Courageous (41 page)

Electricity jumped across the auditorium.

First one man stood. Adam saw William Barrett join him. Then two of Adam’s own pastors. He watched as Riley Cooper and other deputies from the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Department and officers from Albany Police stood. He saw firefighters he knew, including Caleb Holt. Even Tom Lyman pushed his arms down against his wheelchair and, with great effort, rose to his feet.

Throughout the room, some men wanted to stand but couldn’t bring themselves to. Others wanted to be anywhere else in the world. Adam caught the eye of a huge bald man who rose to his feet in the back row, a foot taller and two feet wider than anyone around him. No sooner had Brad Bronson stood than he appeared to realize he had done so. He walked to the back of the church as if to leave, then turned and stood against the wall.

Most of those who stood remained standing, their resolve growing. Some had yet to grasp the extent of commitment and dedication this decision would require, but no one doubted that something remarkable had happened.

For many men and their families, it marked a new beginning. A fresh chance to win a battle worth fighting and gain a treasure worth keeping.

After the service, people lined up to thank Adam and speak with him. He was so aware of his weakness and inability and his terror at speaking that he wasn’t even tempted toward pride. What had happened in that auditorium had been God’s doing. Yet in his heart he sensed God saying to him something he didn’t recall his earthly father ever saying: “Well done, my son.” It felt good to be content, not proud, yet not disappointed in himself.

As he made his way out the door with Victoria, Dylan, and Tom to join the other families for dinner at Campbell’s Steakhouse, he suddenly envisioned Emily’s approving smile. Maybe he was being sentimental, but he sensed it so profoundly he wondered if it was more than his imagination.

Chapter Forty-six

Almost a week later, on Saturday, Adam walked into the Dougherty County Jail and went to the check-in line, only to see a familiar face in front of him.

“Nathan! How was your week off?”

“Great family time. And feelin’ a lot better. Nice of the doctor to recommend time off after my arm was still killing me and I was shuffling around to serve warrants. I needed some recuperation!”

“You visiting Derrick?” Adam asked. “How’s he doing?”

“His heart’s open. Reads everything I give him. Before this is over, I think he’ll be a Jesus follower.”

“No kidding?”

“There are some good men in this jail. Solid Bible studies. Lots of temptations, sure, but Derrick goes to the chapel services and meets with the chaplain. I told Derrick I’ll help him, but he’s got to take the initiative.”

“TJ and Antoine are in maximum security, right?” Adam asked.

“Oh yeah. And Derrick’s in medium. When I met with the warden and told him how Derrick betrayed TJ to save my life, he assured me they’d never be near each other.”

Adam put his hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “You said Derrick saved your life, and now you’re saving his. Your part will take a lot longer. But the results will last for eternity. I told Victoria something that really struck me—you ran a prominent gang leader off the road twice. The first time, when you grabbed the wheel, you saved your son’s life. The second time, when you shot him in the shoulder, you saved Derrick’s life. Two crashed cars, both driven by TJ, two young men saved.”

“You sayin’ I should crash more cars?” Nathan laughed. “Anyway, we’ll see about Derrick. You know, at first Jade really liked him and Kayla didn’t, but she changed her mind. I was the hard guy dad who kept Derrick at a distance. Then, once they found out what he was into, Jade and Kayla wrote him off and wonder why I’m so interested in him now.”

“What do you tell them?”

“The grace of God. William Barrett reached out to me. I’m reaching out to Derrick. He said he’s got nobody—well, now he’s got me. It’s too early to say, but who knows? One day he might be a son to me like I am to William. Meanwhile, I get to teach my family about grace. We don’t help people because they deserve it, but because God tells us to love others as He loves us. Hey, maybe someday I’ll visit TJ or Antoine.”

Adam blinked. “Wow. That thought never occurred to me.”

“Stranger things have happened when God’s unleashes His grace. How’s Dylan’s Bible study with Tom Lyman?”

“Great. You should hear him go on about it. Two of his buddies come with him now. They memorize Scripture. If you’d told me six months ago my son would ask to spend two hours a week with an old man at a retirement center, I would have said you were nuts. But Tom’s like a grandfather to him.”

“Makes sense—he’s become like a father to you. You and Bobby Shaw doing well?”

Adam nodded. “He’s slowly coming out of his shell. Once he trusts me, I think we’ll be fine. Javy and Carmen and the kids came over last night. Yesterday he signed up for a naturalization class to help him become a US citizen!”

“Fantastic!” Nathan slapped Adam’s hands.

“And Frank Tyson’s paying for the class! You know, I keep thinking about last week at Pearly’s when Javy read us the letter from his father telling him he’d be honored to fly up here and visit his son. When Javy cried, we all lost it.”

Nathan nodded. “I wasn’t prepared for the effect on our newest group member.”

“Yeah. Did you ever imagine you’d see Brad Bronson cry like a baby?”

“He said it was allergies.”

“And Brad told me the other day he’s thinking of reaching out to a son and daughter in their thirties he’s been out of contact with for years. Amazing.”

The visitation deputy looked at Nathan. “You can go in now, Deputy Hayes. That’s D building; here’s your pass.”

Nathan put his arm around Adam, who reciprocated.

Just then a strong, deep voice said from behind, “If you two would finish with your public display of affection, we could get this line movin’.”

Adam turned . . . Sheriff Gentry.

“I was just . . . never mind. Good to see you, sir.”

Gentry nodded. Then smiled—tentatively.

Nathan was just a few steps ahead of Adam when the visitation deputy asked, “Who are you here for, Corporal Mitchell?”

Adam said, “Mike Hollis.”

She looked at the charts. “He’s in D building, too.”

“Wait up,” Adam called to Nathan. “We’re headed the same way.”

One at a time they spread out their arms as security patted them down and checked their weapons in lockers.

Nathan looked at Adam. “Mike Hollis? No kidding? I figured you were seeing Shane.”

“I saw him a few days ago. As for Mike, you raised the bar for me by visiting Derrick. I can stand back and watch you, or I can get in there and try to jump higher myself.”

The two men walked toward D-block in the dim cinder-block hallway, a sterile land bridge between two worlds.

Nathan Hayes came to visit a young man who’d had designs on his daughter and whose allegiance had been to the gang leader who’d abducted Nathan’s son, beat up his partner, and tried to murder him with a shotgun.

Adam Mitchell came to visit the man who’d sold drugs to his son and, under the influence, killed Adam’s daughter.

It took courage for them to walk this hallway to extend grace to these men. But it was easier to walk it side by side than alone.

In the silence punctuated only by their footsteps, both men thought not of themselves but of a Man who once made a long, lonely march up a hill, who in the world’s worst hour did the most courageous thing ever done.

At the end of His climb, He spread out His arms and permitted guilty men to drive nails into His hands and feet. He endured untold agony to give undeserving men—like Mike Hollis, Derrick Freeman, Nathan Hayes, and Adam Mitchell—a second chance.

To most people, none of this—not what these men were doing now, nor what He did two thousand years ago—made sense.

From the outside, grace and truth, honor and courage, seldom do.

Be strong and very courageous.

Joshua 1:7

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . .

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

Adam (Alex Kendrick, left) and his partner, Shane (Kevin Downes), carefully search a house where they’ve arrived

Sheriff’s deputies chase a suspect who has taken off running through Albany, Georgia.

Adam sits with daughter, Emily (Lauren Etchells), and questions his son, Dylan (Rusty Martin).

The Hayes family looks to God’s Word for wisdom in facing life’s challenges.