The Divine Appointment (26 page)

Jill smiled. “On a hunch I contacted the reporter with the
Washington Post
who wrote the article I read online this morning. His name is Holland Fletcher. Turns out that he knew the woman—her name was Tiffany Ramsey—and he doesn’t think it was a suicide either.”

“But.”

“But he doesn’t have any proof that she was killed.”

“Does any of this help us?”

“Maybe. Fletcher said that Jessica Caldwell and Tiffany Ramsey were roommates before Jessica moved to Nashville.”

“That can’t be just a coincidence.”

“There’s more. Fletcher said that he thinks Tiffany Ramsey knew something about the Caldwell murder.”

“Like what?”

“He wouldn’t say. He seemed pretty shook up over the whole thing. And there’s one more thing.”

Jill handed Eli an eight-by-ten photograph and began to pace around the room. Eli thought it was somewhat funny to see Jill pace. He usually did the pacing and she did the listening. This time the roles were reversed. That meant she had matured as a lawyer; she was thinking more and reacting less.

“I got this in the mail today from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department,” she explained. “There was one other ticket issued the night of Jessica Caldwell’s murder for running a red light. The surveillance camera photographed this car two blocks north.”

Eli studied the photograph. “Government plates.”

“The car is registered to Senator Lance Proctor,” she announced.

“But you can’t see who is driving.”

“Right. The camera at this intersection only photographs the car after it’s through the intersection. It doesn’t photograph any oncoming traffic.”

“What time was this photograph taken?”

“One eighteen a.m.,” Jill responded.

“And Anna’s SUV was photographed at what time? Do you remember?” Eli scratched his head.

“It was time stamped at twelve forty-eight a.m.”

“Thirty minutes apart, and both are within the range of time the coroner identified as being the time of death. But we don’t have anything that puts this car at Jessica’s town house. The photograph was taken two blocks away.”

“But it’s coming from the direction of her town house,” Jill said. “It could’ve easily been coming from her house.”

“What about any other pictures of Anna’s car? Any word on that yet?”

“There was another photograph from the same intersection. The police department is sending that one as well. It should be here by Monday.”

Eli again considered the photograph of the car belonging to Senator Proctor. It was in the vicinity of Jessica Caldwell’s town house the night she’d died. But there was nothing conclusive that would place the occupant of the car at the crime scene. And the reporter in Washington knew something.

“There’s the set of fingerprints that the police couldn’t identify,” Jill reminded him.

He grinned. “Sounds like you just won an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital.”

“I thought you might say that. I’ve already started checking flights.”

After Jill left, Barbara told Eli that Anna Grissom was on the telephone, asking to speak with him. This was the first time he had spoken to either Anna or Tag since he and Jill had discovered it was Anna’s car in the surveillances-camera photograph and not Tag’s. He decided that he wouldn’t tell her about either photograph yet. He sat down in his executive chair behind his desk. He removed the receiver from the base of the telephone and pressed the blinking light.

“This is Eli.”

“Eli, this is Anna Grissom.”

“It’s good to hear from you, Anna. How are you and Tag doing?”

“We’re doing fine. Listen. There’s a favor I want to ask of you.”

“Sure. What can I do for you?”

“Do you remember three or four weeks ago when you talked to Tag and me about Jesus Christ?”

Eli’s eyes widened. He gazed across the room at nothing in particular. He couldn’t believe Anna had said “Jesus Christ.” He’d thought his conversation with her and Tag had gone in one ear and out the other.

“Absolutely,” he managed. “What about it?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I got this feeling that day that I haven’t been able to shake. I’ve actually been to church the last three Sundays.”

Eli detected excitement and awe in Anna’s voice as she told him about her church attendance. It lifted his spirits. Somehow Anna knew that telling Eli would be important to him. That meant she must comprehend that Eli cared about her as a person—not just because she was the wife of his client.

He was amazed by how the Holy Spirit worked. All this time he’d thought the words he’d spoken to Tag and Anna about Jesus Christ had fallen on deaf ears, but they hadn’t. The Holy Spirit had been working on Anna all this time!

Sara had been right. God moved in his own time.

“Good for you,” he said joyfully. “Which church?”

“It’s a church here in Brentwood named New Hope Baptist. I like the preacher. I don’t understand everything that he says, but I like him.”

“What don’t you understand?” Eli asked.

“He says the same thing you said about needing a relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not sure what that means. How do you have a relationship with somebody who’s dead?”

Lord, give me the wisdom to say the right words
. “It begins with asking Jesus Christ to come into your heart. But he’s not dead, Anna. Far from it. The Bible says that if a person believes that Jesus is Lord, that he died to save us from our sins, and that God raised him from the dead, then that person will be saved and Jesus will be in him.”

There was a pause on Anna’s end of the phone. “It sounds too simple.”

“It is simple. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is very simple. Even a child can do it. But it alters your life forever.”

“Every time the preacher at New Hope invites people to go to the front of the church to talk to him, I have this feeling I can’t explain.”

Eli knew exactly what she was experiencing. It was the Holy Spirit moving her to accept Jesus Christ. “Why don’t you just go talk to him?” Eli urged.

“I don’t know. Tag got mad at me for even going to New Hope. I don’t know what he would say if I told him I actually talked with the preacher personally.” Her voice dropped. “Which brings me to my favor.”

“What is it?”

“Tag’s decided he wants to go to New Hope with me on Sunday to see what all the fuss is about.”

“Really.”

“Yeah. I think it’s more out of curiosity than anything else. But he wants to go, and that’s a start. And he can’t go with the monitor on his leg. Can you get permission for him to leave the house on Sunday to go to church?”

Eli was even more surprised than before.
Tag Grissom wanted to go to church
. It didn’t matter to Eli what Tag’s motivation was. If Tag wanted to go, then Eli would move heaven and earth if he had to in order to make that happen. Two souls depended on it.

“I can certainly try. I’ll get a conference call with the DA and Judge Blackwood later today and see if I can get it approved.”

“I appreciate it. Call me back later when you know something.”

“I will. And, Anna?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be praying for you and Tag.”

“I know.”

Eli replaced the receiver and sat behind his desk for several seconds in stunned silence. He would never have guessed, in a million years, that Anna, much less Tag, would be attending church. Joy welled up inside Eli just thinking about it. The seed that God had used him to plant had been watered and cultivated by the Holy Spirit. He hoped that the harvest was soon.

“Barbara,” he called out through his open office door.

Barbara stuck her head in the room.

“I need to get a conference call scheduled with Judge Blackwood and Randy Dickerson as soon as possible. It’s really important.”

Barbara left to make the arrangements, and Eli dialed home. He had to share the good news with his prayer partner. Sara answered after the second ring.

“You won’t believe who I just talked to,” Eli said.

“Who?”

“Anna Grissom. She and Tag are going to church together on Sunday.”

“Eli! Honey, that’s great news!”

The Hart Building, Washington DC

“Cooper, you’re so stupid!” Senator Proctor screamed. “Stella had two people killed to get Judge Shelton’s research paper, and we didn’t know it before now. I’ve been out waving it around like a checkered flag since Monday!”

The two of them stood in the middle of Senator Proctor’s office. The senator’s face was blood red, and he was seething. Cooper stood like a coward in front of him. And for good reason. Cooper always did exactly what Senator Proctor wanted, but sometimes he had no common sense. And it was on those occasions—just like the one they were discussing—that Senator Proctor wanted to rip Cooper’s head off.

“But I just found out from Director Hughes ten minutes ago that he was looking at the possibility that Joe Moretti was involved. He isn’t certain yet,” Cooper tried.

Senator Proctor cursed at Cooper. The words he said would have made a sailor blush. But Cooper just continued to stand there before him, wincing with each verbal assault.

“Hughes may not know it yet, because he’s an idiot like you, but I know it. Stella hired Joe Moretti to kill Shelton. And when that didn’t work, she decided she had to at least kill his nomination. Professor Carlson and his wife were just in the way.”

Senator Proctor was so mad he wanted to hit Cooper, or worse. Instead he kicked a leather chair until it toppled over and then kicked it until it broke. Then he stomped on it twice more to make sure it was dead.

Cooper shivered and sweated.

“And I’ve already called for the Judiciary Committee to reconvene!” Senator Proctor yelled. “They’re questioning Shelton again on Monday.”

“Can you stop it?”

“No, I can’t stop it. It’s too late.”

Senator Proctor stomped around his office some more before he slowly managed to gain control of his anger. Even though his anger subsided, he still blamed Cooper for the predicament in which he found himself. The room was eerily quiet. He noticed that Cooper was hardly breathing. He still looked scared.

Senator Proctor plodded around his office for several more minutes, thinking and planning. “We’ve got to distance ourselves from Stella,” he finally said. “It may already be too late. And tell Hughes if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll keep my name out of it. But we’ve got to distance ourselves from Stella regardless.”

“The FBI may not be the only ones investigating,” Cooper murmured.

Senator Proctor swiveled toward Cooper. “What are you talking about?”

“Hughes told me that someone else is sniffing around the Carlson murders.”

“Who? Newspaper reporters? Local police? Who?”

Cooper’s answer was faint. “He doesn’t know yet.”

“Who else could possibly care?”

Cooper drew a breath. “You don’t think President Wallace knows anything, do you?”

“It can’t be. He’s not that smart. And it’s not his style. He wouldn’t have anyone sneaking around investigating a murder.” Senator Proctor shook his head violently. “It can’t be him.”

“I don’t know then.”

“Stay on top of this, Cooper. We’re in damage-control mode, and any misstep could be disastrous. I want to know what Hughes knows before he knows it. You understand what I’m saying? I want you that on top of the situation.”

“I understand.” Cooper left without another word.

Senator Proctor stood quietly in his office. Things were in a tailspin. He saw his political life flash before his eyes. He had never had a situation that he couldn’t control, but this was one such situation. He felt helpless…and he didn’t like the feeling.

Washington DC

The president’s black bulletproof limo screamed along the Capitol Beltway en route to a speaking engagement in Falls Church, Virginia. The limo was sheltered by the other vehicles in the protective presidential motorcade. President Wallace had to continue to look presidential even in the midst of the storm swirling around Judge Shelton’s nomination. No appearances were canceled, but he wouldn’t allow questions from the media.

President Wallace and Porter sat deep in the back of the limo. The sky was dark, and streetlights flashed through the windows as the limo sped past each one. The events of the last few days weighed on the president’s mind. He was certain they were weighing on Porter’s as well.

“Are we doing the right thing, Porter?”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“I mean, is it the right thing to continue to push the Shelton nomination?”

“I think it is. If we quit now, Stella Hanover gets exactly what she wants, and Senator Proctor escapes unscathed.”

“But this is not about winning. It’s about people’s lives. When I nominated Dunbar, I never dreamed any of this would happen. And now four people are dead because of it. Because of my decision.”

“Nobody could’ve predicted what Stella would do. You can’t blame yourself for her actions,” Porter said. “She’ll have to answer for them herself one day.”

“You’re right. But if we pull the nomination, then we don’t risk anyone else getting hurt, or worse.”

There was a pause.

“Mr. President, are you still convinced that God has you in the presidency for decisions like this one?”

That was one thing of which President Wallace was certain. He
was
where he was for such a time as this, and he had complete peace about that fact. He knew it to be true just as well as he knew his own name. He looked at Porter and nodded confidently. “Absolutely.”

“And are you still convinced that Dunbar Shelton was the right nominee?”

“More than ever.”

“Then I don’t think we have any choice but to press on. Like you told me when you decided to nominate Judge Shelton, the stakes are too high for someone other than Judge Shelton to sit on the Supreme Court.”

It was sage advice, President Wallace thought. He had never felt more in the will of God than right now. He really believed that Judge Shelton’s nomination was inspired by God. He also believed that only God knew his ultimate plan—and that God could even use tragedy for his purpose. Pulling Judge Shelton’s nomination would mean that four lives would have been lost in vain.

President Wallace shook away the doubts that had crept into his mind. God had a plan. All he had to do as president was to stay in it. “You’re right, Porter. We don’t have a choice. Let’s move full speed ahead.”

He saw Porter’s smile when a streetlight briefly illuminated the interior of the car. President Wallace breathed deeply and relaxed. It felt good to have the inner peace that God was fully in control.

Brentwood, Tennessee

Eli had obtained permission late Friday afternoon for Tag to leave the house to attend church. That excuse was gone, but Tag came up with several others. Anna brushed them all aside.

“You’re going,” Anna said. “Eli went to all that trouble to get permission for you to leave the house. So finish getting dressed. You’re going.”

Tag muttered as he finished dressing and wished he had never told Anna he would go in the first place. He didn’t need to go to church. It didn’t have anything to offer him. But there was something different about Anna every time she came home from attending church. He couldn’t put his finger on it, and she couldn’t explain it. His curiosity had finally gotten the better of him, and he’d told her that he wanted to see what all her excitement was about.

That simple statement was all it took. She had been on the phone with Eli five minutes later.

Unlike Anna, Tag had attended church often as a child. His mother had insisted on it. He knew the church routine well. But that was all it was to him—a routine. As a teenager he’d been rebellious, and his mother had had a hard time making him comply. By the time he was in college, he had completely stopped attending any church…anywhere, anytime. And his lifestyle had reflected that choice. As the years progressed, it had become easier and easier—particularly after his mother died—to choose not to go to church. In fact, the thought of going to church hadn’t entered his mind in years…until Anna started going to New Hope Baptist Church.

He was finally dressed—brown slacks, blue blazer, white shirt, loafers, and no tie. Leaving the bedroom, he found Anna standing by the door that led to the garage, tapping her foot. She wore a red sleeveless dress with white polka dots, and white, medium-heeled shoes. He could hear her foot tapping as he approached.

“Hurry up,” she said. “We’re going to be late.”

“I’m ready.”

“Let’s go then. I’m driving.”

Anna darted down the steps into the garage and was in the driver’s seat of her Infiniti SUV before Tag was completely in the garage. She had the engine running by the time he sat down in the passenger seat. She backed out of the garage and drove fast toward New Hope.

“Slow down,” Tag ordered. “You’re going to get us killed.”

“The service starts in ten minutes, and I don’t want you to miss any of it.”

All the traffic lights they encountered were green. Tag barely had time to fasten his seat belt before they were in the parking lot of the church. Anna exited the car while Tag took his time.

“C’mon, Tag,” Anna said from ten steps in front of him. “Can’t you walk any faster?”

He quickened his stride slightly and Anna waited for him at the front door of the church before entering. When they entered, Anna spoke to and shook hands with several people who stood in the foyer. It seemed as if she had been friends with all of them for a long time. She introduced Tag to them, and he grudgingly shook their hands. Then Anna took him by the hand and dragged him through the double wood doors that opened into the church sanctuary.

“This is my usual seat.” Anna pointed to a pew in the middle section about one-fourth of the way down.

Tag and Anna sat in the middle of the pew, and again Anna spoke to the people nearby as if they were her best friends. She introduced Tag to each of them, and he forced a polite smile.

“Do you know all of these people?” Tag whispered.

“I don’t know everyone in the room. Just the ones who sit close by. Be quiet and listen.” Anna pointed toward the front of the church. “The service is about to start.”

Tag looked to the front of the church as the choir entered the choir loft. He hadn’t seen anything like it in years. When the music director asked everyone to stand and sing, it seemed to Tag that Anna was the first one out of her seat. He unwillingly stood as well. But although Anna sang, he refused and stood there with his arms crossed.

He couldn’t recall ever hearing Anna sing and noted with surprise that she had a pleasant voice. She seemed very happy singing, too. The congregation sang a total of three songs, and then the choir sang one song. When some of the men began to distribute brass offering plates, Tag remembered the ritual of collecting money. He noticed that Anna placed something in the plate that passed by them and leaned over to her.

“What’d you put in there?” Tag whispered. He hoped it wasn’t money. He hadn’t worked in quite a while and wasn’t willing to simply give some away without anything in return.

“Just a card with our names and address on it. That’s all. It’s a visitor information card. I found a blank one lying in the pew.”

He frowned. “Why’d you do that?”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted to. It can’t hurt anything.”