Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [139]
Brady found himself relieved that the car was not a stick shift. “Where to, ma’am?”
“Harley-Davidson,” she said, eyes dancing. “Can’t think of anyplace more fun than that.”
“Got another gift for me?” he said, laughing.
“All in good time.”
47
Adamsville State Penitentiary
When Thomas pulled up to the guardhouse at the end of the day, the officer was busy with another car and driver. He turned to Thomas and shook his head as if in apology. “Tried to see if I could get him to leave, Chaplain. Couldn’t shake him.”
The man approached. “You Reverend Thomas Carey?”
“I am.”
“Little mail for you,” the man said, handing Thomas a large envelope. “Consider yourself served.”
“Served with what, for what?”
“Those answers, sir, are beyond the boundaries of my job description. Good day.”
Thomas considered leaving the envelope in his car and dealing with the contents in the office the next day. Whatever they were, Grace didn’t need to be burdened by them. But curiosity got the better of him, and Thomas removed the legal papers while the officer logged him out.
“Surely this is not the first time you’ve been served,” the officer said.
“Believe it or not, it is.”
“By an inmate, of course.”
Thomas nodded.
“Join the club.”
“You too?” Thomas said.
“Most all of us at one time or another. Get yourself a good attorney and try to keep the thing short.”
“Don’t worry.” An attorney?
Thomas couldn’t afford an attorney, and he hated to ask Ravinia. By the time he got home, he was distracted beyond reason, knowing he would have to at least tell her what was going on and seek her counsel. His thank-yous to the volunteer lady from the church were perfunctory. He would have to remember to be more effusive next time. He barely listened to her report, knowing that if anything had gone wrong or turned worse with Grace, the woman would have brought that to his attention first. Why did life have to be so complicated?
Thomas pasted on a smile and kissed Grace’s cheek.
“I need to sit up,” she said, gripping his arm as she slowly swung her legs off the side of the bed. She sighed heavily and slumped. “Feels better, at least for now. Something’s on your mind, Thomas. You know I can tell.”
“Just work.”
“Tell me.”
“Routine.”
“Nonsense. Now, come on. It’s bad enough I’m isolated from everything in your life. I can take it.”
The sad fact was, she could. She rolled with these things better than he did.
“I’m sure I can deal with it quickly,” he said, “but an inmate is filing charges against me for treating him ‘with malicious disregard and contempt.’”
“That will be hard to prove.”
“He says I disparaged his attempt to convert to Christianity and refused to represent him before the parole board. That led to extreme emotional distress that caused him to lash out at corrections officers and get him sent to isolation and cost him any further chance at parole.”
“The man from Central America? Ravinia will take care of it.”
“I hate to—”
“Come, come. She’d be hurt if you didn’t ask.”
After sharing a light meal with Grace, Thomas moved to the living room, where he phoned his daughter.
Ravinia paused after hearing his side of it. “You know who loves this kind of case? Dirk. This will get his back up, and the guy won’t know what hit him.”
“Dirk? Are you sure?”
“Trust me.”
“I can’t afford—”
“Dad! Whatever Dirk is or whatever we are going through, he’s not the kind of a person who would charge you. And believe me, he won’t do this halfway. He’ll flood this guy’s lawyer’s mailbox with so many motions and demands, the guy will wish he’d never gotten involved. Tell me you’ll call him.”
“I don’t know. Won’t it be awkward? How are you two doing? Is he seeing Summer more, going to counseling with you? I certainly don’t want to get in the way of—”
“Well, one out of two ain’t bad. We’ve let the counseling slide for a while, because it turns out he really was swamped when he had to beg off from taking her those times. I threatened to get him cut off forever if he treats her that way again, and he cleaned up his act.”
“You