""Stop screaming," a man orders. "I won't hurt you if you stop screaming. Do you know who I am?" She shakes her head "No." He removes the University of Georgia cap he has on. She sees his shaved head and does recognize him. He is Brian Nichols, 33, suspected killer of Judge Raymond Barnes and 3 others in and around the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta. For the last 19 hours he has eluded capture in the largest manhunt in Georgia history. Her body starts to shake.

"I won't hurt you," he repeats. But the terror doesn't go away. Will he kill her too?

Through sheer coincidence these 2 lives, the waitress and the suspected murderer, will intertwine and the impact will change their destiny.

Everything about this story is strange. It is filled with blunders by the authorities, unknown motives, strange twists of fate, and a spiritual connection between 2 strangers.

A Hostage for Seven Hours
Upstairs in her apartment Nichols ties Smith up with tape and electrical cord. He puts her on the bed but makes no sexual advance. "I don't want to hurt anybody else," he says. "If you scream the police will come. There will be a hostage situation. I'll have to kill you and kill myself."

He takes her into the bathroom so he can shower. He sits her on a stool. "I'm going to put a towel over your head so you don't have to watch me," he tells her. He puts his guns on the counter. After the shower she tells him where he can find fresh clothes, a T-shirt and trousers. He seems calmer and unties her.

"I've had a really long day," he says. "I feel like I'm a warrior-that people of my color have gone through a lot. But I don't want to hurt anybody anymore. I don't want to kill anybody. I want to rest."

He asks her for marijuana. (Smith only reveals this months later.) She doesn't have any but she does have crystal meth, which she has been addicted to since her husband was stabbed to death four years ago in a brawl. He died in her arms. She lays out 3 lines for him but doesn't take any herself. She tells him how her addiction has destroyed her life, causing her to lose custody of her 5-yearold daughter, Paige. Then she asks if she can read to him. She gets a book she's been reading that offers daily guidance. It's called The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren. She starts to read where she left off, the first paragraph of the 33 chapter:

"We serve God by serving others. The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige and position. If you can demand service from others you've arrived in our self-serving culture with its me first mentality, acting like a servant is not a popular concept."

Nichols asks her to read the passage again. They spend hours talking. She shows him family photographs. She is trying to gain his trust. She tells him about her daughter Paige. "She's already been through a lot in her life. If you kill me she'll be an orphan." Later Smith tells him "I'm supposed to see my little girl at 10a.m. this morning. She lives with my aunt. I haven't seen her for 2 weeks. If I don't show up she'll be very disappointed." She asks him if she could go and he says no. They watch TV news. It shows his attack on Cynthia Hall.

"I didn't shoot her," Nichols says. "I hit her very hard. Lord, I'm sorry.I hope she lives." When he sees himself on the TV screen, he says, "I can't believe that's me." He pulls out David Wilhelm's badge and driver's license and hands them to Smith. She looks at the license and says, "He probably has a wife and kids."

"I didn't want to kill him. He wouldn't do what I asked him to do. He fought me so I had to kill him."

Smith shows Nichols her husband's autopsy report. "That's what a lot of people will go through now because of what you've done. You need to turn yourself in. No one else needs to die and you're going to die if you don't. Nichols points to his gun. "Pick up that gun and kill me. I'd rather you do it than the police."

He talks about his mother. She is in Africa right now on business and he wonders what she is thinking about him. Gradually as hours pass Smith becomes more hopeful that he will let her go.

Around 5:30a.m. Nichols says he's got to move the truck from in front of the house before sunrise. He asks Smith to drive behind the truck in her car and then take him back to the apartment. He wants to stay in her place for a few days. He lets her bring her cell phone.

While following the truck, She debates calling the police right then, but doesn't. When he gets into her car she asks if he is willing to turn himself in now. He says, "Give me a few days, please."

When they get back to her apartment Smith makes him breakfast. He seems overwhelmed, "Wow, real butter pancakes." After breakfast they talk some more, mainly about God. Nichols tells Smith he feels like he is already dead. She tells him that the fact he is still alive is a miracle.

"You're here in my apartment for some reason. You got out of that courthouse with police everywhere and you don't think that's a miracle. I think you're supposed to be sitting here right in front of me listening to me. You know your miracle could be that you need to be caught for this. You need to go to prison and you need to share the word of God with all the prisoners there."

Nichols tell Smith that she is his angel sent from God and she is his sister and he is her brother in Christ. And that he was lost and God led him to her to tell him that he has hurt a lot of people.

At 9a.m. he says, "What time do you have to leave?" Smith tells him 9:30. She is amazed. He is going to let her go. He puts the guns under the bed and says, "I'm not going to mess around with them anymore."

As Smith leaves, Nichols gives her some money-$40. "Keep the money," she says. "I don't need it," he replies. "I think he was hoping deep down that I would come back but knew that I was going to turn him in."

"Is there anything I can do while you're gone like hang the curtains?" Nichols asks. "Yeah, if you want to," she tells him. "He just wanted some normalness in his life right then," she comments.

Smith leaves her apartment at 9:30, gets in the car and calls 911. Minutes later a SWAT team converges on the building. Ironically they see Nichols inside watching the TV coverage of the officers closing in. Nichols waves a white T-shirt outside the window and surrenders quietly. After 26 hours, the manhunt is over, thanks to the incredible courage of a 26-year-old waitress

Did Nichols and Smith Know Each Other?
In October there is another strange "twist" in the case. A supposed friend of Brian Nichols, Maurice Lovemore, 35, tells the press that when he visits Nichols in jail, Nichols says he knew Smith before the hostage night and did drugs with her. Police investigate these claims and find no evidence that links the two. Danny Porter, Gwinnett County District Attorney, says Smith was interviewed at the scene and in the office and her answers were always consistent. "There is no evidence that shows they knew each other." Gwinnett County Detective Steve Shaw researches the last few years of their lives and says there's no indication they ever crossed paths. "My personal opinion," says Shaw, "is that this guy on TV was just running his mouth. It sounds like somebody's looking for their 15 minutes of fame."

How Smith's Life Changes
After Nichols is caught, Smith is given $70,000 in reward money at a press conference with Governor Sunny Purdue, and receives much praise for her calm and bravery. A few months later she writes a book, Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero and makes a coast-to-coast publicity tour. Smith says she has not touched drugs since that fateful night when she feels God inspired and guided her and gave her a second chance in life by allowing her to walk away alive from Nichols. She plans to use her newfound celebrity to help other drugs addicts.

"My life has changed completely as a result of this ordeal, which put me face to face with my God and my drug addiction. I feel God used this encounter with Brian Nichols to free me from this addiction and I want to help other to experience the same freedom."

Smith now lives with her aunt in Columbia County's West Lake subdivision. She sums up her experience by saying, "I believe God brought him to my door so he couldn't hurt anybody else. That was very important to me."

It is hard not to wonder if Smith and Nichols did know each other from before. Also it is hard not to wonder why Nichols let Smith go, knowing that she would turn him in.