Sitting at the courthouse on the bench outside the pair of wooden doors, Bobby thought of the time in ninth grade he’d been sent to the principal’s office. It had been his first and only time, and the only reason he was there was that he had been sticking up for a fellow freshman being picked on by some upperclassmen. He learned that day that there were far better ways to go about a situation than punching a kid in the face. That might have been one of the first times he realized he wanted to help people in whatever way he could.
Telling them about eternity. What better thing could Bobby possibly do? If this world and this life really, truly was just a blink in an endless series of blinks for the rest of time, why shouldn’t he at least tell others about it?
The sound of heels walking down the hallway made him glance toward the approaching blond woman. She carried a briefcase and a bit of an air as well. A woman sure of herself—her looks, her job, her confidence, everything. The kind that would eat people up in the courtroom.
Bobby wasn’t surprised when she sat down next to him.
“Bobby Wilson, right?”
A tough voice, too.
“Yeah. Can I help you?”
“You might not want to,” she said like a cop might. “I’m the attorney for Lauren Carson, the widow of Steven Carson.”
“Oh,” was all he could muster up.
I bet you have some great news for me today, right?
“Mind if I ask you a question?” she said.
“Is there any way I can stop you?”
He was trying to be funny but that word probably didn’t even exist in this woman’s world.
“In a few minutes, you’re gonna go in there, and the union, the department, the city, and the county are gonna look to hang you. To hang you. And you’re gonna let them do it. Have I got that right?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Bobby said.
“And after that I’m going to take you for everything you own. Yet you’re still going to go through with it?”
Tell me how you really feel.
“Yes.”
He had already made his decision. It wasn’t a decision anyway. There had been a choice and a decision made years ago. Around two thousand years. And it had been a lot tougher than the one he was making now.
The woman shook her head in complete bafflement.
“Why?”
Her tone suddenly felt a little off. It sounded as if this was her true self, that she’d taken off the business attorney outfit and was simply talking, one human being to another.
This was another opportunity, just like the one he’d been given with Steven Carson.
“I was once asked, ‘If you were accused of the crime of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’ From everything you’re saying, it looks like the answer might be ‘yes.’ If what I did has suddenly become a crime—well, then I’m proud to plead ‘guilty.’ ”
The smooth, flawless face just hung there like some detached painting on the wall. She still didn’t understand or even get it.
There’s a place out there, and I was given the coordinates for it and I need to tell others about it.
“I shared my faith with a dying man. It’s something I’ve done many times these last couple of years. I talked about God to others even when I didn’t have a personal relationship. No one ever cared about it—only now they do.”
She shook her head, dismissing his words. “Times change. People who are smart change with them.”
Bobby did the same thing she had done, refusing to believe her words.
“I didn’t fail your client’s husband. Medically speaking. I did everything I could.”
The woman glanced around them for a moment, then talked in a more subdued tone.
“Off the record? I don’t really care.”
“Then why—”
“For my client? It’s about punishing you. You need to know that. And for all of us—including the city—it’s about finally stopping people like you from pushing your beliefs on others. I don’t expect you to understand that. But it’s one thing you should understand if you don’t already.”
She reached into her briefcase and pulled out something familiar.
The wooden cross he’d given to Steven before the man died.
“This cross is gonna cost you.”
The doors beside them opened and a county sheriff’s deputy stepped out.
“They’re ready for you.”
At least the deputy seemed to sound like he had a little compassion for the situation.
They stood and Bobby straightened his uniform. The woman simply looked at him without any empathy or understanding.
It was the same kind of look that changed the fate of mankind two thousand years ago.
He walked into the courtroom, knowing God walked with him.