“You’re just as responsible as he is and God don’t like it,” Delilah said.
“Stop bringing God into everything.” Cai put DJ back down on the floor. “God still has you in the ghetto and you struggling all the time. I’m not going to be struggling trying to work hard until my body gives out with nothing to show for it, Momma.”
Delilah shook her head, “Baby, you need the Lord in your life cause the way you living ain’t right.”
Cai pursed her lips. “And judging ain’t right either. Doesn’t the bible say not to judge other people? I swear that Christians are the most hypocritical people in the world.”
“Watch your mouth,” Delilah raised her voice.
Cai closed her eyes and clinched her fists. “Momma, you spent your whole life trying to live right and nothing good came out of it. My daddy cheated on you, Devon was killed and you still live here in hell.”
“But I can sleep at night,” Delilah said.
Cai shrugged. “So can I.”
Delilah stared at Cai and shook her head. “Ain’t no good gonna come living like this and hurting other people,” she said walking off from her.
Cai continued applying mascara to her eyes.
Chapter 77
Greg had spent the better part of the day on his knees in his office. He had cried out to the Lord, laid his heart bare and then waited to hear from the Father but there was nothing, just complete silence. He was in the middle of war and he felt all alone. There was a knock on the door. He rose from the floor.
“Come in,” he said, sitting back in his chair watching the door open.
“How you doing, young man?” Evan’s father, Jeremiah, said sticking his head in.
Greg smiled. There was something about that man that was so peaceful and comforting and Greg was genuinely relieved to see him. He stood up and walked over to Evan’s father, giving him a hug. “I’m so glad to see you, Dad.”
The old man laughed a throaty laugh. “The nice lady at the desk told me to come on back. I hope it was okay.”
Greg closed the door behind him. “You’re always welcome anytime. I thought you’d be at the center today with Evan.”
“I’m supposed to be but I was hoping that you wouldn’t mind an old preacher man hanging out with you.”
“I never mind,” Greg responded, “have a seat.”
Jeremiah continued to stand. “It’s a nice day outside; let’s take a walk.”
Greg nodded. It wasn’t like he could decline. “Absolutely.”
Greg and Jeremiah stepped outside onto the church grounds in the cool breeze with the sun shining overhead. Jeremiah looked around with a big smile on his face. “The church looks amazing. God has really blessed it.”
“Yes, he has,” Greg agreed putting his hands inside his pants pockets as they walked the serene church grounds. “It’s growing consistently and with growth comes new challenges.”
“Of course there will be,” Jeremiah agreed. “I missed you this morning at breakfast. I was hoping to catch you before you left.”
Greg knew that he hadn’t been able to give his in-laws the time that he wanted to but it wasn’t intentional. “I’m sorry about that Dad. There’s a lot going on.”
“I can see that,” Jeremiah said, “Ahhh, yes, it’s what the people you shepherd don’t see.”
“I’m working through some things,” Greg said.
“I was once a pastor son, so I understand. We’re in a category all our own.”
Greg continued to walk with his hands in his slacks pockets wondering if he should stay quiet or tell his father-in-law what was going on. Besides, he wouldn’t even know where to start.
“Nothing would surprise me, Greg,” Jeremiah said. “You aren’t meant to carry your burdens alone. If you need to talk, I’m here.”
“I feel like I’m swimming against the currents,” Greg said.
“And you should be. If you were swimming with the currents then you’d be conforming to this world instead of being transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can prove what the perfect will of God is.”
Greg smiled. That was his father-in-law; he always went back to the word of God. “Maybe I’m just angry and tired. A dear friend of mine told me that Leon was still controlling some things in JMC. He won’t be satisfied until he destroys me, my family and this church.”
Jeremiah laughed. “Leon huh? That old devil has you shaken?”
Greg looked over at him. “Not shaken but disturbed, Dad. He was put away but he’s still around, plaguing me, Evan and JMC. He’s been doing it far too long.”
“So, the devil is on your trail and trying to call your bluff?” Jeremiah said with a slight smile on his face.
Greg groaned and held his head back. “I guess so.”
“Greg, God revealed something to me a long time ago.” With his hand up to his chin, Greg listened intently as the man with the thin gray mustache and thin gray beard talked. “I was a lot like you; a young, enthusiastic preacher of the Word. When I was on the mountain alone with God, my faith was as strong as steel,” Jeremiah tightened his fist in a ball. “No one could penetrate it and I believed without a doubt in what I could not see but as soon as I left the mountain and came into the valley, the devil showed up. When he did, my faith wavered and my knees buckled. Why did they buckle, son?”
“Because of what you saw.”
Jeremiah nodded. “Now you’re with me. I had forgotten who I had faith in. What did Jesus do when the devil showed up in the wilderness?”
Greg’s eyes welled up with tears as the old man asked him question after question. “He spoke the word of God.”
“Exactly, you are much more powerful than Leon any day. The devil can employ a million demons but you possess a weapon that’s sharper than any two edged sword; the word of the living God.”
Greg took another deep breath.
“Now, your fight might seem like it’s with Leon but this fight isn’t against flesh and blood so we fight the enemy with the word of God; that is your weapon, son.”
Greg looked out over the church grounds and smiled. “Yes sir,” he said, giving his father-in-law a hug. “Thank you, I appreciate you.”
Chapter 78
Ben put the brown Styrofoam coffee cup up to his mouth and took another sip. It was his second cup and it was now cold. He rubbed his eyes, he was exhausted. He had taken a few days off from his ongoing cases due to his need to see this one through. He sighed, eyeing both the restaurant entrance and Officer Hernandez’ patrol car from across the street. He had been tailing him for three days and even gone so far as sitting behind a tree on the next block from Hernandez’ brick home. Nothing. He was tired but he knew from experience that a gut feeling was all you needed and all he had to do was wait.
Ben munched on the glazed covered Danish in his hand then stared at it when the crinkling plastic sound of the wrapper made him realize that he was on his second one. Trash. He was doing so good, eating right and exercising and now he had somehow slipped back into his old ways. He threw the half-eaten Danish on the passenger side seat and wiped his sticky fingers on a napkin. Putting the napkin aside, Ben looked up to see Officer Hernandez exiting the Bar & Grill. He was laughing when he walked out but Ben couldn’t see who he was talking to. Ben grabbed his binoculars and zoomed in. It was Officer White who he hadn’t seen entering the restaurant. He had to have been waiting for Officer Hernandez on the inside. Ben smiled.
“Here we go,” he said to himself, watching the men walk toward the patrol car. Ben kept watching as they talked then Hernandez got inside his car and White walked in another direction. Ben was convinced that Hernandez was going to be the one to lead him so he decided to stick with it. He started his car and began trailing Hernandez again. This was it. If it didn’t lead him anywhere soon, he’d have to find a way to get the GPS device onto the patrol car.
Ben knew he’d be up a creek if Hernandez was headed back to the station because that was just another dead end
. He kept several cars back from the officer, carefully tailing him, even turning off as to not draw suspicion. But after a while, Ben figured out that Hernandez wasn’t headed to the station and there were no radio calls that he was headed to but he was speeding and Ben was itching to pull him over. Unable to, Ben continued trailing him as the patrol car headed out of the city limits.
Ben maintained his safe distance for about 30 minutes when Hernandez pulled off onto the old steel plant exit. This is it. That warehouse had been closed for 15 years. Ben’s heart galloped. He knew that it might have been premature but where else could the officer have been going? Ben kept driving as Hernandez got off on the exit. Ben said a little prayer, choosing to take the next exit to the warehouse to remain undetected. One of two things would happen. Either Ben was wrong and he’d lose the chase or he was right and he’d see Hernandez shortly. Lord, let me be right.
Ben hit his palm on the steering wheel, anxiously wanting the red light to turn. The warehouse was right around the corner if he could just get the little blue Camry in front of him to go since the light had just turned green. The car didn’t move; Ben wanted to curse. He didn’t. That was a hard habit to break but he was taking baby steps. Lord, give me strength. Finally the traffic cleared and Ben turned the corner to see the warehouse 500 feet in front of him. There it was: Hernandez’ patrol car. Tim wasn’t lying. Ben pulled into an old parking lot of a closed down dry cleaner shop nearby and took out his binoculars for a better look.
“Well well well, what do we have here?” Ben mumbled with his binoculars up to his face, eyeing Hernandez as the officer unlocked the warehouse door. Hernandez looked around apprehensively, which caused Ben to smile. Jackpot. Ben took out his phone, zoomed in and began snapping photos then dialed Greg’s number.
“What’s up man?” Greg asked.
“Found it; it’s the old steel plant on Buckley. It looks like Timothy might have been telling us the truth.”
Chapter 79
Ben placed his hand on Maria’s back, escorting her out of the steak restaurant. He zipped up his jacket having expected a slight chill in the air but not expecting it to hit so quick and hard. Maria tightened her gray cardigan sweater around her body causing Ben to rub her shoulders when he placed his arm around her to warm her. It was nice being able to relax with her tonight. His investigation into Devon’s death was consuming him and he needed some time with Maria; she always evened him out. He’d meet with Greg tomorrow to map out their next move but tonight it was just him and his wife and it felt good.
“This feels good, baby,” Ben said holding her close as they walked toward their car.
“It does,” Maria snuggled up to him, taking her thick black hair from beneath his arm as she felt it pull on her scalp, “such a cold night.”
Ben leaned over to her and kissed her on the side of her head. With his right arm around her, Ben reached in his left hand pocket for his keys. Careless. He was a cop so he normally not only scoped out the entire area before walking into it with his service revolver close by in his waist band but always made sure that his keys were in his hands. But this time, feeling Maria next to him, he failed to do so. He realized that he was getting lax.
“I don’t think it’s cold out here,” he joked.
“It’s freezing. I just need you to get me to the car and into some heat,” Maria said.
“So, are we going to make out in the car by the river? I did buy you a steak,” Ben asked playfully, squeezing her close to him. The river had been their make out spot in high school and occasionally they still drove out there on the date nights that they continued to make a part of their relationship.
Maria laughed and hit him on the chest. “You’re not getting lucky tonight, buddy.”
“I want a refund,” Ben joked.
Maria pinched him, causing him to holler out in his laughter and remove his arm from her. She pulled him back toward her and he put his arm around her again. “That steak was pretty good, wasn’t it?” he asked.
“It was, nice and tender,” Maria said, “but the pasta was gooey. I make better pasta with my eyes closed.”
“You sure do baby,” he said pressing the key remote to unlock their car doors.
He opened the passenger side door for Maria and waited until she was in before closing the door. He threw the keys up in the air, caught them jauntily and walked over to the driver's side door. He was about to open the door latch when suddenly he was pushed up against the car. Before he could make a move, a set of hands grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back, throwing him down so that his face to hit the pavement. The fall knocked the wind out of his lungs and he could feel teeth break in his mouth.
He struggled to open his eyes, kicks to his face and head prevented him from doing so. Kicks and jabs to his ribs and stomach came rapid and fierce. Ben tried to find the strength to push himself off of the pavement but a kick to the stomach caused him to fall back onto the ground. He heard a blood curdling scream coming from Maria. She was pleading for his attackers to stop, but then her voice grew faint as she continued to cry out for help.
His attackers continued to inundate him with pointed kicks. He wanted to scream and tell her to run away as fast as she could. Why is she still here? Ben had formed his lips to call out Maria’s name when a large object was thrust into his ribs. He covered his head and curled up in a fetal position. Maria’s screams grew louder. His attackers laughed as she continued to scream his name over and over, pleading for mercy. Maria go! Maria run! But no words came out of his mouth as more blows with a metal object were inflicted on his back and side.
Ben’s arms felt heavy. He couldn’t fight back; there were too many blows coming from every direction. Ben coughed and he could feel warm blood form inside his mouth and trickle down his chin. Where was Maria? He couldn’t hear her anymore. Had they hurt her? He couldn’t move, he couldn’t see. Everything went black.
Chapter 80
Greg stood staring out of Ben’s hospital room window. It was odd how a simple pane of glass could be the separator of beauty and dread. On one side of the window pane, the birds flew without a care, spring flowers bloomed strong and majestic, and a clear blue sky hung overhead. But on Greg’s side of the pane, the beeping sounds of the cardiac monitor and the dull humming of the oxygen pump were becoming prosaic. How long had he been gazing out? He turned away from the window and toward Ben who was almost unrecognizable in his hospital bed, with a swollen face and tubes in his mouth and arms.
“Go home and get some rest Greg, you need it,” Maria said from her chair beside Ben's bed, her eyes swollen from crying.
Without responding, Greg walked back over to the chair he had occupied since Ben had been allowed to have someone else in the room besides Maria. He stood watching. His best friend was in coma; he couldn’t leave his side. Greg was numb and he was angry. He wanted justice. This wasn’t some random act like everyone wanted it to be. This was deliberate and he wanted someone to pay.
The doctors said that Ben suffered substantial brain damage and that they’d need a miracle for him to come out of it. If he did, he wouldn’t be the same. And if Greg was going solely on looks, he’d have to agree but he didn’t care what anybody said. He knew God and was not only praying for a miracle but expected that miracle. He sat down in the chair and dropped his head into his hands, closing his eyes.
Maria got up and walked to him, placing her hand on his back. “Greg, please go home and get some rest and food.”
Greg looked up. “Maria, tell me again what you saw.”
“Greg, you need some food and rest.”
“Tell me what you saw, Maria,” Greg said, “please.”
Maria placed her hands on her distressed face. “We came out of the restaurant and Ben opened the car door for me. I got in so I don’t know where they came from. There were three of them, they were wearing black ski caps, blacks gloves, black everything. They just came out of nowhere.”
Greg looked at her, then a
t Ben. “Greg,” Maria begged. “I want you to preach on Sunday. I need you to preach on Sunday.”
It was out of the question; he wasn’t preaching the Sunday service. He’d already called on Minister Bishop to be prepared. “Maria, I’m okay. I know you’re exhausted so I can stay here while you go home, shower, and get some sleep. You could use the break,” Greg said.
“No, I won’t leave him. I know how much you love him but I need you to help me find out who did this and you can’t if you’re weak. So, I’m asking you to leave, eat and get some sleep. I promise that I’ll keep you updated and if anything happens, you’ll be the first to know,” Maria pleaded.
There was a tap on the hospital room door and Evan stuck her head in.
“Hey sweetie, come on in,” Maria said, walking over to Evan and giving her a hug.
“Hi,” Evan said, pushing the door open slowly. “How are you?”
Maria shrugged. “I’m holding on.”
“Hey baby,” Evan said walking over to Greg and giving him a peck on the lips.
Greg looked over at Maria. “You called her to come get me?” Mari nodded. The corner of Greg’s mouth turned up in a half smile at Maria who looked exhausted and worn with tired bloodshot eyes and unkempt hair. She was suffering and if his leaving to rest was what she wanted from him then he was going to do it.
“You’re right,” Greg said, standing up. “God is here with him. Please call me if anything changes.”
“You know that I will,” Maria said holding out her arms and giving Greg, then Evan, a hug. “Thank you two so much.”
Greg walked over to Ben. “I need you to come out of this, man. We still have a lot of work to do.” Greg closed his eyes and said a silent prayer. He touched Ben’s forehead before nodding at Evan that he was now ready to go.
Evan reached out and took Greg’s hand as they walked out of Ben’s room and down the hospital corridor. They passed the waiting room which was filled with many of Ben’s friends and family. Greg walked with his head down to avoid seeing anyone and having to answer any questions about Ben. He was hungry, he was tired and there were too many questions unanswered.
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