Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
It was only temporary. She would be out soon.
Victoria tried not to look at the bars that surrounded her in the holding cell at the police station. She stood in the middle of the square cage. She couldn’t sit in such a place. She wouldn’t be there long enough to need to.
At least she was the only person in the damp room that housed two other cells. An unpleasant stench was her only companion. She tried not to ponder what could have created such an odor, tried not to imagine having to sleep there on the cot in the corner.
Dad would secure her release soon.
She almost hadn’t phoned him. Since he’d already blamed and berated her for being questioned by the police, being arrested would bring even greater wrath upon her.
But she also knew he wouldn’t waste time lecturing her or doling out consequences yet.
He would wait until he secured her release.
With all his faults, he always protected his children and family from physical harm or public embarrassment, at least as much as he could.
He would see that she was released and well-represented, should the murder charge come to court.
The possibility swelled in her throat, thwarting her ability to breathe and remain calm.
“I’ll find the truth and get you out.” Cillian’s last words to her rushed to the front of her mind. The look in his eyes as he’d said those words, a sparking blend of ferocity and passion, had comforted and frightened her at the same time.
Lord, please don’t let him do anything foolish that will get him into trouble or put him in harm’s way.
He’d already nearly gotten himself arrested trying to protect her from the police.
The situation was the ultimate irony—rebellious Cillian Doherty promising to rescue her, the rule-follower, from jail.
She always followed the rules, at least according to Cillian and her family. She certainly always tried to. Yet here she was, incarcerated.
The circumstances might make her reconsider whether obeying the rules, following directions, and submitting to those in authority was the correct choice.
But her mother had modeled those life choices. And she had thrived, beloved and respected by all, even her exacting husband, as she maintained peaceful relationships. Her friends had flocked to her, seeking counsel for their marriages and work relationships.
More importantly, Christ commanded His followers to submit to people in authority and be peacemakers. As with many of God’s commands, following them did not guarantee pleasant results.
Sometimes, apparently, one could even end up behind bars.
A clang jumped her pulse.
The large, heavy door of the holding area opened, and a female officer stepped through, the same one who had searched Victoria and given her the horrid orange uniform to wear. The officer held the door open as if someone else was going to appear.
Something black and silver emerged from the doorway first. Then feet.
A wheelchair. Spring.
Victoria’s heart warmed at the sight of her sister as Spring wheeled herself into the room with strong, smooth rotations.
Spring rolled past the first side of bars and rounded the corner closer to where Victoria stood. Then she effortlessly angled the chair to face Victoria through the bars.
Pride swelled in Victoria’s chest. To think that only four months ago, Spring had refused to even try to push her wheelchair. And now she was poetry in motion, in every area of her life.
Spring looked at the officer, apparently waiting for her to step out of the room and let the door close behind her.
The police would’ve thoroughly searched Spring and would be watching them on the cameras, of course.
But it seemed she wanted a sense of privacy as much as Victoria did in this cold space that simultaneously felt exposed and claustrophobic.
As soon as they were alone, Spring aimed her gaze at Victoria and then the bars between them, her large brown eyes reflecting more sadness than Victoria felt herself.
“I didn’t think they would allow visitors.” Victoria mustered a small smile. “At least not this soon.”
Spring’s tongue slid over her lips to moisten them. “Dad pulled some strings.”
Of course he had. “Was he able to secure my release?”
A disheartening frown shaped Spring’s mouth. “He’s ready to post bail just as soon as the judge okays it. But the decision won’t be made until tomorrow.”
Victoria’s stomach twisted and her heart rate increased. She would have to stay in this place overnight. She couldn’t do that.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
The Scripture verse sprang instantly to mind—God’s answer to her fear. He would get her through this, somehow.
She smoothed her features. Hopefully, she hadn’t let her momentary apprehension show.
Spring and her other siblings needed her to be strong, not wallowing in fear and self-pity.
Oh, how she hoped this situation wouldn’t shake them or unsettle them in any way.
She would never forgive herself if it did.
She managed another smile. “Well, thank you for the update. I’m grateful I might be released tomorrow. Thanks for coming all this way to tell me.”
“I didn’t want you to be alone.” Spring’s gaze traveled up and away, as if surveying the room. Was she thinking of the rehab center that had been her own prison for too many months?
Sadness squeezed Victoria’s ribs. “You don’t have to stay if this reminds you of the rehab center.”
Spring’s gaze jumped to Victoria as if the statement surprised her. Did she think Victoria had forgotten or not understood how she had felt then, when Spring’s paralysis was new and seemed to have destroyed her life?
“I’ve never given you enough credit. Or thanks.” Spring’s eyebrows lowered. “You’ve done so much for all of us. Me, especially. And I’m ashamed to say I’ve never thanked you for any of it.”
Victoria stepped closer to the bars, closer to her sister. “There’s no need to thank me.”
“But I want to.” Spring lifted her chin. “You stepped into Mom’s shoes for me and the other kids. And you’ve done an amazing job.”
Victoria stood silent. She’d never expected any of her siblings to recognize what she’d tried to do or thank her for the effort. She certainly didn’t deserve that.
“I’m sorry that I made your job more difficult through the years. I’ve been so ungrateful.”
“No.” Victoria moved near enough to see her sister through the gap in the bars. “I need to apologize for making you feel unworthy for so many years. I failed to help you and make sure you knew you were loved and valued.”
Spring shook her head. “That wasn’t your fault. Dad and I always had issues, and that’s the heart of it. But I was also looking in the wrong places for worth and purpose. I’ve found both in Jesus now.”
Victoria nodded, a witness to Spring’s transformation since she’d become more grounded in Christ and found her value in His love. “I’m so thankful for that.”
“Me, too.” Spring’s expression remained serious as she watched Victoria. “And I’m thankful you were there with me at the rehab center when Luke…”
Held them hostage. Spring didn’t need to finish the sentence for Victoria to know she was referring to the shooter that had held them and others at gunpoint for what had felt like an eternity.
“She knows how to do as she’s told.” The shooter’s comment about Victoria echoed in her memory, as fresh and sharp as if he’d just spoken.
She had done her best to cooperate, to keep the peace and keep the criminal calm—a difficult task while Spring’s now-fiancé, Torin, had kept angering the shooter with his attempts to free them.
But in these four months since it was over, she continually questioned her decision to cooperate with the shooter’s instructions that final time.
She had thought it was the right choice, the safer choice for Spring and the other vulnerable hostages.
But when she’d learned what had happened afterward…
And here Spring was, thanking her. Regret squeezed Victoria’s throat. “Nonsense.” She could see the moment like it was yesterday, looking over her shoulder as she’d left Spring with a killer. “I should have stayed with you. Then perhaps you wouldn’t have almost been killed.”
“You had to leave me to save the others. You had to take Bradley to safety, and I’m so glad you did.”
It was kind of Spring to say so.
“When you left, it was like a wakeup call to me.” Spring’s fingers tightened on the arms of her wheelchair, and she glanced away.
“I hadn’t realized how badly I had been treating you until then.
And how wonderful you’d been to me. Not just when I was paralyzed but my whole life, especially since Mom…
” Spring landed her gaze on Victoria, her eyes glistening with moisture.
“Thank you, Victoria. Thank you for that night. I remember you woke me to tell me, just like I’d asked you to.
And you held me when I cried. ‘I’m here.
I love you.’” Two tears escaped and trailed down Spring’s cheeks.
“You kept saying that over and over.” She wiped the tears away with her fingers.
“And I really, really needed to hear it.”
The comforting words had come easily to Victoria that night, because her own breaking heart had yearned to hear them in her mother’s voice. She had ached to feel her mother’s arms around her, smoothing her forehead and telling her everything would be fine.
But there had been no comforter for her that night when her world had shattered. When she’d born the weight of her horrible mistake and the crushing pain of grief at the same time. When she’d become a mother to four children at the age of fifteen.
Encroaching tears burned as they reached her eyes. But she blinked them back, swallowing down the lump filling her throat. Spring still needed her to be strong. All of her siblings did. “I’m thankful the Lord used me, though I know I’ve fallen short many times through the years.”