The List (62 page)

Jo put her index finger to her cheek. “Either ‘Once upon a time' or ‘It was a dark and stormy night.'”

“That's an easy choice,” Renny responded. “It was a dark and stormy night . . . ” Renny talked until they brought Jo's lunch and finished his summary of the past days' events as she ate the last bite of dessert.

“All right,” Jo said after asking a few questions. “Would it be accurate for me to tell my mother that I'm in love with an unemployed, convicted felon with an outstanding warrant for his arrest?”

“As long as you keep the I'm-in-love part, you can tell her whatever you want.”

“So, when do we get married?”

Renny jumped up from the chair. “Do they have a chaplain on call here at the hospital?”

“Let's allow a few days for planning. Get Mom, and we'll tell her.”

Renny was unable to reach Mrs. Stokes with the news, but he called Mama A to let her know.

“Congratulations. Have you set a date?”

“Not yet.”

“Have you talked to Mrs. Stokes?”

“No, she didn't answer.”

“She called me a couple hours ago. She wasn't feeling well and asked me to pray. I'm concerned about her.”

“I'll phone a friend in Charlotte and have him check on her.”

When Morris Hogan arrived at the house, he had to break a pane in the kitchen door to get inside. Daisy Stokes was unconscious on the floor with Brandy lying beside her, resting her head on the old woman's arm. Morris called 911, followed the ambulance to the hospital, and dialed the number for Jo's hospital room. Renny answered.

“She had a heart attack,” Morris said. “She was alive but unconscious at the time they admitted her to cardiac ICU.”

“Oh no.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don't know yet. I need to be in two places at once. Can you take care of Brandy until I get back?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Morris. I'll explain things to you as soon as I come home.”

Renny put down the receiver and told Jo the news.

“You need to go to her, Renny,” Jo said without hesitation.

“But I just got here.”

“And I'm fine. We're going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

Renny started to protest but knew she was right. “OK.”

“As soon as I get out of here I'm coming to join you.”

“Are you up to doing that?”

“Yes. I'll be able to do anything I need to do.”

It was midnight when Renny's plane touched down in Charlotte. He made it home, greeted a wildly excited Brandy, and fell exhausted into bed. The next morning he was not able to see Mrs. Stokes, whose status was critical but stable. He drove back home and called Mama A.

“She's in God's hands, Renny. Whatever happens.”

“There's nothing I need to do?” he asked.

“I'm sure she would like to see you. That's all I can say.”

Renny called Jo's hospital room, and no one answered. He tried Carol at their house, and a familiar voice answered.

“You're home?”

“Been here a couple of hours.”

“How do you feel?”

“A little weak, but I get stronger with every meal. I've already booked a ticket and will be in Charlotte at 5:05 this afternoon.”

Renny wrote down the flight number. “I'll meet you at the gate.”

Just before lunch, Renny called A. L. “Any news?”

“The whole town's buzzing about the arrests. You wouldn't believe some of the wild rumors. The funny thing to me is that the wildest rumor is nowhere near as bizarre as the actual truth.”

“Did you talk to the judge?”

“Yes. He'd already received a call from the U.S. Attorney's office. Whoever talked to him must have told him you were some kind of national hero. He dismissed the warrants and told me he would entertain a motion suspending the balance of your probation and clearing your record under the first offender act immediately. I made an oral motion, which he granted. I expect to have an order by this afternoon.”

“Great!” Renny felt another boulder roll off his shoulders.

“That's not all,” A. L. said. “Are you sitting down?”

“Go for it.”

“There is the possibility of a reward.”

“Reward?”

“Yes, something through the DEA. A bureaucrat from Washington phoned and asked me some questions about the information that led to the arrests. Your name was the only one worth mentioning.”

“How much?”

“If they obtain a conviction or guilty plea, it would be $150,000.”

Renny laughed. “Is that per defendant?”

“I asked that myself,” A. L. responded with a chuckle. “It's per transaction, and the government considers this whole matter a single transaction.”

“Of course they do. Well, at least I can pay my lawyer and my credit card bill.”

“And have a little left over, I'd imagine,” A. L. said.

Renny and Jo drove directly to the hospital from the airport. On the way he told her about the possibility of the reward. “It's better than nothing,” he said nonchalantly.

“Nothing! That's a lot more than nothing, and, unlike the millions you didn't get, it's clean.”

“You're getting your spunkiness back, I see.”

One of the nurses in ICU asked them to wait while she checked Mrs. Stokes's status. In a minute she returned. “She's very, very weak. You can both go back for a couple of minutes.”

Daisy Stokes's small figure looked even smaller wrapped in intravenous tubing and surrounded by banks of monitors. But she was conscious and managed a weak smile when Renny walked into view. Jo followed, and when Mrs. Stokes saw her, a tear glistened in the corner of her eye. She motioned them to come closer.

In a hoarse voice she said to Renny, “Let me have your hand.” She held it and looked at Jo, who extended her hand as well. Mrs. Stokes put Renny's on top of Jo's and then rested her own hand on top of them both.

“Blessing,” she said. “Blessing,” she repeated, a little stronger.

Renny and Jo waited as she closed her eyes and breathed heavily a few times.

“On the nightstand in my bedroom—” She paused, attempted to speak further, but slipped into unconsciousness.

Jo gently picked up Mrs. Stokes's hand from its place on top of theirs and laid it beside her. A nurse came in and indicated that time was up.

Renny and Jo rode in silence to the house. Jo sat in the kitchen while Renny went to Mrs. Stokes's bedroom. He returned with a single sheet of paper. Written in Mrs. Stokes's handwriting, he read the following:

Last Will and Testament

I, Daisy Kenilworth Stokes, make this Will to dispose of all my earthly possessions.

1) I give all money in my bank accounts to the Chinese Evangelization Society for use in the work that is dear to my heart at Kaohsiung. I also direct that my automobile be sold and the money given to CES for the same purpose.

2) I give all the rest of my estate, including my house and land located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to Josiah Fletchall Jacobson. It is my hope that this house will serve as a home for him and Jo Johnston upon their marriage.

3) I ask that Sharon Watson serve as legal representative of my estate.

Renny shook his head and handed the piece of paper to Jo. “It's a holographic will, signed and dated by Mrs. Stokes just a few days ago.”

“What?”

“A will in her own handwriting. Completely legal. I should know.”

Jo read the document silently. “Who is Sharon Watson?”

“A lady Mrs. Stokes prays with at her church.”

“What do you think, Renny?” Jo asked, handing the paper back to Renny.

“I don't know what to think about this. Mrs. Stokes has no family that I'm aware of, and she's known me less than six months.”

“She loves us,” Jo said simply. “She wants to bless us.”

“My lawyer said Mrs. Stokes and Mama A carried us through this situation by their prayers.”

Jo thought a moment. “It was more than that. In a way, I think Mrs. Stokes gave her life for us.”

Renny went upstairs to check his answering machine while Jo put her things in the blue bedroom. She looked in the prayer closet and whispered, “Thank you, Mrs. Stokes, for giving this room to me.”

She and Renny sat down in the quiet of the living room.

“Guess who left a message on my answering machine?”

“Who?”

“Gus Eicholtz. He said he wanted to talk with me. He's turning himself in to the authorities and said he was going to cooperate with them. What do you think?”

“I think he is seeking God, and you should help him find him.”

“You're right.”

They sat in silence, letting the peace that followed victory wash over them.

“Renny?”