Inspirational Christian Fiction Boxed Set: Embers and Ashes Series (Books 1 - 4)

by T. K. Chapin

  I relaxed my head against the cold cement of the sidewalk and breathed a sigh of relief. My racing heart began to settle as the officers approached. Looking at them sideways from the pavement, I noticed Fred Foster, one of the cops that I had frequently seen on calls. Worry came rushing in when I saw him. He hated me more than anyone else I knew in Spokane. Ever since his girlfriend kissed me at a joint Christmas party our stations had a few years back, the guy has been out to get me.

  “That you, Kane?” Fred asked, approaching with a grin on his face. I began to attempt to get up. Fred and the officer with him helped me to my feet. Setting me down over at the curb, Fred laughed. “I always knew your lifestyle would catch up to you one day. You’re screwed.”

  “C’mon now,” I replied. “My buddy Brian was getting cornered by that guy who went running… there isn’t anything illegal about what I did.”

  The other officer who was with Fred went inside The Spark as we continued speaking outside. “Well, that depends on what happened, Kane.”

  “Brian was backed into a corner and I interrupted the confrontation! I said that already.”

  “Regardless of the outcome. I have to report this to Chief Jensen.”

  I sighed and shook my head. “That’s messed up.”

  “It’s my duty to report it to your station Chief.”

  The other officer stepped out of the bar with the broken pool stick in hand. It had some of the blood from the man I had hit on it. Fred said, “Stand up. You’re going in.”

  “C’mon! I was being threatened. He had it in his hand first.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re going in. You aren’t even scratched.” Fred turned me around as he undid his cuffs from his belt and began his spiel. “You have the right to remain silent…”

  CHAPTER 2

  The next morning, I made my way down to the firehouse to start my shift. As I arrived in the kitchen to get some coffee, I found Cole making himself a bagel with cream cheese.

  “Good morning, McCormick,” he said, as he lathered on the strawberry cream cheese.

  “Morning,” I replied, blinking my eyes rapidly to help push the sleep from them. Yawning, I poured myself a cup of coffee.

  “You seem tired. Late night?” he asked.

  I laughed a little as I brought the cup to my lips. Cole wasn’t one to miss the little details. “You could say that…” I replied.

  “What happened?” he asked, as he put the cream cheese away in the fridge.

  Shaking my head, I said, “Foster booked me.”

  Cole’s eyes widened. “Seriously? For what?”

  “Got into a bar fight at The Spark…”

  “I thought you were putting that party lifestyle behind you, McCormick.”

  “Nah…” I replied. “That’s the real reason why Ashley left me… I wasn’t ready to give it up. But after this whole thing with my mom and going to jail, I don’t know, man… Something’s got to change.”

  “Wait, what’s going on with your mom?”

  I sniffed a little and turned to wipe away a quick tear that came on that I couldn’t stop. Turning back to Cole, I said, “It’s back…” I dipped my chin to my chest.

  He came over and put a hand on my shoulder as he asked, “How bad is it?”

  “It’s terminal. She’s got months,” I replied, shaking my head.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that–” Cole started to say before being interrupted.

  “McCormick,” Chief Jensen said from the doorway. “My office, now.”

  “Okay,” I replied.

  He disappeared out of sight back down the hallway. Cole looked at me. “That’s probably due to your arrest. What happened exactly?”

  “Some beef-head was cornering Brian, and I stepped in.”

  Cole nodded. “I’ll be sure to talk to Jensen about it… but he’s probably going to suspend you while he investigates.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “That’s the last thing I need. I don’t want to be suspended right now. I need work to keep my mind busy.”

  “I know. I’ll do my best to make it as short as possible. Go see your mom, McCormick,” Cole replied, patting my shoulder.

  I left the kitchen and headed down the hallway to Jensen’s office. Every step I took, fear clawed its way deeper into me. Knocking lightly on the door that was partially open, I stepped into Jensen’s office.

  “Have a seat, McCormick,” he said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

  I took a seat and sat straight as a nail. “Yes, Sir.”

  “I guess you probably already know what this is about.”

  “The bar fight.”

  “Yeah. What happened? I have a report here that says you beat a man with a broken pool stick.”

  I scoffed. “That’s because Foster has a vendetta against me! He’s a crooked cop.”

  “Hey!” Jensen snapped. “I know you two got beef, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to have respect for him.”

  “Okay. Sorry…” I shifted in my seat. “So what happened was, Brian and I were at The Spark and I stepped out for a moment. When I got back inside, Brian was cornered by some giant dude, and I stepped in.”

  Jensen shook his head. “Brian can handle his own.”

  “He’s like a little brother to me, Sir. He was in trouble and he’s one of us. I had to step in and intervene.”

  “Okay, what happened next?”

  “The guy snapped a pool stick and held it up to my throat… I grabbed it and smacked him in the head.”

  Jensen nodded. “Why didn’t you toss the pool stick? Why beat him?”

  “Tossing it wouldn’t have fixed the problem… at least not in my eyes.”

  “So you took matters into your own hands and hit the man in the head with a broken pool stick.” Chief Jensen sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair as he tossed the report on his desk. “I have to suspend you while I get this sorted out, McCormick.” His tone was sharp and I could feel his disappointment with every word.

  I dipped my chin to my chest and said, “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry doesn’t clean up the mess you got yourself into. You know after that whole stupid thing at that one fire where you smashed that guy’s TV? You were kept based on good behavior.”

  “Still? That was a long time ago…”

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s on your record.”

  “Okay… Well, I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing and go home. I’ll give you a call once I figure out what I can do.” The Chief turned in his chair to indicate he was done with the discussion.

  “Alright,” I replied, standing up.

  I left out of his office and back down the hallway. Going into the kitchen, I poured out the cup of coffee I had poured earlier. Cole came in from the dining hall and Brian from the hallway.

  “How did it go?” Cole asked.

  I set the cup in the sink and turned to him. “You were right. I’m suspended… I’m going to head up to Colville and see my mom.”

  “Dude… that sucks so bad you got suspended,” Brian said.

  “Yeah,” I replied. Looking at Brian, I said, “Thanks for bailing me out of jail last night, I don’t think I mentioned it in the cab.”

  Brian shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. What’d you do to that cop to get him so angry?”

  Cole laughed as he poured a refill of his coffee and headed out of the kitchen.

  “His girlfriend kissed me at a joint Christmas party our stations were having. I didn’t initiate, but he caught the tail end of it and was pretty upset.”

  “That’s no reason to illegally detain you,” Brian replied.

  I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s technically illegal what he did. I did bust the pool stick over the dude’s head and didn’t have a scratch on me.”

  “Yeah. Is Captain Taylor going to put in a good word for you with the Chief?”

  “Of course. He knows me… So does the Chief, though. So I don’t know how it’ll turn
out. Chief mentioned an old incident still being on my record…”

  “Lame,” Brian replied.

  Cole peeked back into the kitchen and said, “McCormick, let your mom know I’m praying for her. And let me know if you need anything at all. You’re doing the right thing going up there.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. Watching as Cole returned to the dining hall, I saw Micah join him at the table. Turning to Brian, I said, “Let the other guys know what’s going on, would you?”

  He nodded. “Will do. Take care.” He patted me on the shoulder and went into the dining hall.

  “Thank you.” I left the station and headed to Colville to see my mother. It wasn’t a trip I was looking forward to, but I knew I had to make the journey to see her.

  CHAPTER 3

  Pulling into the gravel driveway at my mom’s had never been more terrifying. I have visited her when she had cancer, but never with the mindset of her not being around in a few months. I felt like a scared little boy about to lose his mom, and I didn’t know how to deal with the emotions that came with it. Part of me wanted to scream and freak out and the other part of me didn’t even want to be there.

  Roofus, the golden retriever that my mother has had forever, came running from the doorway of my mom’s house as she pushed open the screen door. I smiled at seeing Roofus run up to me as I got out of my car. Bending a knee, I rubbed behind both of Roofus’ ears.

  Walking up the rest of the driveway, I crossed over the lawn to the front steps.

  “Hello, Kane,” my mother said from the doorway in a delicate tone as she coughed and covered her mouth.

  “Mother,” I replied as I climbed up the steps of the porch towards her. My mind started racing while giving her a hug. I wondered how many hugs were left before she’d be gone forever. Breaking away from our embrace, she led me inside and sat down on the same old couch that she’d had since the seventies.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked as I crossed my legs over, getting comfortable.

  She shrugged and smiled. “I’m fine. Do you want some coffee or chocolate milk?”

  I smiled. “Coffee’s good, Mom. Thanks.”

  “I put on a pot when you called and said you were coming up to see me.”

  I nodded as I watched her get up and head into the kitchen. She reached into the cupboard and began to pull down a cup. “Your sister Emily won’t stop calling me. I’m pretty sure she calls between seeing every patient of hers. She knew I was up last night and she wouldn’t stop calling.”

  “That’s right, she was working last night,” I replied.

  She nodded as she brought my cup of coffee back over to me. “The only reason why she even found out about my cancer was that she ran into one of her friends at work last night. Her friend saw me in the oncology wing of the hospital last week.”

  “Ahhh…” I replied as I took a sip of my coffee. My mother wasn’t much of a coffee drinker and she didn’t really understand that one little scoop wasn’t enough coffee to make a strong pot. My cup was so weak, it was practically see-through, but I didn’t mention it.

  “That Christopher. I sure do worry about him ever since Emily and Andy broke up.”

  “He’s thirteen years old, Mother,” I replied. “I think he’s old enough to understand what’s going on.”

  “Yeah! That’s exactly the problem! He’s fully aware… I remember when your father left us, your sister was that same age. She got into quite a bit of trouble in those years.”

  Intrigued that my perfect sister did anything wrong, I asked, “Really?” I set my coffee down on the end table and leaned in closer to my mother to hear more.

  “Yep. I don’t talk about it… because there is no reason to do so, but she went through quite the rebellious phase. Drugs, drinking and boys… It was bad.”

  “How did I not know about this?” I asked, setting my cup down on the coffee table.

  “Well, you were only seven years old, Kane. And I did my best to keep it from you.”

  I nodded. “Makes sense. How did she grow out of that stage?”

  “Well, I was running out of options on what to do and finally tried church. She got into the youth group there and loved it. She gave up on all the bad friends and gravitated to the new ones.”

  “Strange, since she loathes God,” I replied.

  My mother nodded and then shook her head. “It’s too bad… but that estrangement from God was all because of that stupid boy, Andy.” My mother shook her head again. “I hate that man… and you know I don’t like using that word!”

  I nodded, but didn’t have a response.

  “Anyways…” she said, letting her face soften back into a smile. “I’m so happy you came to visit your old mom.”

  “Of course. I love you, Mom… and I’m worried about you. How are you handling everything?”

  “I’m okay,” she replied, placing a hand on my knee. “I know where I’m going.” She glanced up at the ceiling. “I’m going to meet Jesus and see your brother again,” she declared, raising her hands up and shaking them in the air. “Hallelujah!” she shouted.

  My eyebrows shot up and I laughed. “Put your hands down, Mom!”

  She laughed, “How come?”

  “I don’t know… but it’s weird.” I picked up my coffee and took a drink.

  Her eyes followed my movements as I set the cup back down on the coffee table. She said, “Son, you’ve got some talking to do with your Creator.”

  I smiled. “Maybe. But I’m here with you right now. So, I’ll stick with talking to you.”

  “Okay,” she replied, letting the topic of God slip away. “Back to Christopher. I think you should take him for a few days when you can… he’d do good to have a solid man in his life.”

  I nodded. “I wouldn’t mind doing that… I’m sure Emily wants to come spend some time alone with you, anyway. It would all work out pretty nicely.”

  My mother smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

  No matter how much I enjoyed it, sitting there talking with my mother was bittersweet. The thought of not knowing how much longer I could talk to her was in the back of my mind constantly during the visit.

  On my way back to Spokane, I honored my mother’s wishes and called Emily and pitched her the idea of taking Christopher for a few days. She agreed without hesitation.

  Upon arriving at Emily’s, I saw a Honda in the driveway I didn’t recognize. It was white and an older model similar to the old one I had back in High School. Parking alongside the curb, I got out of my car and took off my shades.

  I walked up to the front door and gave it a firm knock. Hearing footsteps just beyond the door, my curiosity was piqued. Leaping off the cement porch and into the flower bed, I peeked in the living room window to see what was going on. Spotting Christopher and some other kid shoving stuff under a couch, I knocked on the window and got their attention.

  Pointing over to the door to indicate I wanted Christopher to answer it, he nodded and headed that way. He opened up the door and said, “Hey, Uncle Kane… what are you doing here?”

  I could smell pot lingering just on the other side of him. “Your mom didn’t tell you I was coming to pick you up?”

  He shook his head and said, “No.”

  “Oh… well… that’s what is happening.”

  He sighed and looked over his shoulder at his friend. “Yo, Kegan. You gotta bounce. I’m going to my uncle’s house.”

  The kid nodded and grabbed his backpack from the floor and headed out the door to his Honda in the driveway. As Kegan opened his driver side door, he spotted my car –a yellow with black racing stripes, 1979 Shelby Mustang— at the curb. He looked back at me and said, “Slick ride!”

  I nodded to him and said, “We’ll see you later, Kegan.”

  He nodded, got into his car, and left.

  “Why you gotta be rude to my friend?” Christopher asked.

  “I can smell the pot, moron. Grab your stuff, and let’s go.” I turned and
went back out to my car. On the way down the sidewalk out to the curb, I couldn’t help but feel bad for my sister. I should have been around more for her over the years. Knowing his father, Andy, wasn’t involved much, I could have done something.

  While I waited for Christopher to come out, I saw an elderly man walking down the sidewalk across the street. He had a backpack and an old wooden stick as a cane. What intrigued me most was the ridiculous smile he kept on his face and he would wave to every car that passed by him.

  As Christopher climbed into my car, I pointed to the man walking. “Who is that?”

  Christopher laughed. “That’s Old Man Smiles. He walks up and down this street, and around the neighboring roads just smiling and waving to all the cars that pass by.”

  “Interesting. Why?” I asked.

  “Nobody knows,” Christopher replied fastening his seat belt.

  “Strange,” I replied, turning the key over. “You shouldn’t do drugs Christopher… they kill those brain cells and ruin your life.”

  “It was my friend. I wasn’t doing it… I swear,” he replied, raising his hands in defense.

  I glared over at him as I searched his eyes. There weren’t any indicators I could spot, so I dropped it. “Okay, I hope not.”

  “Man, I love this car,” Christopher said as the engine hummed. “What kind of car is it?” he asked.

  “A ’79 Shelby Mustang. They don’t make them like this anymore,” I replied, grinning as I dropped my shades over my eyes and put the car into drive.

  We made a stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a few essentials. Soda, treats and frozen pizzas were among the plans to keep Christopher’s ravenous teenager appetite at bay.

  As we were walking down one of the aisles in the store, I spotted a pretty blonde attempting to reach for something on a top shelf. I wasn’t going to intervene, but then she stood on the bottom shelf to help herself reach for the item she was after.

  “Hello, ma’am?” I said, approaching her.

  She looked over her shoulder at me. “What?” she asked, sounding annoyed I was even speaking with her.