A Storybook Finish (16 page)

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That morning several students bounded up to Jeff, ready to

hand in their money from the sale. Jeff nodded at them, taking

the money while rummaging around in the drawer for the

manila envelope that held the checks and cash from the last

several days. His hand patted around the inside of the drawer.

“Just a minute,” he told the students. He slid open the drawer.

No manila envelope. A jolt of fear passed through him. He

pulled out the length of the drawer and sorted through every

folder. He then opened the other drawers and pawed through

them. Oh, God, help me. Where is the money envelope?

Students began filing into the classroom for their history

lesson. They sat in their seats, staring wide-eyed, while Jeff

continued to ransack his desk. When at last he glanced up, he

saw the students looking at him in confusion. “Uh … open up

your textbooks to … to …” He shut his eyes for a brief

moment. “Just read the next section.” Where could the money

be? He searched every drawer then began hunting around

the classroom. The students’ eyes followed his every move.

Whispers abounded. Jeff came back and collapsed in his seat,

running a hand through his hair.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Wheeler?” one of the students

inquired.

“I just misplaced something.”

“I hope it’s not the money)” another student said.

The whispers grew to a tumult. Jeff ignored them and once

more shuffled through his desk. Perhaps he had inadvertently

brought the envelope home in his briefcase. He went through

the leather case but found no envelope. His home was bursting

with paperwork he would have to search through. Why is

this happening to me? If only I had locked that drawer or, better

yet, put the money in the front office as I was supposed to.

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I should’ve never left it here in the classroom.

The second period class came in, bringing Troy, Jewel and

Robbie. Jeff attempted to teach them but found himself

unable to concentrate. Jewel and Troy exchanged glances.

Robbie shook his head and passed notes to fellow students.

When class ended, several students came up to him, including

the infamous triangle, to ask what was wrong.

“I can’t find the class money I’ve been collecting the last

few days. Have any of you seen it?” Jeff stared at Troy and

Jewel. “You both wanted the money for a down payment on

the band. Did you take it?”

“Of course not, Mr. Wheeler,” Jewel said. She looked over

at Troy. “We didn’t take any money:”

“Where did you have it last?” Robbie asked.

“In the drawer here.” Jeff ran his hands through his hair

“This is a disaster. If I don’t find that money—never mind.

Go ahead to your next class.” Jeff left immediately for the

front office, hoping he had placed the envelope in the school

safe as he had done previous times. He searched through it

but found nothing other than the money he had placed there

late last week. He then went back to his room to check the

figures. His heart sank. Several hundred dollars were missing.

What am I going to do? Worry and fear weighed him down

to the breaking point. He groped for his cell phone. He had

to hear Lindsay’s voice. Deep down inside he was grateful

they had reconciled. He knew she would have the right words

in this situation. Instead, an electronic voice mail answered.

He left a message of anguish and hung up.

After school was over, Jeff immediately returned home and

tore his house upside down, searching for the money. What is

everyone going to say? Will they think I stole it? He whirled,

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staring into the small cracked mirror hanging above his

bureau. His deep blue eyes that Lindsay admired now

appeared dull and lifeless. His hair stood up like some wild

man’s. What am I going to do? If I don’t find it—” He

leaned heavily against the bureau. Someone must have taken

it, but who?

He sat down on the bed amid the sheets and blankets

tossed about in a fury after rising for work that morning. He

tried to decide what the next step should be. He would have

to do something quickly. If word of this spread among the

faculty, they would no more trust him with a piece of chalk

than with anything important in the school. He might even

lose his job. Jeff pressed his eyes shut, thanking God he had

spent some time reading the Bible this morning. He needed

God’s presence more than ever.

The doorbell rang. He tensed before rising to his feet and

venturing to the living room. He peered between the blinds.

Lindsay stood there.

“Jeff, I know you’re in there,” her voice called. “Please open

the door.”

He did so, slowly, only to find her arms thrown about him.

“I’m so sorry to hear about what happened. Have you found

the money?”

“No.” He stepped aside to allow her in. He didn’t care that

the place looked like a tornado had passed through. Papers

were everywhere. Books lay scattered across the rug. Cabinets

were wide open with contents spilled on the floor. The scene

illustrated his circumstances at the moment. He pushed some

papers off the sofa for her to sit down.

“Tell me what happened.”

Jeff told her how yesterday he had counted out the money

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and put it in the envelope. He didn’t bother to confess that he

had been daydreaming about their relationship at the time

and that he had forgotten to deposit the money at the front

office. “Usually I try to keep the drawer locked when I leave

the classroom. I guess I didn’t do it that day.”

“Does anyone else know you were keeping money in the

desk?”

“Well, the kids have seen me with the envelope, but I usually take care of it. The only one I specifically talked to about the money in the drawer was Troy.”

He paused. “Troy wouldn’t

have taken it.”

“I hope not,” Lindsay began.

“He was interested in getting together with Jewel and

booking a band for the prom. I made a passing comment

about the money. I wanted him to know how much we had

raised.” His hand pushed through strands of hair. “What am I

going to do?”

“We’ll just have to screen everyone and find out who stole it.”

“Right. These kids aren’t going to say anything. I started to

see a great change in the classes after we came back from

Baltimore. They were taking an interest in history and asking

questions. They scored well on the quiz I gave. Even Troy was

showing an interest in history again. Everyone was excited

about the money they had raised. Now this.” He folded his

arms in frustration.

Lindsay lowered her face, staring at the carpet, with hair like

rivers of molasses showering around her shoulders. To his surprise

she said, “I’m sure I didn’t help any, telling you about Ron

and everything while all this was happening. I’m sorry. I wish I

knew what to do. I’ve had some things stolen, as you know. I

thought having my checks forged was the worst disaster in my

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life. At any rate, you should report this to the school principal

and the police. This is a robbery, you know.”

“Yeah, and it will be my head in the noose when word of

this leaks out. Don’t you see, Lindsay? This could be the end

of my teaching career. Everything I’ve worked so hard for is

gone. And it’s my fault.” He shut his eyes in despair, hoping

that when he opened them he would see the envelope sitting

on the coffee table.

Instead, he found Lindsay beside him on the couch, her

arm encircling him, imparting comfort that he cherished with

every part of his being. “We’ll get through this,” she whispered.

“Somehow we will.”

151 Lindsay could not get the predicament with Jeff out of her

mind. She spent time in prayer, asking God for wisdom

above all, clues as to what might have happened to the money.

The close bond she had forged with Jeffmade her all the more

conscious of his pain. Days passed, and each day Jeff called to

tell her no money had been found. Lindsay even called Jewel

to try to discover some clues. Jewel told her she had no idea

what might have happened. When Lindsay asked her about

her friends, Jewel blatantly denied their involvement.

“I wonder if Jewel might know something,” she said to Jeff

on the phone that night, sipping on a cup of herbal tea in the

hopes it might calm her.

“What do you mean?”

“I tried to find out if she’d heard any rumors, particularly

from Troy or Robbie. Jewel was quick to deny it, a bit too quick

in my opinion.”

“Everyone’s going to deny it. I’d call the police in a heartbeat

if someone confessed.”

“So you’re pretty confident it was stolen then.”

“What do you think?” His voice rose in agitation. “Do you

think I embezzled it? Everyone else seems to think so.”

The insinuation shocked her senses. “Of course not. Most

likely some student saw where you kept the money and made

offwith it while you were preoccupied.”

“I hope whoever did this is having a huge crisis right now,”

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Jeff said through clenched teeth. This thing has been following

me like the plague. The department chair has called me

careless and inept. He said I’d better find out what happened

soon. He sighed. I pray that I’m wrong.”

“Wrong about what?”

“Wrong that it could be Troy. He’s the only one I specifically

talked to about the money. He would have no reason to steal it,

would he?” Jeff seemed to wrestle with that very question.

“You’ll have to keep your eyes and ears open to anything.

And pray.”

I have prayed, and I’m still praying.

Lindsay had, too, though she didn’t say it. She hung up the

phone, feeling sorry for Jeff and sensing her own determination

to the perpetrator. But how does one go about tracking

down the guilty party in a large school? It could be

anyone attending Western High. She would need inside

information somehow. Perhaps she could offer a reward.

Lindsay turned to the computer and set to work designing

a poster. She put in huge letters: UTake back your school from

criminals! REWARD for information leading to the return of

the junior class prom money. Tips kept anonymous.”

I hope this helps you, Jeff. There isn’t much else I can do. Maybe

it would encourage someone to come forward. Although the

reward would not match the crime by any means, perhaps it

would lead them to the perpetrator.

Lindsay arrived early at Western High to put up the posters

on all the conspicuous bulletin boards around school. She had

just placed one in the hallway when an older woman stopped

to survey the poster over the rims of her glasses.

“A reward poster for what?”

“For information leading to the person or persons who

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might have stolen the junior class money.” Lindsay explained.

“The students will say anything to get the reward money

you know. They’ll lead you On a wild goose chase.”

“They’ll only get the reward if they find the one who stole

it. And it would be helpful if the teachers could also keep

their eyes and ears open. We could use everyone’s help.”

“I have no interest in bailing out a teacher who had no

business putting a large sum of cash in an unlocked drawer in

the classroom. Plain foolishness.” The teacher began moving

down the hall.

Lindsay bristled. “And no one has the right to steal hard

earned money from a student function, even if the money was

sitting out in broad daylight. It’s a shame We can’t trust our

own teachers and students in a school. We must keep everything

under lock and key, twenty-four hours a day.”

The teacher turned. “Perhaps you don’t realize it, but this is

the real world.”

“It’s a pretty sad world if you ask me. There’s something

wrong when crimes like this are committed so easily. When is

something going to be done?”

The teacher disappeared into a classroom, leaving Lindsay

to stew over the exchange. How the teacher could hurl the

blame on Jeff and forget the one who committed the crime

burned her to the core. She stuffed the stapler and tape back

into the bag and marched down the hall, only to find Jeff

approaching her from the opposite direction.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, somewhat bewildered.

“Trying to catch a thief. I’ve put up posters.”

“Huh?”

She took out one of the posters from her briefcase. “We

can’t let this juvenile delinquent get away with it, Jeff.”

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“Thanks, Lindsay, but you’d better take them down. The

school won’t like it one bit.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re right. I don’t want to make

things worse than they already are.” She put the poster away.

“I’m only trying to save your neck from the guillotine. You

have a nice neck, too.”

He stepped toward her, his blue eyes softening, his lips turned

slightly upward. “You’re something else. Why do you want to hang out with a guy like me who can’t take care of money?” “Jeff, you had a bad day. We all

forget things. I’ve forgotten

things. I’ll wager no one in this school is perfect, even though

some think they are. They shouldn’t be throwing stones at

you. But if they do, you have God on your side. And He’S big

enough to get us out of this slight crisis.”

“A slight crisis, eh?” He laughed. “Lindsay, what would I do

without you?” His arms began to encircle her.

Lindsay pushed him away slightly, aware of the students

beginning to file into the building for morning classes. “Jeff,

not here,” she whispered fiercely.

“Later then. As it is, I’ve been doing some thinking. I know

we didn’t go to Fort McHenry for nothing. I want to get the

victory in this. This is war. I may have been caught off guard

by my stupidity, but I still plan to be in my fort with the

American flag waving above me at the end of it all.”

“It’s the story of life, Jeff. The hero must win out in the

end, with the sword in one hand and the shield in the other.

Only then can the hero and heroine live happily ever after.”

The smile on his face turned into a broad grin of delight

before he picked up his briefcase and moved toward his classroom.

She was glad to see his resolve. The heroes and heroines

154 of the past had encouraged a new hero to go forth in his conquest

for good. Warmth rushed through her at that moment,

and more than just the warmth of attraction. She had a true

bond with this man that no trial could break. They had been

put together for a reason, and they would make it through

this crisis.

When school let out later that afternoon, Lindsay placed

herself strategically near the front door, keeping an eye out for

Jewel. She prayed beforehand that Jewel wouldn’t be surrounded

by Troy or Robbie. A belief brewed in the back of

her brain that Jewel might be willing to help her discover who

had taken the money from Jeff’s desk. Lindsay felt she had

enough of a friendship with the teenager after the meetings at

the diner to warrant this experiment. She hoped beyond hope

that Jewel might be the ticket to exonerating Jeff.

Jewel finally emerged from the building, her curly hair

flouncing around her shoulders. Lindsay smiled. Jewel walked

alone, just as she had prayed. Lindsay moseyed on over, pretending

to head for an appointment inside the building. “Hi,

Jewel.”

“Hey, Miss Thomas, what’s up?”

“Not much. What’s up with you?”

“I have a ton of work to do.” Ringlets of hair partially hid her

face as she gazed at the grass. “I have a vocab test tomorrow in

Mrs. Coates’s English class. If I don’t pass it, I might flunk. I

already failed her last two.”

“Vocabulary wasn’t my strong point, either. Some friends

used to quiz me.”

“I asked Troy to help me, but he says he’s too busy with his

own schoolwork. Robbie got a new job after school, helping

out at a pizza place, or so he’s been telling me. I probably