Ben stood up and nodded. “Thank you for your hospitality, Chief. Have a good day.”
Ben walked past James and out of his office. Leaving, Ben took notice of a tall deeply tanned officer whistling and walking confidently in his direction. The man seemed oblivious to him, passing Ben by without as much as a glance at him. Ben noticed the officer’s name tag. Officer Hernandez. After he passed, Ben took a quick look back to see Officer Hernandez walking into James’ office. Isn’t this interesting?
Chapter 65
Evelyn sat in the rocking chair in Gracie’s room rocking the baby in her arms while Evan changed the sheets in the crib. Evelyn looked down at her grandbaby proudly, then leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You are grandma’s baby, aren’t you?”
Evan looked back at them with a smile. “Momma, you’re going to spoil her. You’ve been holding her since you got here.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“Because she’s going to be expecting that all the time and she’s not going to get it because we can’t do it.”
Evelyn squeezed Gracie tighter. “Stop complaining. I haven’t seen her in so long and she’s getting so big. I want to love on her as long as we’re here.”
Evan shook her head, finishing up making up Gracie’s crib. “Carry on then, Momma.”
Evelyn rubbed Gracie’s back and watched Evan as she opened Gracie’s drawers and began organizing her clothes. “How well do you know Taylor?”
“Not that well. We kind of just started hanging out and getting to know each other.”
“I don’t think she means well by you, Evan,” Evelyn said bluntly.
“Momma, she’s a prophetess.”
Evelyn frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? I don’t care what she calls herself.”
“You sound like Sed,” Evan said, folding Gracie’s blanket. “And what makes you think that? You just met her.”
“Discernment of the Spirit, baby,” Evelyn said, continuing to rub Gracie’s back.
“Momma, everybody isn’t out to get me,” Evan responded, closing Gracie’s top dresser drawer.
“You’re right, but do you remember when you were in ninth grade and I told you about little miss hot thing? What was her name?”
Evan shook her head. “Felicia.”
“Yes, I told you that I thought you shouldn’t get too close to Felicia because I didn’t get a good feeling about her.”
“I remember,” Evan said.
“And what did she do? You thought she was your friend and she stole your research paper, turned it in as her own, and lied to the teacher that you plagiarized her work. You got suspended and I remember how hard you worked on that paper, baby.”
Evan nodded. “Yes, I remember too.”
“The devil is tricky but our God doesn’t leave us in the dark. I just have my reservations about Ms. Taylor, that’s all,” Evelyn said, sticking her bottom lip out.
“She does come across as a little rough around the edges at first but I got over that,” Evan said. “Her mother was killed by an abusive boyfriend so we were able to relate on that level. And I really think that what you saw at Kree’s was Taylor wanting me to push myself a little further than I planned with this seminar but that’s okay. She meant well.”
Evelyn huffed as she stood from the rocking chair and walked over to Gracie’s crib where she placed Gracie. “You can be so hardheaded sometimes, just be careful around her.”
Evan smiled and hugged her mom. “Thank you for being protective of me. I appreciate it. Now, let me go fix you and Daddy something to eat.”
“No, no,” Evelyn said, stopping her. “Finish what you’re doing and I’ll fix something for all of us.”
Chapter 66
Taylor sat on the sofa with her legs crossed and a glass of red wine in her hand, looking at the clock. Leon was going to call at 7 on the dot and she wanted to be settled in when he did. She missed him. His being away was miserable; at least before sentencing she had him physically with her but now she was in this gorgeous apartment all alone. She looked at the clock, took a sip of her Gamay and the phone rang.
“Hey baby,” Taylor said with a wide smile spread across her face.
“How are you?” Leon asked in a very low tone that she had gotten used to when he was on the phone in his cell.
“I’m great,” Taylor said.
“I wanted to say good job. Elliot’s really pleased. I looked over the contract and it’s a go,” Leon said.
Taylor grinned and held up her glass toasting, if only to herself. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am about that. Everything is moving along.”
“His team really loved it and they want to move quickly. It’s a testament to your hard work,” Leon said. “We’re going to show her for the fake that she is and I can’t wait to see her face.”
Those were her thoughts exactly. She stood up from the sofa feeling exhilarated and beginning to pace the floor of her apartment. “Yes, and the sooner the appeal goes through and you’re out, the sooner we can move on with our lives. I can’t wait.”
“Right,” Leon said.
Realizing that his mood seemed to shift, Taylor whispered, “Leon, what’s wrong?”
“Um, I need to tell you something,” he said.
Whatever he had to say, the tone of his voice was setting her up for disappointment. No longer in the mood for wine, she placed the glass on her coffee table. “What is it?”
He paused and took an audible breath. “Charlotte’s pregnant,” Leon said.
Leon spoke those words almost in a whisper and Taylor knew that it had nothing to do with him being on the cell phone but because he knew he had messed up. Taylor’s heart pounded as the room began spinning around her. “What?”
“You know that I had to do some things in order to make some things happen for us.”
“What?” Taylor repeated the question already knowing what she heard, hoping that she hadn’t.
“Baby…” Leon said.
Taylor let out a loud piercing scream at the top of her lungs. “How could you do this to me?” She collapsed on her knees onto the white bear skin rug. “How could you?”
“I’m so…so sorry,” Leon said
Tears rushed down Taylor’s made up face. She dropped the phone from her ear, wrapped her arms around herself and sobbed. A few minutes passed before she gathered the strength to pick the phone back up not knowing if he was still on the line or not.
“Taylor,” Leon called out her name.
Laying on her side with the phone pressed up to her face, she sucked in her cries like a child. “I’m doing everything for you out here. I’m keeping you alive out here and you betray me with that fat sloppy heifer!”
“It wasn’t like that,” Leon raised his voice. “You knew the plan.”
“That wasn’t a part of the plan!” She cursed, sitting up and pushing her wild long hair out of her wet face. “How dare you put this back on me! You did this! You messed up!” she shouted. There was silence on the other end of the phone as she held it to her ear and began wiping her face with her hand, smearing wetness across her cheek.
“Baby, I’m sorry,” Leon said in his diminished tone. “I’ll do whatever to fix it.”
“Get rid of it,” Taylor demanded standing up and then sitting on the chair.
Leon groaned. “That’s what I want. I need your help though.”
Taylor dropped her head. “You don’t need me; you just need to make sure that she does it.”
“She says that she’s nine weeks and she isn’t getting rid of it.”
Taylor got off of the floor and wiped her eyes. “I can’t believe that you could be so careless. And you have the nerve to tell me to keep things in perspective.” She laughed out loud.
“Taylor,” Leon said. “I know that this wasn’t a part of the plan.”
“Sleeping with her wasn’t a part of the plan, Leon,” Taylor retorted.
“Stop it. Now, you can sit on this phon
e and be cynical or we can fix the problem,” Leon snapped.
Taylor took the phone from her ear and stared at it; wanting to slam it down and curse him out but instead she closed her eyes, took a deep all-encompassing breath and placed the phone back to her ear. “And how do you propose we fix this problem, Leon?”
Chapter 67
Greg saw Ben’s signature Yankees cap first when he pulled up to the park. Ben was leaning over the railing of the small bridge that overlooked the park's running spring when Greg walked toward him. “What’s up, man?” Greg said.
Ben turned around giving Greg a half hug. “Hey brother, what’s good?”
Greg laughed. “You tell me.”
“I paid a visit to your buddy James at the station,” Ben said.
“Okay, how’d it go?”
“Let’s just say that he wasn’t inviting.” Ben said. “And he certainly didn’t appreciate my continuing to delve into the subject of Devon and Tim.”
Greg looked over the railing. “Did you find out anything solid?”
“Not much on the surface but I caught a glimpse of Officer Hernandez. I have no doubt that he’s one of James’ flunkies. I’m going to trail this guy to see if he leads us to this warehouse. That’ll at least let us know if we have a reason to believe Tim or not.” Ben hit the wooden railing with his palm. “There’s something there, Greg.”
“Our hunches aren’t good enough Ben. We need evidence; the only thing that matters is what can be proven. Tim made some serious allegations and if we don’t find out what happened, they’ll bury this kid.”
Ben looked over at him. “Are you saying that you believe him?”
“I’m saying that I can’t disbelieve him. Something is definitely going on and I want to know what.”
“We’re going to find out. We always were the dynamic duo,” Ben said with the side of his mouth upturned in a smile. “What else is going on, man?”
Greg turned around with his back to the railing and rested his elbows on it. “I had a conversation with Deacon Howard the other day and he said something to me that I can’t seem to shake.”
Ben’s forehead wrinkled with curiosity. “What’d he say?”
“He basically said that Leon still has a hand in JMC.”
Ben laughed. “Where’d he get that from?”
Greg looked over at him. “He believed it, Ben.”
Ben lifted his cap and scratched his head. “Leon was sent up the river and I can’t imagine anybody still following that creep.”
“Maybe not but I do know Deacon Howard and he wouldn’t throw around Leon’s name so freely or give up that head trustee position so easily because he loved it.”
Ben rubbed his chin. “How did James manage to climb to that trustee position so quickly?” Ben asked looking over at Greg.
“What are you suggesting?” Greg asked.
“Man, come on. The deacon said that Leon has his hand in JMC and James suddenly rose up in the ranks. You don’t think that’s suspicious?”
Greg stared out over the water. “James never once mentioned Leon that I know of and he never made it appear as if he knew anything outside of his arrest. When I asked Deacon Howard about James, he didn’t seem to know anything about him.”
“None of that matters. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Leon can’t do anything in JMC without someone on the inside. James rose quickly and he hasn’t even been a member for two years. Everybody watched but nobody paid attention.”
“You’re right,” Greg said. “Nobody paid attention.”
“What kind of power does the Head trustee have?”
“There’s no position with innate power at all in the church. The church belongs to God,” Greg said.
Ben chuckled. “Maybe not everyone understands that. If Leon has a hand in it then there has to be some kind of payoff from it.”
“Revenge,” Greg said. “He blames me for his being in prison.”
“Maybe but Leon got drunk off of power so he’d definitely be involved in the church for a greater purpose than just revenge,” Ben said. “Is there any money missing?”
Greg drummed his fingers on the wood railing. “Not that I know of; I can get an audit though.” Greg took a deep breath. “This is all so far-fetched, Ben. Nobody has seen or heard from Leon and I don’t know how he could possibly prosper from being involved in the church.”
“Greg, we don’t know what we don’t know so until we do, we can’t come to any conclusions,” Ben said. “There’s definitely got to be a plan for their madness.”
“Sometimes I feel like I never left the force,” Greg said.
“God equips us for his purpose, with the tools that we will need when they are needed. You have experience and knowledge for a reason,” Ben said. “Just because you’re a pastor doesn’t mean that it’s all God’s called you to do, my brother.”
“You sound like Evan.” Greg laughed. He never thought this self-proclaimed former atheist would ever be encouraging him in the Lord.
“Wow, you should feel some kind of way if God felt that he needed to surround you with so many smart people,” Ben said. Greg laughed and was glad for Ben lightening up the conversation. “I’ve got to get going; I’ll keep you posted if I find out anything,” Ben said, preparing to leave. “I know you’re continuing your dedication series and I can’t wait to hear what you got this Sunday so go do what you do, Pastor,” Ben said. “It’ll come together.”
“Thank you, bro,” Greg said watching his friend walk off to his car.
Chapter 68
Greg walked down the aisles of the church sanctuary praying. He prayed over every seat, the pulpit and the stands for the musician and chorus. He walked to the front of the church and sat down on the pulpit stage. He looked down at his watch and then he heard the back door open.
“Hey man,” Rick called out.
Greg looked up to see Rick walking down the aisle toward him at the pulpit. “Right on time.”
Rick approached Greg and gave him a half hug. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you could help Evan out and pick up some purchases she made and take them over to the center; it's just some boxes and what not. I’ve got some things to take care of around here.”
“No problem,” Rick chuckled. “You could have called me and told me so I could’ve picked them up on the way.”
“Well,” Greg looked around, “that wasn’t exactly why I wanted to see you. I need you to do something for me.”
Rick leaned up against the stage. “Of course, what do you need?”
Greg looked out into the sanctuary. “I need you to get me an audit conducted of the church’s financial status.”
“You’re the pastor; you can order an audit whenever you want.”
“I need an unofficial audit of church financials and I need it ASAP.”
Rick’s forehead wrinkled as he turned to look at Greg. “Is something wrong? Is money missing?”
“That’s the strange thing; I don’t think that money is missing. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know if something’s wrong or not. I’m trying to find that out.”
Rick crossed his arms. “What are you not telling me, Greg?”
“I can’t really talk about it right now because I don’t know if there’s anything to talk about. I just need the most recent quarterly account balances. I also need all deposit and payment activities for that same quarter and the results in comparison for the same time last year and the previous year.”
“Okay,” Rick nodded his head.
“This is between you and me.”
“Of course,” Rick said. “Anything else?”
“Yes, pray that nothing becomes of this,” Greg said.
Chapter 69
Standing at the front desk in front of the center’s laptop, Mimi maneuvered the phone to her ear while typing in the client’s appointment information for the next week. She caught the sight of a man’s backside bumping the center’s glass door open as
he carried in a huge cardboard box. “Please hold on,” she said to the caller. She hurried around the front desk and to the door and held it open.
“Thank you.” Rick’s head peered from behind the huge cardboard box. “How are you?” he asked, walking past her with his back arched as he carried the box. He placed it on the floor.
Mimi’s already large brown eyes grew larger at the sight of Rick. “Hi,” she crossed her arms. “What are you doing here?”
“Evan bought some things that she couldn’t transport and Greg had a meeting to go to so I’m serving as delivery man today.”
“Okay,” Mimi looked around, “well, if you don’t mind, can you put the boxes in the storage room in the back?”
“Sure,” Rick said. “Just show me where.”
Mimi nodded, leading the way. She felt awkward walking in front of Rick especially since the super-market incident where she was sure that he was checking out her behind. In some small way, she hoped that he was indeed checking out her behind and that she wasn’t committed to all those squats and lunges for nothing.
“How are things going?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at him just to see if he was looking at her.
“Fine,” Rick answered, struggling to see over the box.
I can’t tell. “How did the fruit tray go over?” Mimi asked arriving at the supply room and pulling out her keys to unlock the door.
“Pretty good,” Rick grunted, moving into the supply room as Mimi held the door open. He placed the box on the floor. “And thank you for that.”
“No problem. I’m around so many kids that it seems like I can read their minds,” Mimi laughed, closing the door behind him.
“Tell me about it.” Rick laughed along with her. “Those boys give me a run for my money. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Mimi smiled. “You’re blessed Rick. After everything, God’s been really good to you.”
The Believer Page 23