Wings of Deception (9 page)

It was
Honey
’s
day off and
it
was nice to have
one
with nothing planned. She spent the morning catching up on mail and
e
m
ail.
Her oldest
nephew,
Rhett was in the military, serving in Afghanistan
.
S
he
had just
got
ten
a package off to him
and
was lounging with a book when the phone rang. She reached for the cordless lying on the coffee table without too much effort.

“Hello.”

“Hello,
could I
speak
to
Honey
Magill
,
please.”

“You have her, how can I help you?”

“M
is
s
Magill
, I am with the ACAA here in Jackson
, Ms
and our attorney Jacks
,
would like to speak with you. I will put him through.

“Wait!”

“Yes ma’am?”

“ACAA represents abused children
and
I would love to oblige but
I have the day off today
. I
f you will just have him contact my office
tomorrow
I will be happy to speak with him
then
.”

“
Y
es ma’am but...”

“
I will be in my office t
omorrow, g
ood-bye now.”
She firmly hung the phone up.

She had dealt with these people before and while she admired what they stood for,
sometimes they irritated her
.
Anything that they needed from her could wait until she was in her office
. S
he wondered who gave them her home phone
number anyway and made a mental note to find out.

The phone rang again. Surely not...

“Hello?”

“
Honey
, this is
Dwight
. I am afraid we have a serious probl
e
m
and could use your help.”

Sitting straight up in alarm at the tone of his voice
,
she said quickly,
“Whatever I can do Pastor
Dwight
, just tell me and I will be happy to.
I know, you need a babysitter and it
’s
my turn?
”

“Dear Lord, I wish that were it, but it
’
s not. Joe and Brenna
Bowler
have been arrested and they did
n’t
have a clue who to call, so they called me. They said you may be able to help
as
it involves Carol. They have taken her.”

“
They
have taken Carol? Who
,
and w
hat in the world could Joe and poor Brenna have done to get arrested?”

“
All I know is that they said something about some child protective agency and that they were arrested on c
hild abuse
charges
. If you would like, I can pick you up and we can drive to
the jail
. Gus
has a
brother
-
in
-
law
who
is an
attorney
.
H
e is already on his way
there.”

“I will be outside.”

She threw the phone on the sofa
and ran
to her bedroom to
pull
on some decent clothes.
Never mind her
hair and
her
face would just have to
do
,
for it would take the Pastor only a few minutes to drive to her house.

In less than the fifteen minutes it did take him,
Honey
was waiting. It was a mistake, it had to be
,
for Carol was the most adored and loved child she had ever met
. Her parents would never do anything to hurt
her.
Poor Carol
,
to be taken away from her parents
, ill as she was.

She
had come
to know the family in the
last
months and considered th
e
m
her good
friends.
All the sorrow the family already had to endure, n
ow this. What could have happened to cause the law to become involved?
Then she
r
e
m
e
m
bered the phone call
she
got
just before the Pastor called.
S
he
moaned
to herself,
“The ACAA
,
I
t was Carol they were calling to talk about!”
She ran back into her apartment and got her phone and when she found the number, dialed it. The same girl answered and said the person who wanted to speak with her was now out of the office.
Dang!
She hung up and by the time she got back out the door
Dwight
’s car pulled up.

She jumped in and told
him
everything she knew about the people that had instigated th
e
action.

“This organization is the best of its kind and all about protecting children.
I just wonder why they think they have to protect Carol.
I could kick myself for not taking that call!”

“
L
et us not borrow trouble. Would you mind praying with me before we go in?”

He
parked
across from the police
station
and turned to face her.

“Of course
I will
.”

She closed her eyes and they prayed for God to
guide
th
e
m
in
how to help
the couple
’s
situation.

As Gus promised
,
his wife’s brother
,
Andrew Springs was already there and in the process of getting the terrified couple
bonded
out
of jail
and back home. He had a no nonsense personality
. In his fifties, he was a medium sized man with a nondescript face.
He shook
Dwight
’s hand firmly and turning to
Honey
took hers more gently.

“You must be
Honey
.
Gus said you were coming but there is really nothing either of you can do here. I will have th
e
m
out before
you know it
and when they get home they
are
going to need some good support from their friends.”

“
I am concerned for Carol.
What have they done with
her
? Do you know?”

“
S
he has been hospi
talized, at least for the night.
I have requested
that
Judge Langley consider an emergency hearing tomorrow
but
I’
m afraid there is nothing we can do until the court
does
hear
the case.
T
he ACAA is behind this
.
W
hat I d
on’t
understand is what proof
of child abuse
they
could
have. They claim
there are
eyewitnesses, but Joe and Brenna
are clueless
. This thing has hit th
e
m
blindsided
,
but listen, why don’t you two go on back home until I call you. It will be a long
evening
for the Bowler’s
after they get home without their daughter
.
They will need ya
’
ll more then.
N
o sense in
just sitting here waiting. They are not going to let you see them.
”

Dwight
agreed, “
I know y
ou are right
.
W
ill you tell th
e
m
we did come
and
will see th
e
m
at home
?
”

“
Do you think I could see
Carol
? I know it would make her feel better to have someone she knows with her.”

“Not a chance without ACAA’s consent and that’s not going to happen tonight. I did
have
them check on her a little while ago and they have her pretty heavily sedated
,
so she will most likely sleep
‘
til morning.”

Honey sighed heavily
and said,
“
The poor thing
must have been scared to death! I
may
could
have helped her if only I had taken that call.
”
She explained the call she received from the ACAA, to Andrew.

“Don’t go beating yourself up my dear
.
C
hances are you could
n’t
have done a thing before morning. I am fairly certain Judge Langley will fit us in for tomorrow. Just concentrate on Joe and Brenna for now.”

Dwight
agreed
, “We will do that and thanks
,
Andrew
,
for getting here so fast.”

“Not a problem. They have been my friends longer than not.” He smiled and opened the door for them.

“
It was good
to meet you
Andrew
. Tell Joe and Brenna that I will see th
e
m
later
too.”

“Same here
, I just wish it was better circumstances
and I will tell th
e
m
you both were here
.”
Saying
that
,
he turned and
walked the other way
.

Dwight
and
Honey
did not go home.
Instead, t
hey
decided to
share a meal at a
nearby
café
.
Dwight
called
Mildred
, who
was with G
e
m
and since he would be
out
as
long as needed,
she said she would just stay
the night.

Since meeting
Honey
,
Dwight
had
had
several conversations with her,
but
mostly concerning
things of a spiritual nature
. She was
an avid Bible student
and he loved people hungry for God
’s Word
.

While they ate their dinner
,
he
found himself telling
Honey
all about Kim
and s
he was touched that he would share his feelings about his wife with her
.
It
surprised
him
how
easy
talking
with her
was
and
b
y the time
the phone call came from Andrew,
he felt
he had
made
a friend in
Honey
.

When
they reached the Bowler home
,
he was ready
to help Carol’s parents make some sense of all that had
taken place
.

                                                                     *****