Page 37 of Now or Never
Jesse Lee’s eyebrows rose, humor in his expression. “Your husband arrested me.”
Chapter Fifteen
“It’s not friendly, but it’s private.” Jesse Lee held the door for them, and Kenna went first into the small office with a metal desk and file cabinet.
The place was neat, but it was clear Jesse Lee Peterson used paper more than the ancient computer. On the wall on one side was a cat poster that said Hang In There and a print of a mountainside with Romans chapter12 verses 1 and 2 on it.
Jax motioned to a pair of nondescript chairs, and she chose one.
Kenna was trying to live in the present and take every moment as it came. She didn’t want to think about the past. Not even to recognize the good that had happened. She couldn’t think about any of it, or all of it crashed over her. “To be honest, I don’t really know what this is about.”
Jesse Lee wheeled himself behind the desk where a chair would have been. “It’s just a conversation. It can be about whatever you want.”
Kenna glanced at her husband, who looked totally unashamed. “I’ve been bamboozled.”
Jax shook his head, a grin on his face. “The story of how Jesse Lee and I met is also the story of the biggest blunder of mylife. Want to hear it?” He leaned back in the chair next to her, relaxing for what seemed like the first time in months.
Watching him let go of the undercurrent of tension allowed her to as well. “Go for it.”
“Jesse Lee was a suspect in a series of thefts of government property from a corporation that dealt with funds associated with covert operations.” Jax cleared his throat. “We figured out the suspect must have scaled the outside wall of the building and entered through a vent in the HVAC system big enough for a small person.”
“I couldn’t have done it because my shoulders are too wide.” Jesse Lee grinned.
Kenna smiled.
“On paper he was the prime suspect. Only when we kicked his door in to arrest him did we realize there’s a problem with him having scaled a wall.”
“Maybe he’s Spiderman?” Kenna winked at her husband. “You still arrested him?”
“If he didn’t do it, he likely knew who did. There was a strong enough connection that we brought him in. I figured he just had a partner.”
“I didn’t,” Jesse Lee told her.
“And you didn’t do it?”
“Oh, I did it.” He chuckled. “But I didn’t take the money. Someone in the company was doing that. All I was doing was planting incriminating information in their system, so someone realized that embezzlement was happening.”
“Jesse Lee took a deal for exposing the real crime,” Jax explained. “He did some jail time, but only a few years.”
The other man shrugged. “I didn’t have the, uh, respect for the law then that I do now.”
Kenna glanced between them. “How does that get you guys from cop and suspect to friends?”
“Prison Bible study.” Jesse Lee tapped the Bible Kenna hadn’t noticed on his desk. “I got saved. I knew Jax was a Christian, so I wrote him a letter. He responded, and we struck up a friendship for a while. He helped me figure out what to do when I got out, and it’s been years but I’m real glad to see you, buddy.”
Jax nodded. “Me, too. And we needed a friendly face.”
“It’s good you were in the neighborhood.” Jesse Lee looked at her. “I know a little bit about trauma. I know what it’s like to rebuild your life from nothing, more than once. And I know what it’s like when it feels as if your faith has slipped away.”
She swallowed against the knot in her throat. “Jax told you?”
“Only a rough overview.” Jesse Lee leaned back in his wheelchair, lacing his fingers over his abdomen. “Enough to know I’d like to help you, if I can.”
“It’s not like I don’twantmy faith back.” She shook her head. “It’s that I don’t knowhowto reach that part of me. When I try to grasp it, it’s almost like it’s gone.”
Jesse Lee nodded. “I doubt I’ll tell you anything you don’t already know. That’s not what this is. It’s more about reframing what you do know so you can start to see it in a different way.” He glanced at Jax. “Maybe both of you, not just you Kenna.”
“Even if I fix what’s wrong with me, there’s still an enemy out there. The fear will still be in me because it’s the reality of our lives. We face this stuff every day.” She scrunched up her nose, unsure why she felt the need to unburden herself with this person she’d just met. Probably because Jax had found her a safe place to talk where she wouldn’t be judged for losing her faith, and as a bonus she could be certain that he wasn’t withDominatus.
