Here I Am. Send Me.--Chapter Twenty-Five

After the accident, Evelyn and Chris take some time to get to know each other.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

         Evelyn whirled and looked at him. His hair was pointed out to the right as if being pulled by a static charge and there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead which spoke to the pain he was enduring. She wanted to tell him he was mistaken… or flat-out crazy. But he wasn’t.
         “I guess I'd better call Amanda.” Her hands were shaking when she lifted her phone from the drink holder between the seats and made two unsuccessful attempts to enter her PIN. The third try was the charm and the screen blinked to life. She held down the button on the side. “Siri, call Amanda.”
         “Calling Amanda Burrows.”
         Amanda worked five eights Monday through Friday and Evelyn expected her work number to pass to voice mail, but Amanda picked up on the second ring. “What’s happening, Evelyn?”
         “Chris and I were coming back from Waterview, and we had an automobile accident.”
         “Is everyone okay?”
         “We seem to be fine. We’re waiting on local authorities to arrive.”
         “Does anyone seem hurt in the other vehicle?”
         “They drove away. It was a hit and run. We have reason to believe that it wasn’t an accident. A large pickup truck pulled up quickly when we were on an empty stretch of highway, bumped us three times from the rear and then once from the side as it passed.”
         “Could they have been drunk?”
         “Could be. But the license plate had been removed. Chris has that on video and a truck driver who was coming the other way confirmed that he saw no plate.”
         “Where are you?”
         “Highway 70N.” She looked over at Chris. “Didn’t we just pass the Wilson County sign?”
         “Yeah, maybe about a mile back.” He replied.
         “We’re in Wilson County just west of the Smith County line.”
         “Since you were assigned to interview Josey Marshall, I’ll call it in to Metro PD. They’ll probably want to talk with you.”
         “I understand.” She could hear sirens in the distance. “I think the locals are about to arrive.” Within a minute, deputies from the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office arrived, followed shortly by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. It was time for more questions.
         An hour later, after finishing with the field accident investigation, Evelyn was coaxing her battered vehicle down the highway to Nashville when her phone rang from an unknown number. Chris answered it and set it to speaker.
         “Hello?” She called into the air.
         “Ms. Dunham? This is Sergeant Wilson with Metro Police. Are you available to talk?”
         “I’m driving but hands free. Chris Leighton is with me and holding the phone.”
         “Amanda Burrows called in and said that you had been in a traffic accident in Wilson County and that you believe it might be related to the Calvary Christian Academy shooting.”
         “It’s possible. We were clearly attacked, and it was after visiting the mother of a girl who is enrolled at the school.”
         “That still sounds like a stretch, but can you come into the headquarters at 9:00 tomorrow morning?”
         Chris shook his head.
         Evelyn understood. “Chris has church in the morning, but I can make it.”
         “Okay. I’ll see you then.” He hung up without pleasantries.
         It was another hour before Evelyn and Chris pulled into his driveway. The combination of adrenaline and pain had kept him awake through the drive back. The conversation had not been the light-hearted banter of two young people in the beginnings of a relationship. Instead, they had focused on who might be trying to murder them.
         When the car came to a halt, Chris forced a smile. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. There’s a pizza and gyro place near Walmart that has great calzones.”
         She faked her own smile. “Is this that first date you’ve been promising me?”
         “It doesn’t involve police, the emergency room, or anybody trying to hurt anybody. So, yeah.”
         “How’s your bathroom?”
         “It’s been cleaned to within an inch of its life.”
         “Then, could I freshen up some before we go out and trip the light fantastic?”
         “You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the nightlife of La Vergne, Tennessee.”
         The restaurant was a small storefront next to a mercado and across from one of the myriads of new carwashes that had started springing up all over. It was busy but not overflowing and they had their food in twenty minutes. The calzone lived up to its hype.
         Chris was determined to keep the conversation off murder. You haven’t told me anything about your family. Any brothers or sisters?”
         “Nope. I’m an only child.”
         “That’s funny. You don’t seem like an only child.”
         “How do you mean?”
         “The adults that I’ve known who were only children seem to be used to getting their own way. You seem the opposite. Like you’re not expecting anything to go your way.”
         “Not much has gone my way in the last few years.” She changed the topic. “How about you? From where does this fountain of optimism flow?”
         He laughed aloud. “Warning. You just gave me a great opening to talk churchy with you.”
         “So, this is where you try to convert me?”
         “No.” He shook his head with a smile.
         “No?”
          “I’ve never in my life known anyone to be argued into a relationship with Jesus. You have to be loved into a relationship with Him.”
         Her mouth dropped open. “Uh-h-h-h-h-h.”
         He laughed again. “Don’t worry. I haven’t just dropped the L-Bomb on you on a first date. In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees kept up with 613 laws. Jesus was asked once which one was the most important. He said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And then he went on to give them the second most important: love your neighbor as yourself. And then he finished it off with the real showstopper: On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
         “So, that means?”
         “It means that we don’t have to memorize 613 laws. We just have to open our hearts to loving God and loving others.”
         “Seems simple enough.”
         “It’s simple. But it’s not easy.”
         She dipped her calzone into the tomato sauce and chewed a bite. What he said made sense, but it also felt like she was coming into a movie in the middle. Time for a topic change.
         “What about you? Brothers, sisters, family?”
         He recognized her steering the conversation back to the mundane and didn’t fight it. “I’m the youngest of three, all boys.”
         “So, you spent your childhood being beat up.”
         “Totally. But my brothers and I get along great now. And they’ve started giving me nieces and nephews to play with.”
         “Really? How many?”
         “Two nieces and one nephew. They all live back in Palatine, near my parents.”
         “Palatine… Illinois?”
         “Right the first time. That is where I was born and raised.”
         “I’ve never been there.”
         “It’s a great place to live and a terrible place to visit.”
         Had anyone been listening to the rest of their conversation, they would have thought they were hearing a normal young couple having dinner. When she brought him back to his house to drop him off, they continued the conversation for a few minutes in the car before she turned her head in invitation. He leaned forward and they shared their first real kiss.
         He got out of the car and watched her drive away. Given how the day had gone, it was amazing that it ended with both smiling.
         Evelyn’s smile was short-lived when her phone began to ring, and she looked down to see that it was her mother.
         After a brief mental debate about not answering and leaving the conversation for another day, she tapped the green button. “Mom! I am so sorry! I forgot all about our dinner plans for tonight.”
         The other end of the line remained silent. This was one of her mother’s favorite methods of punishment, calling her up so she could not speak with her.
         Evelyn was caught in the usual trap where hanging up would make matters worse while hanging on the line and dealing with the silence would be excruciating. Once again, she grabbed for a tool to manipulate her mother.
         “I was in a car accident.”