On Every Side Part 19

"Yeah." T. J. huffed. "I know about it."

Jordan felt like a man in a foreign country trying to understand a language he'd never heard before. "Where's it coming from?"

"From the top, Jordan." T. J. narrowed his eyes, and Jordan could see his friend's reluctance to talk.

"Hawkins?"

"A lot higher than that."

"Meaning what? And how much is there? Why this case?" Jordan fired the questions as quickly as they came to mind. He glanced down the hallway and saw Faith and the others leaving, making their way toward the stairs. Can'T you even turn around and look at me, Faith?

But she was caught up in a conversation with the mayor and never glanced his direction. When she was gone, Jordan turned his attention back to T. J. "I need answers, Teej. Tell me what you know."

His friend shrugged again and shook his head. "It's political."

"Political? You mean someone from the state?"

T. J. nodded. "Someone very high up the ladder."

Again there was no way Jordan could make sense of the situation. High up the ladder? What stake could anyone at the state level possibly have in the Jesus statue case? "Okay give me the name."

"I don't know. Honest, Jordan." T. J. squirmed and shifted positions. "You gotta believe me."

Jordan exhaled slowly and gazed out the window before turning back to his friend." So you're saying the money came from an elected official?"

"I don't know how much HOUR'S getting, but you have to win the case." He hesitated, and Jordan had the distinct feeling he was being lied to. "A permanent wall needs to go up around the Jesus statue or the whole thing's off."

"And that's why you're here?" His anger burned still hotter. If someone with significant political influence and financial backing felt it was important to win the Bethany case, Jordan should have been in meetings with Hawkins daily It made no sense that T. J. was involved in those meetings instead. After all, the Jesus statue was Jordan's idea.

"Hawkins asked me to call you last night, but you were out. He got worried and told me to come. Wanted to make sure... you know, someone hadn't gotten to you."

Jordan's astonishment came out as another laugh. "You guys watch too many movies, Teej. This is a small-town case. I don't care how much national attention it gets, no one's hiring a hit on me." He crossed his arms. "What's the real reason? Hawkins didn't think I could pull out a victory?"

"No, Jordan. I swear. That wasn't it..." T. J. sounded like a bad actor, and Jordan was suddenly out of patience with him.

"Look, friend, why don't you get in your car and drive back to New York. Tell my boss that I've got things perfectly under con-trol, thank you. And that I'm single and can stay out all night if I want to. Tell him if he thinks I need a backup he should say so to my face. If not, he should keep his nose out of my cases. The only reason I'm here at all is because he ordered it."

T J. looked like he had pebbles in his shoes. "And...uh... what about the woman?"

Jordan lowered his eyebrows and felt the knot in his stomach grow. "Faith? The woman who bought the park property? The newscaster?"

His friend nodded. "Is she...you know, are the two of you seeing each other?"

A feeling of betrayal worked its way through Jordan's veins. "Is that what this is all about? Hawkins thinks I'm siding with the enemy?"

T J. grimaced. "No, not at all. I was just asking. You told me you two used to be friends."

Jordan pictured himself kissing Faith in the park the night before. "Yeah, when we were thirteen. Obviously the word back at the office is that I'm caving in, lost in love, and suddenly inept at pulling off a simple separation case." He leveled his gaze at T J. "Tell me something, Teej...how did Hawkins know about the girl? Because he asked me the same thing last week."

A knowing look took over his friend's features. "You don't think I...Jordan, I wouldn't have told him something like that. He must have guessed. Everyone knows you used to live here...Faith's a local girl...it wouldn't have been a stretch to think you might have known her."

Again Jordan had the strong sense T J. was lying. He gestured toward the stairs. "Go home, Teej. And don't forget something..."

T. J. was already starting to retreat, taking small backward Steps toward the stairs as though being around Jordan was more stress than he could handle. "What? Just say the word, buddy. Anything I can do for you..."

Jordan paused, a.s.saulted by doubts, and studied T. J. one last time. "Don't forget you're supposed to be my friend."

Considering the way she'd come into the world, little Jordan Lee Benson turned out to be a sweet, content newborn, sleeping through the night almost from the beginning and giving Heidi's body time to recuperate from the traumatic delivery She and Charles moved to Bethany on schedule, and Charles hired a housekeeper to help unpack the boxes and keep up the dishes and laundry. That Wednesday morning was the woman's first day off, and Heidi had decided to take it slow.

She'd already fed Jordan Lee, and the baby was down for her morning nap, giving Heidi a couple hours to herself. She sipped a cup of decaf and looked for something to read in yesterday's pile of mail. Junk mail... coupon flyers... advertis.e.m.e.nts... She scanned each item and tossed the stack in the trash. Then her eyes fell on the local paper. Photographers had been by Charles's office and taken pictures of him for a clinic ad announcing his arrival on staff. Wasn't that supposed to run on Wednesdays?

She slid the paper closer and tried to make sense of the photo on the front page. It looked like a construction site--some sort of partially finished building made of what looked like plywood. She found the headline and read it out loud: "Hearing on Jesus Statue Postponed."

She knit her eyebrows together and found the first paragraph. "A hearing to decide whether or not walls around the Jesus statue in Bethany's Jericho Park will become permanent was postponed yesterday The hearing was rescheduled for Tuesday at which time court officials expect to have nearly a hundred members of the media and more than a thousand local residents in atten-dance for the final decision on what has become a case of national interest..."

Heidi sat up straighter in her chair. The Jesus statue had walls around it? Why hadn't she noticed? Who had put them up, and how had the case drawn national attention when she was only reading about it now? The answer was obvious. She hadn't so much as watched a news program or looked at a paper since having Jordan Lee.

Sadness like a dark storm cloud came over Heidi's morning. Was that what life had come to? A statue that had stood practi-cally forever in a city park had to be removed because it depicted Jesus Christ? She thought about her brother, about how much time he'd spent at the park, staring at the statue. He would have been devastated to see it surrounded by plywood. She rested her head on her fingertips as she continued reading the article.

The information was both awful and fascinating. Joshua Nunn, a local attorney who headed up an organization called the Religious Freedom Inst.i.tute was involved, as well as a former newscaster, Faith Evans. She had come forward and purchased the park land in an effort to keep the statue standing. The article said Faith had lost her job as a result of purchasing the land.

She thought about that. Faith...Faith...Faith. Hadn't Heidi and her family known a Faith back when they lived in Bethany? It began coming back to her, and she suddenly remembered. Faith Moses, that was it. She was the girl who lived next door, Jordan's friend. Heidi's eyes darted back to the place in the article where it listed the woman's last name and her heart sank. Faith Evans. It had to be someone different. Too many years had pa.s.sed and besides, there were lots of women named Faith.

Heidi found her place in the article. The entire situation started because of a lawsuit filed by an attorney from the HOUR organization. Heidi rolled her eyes and huffed softly The HOUR organization was always meddling in other people's business and calling it human rights. What right was it of theirs to come to Bethany and sue the city over something that had never involved them in the first place? She continued reading. The attorney's name was...was...

Heidi's breath caught in her throat. She felt as though she were free-falling from thirty thousand feet. It took ten seconds to remind herself to breathe, to a.s.sure herself that it was only some strange, twisted coincidence. Obviously it wasn't him. Her brother had been killed sixteen years earlier in the camp acci-dent. But that didn't change the way her body reacted to what she was seeing in print before her.

The attorney who wanted the statue walled up was a man who worked for HOUR. A man named Jordan Riley Jordan Riley.

Heidi let her eyes settle on his name as the memories came back again, images of her brother sheltering her in his strong arms at their mother's funeral, of him holding her that awful afternoon on Oak Street when the state social workers took her away Of the terrible moment when her foster father told her about the accident. She looked at the attorney's name again.

Jordan Riley.

Heidi blinked and looked away. It was an odd coincidence, but that was all. Her Jordan was dead. And if he had been alive, he would have been fighting alongside Faith Evans, whoever she was. He loved the Jesus statue as much as anyone in Bethany Besides, there was no way on earth Jordan would have repre-sented a law firm like HOUR. Not after the way he'd loved the Lord, the way he'd trusted in Him that last year they were together. Jordan's faith had been rock-solid, no doubt. It was something Heidi remembered most about her brother.

She finished reading the article, folded the newspaper, and bowed her head.

Lord, the people of Bethany need Your help. Please he with the judge as he has an important decision to make. Let him see with Your eyes, reason mth Your heart at the hearing next week. And be with this Jordan Riley, whoever he is. Help him to know that You're real and that You love him. Most of all work in his heart so that- Jordan Lee's hungry cry interrupted the prayer, and Heidi fin-ished quickly as she headed toward the baby's room. Ten minutes later she was feeding her tiny daughter, cooing at her and reveling in the joy of their shared private moments. When the feeding was finished she changed the baby's diaper, did laundry, and fixed herself a chicken sandwich. By one o'clock, as Heidi finally fell into bed for a much-needed nap, the walled-in Jesus statue, the woman named Faith, and the confused young attorney named Jordan Riley, were the farthest things from her mind.

Twenty-three.

Rain beat a steady rhythm on the town of Bethany that Wednesday. With almost a week before the resched-uled hearing, Faith decided to take in an afternoon movie with Rosa. That left the morning with nothing to do but imagine how the next few weeks might play out. With any luck, the time would pa.s.s quickly. The peaceful protest wasn't sched-uled until Friday night, when a dozen churches from the Philadelphia area had promised to join the people of Bethany in an effort to pray together about the judge's decision.

Things had been so crazy that Faith had found little time to read her Bible-something she'd enjoyed doing since childhood. Reading Scripture might be a ch.o.r.e for some people, a duty that went along with the calling to follow Christ. But for Faith it had always been more than that. The Bible was alive and active, and no matter what issue she faced, G.o.d's Word had something to say about it. She couldn't remember how many times as a little girl she'd run through the house looking for her father to show him some Scripture he'd probably seen a hundred times.

"Can you believe it, Daddy? Like Jesus wrote it there just for me!"

Faith's fervor hadn't diminished any during the years Jordan lived next door. In fact, until his mother got sick, Jordan seemed to share her enthusiasm. Faith could hear him still, commenting on various Bible stories while they sat side by side on her parents' sofa. "When I read the Bible it's like I have this calm feeling. Like G.o.d has everything in control."

Faith had already showered, and her damp hair hung loosely down her back. That was it really, wasn't it? G.o.d had it all under control. She thought about the sermon that past Sunday They'd been reading in the book of Luke, the twenty-second chapter, where Judas made plans to betray Jesus and Jesus made plans to have the Last Supper with His disciples.

Faith settled into her father's favorite rocker and opened her Bible to that section of Scripture again. On the surface, it looked like everything was falling apart for Jesus. Days earlier He'd come into town on the back of a donkey to the shouts of praise from hundreds of thousands of people. Crowds openly calling Him King and acknowledging Him for who He was. But now His entire ministry seemed to be unraveling. The devil-who had been looking for a chance to bring down the Savior since Jesus' birth thirty-three years earlier-saw a weak link in Judas Iscariot. And so, as Scripture taught, Satan caused Judas to accept a bribe from the chief priests in exchange for betraying his Teacher.

Faith loved the way Pastor Todd Pynch taught the story He smiled often and even laughed on occasion, so that Faith and everyone in the small congregation felt as though they were there alongside Jesus, walking near the donkey, sitting across the table in the upper room.

Immediately after Judas's decision to betray Jesus, the Lord made plans with two of his trusted followers to prepare for the Pa.s.sover meal. Faith smiled as she recalled Pastor Pynch's com-ments: "Notice how Judas was left out of the loop as they pre-pared that meal. Nothing happened that weekend that wasn't exactly as Jesus had planned it. His life wasn't taken from Him. He gave it up willingly."

The story brought Faith as much comfort now as it had last Sunday Especially given her current situation. She was a marked woman, with no likely prospects for a television news job unless she was willing to somehow back out of the Jesus statue case- which she wasn't. There were no signs of potential adoptive par-ents for Rosa Lee, and Faith's childhood friend had not only turned on G.o.d, but because of his bitterness, was willing even to stand against her in court. Meanwhile a statue of Jesus Christ, her loving Lord, could very likely wind up hidden behind a brick wall.

Indeed, things seemed to be spinning in all the wrong directions.

But the truth was something altogether different. Something Joshua had tried to explain to her, the very point the minister had reiterated at church last Sunday.

G.o.d was in control.

Wherever there were people who loved Him, who lived according to His truth, G.o.d would continue to work all things to the good. Even in this.

Faith closed her Bible and stared outside at the garden her father had planted. Shrubs and rosebushes stood barren but for a few tenacious buds. You were in control back when Jordan's mother died too, right, G.o.d?

She flipped to the very last page in her Bible, the blank s.p.a.ce after the concordance and maps and historical facts. The place for personal notes. Faith had gotten the Bible for her thirteenth birthday, and back then, back when the Lord didn't seem to be hearing Jordan, she'd written her thoughts on that last page.

It had been years since she'd read what was written there, but today, in the silence of her parents' house, she was drawn back the way a moth is drawn to a porch light. She was suddenly des-perate to remember her little-girl heart and the way she'd felt when life was falling apart for Jordan Riley She'd written dates next to her earliest entries; her words scribbled in the smallest print possible. Nov. 3, 1985-Why is this happening, G.o.d? I told Jordan to read the verse that says, "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it... "But his mom is still sick Help me understand...

And another entry six weeks later: Jordan's mother died...his sister got taken away... Didn't we pray hard enough, Lord? Didn't You hear us?

Faith let her eyes read over those entries again and again until tears clouded her vision. Suddenly she understood her own motive for waging battle on behalf of the Jesus statue. It was as clear as if someone had lit a match in the darkest cavern of her heart. The losses Jordan suffered that fall had changed her as much as they'd changed him. Indeed, they'd affected everything about their lives since then.

For Jordan, the unanswered questions and bitter seeds of doubt had sprouted into a full-blown war that raged in his heart to this day. He'd taken up his position, deciding that G.o.d either didn't exist or He was the enemy Faith's reaction had been the exact opposite.

At first, with no answers to anchor to, Faith had lived life with a lack of conviction. She spoke like a believer, attended church, and read her Bible, but her life choices bore out some-thing altogether different. The hard decisions-what to do when Mike Dillon pressured her, when to take a stand in her role as television anchor, whether to adopt Rosa Lee-were decisions she made without seeking G.o.d. Instead they were decisions she made out of fear. Fear of losing Mike, losing her job, failing Rosa Lee.

And now, for the first time, she understood why Deep down in the hidden places of her heart Faith had been afraid that if she depended on G.o.d, He would let her down... just as He'd let Jordan down the winter of 1985. Without consciously acknowledging it, she'd decided long ago it was better not to ask much of G.o.d. And she'd built her life around that philosophy... until the Jesus statue came under attack.

In light of her father's death and the judge's mandate that the statue be removed, Faith had unwittingly recognized it was time. Time to take G.o.d out of the closet and see what He might do in response to her prayers.

That was why this case meant so much to her. She desper-ately-wanted to believe again, the way she'd believed in the days before Jordan's mother got sick. The Jesus statue wasn't the only thing with walls around it. Faith had put walls around G.o.d Himself. Protective walls, so that the Lord of her childhood might never be called upon to do anything miraculous, anything that might not come to pa.s.s and cause Faith to be disappointed. Anything that might put Him in a bad light.

The rain was coming harder now, and tears came from the depths of Faith's soul. She ran her fingers over her neatly written words, the painfully penned cries that had come from her child like heart. She would never know this side of heaven why G.o.d had taken Jordan's mother, why life had been so hard on him back then. But she knew what Scripture taught. She closed her eyes and let the verse from John wash over her soul: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

That was it, wasn't it?

Jesus had overcome the world. Regardless of how things turned out here and now, He was in control. Just like He'd been back when Judas agreed to betray Him. Nothing, not death or anger or lawsuits or lost jobs or homeless children, nothing could derail G.o.d's plans. The revelation felt like someone had lifted a truck from Faith's shoulders, and she desperately wished the same for Jordan.

A knock at the door pulled Faith back to reality. She closed her Bible, thanking G.o.d for letting her finally understand the fear that had eaten at her all her life, the poor decisions she'd made as a young adult, and her current determination to fight for what was right. She padded across the living room and opened the front door.

What she saw sent her heart spinning into her throat.

"Jordan..." He was so handsome, so much like the boy he'd been all those years ago. And this time the hard edges around his eyes were gone. She composed herself and held his gaze for a moment before speaking. G.o.d, I don't know why You brought him here, hut use me... give me the words to say so that maybe he could understand You better She swallowed hard and motioned toward the living room. "Come in."

Jordan had debated long and hard about making the trip to Faith's house, but in the end he knew he had no choice. With her skills as a reporter and her status as the town's most favorite per-son, she was possibly the only one who could help him find the files. And they needed to be found. Ever since their conversation the other day he'd wondered if somehow Heidi had gotten wrong information. If she believed-wherever she was-that he was dead, buried these past sixteen years. The visit would be purely informational, he'd told himself. He'd ask Faith for help, but avoid anything else.

Then she opened the door-and he had to order his emotions back into place. What kind of fool was he to fight against a woman like Faith Evans? Her eyes were so blue he felt sucked into them, and he struggled to remember why he'd come at all. She interrupted his thoughts with her invitation.

"Thanks." He wiped his feet on the outdoor mat and stepped inside. "Sorry to bug you at home."

Faith crossed her arms and lowered her head, her eyes lifted to his expectantly.

Jordan felt like a blushing schoolboy in her presence and he forced himself to speak. "I'm... sorry I didn't talk to you the other day at court."

She shrugged, her face still full of questions. Obviously he hadn't come to tell her that.

"Is your mother home?" Through all that had happened those past few months in Bethany he was sorry he hadn't seen Faith's mom, the woman who had been so helpful those last weeks before his own mother died.

"No." Faith's voice was quiet, guarded. "She's still in Chicago."

He nodded and studied his wet shoes as the tension between them grew He wanted to take her in his arms and apologize for the other night, tell her that he needed her, and beg her not to hate him for his views against G.o.d. But he knew the idea was ridiculous. If he was going to get her help with the files, he'd bet-ter ask her now, before she kicked him out. He lifted his eyes to hers and held her gaze. "I need your help."

She stepped back and something in her features softened. "Take off your shoes." She leaned against the wall, her head angled in a way that reminded him of the young girl she'd been. "We can talk in the living room."

Jordan slipped off his loafers and followed her, waiting until she settled into the recliner before taking the chair beside her. "I want to see Heidi's file...in case the state gave her the wrong information."

"About the accident?" Faith's tone was hesitant, but at least she hadn't asked him to leave.

"Right. I've been to the courthouse and the records are sealed. I guess the file might even be at a different office now." He shrugged. "No one gives me a straight answer."

Faith nodded and shot a look at the ceiling. After a moment her gaze returned to his. "What about your file? Have you looked at that?"

Jordan settled back in his chair and stared at her. "Why my file? There wouldn't be anything there about Heidi."

"No, but there'd be information about you. Like whether the state thinks you died."

Jordan shook his head, trying to follow her reasoning. "No, because the state sent me to the next boys' camp."

"Right, but it was in a different state. It's possible they opened a new file on you there and never corrected the one in Pennsylvania."

Jordan felt the smallest ray of hope pierce his heart. "I have nothing to do today or tomorrow and I thought... "He exhaled slowly and dropped his gaze to the floor. Why should she help him now, after he'd been so rude the other night, letting her run off without even trying to stop her.

Before he could voice his question, before he could excuse himself and tell her to forget he'd ever come, he felt her hand on his. He caught her look and saw a love he hadn't known since leaving Oak Street. A love for which he had no earthly explanation. "Jordan, I understand your political stance. I know we're public enemies at this point, but that doesn't change who I am inside. Or who you are." She smiled through eyes wet with tears. "I'll do whatever I can to help you."

They took his car and entered the courthouse thirty minutes later.

Faith was careful not to let her emotions get the upper hand, not to let Jordan too close. She did not want a repeat of the ten-der, stolen moments they'd exchanged the other night-not when she knew there was no future for Jordan and her. Not together, anyway.