Burning Proof

by Janice Cantore

  Ethan was definitely called.

  Until now I’ve always believed I was called to police work, Abby thought. She felt a little uncomfortable. She did love Ethan, but in her heart of hearts she wondered if she could ever have a passion, a calling, for foreign mission work.

  “What did you think of Pastor Cliff?”

  “What?” Abby realized Ethan was speaking to her. “Oh, sorry; I was daydreaming.”

  He repeated his question.

  “Inspiring. I really liked the guy.”

  “Do you want to help with the build?”

  “I don’t know anything about construction.”

  Ethan put a hand on hers. “There will be a lot of professionals there. It might be mostly grunt work for you. It’s up to you, but it might be a good change of pace.”

  Abby thought for a minute.

  “I agree,” Dede said. “I think that you need a change of pace.”

  Finishing her Diet Coke, Abby looked from Ethan to Dede. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll help.”

  As they went back and forth about plans for Monday, Abby toyed with her dessert and pondered the day in a different way. I do need a change of pace, a real test, she thought. Maybe while helping with the building project, something will click and I’ll find my calling. It’s possible that I just haven’t opened the right door.

  But even as she said yes, a tiny bit of unease rose. The unanswered questions about the Triple Seven murders, her father’s fate, and Luke Murphy all crossed her mind at the same time.

  Finally a clear, strong prayer came to her mind. Lord, I need to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, where you want me. At Ethan’s side or back in Long Beach fighting for those who no longer have a voice, and finally uncovering the truth in my parents’ murders.

  She was certain she’d get an answer soon, one way or another.

  By Sunday night, the conversation she’d had with her aunt had played over and over in her mind seemingly a hundred times. For Dede the answer to every life issue was in the Bible. Talking with her, Abby realized that she had stepped away from that belief. Through most of her career she trusted in herself, her education and training, and her own abilities.

  I’ve prayed, she thought, and if you’d asked me, I would have told you that I believed in prayer. But in all honesty, I never thought God worked fast enough or that he was even listening all the time.

  But it was Dede’s comment about the foundation of her life that caused Abby the most angst. She remembered the biblical parable that the idea of a firm foundation came from. It referenced building a house on different foundations. Any foundation other than obedience to God would wash away at the first sign of trouble.

  Abby picked up the Bible and found the passage in the book of Luke. Jesus was telling the parable. She read the verses before going to bed.

  Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

  Tears threatened. I’ve always considered my foundation firm, my belief in God strong. Why am I so shaken? Why do I feel as if everything has been washed away by the storm of the shooting?

  Abby knew that in investigative work when a case looked as if it was going nowhere, you went back to the beginning, started over with the basics to be certain nothing was missed.

  My life looks like it’s going nowhere, she thought. Maybe I need to go back to the beginning, review the basics of my faith.

  Where to start? I’ve always taken faith for granted. I believe, God should hear, and that’s the end of it.

  What am I missing?

  The question stayed on her mind as she closed the Bible and lay down to go to sleep.

  CHAPTER

  -29-

  BUTTE FALLS WAS A SMALL but beautiful place, surrounded by forest. It was a town of less than five hundred people with a rich logging history.

  When they arrived at the site Monday morning, Abby was amazed at all the people already there. The group was gathered around the new foundation. Framing was the next project. All around were piles of lumber and stacks of plywood. Everyone was dressed for work. As Dede parked next to a pickup truck with the logo for Sure Foundation Construction, two men got out and waited for Dede and Abby.

  Ethan waved to them and Dede led Abby that way. “I want you to meet a couple of guys from my church, those two with Ethan. They’re also part of the mission team.” She pointed. “This is Jon and Pete. They’ve been here since the beginning.”

  Jon was about six-two with a thick red beard and a broad smile. From the laugh lines around his eyes, Abby bet he smiled a lot and she knew she’d like him. Pete was a bit taller than Jon and a beanpole. He also sported a beard but it was not as thick as Jon’s. They were obviously father and son, and she guessed Pete was her age and Jon was her aunt’s age.

  “Great to meet you.” Jon beamed and gripped her hand in both of his. She felt engulfed by two baseball mitts. “I’ve heard a lot about you. This is my boy Pete.”

  “Nice to meet you as well.”

  “Let’s go join everyone else,” Ethan said, pointing to a forming circle, then taking Abby’s hand. Abby waded in after him, meeting many other people and being swept away by the atmosphere and the work.

  Luke stopped at the corner to tie his shoes. He’d seen the dark car before and knew it didn’t belong in the area. But that had been a couple of weeks ago. When it left the neighborhood, he thought maybe he was being a tad paranoid. Ever since two men had attacked him on the bike path next to the flood control channel several months ago, warning him to stay away from the investigation into his uncle’s death, he’d paid extra attention to his surroundings. He’d installed a state-of-the-art security system at home and a camera to watch the front of the house. Though there’d been no suspicious characters around the house lately and things seemed to be returning to normal, he’d not let his guard down.

  Now the sedan was back, and he was certain that it wasn’t one of his neighbors’. It looked like a government car or an unmarked police car, but there was no government license plate on it. He’d taken to jotting down license plate numbers of strange cars, so he knew he had this one written down in the house.

  He stood and continued his jog. No one else was home, so he wasn’t worried about the occupant of the car messing with his family. And if the guy wanted to mess with him, well, he was prepared. He left the neighborhood and headed east on Willow Street toward the flood control trail. The dark sedan shadowed him a bit but turned left on Studebaker.

  Briefly, Luke wondered if it were wise to take the flood control route, since he’d been ambushed there once before. Thinking it through, Luke kept going. The car couldn’t follow him on the jogging path there, and he wouldn’t stay on it long.

  Once he was off the street and on the trail, he took his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in Woody’s number. Since it was Tuesday morning he knew Woody would be up and about, looking to see if it would be possible to contact the Air Force personnel who rescued Molly. Luke himself had a meeting scheduled with Brenda Harris. When he answered, Luke told him about the dark sedan.

  “Where are you at?” Woody asked.

  “Southbound on the flood control bike path.” He came to a stop under a bridge and worked to regulate his breathing.

  “You want me to call a black-and-white to check out a suspicious vehicle?”

  “I’m not sure where he is now, so you wouldn’t know where to send them. I was hoping you can come pick me up, drive me back to the neighborhood to see if he’s still there. Maybe we’ll get the chance to confront him, see what’s up.”

  “I’m game. Where do you
want to meet?”

  “I’ll hotfoot it up to College Estates, cut over toward Studebaker there. Why don’t you meet me over that way? We’ll drive back to my house. If he’s still there, we’ll try to talk to him. If not, I’ve got his license plate. We can call Bill and have him run it.”

  “On my way.”

  Luke put the phone away and picked up the pace to be where he’d told Woody to meet him. Briefly he wondered if the dark sedan was heading to Seal Beach to the same place the two men had jumped him months ago and threatened his daughter. One of those men was dead. The other, Alonzo Ruiz, was wanted; there was a warrant in the system for him. A former Orange County deputy fired for beating a man to death, he was well known to the sheriff, and he even had a faraway connection to Gavin Kent. Luke always wondered if it was Kent who hired Ruiz and his buddy to watch his house and jump him on the flood control trail. No way to know now, he thought, unless I catch this guy and it turns out to be Ruiz.

  He jogged through a neighborhood and made it to Studebaker quickly. As he continued north on Studebaker, he saw Woody’s car coming south. Woody made a U-turn, and sweating and breathing hard, Luke hopped in.

  “I drove by your house on the way over, saw a dark sedan.”

  “He went back to my house?” Fury coursed through Luke.

  “If it’s the same car,” Woody said as he accelerated. “Anyone home?”

  “No, my mom took Maddie on a field trip to a museum in LA and my dad is on a job in south Orange County.” He opened his fists and fought to calm down. He’d earned his nickname Bullet in the service because of his temper but tried hard to keep it in check.

  “You want to call a unit?” Woody asked.

  “Not yet. Let’s see if it is the car. If it is, I want to talk to this guy.”

  When Woody turned onto Luke’s street, Luke saw the sedan, parked two doors down from his house.

  “That’s the car,” Luke said and Woody stopped, pulling in behind the vehicle.

  Luke turned to his friend. “Why don’t you call communications and ask them to run a records check on the plate. I’m going to walk to my house and see what’s going on.”

  “It’s broad daylight. You really think this guy would try something now?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is he watched me head for the flood control, then doubled back and parked by my house. I need to know what he’s doing.”

  Woody nodded and tapped his phone. “Anything hinky with the license plate, I’m asking for a patrol car code 3.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Luke got out of the car and wiped perspiration from his forehead. For a minute he stood on the sidewalk, deciding the best course of action. He was at a loss as to what this guy could want and whether or not he was as dangerous as the pair from the flood control months ago. Ruiz had shot at him after Luke threw a punch at his friend.

  Luke knew his neighbors were at work, so he walked across their lawn, intending to stay close to the front of their house and then cross over to his and creep around to the garage.

  Worry nagged as he made his way slowly toward the corner of his house. There was more cover on the parkway, where mature jacaranda trees stood, but that wasn’t the best path to be sneaky. And there was a Brazilian peppertree on this side of the house he could use as cover in a pinch. He strained to hear anything. If this guy was here to break in and had tampered with the security system, there should be noise, but he heard nothing.

  If I were breaking in, I’d go to the back, he thought. Is that where this guy is? As he reached the corner of his home—he’d have to go across the front lawn to get around back—he saw the man coming from the side of the garage, carrying something in his hands.

  He burglarized my house!

  Before he could speak, the man saw him and skidded to a stop.

  He looked at Luke, then toward his car.

  I know him, Luke thought, but the context of the meeting stymied his recollection.

  “Hey,” Luke yelled and tensed to block his escape. A sort of stalemate formed, the man inching slowly to his right and Luke bracing himself to act quickly and cut the man off. He noticed that the man had tape over his nose and two black eyes. Realization dawned.

  “Alonzo Ruiz!”

  The man threw what he had in his hands at Luke. Luke ducked to avoid being hit. When he faced Ruiz again, there was a gun pointed at him.

  “It wasn’t in the order to kill you, so get out of my way.”

  “Whose order?”

  The man cursed and raised the gun to fire. Luke dove out of the way behind the only cover available, the peppertree. Bullets impacted the tree, spraying bark and wood in his face.

  He rolled behind it and was trying to clear bits of dirt from his eye when he heard Woody.

  “Stop! Drop the gun!”

  Fear replaced the anger in Luke’s gut as he heard a volley of gunshots. He prayed. Oh, Lord, please; I pray that my anger didn’t get Woody killed.

  CHAPTER

  -30-

  WOODY WAS FINE.

  Luke thanked God for that, but the investigation and police officers soon overran his yard and home. He’d cancelled his appointment with Brenda Harris and promised to reschedule as soon as possible. Luke stayed outside the perimeter tape and watched for his mom’s car. He stepped out to the parkway when he saw it. He’d called her and his dad and explained what had happened. His front lawn was still encircled in police tape, and the shooting investigation had not yet finished. Alonzo Ruiz was gone; paramedics had transported him away, and Luke heard he died at the hospital.

  Maddie was out of the car quickly, and Luke knelt down to envelop her in a hug.

  “Look at all the police officers,” she exclaimed. “Is Bill here?” Bill was Luke’s best friend, and Maddie was used to him being around.

  Grace had stepped around to Luke. Unlike Maddie, whose expression was pure excitement, Grace’s brow was scrunched in worry. Then James’s truck pulled up and Luke’s equally worried stepfather joined them.

  “No, Bill’s not here, Mads.” He stood and faced his mom. “Why don’t we all go out to eat and talk about this elsewhere?” He looked at James, and his stepfather suggested Hof’s Hut on Bellflower.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Grace asked.

  “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. Woody saved the day. He’s left for the station to give a formal statement. The alarm system is toast.” He shrugged. “I’ll have to find another one.”

  “That can be replaced; you and Woody can’t,” Grace said. “I’m so glad that the two of you are okay, but this really unsettles me.” She turned on her heel to get back into the car.

  One of the uniformed officers stepped to where Luke and Maddie stood and told him that he was free to go and that they would be off his lawn shortly. Luke thanked him, and the officer gave Maddie a junior police badge. She was happy with the sticker.

  When the officer went back to his duties, Maddie looked up at Luke. “Why is Grandma mad?”

  “It’s not that she’s mad. I think she’s a little scared.”

  Maddie frowned. “About Woody shooting a man?”

  “Yes.” He looked up at James, who nodded as if to say, “I’ll take this.”

  “She’ll be okay, baby,” James told Maddie. “She just needs time. Let’s get in the car and go have lunch.”

  Maddie hesitated. “But Woody wouldn’t have shot the man if the man didn’t have a gun, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I’d rather have Woody shooting a bad guy than a bad guy shooting Woody, wherever it happens.”

  Now James looked to Luke as if to say, “You can’t argue with that.”

  “Me too, Maddie. Me too,” Luke said, knowing that eleven-year-old logic would not go very far in mollifying his mother. He prayed for some wisdom to help him to that end.

  As the next few days progressed, Abby spent time reading the Bible every morning, restoring habits she’d admittedly let go. She came across a favorite pass
age, one she’d not read in a long time, and it brought tears to her eyes. Psalm 10:17-18 were the first verses she’d memorized after coming to live with her aunt.

  Lord, you know the hopes of humble people. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort their hearts by helping them. You will be with the orphans and all who are oppressed, so that mere earthly man will terrify them no longer.

  She’d seen herself in the verse—an orphan, oppressed—and she’d been comforted by knowing that God would hear her cries, feel her pain at the loss of her parents and her life. Truly she’d slipped from her foundation when she’d forgotten this verse and the promise it contained. She recommitted it to memory and vowed not to forget ever again.

  Ethan led the construction group in prayer every morning. Abby didn’t get much time alone with him, but that was okay. She knew she had to work out the issues plaguing her on her own. And she needed to watch Ethan, clarify in her own heart if the life he was called to was really where she was called as well.

  In any event, she appreciated the reverent atmosphere of the group and the sense of family. Bandit and Scout came with them every day, and Abby marveled as Bandit followed the big dog around and seemed to love the outdoors and the lifestyle change.

  The workdays were intense and busy. There was no time to wallow in self-pity or to do anything other than work. During the day Abby helped wherever she was needed, carrying wood, hammering nails, cleaning up after someone used the saw. Dede headed up the kitchen staff. There were other groups of builders in addition to those who came from Lake Creek, so she was busy all day as well. The goal was to have the structure up and roofed in a week, so there was plenty of work for everyone all the time.

  Abby worked hard, used muscles she didn’t know she had, slept well every night, and began to feel her balance return.

  By the fourth day on the job when everyone broke for lunch, Abby gave in to her craving for Diet Coke. The church provided a hearty lunch with water, punch, and iced tea, but Abby needed a jolt of caffeine.