“Johnny, that’s just crazy,” Iona said.
“No it’s not. And you know something else? I don’t think Mr. Stellar is Vivian’s real dad. They don’t look anything alike.”
Iona’s eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at Mr. Stellar, then turned back to Johnny. “Not everyone looks like their Dad you know?”
“He probably knows that Vivian isn’t his child.”
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to you insinuate that Vivian’s mom cheated on her husband.”
“It happens every day,” Johnny said then raised his hand. “But hey, it’s not my business – just trying to make sense of the things Mr. Stellar said to me and his need for a nap at a time like this.” He pulled out a note pad and then changed the subject. “Look, I need to ask you a few questions before I get back to the station. But if you’re not up to talking about this right now, I can talk with you later this evening.”
Iona shook her head. “I don’t want to put anything off. I want to help. I’m tired of just helping myself and never doing anything for anyone else.”
“I think you’re being too hard on yourself, Iona.”
She unfolded her legs and let her feet drop to the floor as she said, “Okay, well then answer this for me, Johnny. Why do you jump every time my father asks you to do something?”
He shrugged. “I believe in everything he’s trying to do with these young thugs. I look at some of them and think how lucky I am that I didn’t turn to a life of crime. God knows I didn’t have much to influence me in the right direction.”
Iona nudged him. “Boy, who are you kidding? Your father was a cop. He would have beat your behind if you got into any trouble.”
“Yeah,” Johnny agreed. “But he died before I reached my teens, so I had a lot of opportunity to get into trouble. I guess I jump for your dad because I wish I had one just like him.”
“See what I mean?” Iona shook her head. “He is my father and I don’t jump like you do when he needs something. I always give him a hard time. I am completely self absorbed. And you know something else? You were right about me.”
Johnny brought his hands to Iona’s face and wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. “Iona, you’re at the hospital crying about what happened to Vivian, so you can’t be completely self-absorbed.”
Iona brought her hands to her face and rubbed her eyes. She then turned and looked at Johnny. “Do you know why I became a lawyer? I mean, why I even went to law school in the first place?”
He sat the note pad in the empty seat next to him. “No, why?”
“Well, my whole family is in the ministry in some way shape or form. Ministry was all I knew from the time I was ten years old. Whether I was in Dayton at my father’s house or in Chicago at my mother’s house, they taught me how to win the lost to Christ. But see I knew that both my father and my mother had trouble with the law before they came to Christ.
“So I wanted to be an advocate for people like my mother and father. People that had been on the wrong side of the law, but just needed a chance, somebody to help them pick another path.”
“Well, isn’t that what you do now?”
Iona shook her head. “I didn’t fulfill my mission. I was supposed to get these criminals off and help them turn their life around. The only time I even come close to doing something like that is when I take a case that my father forces on me. And he’s the one that tries to get them to turn their life around. I just take as much of their money as I can.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Uncomfortable with the silence, Iona scratched her throat and then said, “You had some questions for me?”
“Um, yes,” Johnny said as he picked his note pad and pen back up. “What exactly did Vivian tell you when she called?”
Iona leaned back in her seat and told Johnny everything that happened that day. But just as she was finishing her story, the doctor came out and spoke to Vivian’s parents. Iona jumped up and hurried over to them.
“She’s weak,” the doctor told them. “But she’ll make it.”
“Oh thank God,” Vivian’s mother said as she fell into her husband’s arms and wept.
Then the doctor asked, “Is there someone by the name of Iona out here?”
Iona raised her hand. “I’m Iona.”
The doctor looked at Iona and said, “Come with me, ma’am. My patient is refusing to go to sleep until she speaks to you.”
Johnny turned to Vivian’s parents and asked, “Do you mind if I go with Iona? We think Vivian might have been attacked. Hopefully she can reveal something that might help us find the person who did this to her.”
“Please go,” Vivian’s mother said. “I want that animal caught.”
Vivian’s father rolled his eyes as if his wife was being a drama queen. He shook his head and told Johnny, “Go ahead, young man. Hopefully you can get the truth out of her.”
With that, Iona and Johnny headed through the emergency room double doors. The doctor directed them to room number ten and they walked in.
Vivian was stretched out on the hospital bed. The right side of her face was swollen. She reached out her hand and Iona bent down and hugged her friend. “He took my inhaler,” Vivian told her.
Iona stepped out of their embrace and said, “I figured that when I couldn’t find it.”
“I just don’t know why he took my inhaler. He’d already knocked me out when he hit me. When I woke up; I was having trouble breathing, so I reached for my inhaler. But it wasn’t in my pocket. I searched for it on the floor, but then I passed out again.”
Johnny stepped closer to the bed and asked, “Did you get a look at the person who hit you?” He wanted to ask, was it your dad?
Tears sprang into Vivian’s eyes as she shook her head. “No. He hit me from behind.”
Iona spoke up. “Vivian, you always keep your inhaler in your pocket. Since the motive wasn’t robbery, this guy wouldn’t have a reason to go in your pockets unless he knew that you used an inhaler. So I’m guessing that the person who kidnapped Clarence and then came after you has to be someone familiar with you, me or the firm. What do you think?”
Vivian turned to Iona with a thoughtful look on her face. “I’m not so sure it’s someone we know,” she said after a moment. “The guy did steal something from me. He probably went into my pocket looking for the license plate number and found the inhaler in my pocket.”
Chapter 12
Donavan stood in his front yard and looked around. He loved the well manicured lawn that he’d spent numerous Saturday mornings creating. He’d replaced the outdated bushes in the front lawn with Japanese Maples and put a deck on the back that he used in the summertime when he had cookouts for his youth group. His mom and Iona had planted an assortment of flowers around his condo to beautify the place. This was his home and he loved everything about it.
He stuck the ‘For Rent’ sign in the front yard near the curb. He hung his head and closed his eyes for a painful moment. He then turned to walk back into his condo. But just as he was opening the front door, he felt as if someone was watching him. He turned around and saw a black sedan with tinted windows stop in front of his house. He closed the front door and walked toward the car. Donavan was hoping that the driver was writing down the telephone number on his ‘For Rent’ sign. Maybe he had a taker already. But before he could get to the car, it sped off.
Turning back around, he wondered what that was all about. Had he scared a potential renter off? He knew he was messed up, but was he really that ugly? Oh well, Donavan thought, someone would call. He’d put his mother’s cell number on the renter’s sign because his suitcases were already packed and he was about to get on I-75 South and keep it moving. He needed to get away, and the reunion his fraternity was having in Atlanta was reason enough to shake the Ohio dust off his feet. He knew that his frat brothers were going to be in the partying mood – lots of drinking and night clubbing. Donavan had never gotten into that stuff when he was in col
lege. His frat brothers used to snidely ask him to pray for them before they headed out on a night of mischief. Donavan knew they didn’t really want prayer, but he’d prayed for them anyway. He wondered what his frat brothers would think of him this trip; when he went out drinking and clubbing with them. Because that’s what he intended to do.
Nina pulled up as he was loading his car. She opened the driver’s side door of her Mercedes and strolled over to her son. Her hands were in her pockets as she leaned against his car and said, “Do you really have to go, son?”
Donavan put the last bag in the trunk of his car and then closed it. He walked over to the side of the car and stood next to his mom, whom he deeply loved and respected. That’s why he couldn’t look her in the eye as he said, “It’s too hard for me to stay around here, Mama. I can’t take seeing you and dad, knowing that I failed you.”
Nina took her hands out of her pockets, grabbed hold of Donavan’s face and turned it so he looked her in the eye. “Who did you fail, Donavan?”
He tried to look away, but she wouldn’t let him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then admitted, “I failed myself – and God.”
“That’s right, son. And God is the only person that can judge you on this. And you will have to figure out a way to forgive yourself for failing Him.” She gently brushed his face with her hand, and as tears fell from her eyes she told him, “You could never fail me, son. I love everything about you, and I accept the good with the bad. Do you understand that?”
Donavan nodded, then he lifted his arm and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. “I just need to get away, Mama. I need to figure some things out. Okay?”
Nina stepped away from her son and said, “You’re a grown man, son. But not a day will go by that I won’t be praying for you. Just promise me that you won’t forget your foundation.”
He’d told his mother that he didn’t know how long he would be away, that he might look for a house while in Atlanta. That’s why she looked so unsure and sad right now. So he tried to reassure her. “I won’t, Mama. I haven’t stopped believing in God, trust me on that.”
“I’ll be praying that the Lord guides you back home.” She opened her purse and pulled an envelope out and handed it to Donavan. “Take this. Your father and I want you to have it.”
Donavan looked around and asked, “Where is my father, huh? He knew I was leaving just like you did, right mother?”
She nodded.
Donavan stretched out his arms and turned to the left and then to the right. “Then why didn’t he come with you to wish me well, if he really cared?” Nina started to respond, but Donavan waved her off. “Forget it, I don’t want anything from him. I just want to be left alone.” He opened the car door and got in.
Nina grabbed the door before he could close it. “Donavan, your father is on his way here. He had an emergency with Iona. That’s the only reason he’s not here right now.” She put the envelope in his lap. “Take this check, it was signed by your father – and you know the man as well as I do. If he didn’t want you to have the money, he wouldn’t have signed that check.”
He opened the envelope and turned back to his mother, astonished. “This is five thousand dollars.”
Nina straightened. “I know what it is. God has prospered me and your father in the last five years. So at the end of each of those years we put five thousand in an account for you and five thousand in an account for Iona. It was meant to help you start your own business or whatever you want to do. We planned to give it all to you when you turned thirty anyway.”
“Why didn’t you give it all to me now? Are you and Dad trying to keep me on a short leash by showing me what could be mine if I shape up?”
“No, son. The money is yours and we will give you the rest when you turn thirty. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t starve while you were out there figuring things out. After all, I am still your mother,” Nina said with a half-hearted smile.
His voice caught in his throat as he said, “T-thanks, Mom. I appreciate it.” He closed the door and turned his eyes away from her as he backed out of the drive.
***
Davison and Brogan stood on top of Donavan’s roof, surveying the land. They were God’s angels charged to watch over Nina and Isaac. Davison was Nina’s angel and the first to arrive at Donavan’s condo. He was there because of Nina’s concern for her son. Whether it was a premonition or a prodding from the Lord, Nina had been in fervent prayer for Donavan. That caused Davison to race to Donavan’s to find out what was going on.
When he arrived, Satan’s instrument of destruction was parked in front of Donavan’s condo. The man the evil one had chosen sat in his car with a gun trained on Donavan as he walked out toward the car. Donavan couldn’t see the gun because of the dark windows on the car. Davison quickly used the forces of God to instill fear in the assassin’s heart. The assassin put the gun down and sped away.
When Brogan arrived, he let Davison in on the reason why the assassin had set his sights on Donavan. The evil one was back in play. His attack against Isaac had failed and now he had set his sights on the preacher man’s family. And someone working for the evil one had just ordered Donavan’s murder.
“We’re going to need more help,” Davison told Brogan. “If Nina hadn’t been praying for Donavan like she had, I wouldn’t have been here in time enough to scare that guy away. We don’t know the way these evil minds work, so there’s no way we’re going to be able to fend off every attack.”
“The evil one picked the perfect assassin. It is the sin that Isaac forgot about that has come back to haunt him.”
“Do you think we have a chance of winning this battle?” Davison asked.
Isaac had been Brogan’s charge for more than thirty years now. Brogan had been through many battles in his quest to protect Isaac. The evil one had become angrier each time Isaac brought a lost soul over to the kingdom of God, and had therefore sent attack after attack. But Brogan had guarded his charge with his very life. He saw no reason why he would lose Isaac at this late stage in the game.
Brogan unsheathed his long golden sword and lifted it in the air. He allowed it to glisten in the air to ward off any demon that would dare come near his charge. He turned to Davison and said, “I came to win, how about you?”
Davison smiled and unsheathed his golden sword and lifted it to the sky also. “Let’s do this.”
They both said in unison, “For all that is holy and all that is right.”
***
Isaac wished some force – wind, or something would have helped him get to his son’s house on time. He stood in Donavan’s yard with Nina looking lost and heartsick. He ran his hands through his hair as he turned to Nina. “How could he leave without saying goodbye to me? Let me see your cell phone. I’m going to let him know what I think of his behavior.”
Nina glided her hand up her husband’s back. “He’s hurting right now, honey. We just have to give him some time.”
“We didn’t do this to him, Nina.”
“I know that and you know it, but Donavan has to figure that out for himself.”
He scratched his forehead and then looked to heaven for guidance. When he turned back to Nina he told her, “Okay, I’ll give him time to cool off. I don’t have time to worry about it right now anyway, I’ve got to get back to the hospital and pick up Iona.”
“I’ll follow you. I wanted to check on her friend anyway.”
They got in their respective cars and drove to Good Samaritan Hospital, neither comprehending or knowing the fatal danger their son had just avoided with the help of the Lord and his angels. But they also had no clue that tomorrow would be a world rocking day for Isaac either.
Chapter 13
Isaac stood behind his pulpit delivering a message designed to change the very hearts and minds of the listeners. For Isaac knew that many street hustlers, con artists, prostitutes and thieves attended his Wednesday night Bible study and Sunday morning worship service just
so they could say they were trying to live right. They felt comfortable coming to the House of God because the preacher was a former hustler himself, and therefore could relate to their struggles.
Isaac did understandd the struggles a hustler dealt with when it came to going straight; and not all of the struggles were green with dead presidents on them. When a hustler is at the top of his game, he has street power and respect that he will never have washing cars or working a nine to five. He had been his own boss. He set his own clock. Matter of fact, he told other street hustlers what time to get up, where to go and how long they should stay. Hard to convince a man like that to work for seven dollars and twenty five cents an hour.
Right now Isaac was looking directly at Ron Holmes, a street hustler who’d managed to stay one step ahead of the police and rival hustlers that wanted to take his place. Isaac had been ministering to him for more than three years. He had never had any indication that he had gotten through to Ron and didn’t expect to see him at church tonight, but here he was. Isaac knew this might be his last chance to convince Ron of God’s goodness.
But when Isaac opened his Bible to preach, he didn’t concentrate on the obstacles that stood in the way. Instead, he concentrated on God’s ability to soften the hardest heart. He held onto both sides of the pulpit and looked out at the people gathered for Wednesday night Bible study and surmised that quite a few hustlers were in attendance tonight.
“Open your Bibles to Luke seven. We’re going to begin reading at verse number thirty six,” Isaac instructed.
Pages began turning. When they stopped, Isaac then read from the scriptures:
“Behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
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