Morning Star Full Novel

Chapter 17

July 18, 1980

Rain poured down from the sky in heavy pounding drops, stinging when they struck bare skin. The sky was dark and the stars were hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds shooting forth bolts of lightning and crashes of thunder. The wind was whipping by at a brisk 20-mph. Making visibility very poor. It was all he could do just to keep an eye on the yellow lines that divided the highway. In the car with him was his young son Tony, who was gripping his seat in terror, watching his father try to get them home.
"Daddy I’m scared," Tony said.
"It’s ok son, I’m taking it slow" his father replied.
It was difficult to see the road when the headlights from the oncoming cars created a blinding glare on the windshield, finding the vehicle slightly veering off to the right whenever a car approached. He knew he was scared too, wanting to get home as soon as possible. They were fifteen miles from the edge of town, nearing the worst stretch of highway so far. The road dipped and turned making driving a chore, even on a good day. The road had ruts in them from the semi trucks that used the road, forming long lakes of rainwater, which sometimes caused the car to hydroplane. He compensated by driving to the left, staying just outside the puddles of water. This sometimes brought him close to oncoming traffic, which used the same trick to keep out of the ruts.
Pastor Jack Rhine kept a tight grip on the wheel and leaned forward in a ready, ridged stance waiting for the worst. Tony was strapped in with a seatbelt, his father not using one. Minutes passed by so slowly as he kept trudging along through the downpour, nervously scanning the road ahead.
" How much longer?" Tony asked.
"About ten minutes," Jack replied nervously, not wanting to speak. Tony turned and stared outside the window, watching the rain streak by, listening to the sound of the wiper blades swooshing by in a rhythmic pattern. Tony had confidence in his dad knowing his father would get him home. Tony was ten years old, still very dependent on his father. His father, the Reverend Jack Rhine, was a strong man in spirit and a good father; he would not let his son down. He knew the rain had to let up soon.
"I’m pulling over," Tony’s father said. "I need to let this cool off for a while."
The car slowly veered to the side of the highway finding its way to the shoulder. The car remained running as the wipers zipped back and forth cleaning the windshield for a second at a time. Tony could see his father was more relaxed now, prying his white knuckles off of the steering wheel.
"We’ll just wait here for a few minutes until this lightens up…. Ok?" he asked Tony.
"Sure dad, I don’t like the rain either," Tony replied.
Tony noticed the reflection from the rear view mirror on his dad’s face. The rectangle of light now flashed with red and blue lights. He turned to look though the back window at a blur of police lights approaching right behind them slowing down. Tony’s father turned also.
"Oh no!" he said. "I bet they think I’ve broken down."
He waited as the car came to a stop and a patrolman in a yellow rain coat exited and approached the side of the car. He could see the glare of a flashlight bouncing along the glass of the door. The officer came to the side window and tapped on it with the light. Pastor Rhine rolled down the window, and bullets of rain found its way into the car. Squinting at the blinding flashlight and the wind swept rain he asked, "Is there a problem officer?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing mister," the patrolman replied rudely.
"I was just waiting out the rain."
"Parking on the shoulder is against the law you know."
"No, I didn’t. I had no idea. Plus this is kind of an emergency."
"Emergency? Lots of folks drive in worse weather than this."
Young Tony watched as the officer and his father carried on the conversation. He watched intensely the way the policeman argued with his dad and became angry. He saw the police officer point the light in his father’s face trying to intimidate him. He took a good look at the face of the man, burning his image into his brain. He did not want to forget this.
"If you don’t move right along I’ll have to issue you a citation," the officer stated.
Tony’s father took a deep breath and looked out the windshield. The rain had not let up and in fact intensified. He took a quick look over at Tony and turned to the officer.
"I’m going," he said. Under his breath he added, "Bastard."
From out of the corner of Tony’s eye, in a flash, he saw the officer slam down his flashlight on the side of his father’s face. His head reeled and spun towards Tony sprinkling him with blood drops. His dad lay there in his seat knocked out and bleeding. Tony froze as he saw the officer pull out his gun and unload several shots into his father. Spurts of blood landed on the dash and windshield as the shots rang out. The flash from the pistol left images in his eyes and the sound shocked him. As soon as it started, it ended and the policeman was gone. Only rain showed through the driver’s side window. His father was dead.
Tony opened his door and stood out in the rain. He looked to his father slumped over in his seat, then back at the police car parked behind his father car. He watched the officer sit in the car, slam the door shut, and turn off his overhead light. Through the windshield Tony watched the man’s eyes glow red and he began to tremble.
The officer looked over to Tony and turned reaching behind his seat. He pulled an object forward and opened his driver’s side door again. Stepping out, he stood and yelled to Tony, "Hey! Don’t move!"
Tony bolted and ran down into the ditch heading out to the farm field bordering the highway. The grass was slick and he scrambled to climb up the other side of the embankment grabbing a hold of the fence post for leverage. He turned to see the officer standing backlit in his headlights with police lights flashing, holding a rifle to his eye. A shot fired. Then another shot broke through the air striking the ground at Tony’s feet. "
The police officer jumped into the ditch taking off after the boy. Striking the wet grass he fell and rolled to the bottom, splashing into the cold water collected there. The flashing of red and blue lights made it difficult to get his footing in the water, bouncing light in all directions. He reached under the water, unholstered his pistol, and brought it to head level looking for a target.
Tony fell through the barb wire fence, slicing his calf in the process. He felt the sting of the cut, but had little time for the pain. His only escape was to hide out in the tall corn in the dark. He ran to the edge of the field and sunk his foot up to his ankle in the mud. It was slow going from now on, but the small boy had the dark on his side. Rain poured and thunder cracked all around, but no one, not even the police officer could find the small ten year old Tony Rhine in this corn field.
Moments later the police lights were turned off and the car drove off down the highway leaving his dead father and the car behind. Tony watched it all from the rain soaked field and his tears added to the rain on the ground.
The face of the man was forever etched in Tony’s memory.
It was determined that the man responsible for the incident was posing as a police officer, because no officers were in the area at the time of the shooting. Tony’s description of the man was to vague to fit any of the local, county, or state patrol officers on duty that evening, and the case was set aside. Tony struggled to understand the reason for the brutal murder. The man took nothing from them, saying nothing that would give a clue. His father had no enemies, owing no one any favors. Tony spent many days and nights pondering the senselessness of the killing trying to remember if there was any reason why the man made such a waste of his father. Did his dad provoke him? What did he miss? It happened so fast that he wasn’t even sure he could remember exactly what took place or if his description of the imposter was accurate.