“Sergeant Jeffries, this is Mr. Horace Dodge.”  Trammell nodded toward the aged gentleman.

“Mr. Dodge.”  Jeffries shook his hand. 

The lieutenant continued, “Mr. Dodge came in to report a theft.  Afterwards he went into the men’s room, and he found this.” 

The lieutenant held out an envelope, which Jeffries accepted with some curiosity.  The envelope bore only one marking, the typed name “Sergeant Jeffries.”

“Thank you.”  Jeffries reached for the letter opener on the lieutenant’s desk.  He carefully broke the seal, and then reached for a pair of tweezers to remove the letter.  If it was a threatening letter, Jeffries didn’t want to spoil any fingerprints, and of course the well-meaning citizen would have obliterated any prints on the envelope.

He carefully spread the letter open on the lieutenant’s desk, and his heart sank.

“Your life is about to become a nightmare.”  The chilling words stared back at him from the page.

Amanda had trusted God, and He had played her for a fool.

Where were You?  Where were You while I was praying for Danny’s protection?  Where were You while he was being attacked?  Where were You while I was singing hymns and thanking You for protecting our family?  And where are You now?  If You’re here with us, why aren’t You helping us?

She began to cry again, and then to sob.  Her son was hanging onto life by his fingernails, and God had abandoned him.  He had abandoned all of them.

Dan’s arm came to rest across her shoulders, and he squeezed her close.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, drawing as much comfort as she could from his love and strength.  There wasn’t anyone else whose love and strength she could count on anymore.

“The body has already been taken downstairs, of course.  In fact, it’s possible that someone from county morgue may have already picked it up.  But if it’s still here, I’ll make sure you’re allowed to see it.  I’ll have to be present, of course.”

“Of course.”  Dan nodded.

“I assume that the body has already been fingerprinted,” Nate said.

“Yes, the detectives took care of that.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, we’re going back to the waiting room,” Amanda asserted, putting a protective arm around her daughter.  “We don’t need to see…that.”

Nate, Dan, and the doctor headed into the cold underbelly of the hospital.  After a few inquiries the doctor led them to a shrouded form.

“We’re in luck.  He’s still here.”

Nate pulled the sheet back and looked at the face...

Danny’s eyes filled again.  “You’ve never messed up as bad as I have, so you can’t understand.”

“Haven’t I?”  Dan jabbed his finger accusingly at his own chest, his emotions too raw to hide.  “Haven’t I?  You try living with the fact that you’ve been such a failure as a parent that your own son turns against you!  You try knowing that you did your best to protect your kids, but it wasn’t good enough!  You try having your own son nearly die because of your failures, only to have him go right back to drugs because you don’t have the answers he needs!  Don’t tell me I haven’t messed up!”

Danny just looked back down at the floor.

Dan didn’t even try to hide his heartbreak.  “I remember when you were so little, so helpless.  I held you in my arms, all eight pounds of you, and I promised you, I promised you that I would never let you down, I would never let anyone or anything hurt you.  You, and your mom, and your sister…there’s nothing in the world more important to me than the three of you.  I’d have died for you if that would have helped you.  You know that.

“But now I have to face the fact that even if I live to be a hundred I’ll never be able to give you what you need.  I’ll never have what it takes, never be good enough.  So don’t tell me I haven’t messed up!” 

I hope you'll pick up a copy for yourself and find out!

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