Chapter Twenty-one
The next week passed quickly for everyone, especially Noel.
Maddy and Rory stayed busy making arrangements for their restaurant, and when they weren’t occupied there, they spent time around the Home, helping with the influx of needy kids and all the chores that popped up.
Maddy prepared special dinners that everyone loved, especially Noel after he’d put in long days at the plant.
Josie and Steve called every day, insisting they should be there to help but Noel, worried that Ralph would find out and start harassing the teen again, asked them to hold off.
As it was, he’d been careful not to make eye contact when the Jones brothers came around during the day, and he worried if Ralph happened to run into him at the Home because he’d found out that Josie had returned, he’d be recognized.
As suspected, Sheriff Lock was told by at least five different people that both Ralph and Duggan were with them the night of the fire.
It was arson; experts from the Fire Department had the proof from the Molotov cocktail remains thrown through the window.
But the case remained unsolved and from the low priority Lock placed on finding suspects, everyone agreed the crime would most likely be left to wither.
Steve had found discrepancies in the books that Noel had passed on and was now working with Bill Harrison’s office to try and get to the bottom of the mysteries.
The financial incongruities were blatant, but more proof was needed.
The missing link between those bogus accounts where the money had been targeted and where it eventually ended up would help.
But… the ingenious bookkeeping through various companies led them on trails that filtered out every time.
More and more, it looked like his family had been framed, but without the proof necessary to bring charges, his hands were tied.
Frustrated and worried at how quickly the time was moving on, he went walking along the river before returning to the house and ended up on the same bridge the night his life had changed.
It still boggled his mind, meeting Clarence in his dreams, dreams that still seemed so real.
In a particularly low mood, he didn’t want to worry Mary or the rest of them who tried so hard to be positive. Time was running out and he felt squeezed between optimism and depression.
He needed help… divine help. And so, he asked, in the same way he had another time in his life.
“If you’re listening, Clarence, and if you really do exist - please - you must help me stop this madness.
Those horrible people are ruining so many lives.
And the town will die if I don’t find the proof soon.
Show me the way, help me.” He lowered his head onto his arms, the clarity of his request pounding in his head.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a bell, like the same sound he’d heard periodically over the last while and a gentle peaceful sensation overcame him. In his heart he knew, something was going to happen.
And it would be good.