Sanctuary by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page B

deviants unfortunate enough to be caught. Basal, institute for the wayward.”
    Danny took the cool, thin hand. “Danny Hansen.”
    “Good name,” the man said, still grinning. His eyes sparkled with life. “The word is you’re a priest. Now, what on earth is a priest doing in this sanctuary for the wicked?”
    The man was either daft or exceptionally witty, and Danny thought the latter. Translation: What are you in for? It was typically a guarded question on the inside, not the first question asked. Godfrey was either too new or too long in the system to care.
    “How did you know I was a priest?”
    “Everyone knows, that’s why. The captain announced it two days ago. A priest is coming, he said.”
    “The captain?”
    “Bostich.”
    “He said that?”
    “He did. And you know what that means.”
    “He announced that?”
    “He announced that.”
    “How?”
    “A man with many questions.” He slapped Danny on the shoulder and stepped past him. “I like that, Father. I like that a lot. He told Randell, who told his bunch of knuckleheads, who told the rest.” Knuckleheads, prison slang for those bucking the system and doing hard time. Godfrey faced the metal toilet, unzipped his trousers, and let loose a stream into the toilet bowl. “Loudmouth works better than the loudspeaker inside. Problem with the loudspeaker is, no one listens. But put it out on loudmouth and in five minutes the whole club knows.” He zipped up and turned around. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
    “Makes sense.”
    “How long?”
    “Fifty years.”
    The man whistled. “Me, I got life. Do you want me to wash my hands?”
    Danny found the man’s unpretentious audacity disarming and oddly comforting.
    “I want you to do whatever it is you need to do.”
    “Then I won’t bother,” Godfrey said. “Not to worry, I didn’t touch myself. Have a seat and let me tell you how it is before you head out to meet the wolves, though to be fair, there’s only one real wolf in this place and you already met him.”
    He sat on the lower bunk and patted the mattress. Danny felt obliged to humor the man.
    “You’ve been around, so you know that a priest has it coming from both sides. There’s those who assume you’re a sexual predator, and you know how that goes. And then there’s the rest, who think a man of the cloth breaking the law just ain’t right. So you’re screwed either way.”
    “Assuming I’m a priest. Which I’m not.”
    “I’m assuming you were at one time.”
    “I gave it up before I confessed.”
    “To what?”
    Back to the start. He decided it wouldn’t hurt to leak the right story.
    “Let’s just say I helped the wayward see the light using a little too much force.”
    “Hmmm. And these wayward, did they deserve it?”
    Danny considered the question only a moment. “No more than I did.”
    The man grinned from ear to ear. “So now I really like you. Unfortunately, Bostich doesn’t, that much I can assure you. I’m assuming you got the speech from the warden?”
    “We spoke, yes.”
    “Two kinds of prisoners, right? Fish and indeterminate lifers. But there’s a third group in here: the knuckleheads he brings in for one reason and one reason alone—to test the rest. In his twisted way of thinking, you see, he has to make this grand sanctuary of his as similar to his understanding of the world as possible. That means there’s got to be a carrot and there’s got to be a whip, and he’s going to help you decide which one you want. But what fun is all that without temptation? So, yes, he brings in the knuckleheads to either entice you into wickedness or push you over the edge. If your edge was violence, he’s going to push you there again. Trust me on that.”
    Perhaps. But Danny had lost his stomach for violence three years ago. The only edge Danny had now was Renee. As long as she was safe, he would not bend.
    “I’m no longer a violent man,” he said.
    “All I’m saying,” Godfrey continued, “is