At 6:45 a.m. Sheriff Hughes, Tiny, and Traci walked into the blue hallway of Cooper County High School. Signs proclaiming the mighty Eagles covered spare wall space. Quiet hung in the air with an energy that anticipated five hundred students bursting through the doors in thirty minutes.
They followed the assistant principal, Nancy Childers, to locker 448, where the principal, Dr. Abraham Jefferson, waited for them. “Good morning, Sheriff,” Dr. Jefferson said. “Since you do not have a warrant, my understanding is that Ms. Childers and I are the only ones allowed to search the locker unless we find something suspicious and report it.”
“That is my understanding as well, Abe. Go ahead. We are looking for what looks like jelly candies. They are likely wrapped individually, but that is only an assumption based on the evidence we’ve recovered at crime scenes.”
“Understood.” Dr. Jefferson slipped on a pair of blue nitrile gloves and inserted a key into the keyhole in the center of the dial of the locker. Once opened, he started removing items from the top shelf, handing each item to Nancy, who organized everything on the floor. From the second shelf, stuffed in the back, he pulled out a worn paper bag. Inside, they found several dozen Jellies in small, individual zip-lock bags.
Sheriff Hughes nodded. “That’s it. Deputy Winston, call in and confirm the warrant. We’ll arrest EJ when he gets here. Preferably in the parking lot.” With gloves on, he took the bag from the principal and held it out to Tiny. “Get this processed. I want the identity of every person attached to every fingerprint on every bag.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Sheriff looked at them. “Clear out of here. Park the extra vehicles out back. I don’t want even a sliver of a hint we’re here for anything outside of the routine morning traffic work. Don’t do anything, and don’t let anything happen that might spook any of the Crawfords.”
Traci confirmed the warrant, then walked with Nancy down the hall. “I’m glad this happened when school was still in session. In another week, catching him would have been much harder.”
“Glad we could help.” She glanced at Traci. “How did you know it was EJ? Did someone tell you?”
Why would she ask? “It’s not my place to say, really.” She studied her face for a reaction, “And it’s not your place to ask.”
Her cheekbones blushed red, and Traci decided to stick next to her until school started. She did send Tiny a quick text while they walked.
Seconds later, a reply came in:
She followed Nancy into her office. The vice-principal looked surprised. “Do you need anything more, deputy?”
Traci hooked her thumbs into her utility belt, her right hand comfortably close to her weapon and her left hand within inches of her Taser. “I guess I’m just curious why you wanted to know who tipped us off.”
Nancy sat in her chair and said, “I was just making small talk.”
“Sure.” Traci settled into a chair facing her. “I’m just keeping you company until everything’s settled.”
With a raised eyebrow, Nancy said, “You think I’m going to call EJ and tell him not to come to school today?”
Her phone vibrated, and she glanced at the preview of the text.
“Can’t say. My maiden name isn’t Crawford. I’m guessing he’s your nephew? I’m not an aunt, so I wouldn’t know how one would act knowing a felony drug charge was headed for my nephew.”
Nancy stammered and said, “I wouldn’t warn him. I know you could charge me with obstruction.”
“True. But you asked who told us. I’m not comfortable with you seeking knowledge like that. I feel like you know way more about certain business going on in your school than what you’ve let on. So, I’m going to keep you company here until school starts, then you’re going to come with me, and we’ll get down to the bottom of it.”
Nancy opened her mouth, then closed it again and pressed her lips together. She leaned back in her chair and interlaced her fingers, bringing her hands up to her mouth and closing her eyes. For the next twenty-five minutes, she sat still like that. The chirp of Traci’s shoulder radio startled both of them. “Suspect is in custody.”
Traci stood as she pressed the call button and said, “Roger. Suspect two in custody as well.” She gestured with her hands. “Go ahead and stand up and face that wall. Put your hands flat against it.”
A few minutes later, after securing the two cell phones she found on Nancy’s person, she escorted her in handcuffs down the busy hallways. The students stopped talking in a wave as they parted and let them pass.
“You could have arrested me before the students got here,” Nancy said through clenched teeth as Traci put her into the unmarked car.
“You think?” She pursed her lips and looked around. “I’m just not sure I could have.” She gestured with her finger. “Watch yourself. Shutting the door. Wouldn’t want to hit you with it.”
Tiny walked up just as the door shut. “Think she’s in on it?”
“I think the phones will tell us.” She held up the evidence bags. “We need another warrant, obviously. How’d it go with EJ?”
“He is shocked and outraged and cannot imagine who would put those illegal substances in his locker.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Let’s hope he was dumb enough to handle the bags with bare hands.”
“Exactly.”
“We’re also pulling security footage. Hopefully, Nancy wouldn’t have thought or have had time to erase it or anything nefarious like that. She didn’t know we were coming and didn’t have time to cover any tracks.”
“One hopes that people who sell dangerous drugs to children aren’t ever smart enough to fully cover their tracks.”
Traci sat on the bench next to Travis and lifted her face to the sun. He watched her soak in the heat and bask in the warm rays. She rarely relaxed like she did when she sat in warm sunshine.
They sat in the center of the town square. Next to them stood the “Brothers Against Brothers” statue commemorating the War Between the States with a Confederate soldier standing back-to-back with a Union soldier. Historical data showed that Cooper County had been evenly divided in the war, with half the men who went to war fighting for the north and the other half fighting for the south. It had taken decades after for the county to right itself and for the relationships to heal.
“In three weeks, we’ll be on the beach,” she said lazily. “Can you even imagine?”
“Actually, I changed those reservations. I planned a surprise trip,” he admitted. “Your mom knows the location and is helping me with your packing.”
“What?” With a sideways glare, she said, “Wherever it is had better have a beach.”
“Hmm.” Intentionally noncommittal, he said, “You all the way ready?”
She sat up and straightened her uniform shirt, then picked up the strawberry and banana smoothie he’d brought her and took a sip. “I am as ready as I know how to be. I’m supposed to get together with my mom one night this week and go through my checklist with her.”
He looked at his watch. “Ready?”
She held up the cup. “You think I can take this in with me?”
“I’m sure.” In deference to her wearing her uniform, they didn’t hold hands walking into the church. But as soon as they crossed the threshold, he put his hand on the small of her back. “Everything go okay this morning?”
“Yeah. Smoothly. No unexpected problems.” She glanced over at him. “I did receive a veiled threat from the Crawford family. Apparently, I’m out to get them, and I need to back off.”
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow. “For stopping a drug dealer panhandling a deadly designer drug that has been wrecking our community?”
“That about sums it up.”
“Huh.” He rapped his knuckles on the door, and they walked into the office of Gary Dixon, senior pastor of Charula Bible Church. “Hi, sir,” Travis said, holding out his hand. “Thanks for rescheduling this morning.”
“I understand the call of work,” he said, gesturing toward the couch that ran along the wall opposite his desk. He sat in the flanking chair. “Happy to accommodate.”
As they took seats, Traci shifted and pulled at her shirt. He wished he knew how to ease her discomfort. “Let’s get started,” Gary said. “I must say that I wondered if I’d ever marry you two. You seemed just fine with the status quo.”
Traci answered. “I didn’t think I wanted to get married until Travis asked me. My yes surprised me.”
Travis chuckled. “Surprised me, too.”
“There’s more to a relationship when marriage is there. It’s deeper. It’s spiritual. It’s permanent, or should be.” He took his glasses off and looked at Traci. “Traci, tell me, what do you think is Travis’ best trait?”
She looked up at him, and he gave her half a smile, hoping to reassure her, but curious about what she’d say. Finally, she said, “He goes out of his way to accommodate me. I’m not easy. I get that. I work crazy hours. I don’t sleep a lot. I have issues with my family. But, if there’s something he can work around, shift, or move, he does it for me.”
Gary nodded, then steeled his gaze onto Travis. He’d already formulated his response to the same question about Traci, so what Gary actually asked him surprised Travis. “Is it your intent to lead your household, Travis?”
What? He opened his mouth and closed it again.
Gray elaborated. “The Bible is clear that in a Christian marriage, there is a hierarchy. God, husband, wife, children. Is that how your family will look?”
Was it? Travis cleared his throat. “I don’t know, sir. My father died when I was a child. I was raised by a mother, and I have two sisters. I wouldn’t really know what that looks like.”
He turned to Traci. “And you, Traci? What is your reaction to that question?”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked from Gary to Travis. “I, uh, was raised by my mom, too. My grandpa died when I was a teenager, but he was her dad, not her husband. My dad has never been in my life. So, I don’t know what that looks like, either.”
Gary nodded. “Then, you both have some homework to do, don’t you?” He handed a paperback book to Traci. The title fit their conversation. “Read the book together. Talk about it. Take the quizzes. Don’t cheat. Come back Monday morning at ten. Or, if you need to reschedule, whenever you’re free on Monday.”
Traci looked at Travis, her face mirroring the same confusion he felt. “Okay, sir.” They all stood together. Traci gripped the book so hard her knuckles turned white. Travis wanted to take it from her and read the back of it, but she didn’t look like she wanted to give it up just yet. He cleared his throat. “I, uh, guess we’ll see you Sunday.”
“Yep. See you then!”
Outside the church, Traci looked at the book in her hands then at Travis. “What was that about?”
He cleared his throat. “Not sure. But maybe the book will help.”
She flipped it and looked at the back and said, “Maybe. Hmmm.”
“Why don’t I come over after your shift, and we can read it together?”
She looked up at him and pursed her lips, then looked back down at the book. “Sure,” she said, “sounds good.”
Traci did a sit-up while Travis read. “Genesis 2:20-24 says, ‘I will make him a helper suitable for him…and they will become one flesh.’ The term ‘one’ used here is the same term used in Deuteronomy 6:4 describing the holy trinity: ‘Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.’ I think that is a powerful message from God that puts man and wife as one – one flesh, one in the eyes of God as much as the trinity of God is one.
“Genesis 2:20 calls woman man’s helpmate, not ‘helpless mate.’ In 1 Corinthians 11:3, God said: ‘Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.’ The word ‘head’ here is a military term, not a social placement term. This is not saying one person is better than the other, more like ‘first among equals.’ Someone must be head; there must be order, and ultimate authority and responsibility. To God, that is the husband, even though the wife is his equal in the eyes of God.”
He set the book down and looked at her. She paused, and a drop of sweat rolled down her hairline. After several seconds of silence, she looked at him. “What?” she asked.
“Just, you know, curious about what you think.”
“Oh?” She went down and back up again. “I didn’t figure I had a voice.”
“Seriously?” His eyes hardened, and his lips thinned. “Is that how you’re going to take this assignment on? Passive-aggressive sarcasm?”
Giving up on the sit-ups, she folded her legs and put her elbows on her knees, lacing her fingers together. “We were both raised by our single or widowed mothers. Are you telling me that if your mom had remarried, that new man would suddenly usurp her authority in the very same household she had created and provided for?”
He looked at the book and his worn Bible. “I’m saying that it’s mentioned more than once and obviously something we need to consider seriously.”
“Yeah. Of course. Says the man, that is.” She pushed to her feet and went into the kitchen. She poured a glass of water and drank half of it before going back to the living room. “I don’t know why we have to agree to some archaic social system to get married in our church. Maybe what we should be discussing is whether we want to keep going to that church.”
“Did you even hear what I read?” He opened the book and repeated, “First among equals. That’s exactly what Ryan was telling me a few weeks ago.” Tossing the book down onto the coffee table, he said, “That’s hardly archaic.”
“Look, Travis.” She set the glass down, then sat on the coffee table facing him. “I love you. I want to be married to you. Why should we have to measure up to anyone else’s expectations? Can’t we just forget this part and just get married?”
He stared at her for a long time before saying, “No.”
With a gasp, she flinched back as if he’d struck her. “No?”
“No.” He stood and walked to the door. “You didn’t take it seriously. You don’t like the idea, so you dismissed it without even giving it any thought. Here is my challenge to you. Research it sincerely. Look it all up. Without distraction or working out or whatever else you did at the same time to alleviate your boredom while I read to you. I want you to give it your full attention and consideration. As if investigating a crime. I want to talk to you when you’ve come to that honest conclusion instead of this knee-jerk, secular humanist sound bite.”
When the door shut behind him, she stared at it for several seconds. “Well,” she said out loud. She picked up the book and looked at it, then set it back down again. “Well.”
She expected anger and tears but instead felt mild confusion. What exactly had she done wrong? What wasn’t she taking seriously? What did she need to investigate? The idea that men were smarter, stronger, faster than women?
The idea made the muscles in her neck tighten. However, the thought that Travis would actually stall their wedding less than three weeks away scared her. Maybe he wasn’t the modern man she thought he was. Maybe….
No. He obviously had read something that resonated with him. What? The only way to figure it out would be to read it herself.
She went to her desk and grabbed a notebook and pen. Armed with a steaming cup of tea at her elbow, she opened the book and started reading. She made notations on the pad, cross-referenced with the Bible verses listed in the text, and then pulled out her laptop and looked up several articles on the same topic.
By two in the morning, eyes burning, back aching, she felt convicted. Why had she had just a knee-jerk reaction?
She set her alarm for seven and stumbled to her bedroom, falling facedown on her bed. It felt like the second she fell asleep, the alarm started going off. Only, it was in the other room, and she had to get out of bed to shut it up.
She had a slight headache born of fatigue and hours of reading. After setting up the coffee pot and turning it on, she took a long shower, feeling almost completely better once she got out and toweled herself dry. She slipped on a pair of loose-fitting yoga pants and a blue tank top, then filled two travel mugs with the freshly made coffee.
At seven-thirty on a Sunday morning, Main Street had no traffic and was so peaceful. The sound of birds filled the air. She lifted her face to the morning sun, enjoying the warmth. Somewhere, she could hear the drone of a lawnmower and thought it rather early for the neighbors of that person. Above her, squirrels fought and chased each other through interconnecting branches. When she got to Travis’ academy, she turned down the alley and stopped at the side door that opened up onto the staircase and rang the doorbell.
The sight of disheveled, unshaven, obviously still sleepy Travis opening the door made her pulse rate increase. She smiled broadly at him and held up coffee. “Peace offering,” she said. “Honey and heavy cream, just the way you like it.”
“Thanks.” His voice sounded as sleepy as he looked, and she all but sighed at the manly sexiness of it all.
“Can I come up?”
“Promise to be good?”
“I promise, Master Seaver.”
“Then, sure. Come on up.” He led the way upstairs, wearing a pair of blue pajama bottoms and a T-shirt advertising his academy. His bare feet made no sound on the wooden stairs.
Inside his apartment, she went straight for the couch. As soon as she sat down, Hobbes landed in her lap and yelled out a loud meow. “Is that right?” Traci asked, running her hand over his head. He rubbed all over her palm. “I think you need to lodge a complaint.”
“What’s up?” Travis asked, sitting on a barstool. He took a sip of coffee and set it on the bar behind him.
“I, uh, was up until two researching and reading. First off, I apologize for that knee-jerk reaction. That was hardly fair or mature.”
His sleepy eyes studied her face. “Okay. And?”
Clearing her throat, she pushed Hobbes away and stood. “And I get it now. Around two this morning, I had an epiphany. I understand the terminology. I understand the concept. I even get the why. Yes, Travis, I am readily willing to submit to your leadership in our marriage. I hope, in the process, that you agree to give me a voice. But, I trust you with my life, and I trust you with our future.”
He stood, too, and slipped an arm around her waist. “I would have accepted you having a different opinion. I just wanted you to respect the assignment from the beginning.”
She studied his face, reading the sincerity, loving him more and more with every passing second. “Good. I’m going to have different opinions sometimes. It’s nice to know you’re going to accept that.” She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose then stepped away. “That’s all you get. I promised to be good. I’ll see you at church.”
“Yes, you will.” With her hand on the door, he said, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” When she turned and looked at him, she tried to convey to him how serious her next statement really was. “I don’t think you understand the depth of feelings I have for you. Your happiness and contentment are a priority of mine.”
He smiled in a way that sucked the breath right out of her. “Likewise, Traci.”