by Rachel Dylan
He’d become a Christian, but he’d wrongly assumed that the hardest part would be taking that first step in faith. No, now things were much more difficult for him. The questions, the doubts, the confusions surrounded him, especially with all that had happened with Pastor Dan.
He did the only thing he thought he could do. He started reciting scripture. First, barely anything came out of his mouth. But the more he spoke, the more air he was able to get.
The problem was that he had only memorized a few verses, but at least it was something. “Greater is He that is within you than He who is in the world.”
Then he went onto the Lord’s Prayer, and then Psalm 23. As he uttered the last line of the Psalm, he could feel the weight lifting off of him.
He was able to sit up and suddenly he didn’t feel warm at all, but much cooler. Dear Lord, what just happened to me? I’m so confused.
He jumped up out of the bed and turned on the lights. He walked from his bedroom and into the kitchen, flipping on all the lights as he went. Taking a look at the clock, he saw that it was almost three in the morning. He couldn’t call and wake Olivia up, but he really needed to talk to someone. It occurred to him at a time like this he would really want to talk to Pastor Dan, but that was impossible with him in prison.
He’d been warned that as he kept walking down the path of faith that he would be challenged, but it confounded him that any demonic force would take the time to bother him. He was a nobody, and certainly not a strong and powerful warrior of God like Olivia or Dan. He was a rookie, prone to make rookie mistakes. Did he have more of a role to play in this than he realized? And if so, how was he in any shape to handle that?
The questions and doubts that surrounded him only seemed to be getting more entrenched, but even with all of that, he had no intention of abandoning the journey that he had started.
Were the forces of darkness toying with him? It was strange to think that not many months ago he thought all of this spiritual realm stuff was complete fantasy. But now that he’d experience it multiple times firsthand, there was no way he could deny it. Tonight’s event had been the scariest yet, even more so than when he was attacked last year in his house. This felt even more sinister.
If it had been a year ago, he wouldn’t have believed in any of this. He would’ve credited the whole thing to a crazy nightmare. But it wasn’t a year ago and his life had forever changed the moment he took that case representing Optimism, and even more than that, once he’d met Olivia Murray.
He was in this strange limbo where he knew in his gut what he wanted to believe, but he didn’t understand why all the doubts and questions bombarded him.
“Why me?” he said out loud.
He fired up the coffee pot and then went to grab his laptop out of his bag. He might as well do some work to try to move on from what had just happened. But he feared that he might never be the same.
**
Tony had offered to meet Olivia at her office. He’d had some time to review all of his evidence and was ready to put a plea offer on the table. But it was one he knew she’d never go for. It was his duty, though, as an officer of the court to try. Because if he didn’t at least put something out there, the judge would think that very odd.
Deep down, of course, he wanted this thing to go to trial because it would be good exposure for him on a high profile case. Hopefully, once she heard what he was offering, then they could just move this thing forward in the process.
The BCR offices were in a swanky office building north of the city. He often wondered how different his life would have been if he would’ve taken the offer to work in the big Chicago law firm when he finished law school at the University of Chicago. He’d graduated near the top of his class and had plenty of offers, but he’d always wanted to be a prosecutor.
So he’d taken the government salary versus the six figure private sector one, but he had a long term plan. One that involved running for office one day, and this case was exactly the type of thing he needed to build up his portfolio of work and raise his public profile in the community.
As he walked into Olivia’s office building, he was reminded of what he’d given up and the sacrifices he’d made. He just kept telling himself that one day it would be worth it. He rode the elevator up to the main floor for BCR and waited while the receptionist alerted Olivia to his arrival.
He knew the BCR office had just recently opened, and they had clearly spent a big chunk of change on the décor, in addition to the office space.
Olivia walked out to greet him, and he provided an obligatory smile. “Nice to see you again,” he said.
“Come on back to my office and we can talk. Just follow me.”
He did as she directed. There was something different about this woman, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Here we are. Please have a seat.”
As he stepped through her office door, he tried to keep his expression neutral, but it was difficult. The view of the Chicago skyline from her window was absolutely breathtaking. “If I had an office like this, I don’t think I’d ever leave. Did you invite me over here to rub it in?” He laughed
“It is very nice. But believe it or not, fancy offices can only get you so far. You have to love what you’re doing or it’s not worth it. No matter how great the view is.”
“And do you?” he asked.
“What?”
“Love what you do here at BCR?”
“I love being a lawyer.”
“Ah, but that doesn’t mean you love being a lawyer in a big international law firm.”
“It has its ups and downs. I have law school loans that I’m paying off. So it was the best route for me.” She paused. “Now I know you didn’t just come over to have a friendly chat and check out the BCR offices, so what’s on your mind?”
She was right about that, but it was good to talk to his opponent. She didn’t realize it but everything he learned about her could be future ammunition to use against her. “I’m here to talk about the case. You know we have the preliminary hearing scheduled for next week.”
“Yeah.”
“So let’s talk a plea deal before that hearing happens.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“Look, I’ve gone through all the physical evidence. The state has a very strong case against your client. Not to mention a highly credible witness that a jury is sure to believe.”
“I hear what you’re saying, but you still haven’t presented your offer, Tony.”
“Ten years.”
Her brown eyes widened and then she laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Hear me out.”
“That’s ludicrous.”
“No. I don’t think you get the full picture here. Because I can prove the amount is over a hundred thousand dollars and it involves a church, this makes it a Class X felony under Illinois law.”
“I am well aware of the felony classification.”
“Then you should know that carries up to a thirty year sentence.”
“Up to.”
“Right, but that’s why the ten years is more than fair.”
“You’re missing the most important piece of information in all of this. My client is innocent.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I know you don’t normally practice criminal law and you’re taking this on pro bono, so let me do you a professional courtesy and tell you that this is a rock-solid case. One of the most air-tight cases I’ve prosecuted in years. I’ve got both the tangible evidence of the electronic transfers from the church account to his private account plus the testimonial evidence, and no juror is going to be sympathetic toward a pastor who steals from his church. You’re just going to have to face all the facts that the deck is completely stacked against you this time.”
“And I want to be crystal clear to you so as to not waste your time. My client is innocent, and I plan to mount a vigorous defense on his be
half.”
Either this woman was an amazing actress or she actually believed that her client didn’t embezzle the money. Both prospects were disturbing. “I’ve prosecuted hundreds of cases in my career, and I’ve learned that almost all the defendants say that they didn’t do it, but the simple truth is that they often did.”
“There’s nothing simple about this situation.”
“Seems open and shut to me. Tell me what I’m missing.”
“That’s because you don’t know about the background of the situation.”
“Enlighten me then.”
“There’s more going on here than just an open-and-shut case as you call it. For one, I believe my client was framed. And for two, there are spiritual forces at work here.”
Uh oh. Was she really going to try to go down that rabbit hole? The framing defense wasn’t entirely unexpected, but spiritual forces? “What are you going to argue to the jury? That angels took the money?”
“You think I’m joking around here but I’m very serious. There are two New Age companies in town that have declared war against Windy Ridge Community Church and Pastor Dan. They will stop at nothing to destroy him and the church. What better way than to frame him for a crime like this that he didn’t commit. They knew it would have a highly negative impact. All they have to do is sit back and watch it unfold. I can’t allow that to happen.”
This woman appeared to be on some sort of spiritual crusade which made no sense to a guy like him. “I think you’re either completely grasping at straws to try to help your client, or worse, you’re totally delusional.”
She shook her head. “Do you believe in God, Tony?”
He hadn’t been prepared for a religious discussion with her. He’d need to play it safe. “Yes, of course. Don’t most people?”
She leaned forward in her chair, making direct eye contact with him. “Then you should realize that there is such a thing as spiritual warfare, and Windy Ridge happens to be a battleground right now.”
He really wondered if she was on some sort of meds or something. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I have to ask you if you’re sure you’re feeling okay because you aren’t making rational sense right now.”
She smiled at him. “Believe me, you’re not the first person to think I was delusional and you won’t be the last. But as far as this case goes, right now you’re on the wrong side as far as I’m concerned. You’re a pawn in this game orchestrated, I’m sure, by Layton Alito at Optimism.”
Oh, well, that got his attention. What did she know about Layton? “How in the world could Layton be involved with this?”
“I see that you know him. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me.”
“I’m a member of the Optimism non-profit board. Of course I know him.”
She gasped. “But I thought you said you believed in God? Why would they let a Christian on a New Age board?”
“Beats me. The board is all about charitable events and community service. They haven’t mentioned New Age anything.” That wasn’t entirely true, but he wanted to see how this was going to play out.
“This is all wrong,” she said. “They’re going to try to use you to make sure that they can get to Dan. Do they know you offered a plea deal?”
“Absolutely not. I don’t discuss my legal strategy with anyone outside of the prosecutor’s office.” The more she spoke the more uncomfortable he became. It wasn’t like he believed what she said about spiritual warfare, but he was concerned about being used for someone else’s agenda. Her visceral reaction to him taking the Board position was troubling.
“You’re in the middle of this now whether you want to be or not, and if you truly do have faith, you’re going to need it because if Layton or Nina Marie sense that you’re not on their team, then they’ll come after you, too.”
“Are you trying to threaten me?”
“No. Just the opposite. I’m trying to warn you.”
A chill shot down his back at her words. As she spoke, she did so calmly but seriously. He didn’t quite know how to handle all of this new information so he tried to shrug it off for now. “While I appreciate your concern, I will be just fine. I trust you will take the deal to your client and let me know what he says.”
“Of course.”
“Remember, it’s a good deal.” He stood up ready to get out of her office as quickly as possible. That is not how he expected the meeting to go. He needed to do some of his own digging to figure out if Olivia was crazy or if he was the one that was in trouble.
Chapter Eleven
Olivia had received a strange voicemail from Grant asking if she could come by, and she was anxious to get to his house and talk. It’d been a long day in the office, especially after the strange conversation with Tony. She’d visit Dan tomorrow and get his thoughts on the deal. She’d strongly push him to reject the plea. He was innocent and there was absolutely no reason for him to admit guilt to a crime he didn’t commit and sit in prison for ten years.
She knocked on Grant’s door and he opened it. He pulled her inside and wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“Grant, what’s going on?” she looked up into concerned eyes.
“I’m glad to see you.”
“You look tired.” He had dark circles under his eyes.
“Come on in and I’ll tell you all about my night.”
He took her by the hand, and they sat down beside each other on the couch.
“I wanted to call you after it happened but it was in the middle of the night, and then I had a motions’ hearing today for one of my cases. So that’s why I thought it would be easier for us to talk tonight after we were both done at work.”
“Something happened to you.” She could tell just by looking into his eyes, and she had some ideas about what it could be.
He gripped tightly onto her hand. “I know I can tell you and you’ll understand.”
“You can tell me anything. I’m here for you, Grant.” Her heart ached as she waited to hear what he had to say. Grant wasn’t easily rattled, so she knew this was something big.
“I woke up in the middle of the night, and I literally couldn’t breathe. There was this huge weight pushing down on me. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t move. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t do anything but lie there, and I was deathly afraid. A type of fear that I don’t think I’ve ever personally experienced before as it relates to my own safety.”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t know what to do. So I just started quoting some Bible verses. I don’t know a lot of them by heart, but I did what I could. By that point I was sweating and felt like I was burning up. I kept up with the verses and then after a few minutes everything stopped. I could breathe normally and move again. I got up out the bed and didn’t go back to sleep.”
It had been years, but Olivia was all too familiar with waking up in the middle of the night to face an unseen foe. “You did the exact right thing, Grant. You can’t battle the forces of evil. You’re just a man. The battle is the Lord’s. The word of God is the most powerful weapon we have.”
“So you don’t think I’ve lost my mind?”
“Of course not.”
“Okay, assuming that all of this happened, there’s something that’s bothering me a lot.”
“What?”
“Why would they come after me? It’s not like I’m the strong one here—at least not in a spiritual stance. I could run away from this whole thing, and it wouldn’t impact things one way or another.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Grant. You’re an integral part of this battle in Windy Ridge. If anything, what you experienced only further demonstrates that.” She paused, making sure she chose her words carefully. “If the forces of darkness get you to give up on your faith journey, they’ll have scored a major victory.”
“And that’s the last thing I want. I didn’t know if I should bring this up to you because I didn’t want you to think less of me.”
&nb
sp; “Don’t say that, Grant. I want you to be able to talk to me about everything.” She squeezed his hand tightly.
“I’m bombarded by doubts and thoughts and questions that are very dark and depressing. Mocking, even. It’s hard to describe. I’ll be going about my work and then all of a sudden a hateful thought about Christ will pop into my mind. Questions about why I believe. Judgments about my past. I could go on and on.”
“This is what the enemy does. He puts those thoughts into your head to try to make you question your faith. You can combat those types of negative thoughts in the same way that you dealt with the actual physical assault last night.”
“I need more verses,” he chuckled. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “I know it’s not funny. I’m just not good at coping with stuff like this. You’re much better with the unseen realm than I am. I was just thinking earlier that a year ago, all of this would’ve seemed totally impossible to me. The fact that there was an invisible war going on around us would’ve seemed like something out of a novel. Not something I was experiencing myself in real life.”
“The important thing is you’re in this place right now. The fact that you’re a target shows you’re stronger than you think and you’re continuing your walk with God. I know it’s scary, but you’re more than capable of facing this down.”
He placed his left hand on her cheek and tipped her head up to look at him. “I know one thing. I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life, Olivia.”
“Then don’t think about it.”
As his lips met hers, it was the most amazing feeling. A feeling she never wanted to end. Having him in her life made everything seem right. She leaned into the kiss and enjoyed the moment of respite from the rest of the world, allowing herself to get lost in him.
When the kiss ended, she considered kissing him again, but there were other pressing matters to attend to and she had promised herself that she wouldn’t let her feelings for Grant take away from her work.