The List (55 page)
Renny nodded. “It's gone. Not just my headache. Something I didn't even know was there is gone.”
“It is. Now ask the Holy Spirit to fill every room in your house.”
Renny didn't need convincing. “Lord Jesus, send the Holy Spirit into every part of who I am. I give myself totally up to you.”
Peace came. Then, quiet joy was followed by a confidence in God's goodness. Over it all, an assurance of hope for the future flowed into the newly cleansed and yielded vessel.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you, Lord,” Jenkins responded.
“Can we wait a minute before doing anything else?” Renny asked. “I need to process what's happening to me.”
The two men sat back, both enjoying the presence of the only One who could satisfy the deepest place of need within the human soul. For several minutes, they had silent church.
Jenkins spoke first, “I appreciate you thanking me, Renny, but there are other people who deserve more credit than I do. When I was with the Lord this afternoon, he reminded me of an incident in the life of Moses. As the Israelites were on their journey to the Promised Land, a group of raiders known as the Amalekites began to harass them. Moses sent a military force commanded by his aide Joshua to fight them. Meanwhile, Moses, together with his brother Aaron and a man named Hur, stood on a mountain to watch the battle. At first the Israelites were losing, but when Moses lifted his hands in prayer to heaven, the Israelites began to win. But there was a problem. Moses' arms grew tired, and when he lowered his hands, the Amalekites began to defeat Joshua and his men. To solve the dilemma, Moses sat on a rock while Aaron and Hur held up his hands until Israel won the battle.”
“How does that apply to me?”
“You have an Aaron and a Hur, two people who are willing to do what it takes to ensure your victory.”
“Agnes Flowers and Daisy Stokes?”
“Yes. They deserve your thanks. They've sustained the fight in the heat of the day when you didn't even know there was a battle being fought.”
“You're right.” Renny stood. “Now, what do we need to do?”
Jenkins shook his head. “I don't know. The Lord only showed me the strategy for winning the battle in you. What do you think needs to happen?”
Renny thought, then remembered. “Do you know anything about King Josiah?”
Jenkins listened carefully to Renny's story about the prophesied connection between himself and the ancient king of Judah. “There is something to it,” he said when Renny finished. “Your next step is to ask the Lord to bring it forward to apply it to today. I'll pray, too.”
“When will I see you again?”
“I'll be by in the morning. One other thing. Did Mrs. Stokes fax the financial information sheet to my secretary?”
“I asked her to. You didn't receive it?”
“I haven't gone by the office, but I'll check on the way home.”
Renny bit his lip. “There's one other thing I'd like to do before you leave.”
“What is it?”
“I want us to pray for Jo.”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
Renny prayed, “Father, please forgive me for my role in Jo's illness. I repent of my involvement with the power connected to the List and cancel every curse against her, especially those I initiated through my involvement with evil last Friday night. I pray again the promises you gave me for her deliverance from death in Psalm 23. In the name of Jesus, amen.”
“Amen. Like I said, you're a fast learner.”
LaRochette awoke in a cold sweat. He was no stranger to evil, but the raw power and thinly veiled ferocity of the dark forms in the room scared even him.
“What do you want?” he said, his voice trembling.
“You.”
“What?” his voice cracked.
“You need us; we need you.”
“But why?”
“Just say yes,” the voice said with a force that LaRochette could not resist.
“Yes!” he cried out, and the black forms poured in through his open mouth.
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
R
OMANS 14:10, KJV
D
o you think your lawyer would talk to me?” Morgan said from his bunk when Renny finally returned to his cell. Abercrombie was already asleep.
“Why?”
“Listen. I've had as many lawyers as you have fingers and toes, but I've never heard of one spending as much time with a godforsaken accused as yours has with you.”
“It's easy. I'm not godforsaken.”
“What do you mean?”
“I'm not godforsaken.”
“Oh, are you religious?”
“Not the way you think. I used to have enough religion to make me occasionally uncomfortable. Now I have enough to make me regret my years without it.”
“Ha! Your years of regret. Think about mine.”
Morgan grew quiet. After a few minutes, he said, “Are you asleep?”
“Almost.”
“Wake up for a minute and tell me what happened to you.”
An hour later, Renny went to sleep with a smile on his face.
In the morning, Renny was eating the last bite of powdered eggs when a guard rapped on the bars. “Jacobson. Your lawyer's here to see you.”
“I can't believe it. I can't believe it,” Morgan said.
“Believe, Winston, believe.”
Jenkins was wearing a gray suit, white shirt, and burgundy tie. “Going to court?” Renny asked.
“Yes, I have a motion at 9:00
A.M
. in another case, and I'll talk to the assistant D.A. about you as soon as she has a minute.”
“OK. What brings you here so early?”
“The sheet your landlady faxed me. It may help us.”
“It's amazing, isn't it? But I don't see how it can help me with an attempted burglary charge.”
“It can't. I was thinking more about the Josiah prophecy. What if I took it to the IRS?”
“Jo thought about the IRS early on. I guess they could audit everyone on the List and start asking questions. But with all the overseas accounts, I doubt there is a paper trail in the U.S. clear enough to follow.”
“Well, I'd like to contact an IRS agent I know in Charleston about it.”
“Fine. I think I gave up $16 million plus my percentage of the corpus of the List when we prayed yesterday.”
“Any regrets?”
“None.”
“OK. I'll get back with you later today.”
“If things go well, will I get out tomorrow?”
“Yes, if the judge accepts a plea with probation.”
“Thanks.”
A. L. caught up with Assistant D.A. Adams around eleven. He gave her a bare-bones account of Renny's situation and obtained her agreement not to oppose a first offender petition. They decided to meet in Judge Kincaid's chambers in the morning and review the case with the judge before court began.
Back in his office, A. L. called the IRS regional office in Charleston. “Greg Barnwell, please.”
A voice with a molasses-thick Southern drawl answered. “Barnwell, heah.”
“Greg, it's A. L. Jenkins.”
“How are you doing, my friend?”
“Can't complain. ListenâI have a client with a situation you may be interested in.”
A. L. gave a thumbnail summary of the information on the financial sheet and Renny's version of the functioning of the List.
“Amazing. Are there any Barnwells on the sheet?”
“No. Why?”
“I didn't think so. It would be nice to have some of that money, but my great-great-grandpappy lived in a shack on stilts and caught crayfish for supper.”
“How about my ancestors?” Jenkins responded. “They probably called the original members of the group âmassah.'”
“True. Well, if we could get some of that money, it would fund a whole heap of pork-barrel projects for our friends in Washington.”
“And give me credit on next year's tax bill.”
“Now, A. L. You know we don't give anything to anybody for any reason at any time. However, if this works out, I'm sure an âattaboy' would be in order for both of us.”
“Just do your best.” A. L. chuckled. “Mr. Jacobson says the information on the sheet may be stale in a few days. Apparently they are considering a transfer to an account in the Cayman Islands.”
“That's a black hole we can't shine a light into right now. Why don't you fax me the sheet and let me talk with the big boss right away.”
“I'll send it as soon as we hang up.”
In thirty minutes, A. L.'s secretary buzzed his office. “Mr. Barnwell on the phone.”
“A. L. Are you sitting down on your big rear end?”
“Yes. What's up?”
“I got the information and talked with Mr. Blankenship. Do you remember the names listed on the bottom, you know, the two Swiss bankers and a man named Carlos Parmero?”
“Yes.”
“Where would you guess someone named Parmero lives?”
“Switzerland? Italy?”
“No. Colombia. Not the capital of our fair state, but Colombia the country in South America. The phone number on the sheet is for an office in MedellÃn, Colombia, the drug center of the Western Hemisphere.”
“All right.”
“That's not all. Mr. Blankenship received an arrest notice issued by the FBI in Miami a couple of days ago. We get a copy to see if there are assets of high-profile defendants subject to seizure in our region.”
“And . . . ?”
“A man named Carlos Parmero with a Colombian passport was on a yacht that caught fire and issued a distress call near Key West. The Coast Guard responded and took the people on board into Miami. Parmero's name surfaced, and a routine check triggered FBI involvement. Bingo. Parmero turned out to be one of the key guys involved in handling funds for the South American drug czars.”