decision when he had purchased the gun yesterday, and he would stand by it: his adopted brother Gilbert Cooper would die tonight, December 10, 1975.

The anchoring heaviness of the loaded pistol weighted the pocket of the preacher’s dark overcoat. Though a complete stranger to weapons of any sort, Rev. Cooper felt a sense of awe and reverence and love for the powerful little mechanism. With it he held the power of life and death. With it he could be like the Most High God.

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