Shattered Justice Page 3

  A tinge of red lit Shannon’s cheeks, and she developed a sudden fascination with her fingernails. Dan kept the twitch from reaching his lips. His offspring’s little ploy to avoid eye contact wasn’t fooling him one little bit.

  “I like hiking, too, you know.”

  The woeful note to her tone made the twitch harder to hide. “Yes, I do know that.”

  She lifted those amazing eyes of hers—rich brown in color, like the finest Belgian chocolate, carbon copies of her mother’s eyes—and pinned him with a soulful expression that would have done any puppy proud. “Please, Daddy?”

  Oh, man. If she was this good at almost nine, she’d be deadly when she hit her teens. And high school? The boys wouldn’t stand a chance. Steeling himself, he let his expression warn her she was pushing it.

  She ignored the tacit reprimand and brought in the big guns. Her lower lip slipped out just a fraction; her long lashes batted. “Pleeeaaaase?”

  “Well, since you put it that way—” Dan batted his lashes, and excitement sparked in Shannon’s eyes—“No.”

  The spark fizzled, and her lip shot into a serious pout. “That’s not fair!”

  “What’s not?”

  They turned. Sarah and Aaron stood there, smiling over a large bowl of popcorn. Dan took an appreciative sniff, then went to scoop a handful of still-warm popcorn from the bowl. “Your daughter thinks it’s unfair that we get to go out together. Without her.”

  “Ah.” Sarah set the bowl on the coffee table and ruffled Shannon’s hair. “Sorry, kiddo. Tonight is family time. And tomorrow is Dad’s and my time.”

  “You remember what happens in a week, don’t you?” Dan leaned on the back of the couch.

  Shannon’s head bobbed. “It’s August first. My birthday.”

  “Right, and we’re all going out together next weekend to celebrate.”

  “That’s right.” Sarah hugged Shannon. “And I’ve got a special surprise for you.”

  “Really?” Shannon was all smiles. She adored surprises. And Dan knew she’d love this one, big-time.

  During the early years of their marriage, Dan and Sarah discovered C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. They fell in love with the stories of children who traveled to a magical world and met Aslan, the mighty lion. It became a nightly ritual for them to cuddle up on the couch and read the books together.

  Then when the children were born, they read them at bedtime as soon as first Aaron and then Shannon were old enough to follow the story. Amazing how easy it was to get the kids into bed at night when doing so held the promise of time with Aslan and his world.

  Now the kids were as enamored of the series and its characters as Dan and Sarah. But Shannon had a special love for Aslan. Dan wasn’t surprised. The great lion was the perfect picture of Christ. And Shannon was head over heels in love with Jesus. Had been since she was old enough to say her own prayers. So when Sarah discovered a beautiful golden lion’s head pendant in a jewelry store a few months ago, it was a no-brainer. Shannon had to have it.

  Sarah had the back of the pendant engraved with a special message from mother to daughter: Shannon, See life with God’s eyes. Love, Mom.

  Oh yeah. Sarah was going to score big with this one.

  Twelve-year-old Aaron dropped onto the couch next to his sister. “Shove over. Man, what a couch hog.”

  “Moooommm!” The wail was accompanied by a swat at Aaron’s arm.

  What was it about siblings that made them go for the jugular at the least provocation? Dan and Sarah heard over and over from people what wonderful kids these two were, so polite and pleasant at school and church and their friends’ houses …

  Everywhere but home. Here they seemed bent on doing each other in.

  Of course, Dan’s two sisters always reminded him it had been the same with the three of them. But his kids should be better behaved.

  “All right, you two.” Dan sat between them on the couch. “To your corners.”

  He ignored their groans and protests, looking up at Sarah instead and patting the couch next to him. “Hey, beautiful, wanna sit by me so we can smooch?”

  Sarah rewarded him with a kiss as she sat down.

  “Oh, gross!” Shannon curled as far into her corner of the couch as she could.

  “Ignore ’em.” This from Aaron as he reached for the TV remote. “They’re only doing it ’cuz they know it grosses us out.”

  “I’ll have you know—” Dan plucked the remote from his son’s hand—“I’d kiss your mother whether it was gross or not.”

  “Gee …” Sarah licked butter from the popcorn off her fingers. “Thanks, hon.”

  He chuckled as he flicked on the TV. “Get ready, kids. We’ve got a real treat in store for tonight’s movie night. Something we haven’t seen for a long time.”

  “Cool.” Shannon scooted to the edge of her seat as the screen blossomed to life.

  Aaron shoved one of the small pillows on the couch behind his back. “So we don’t have to watch another—”

  Both kids fell silent. Stared. Then: “Dad!”

  Amazing. His children could wail in harmony. “Yes?” He didn’t bother to look at them. He didn’t need to.

  “John Wayne? Again? We watched a John Wayne movie last week!”

  For once Shannon didn’t argue with her brother. “Yeah, and two weeks before that.” The pout was once again in residence. “I thought family movie night meant we’d get to watch a movie we liked.”

  Dan settled back against the couch cushions, the bowl of popcorn on his lap, Sarah snuggled in the crook of one arm. “We like John Wayne movies.”

  Aaron pointed at him. “You like John Wayne movies.”

  Dan looked down at Sarah. “Do you like John Wayne movies?”

  “Love ’em.”

  “Oh, brother!” Aaron threw his hands in the air.

  Dan chomped his popcorn. “Now, let’s be fair, kids. Last week was Hatari! That’s a safari movie.”

  “And two weeks before that was The Green Berets. That’s a war movie.” Sarah snagged a piece of popcorn. “But tonight—” she angled a grin at Dan, and they gave each other a high five, saying in unison: “It’s a western!”

  Dan flipped the remote into the air, pretending it was a six gun. “Cahill, U.S. Marshal. Yee haw!”

  Shannon pushed back against the couch cushions. “You two are so weird.”

  Aaron snorted as he leaned forward and grabbed some popcorn from the bowl. “Weird doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

  “Goofy.”

  Aaron gave his sister a thumbs-up. “Bizarro.”

  “Freaky.”

  And on it went, the two tossing words back and forth. But Dan just linked his fingers with Sarah’s, not saying a word. Because for all of their complaints, he noticed as the Duke sauntered onto the scene, neither of the kids got up and left. Instead, they settled on either side of him and Sarah and prepared to suffer through the movie.

  Of course, it only took a few scenes for them to be as engrossed in the story as Dan and Sarah. And when John Wayne finally saved his two sons and brought evil ol’ George Kennedy to justice, Aaron and Shannon were stomping and cheering as loud as either of their parents. Louder.

  “Man!” Shannon stretched, grinning at Dan as he flicked the TV off. “I’m glad that creep got dead.”

  “Oh, honey—”

  Sarah’s quiet reprimand was cut off by Aaron’s snort. “Bloodthirsty little critter, aren’t you?”

  Shannon planted her hands on her hips. “Well? Aren’t you?”

  “Sure.” Aaron stood. “But I’m a guy. Guys are supposed to be bloodthirsty. Right, Dad?”

  By now, Dan struggled to keep a burst of laughter trapped inside. He could tell from the chagrin on his wife’s features that laughter was not the proper response. He cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t think bloodthirsty is quite the right word, Aaron.”

  His son’s brows arched. “Okay. Then how about out for justice. I mean, isn’t that what
your whole job is about? Justice? Making the bad guys pay?”

  “Justice is more than just making people pay, honey.” Sarah was looking at Aaron, but she nudged Dan as she spoke.

  He knew she wanted him to follow her lead. Problem was, he wasn’t sure he agreed with her. “Right …” Dan leaned forward. “Bad guys—” he inclined his head—“criminals, people who hurt others, need to be stopped.”

  “But shouldn’t they suffer some kind of … you know, consequence for hurting people?”

  Shannon joined in. “Yeah, like we get punished if we do something wrong.”

  “But real justice, God’s justice, is about grace as much as punishment.”

  The kids looked at their mother, and Dan could see their minds working on that one. Well, he couldn’t blame them. He was having a little trouble absorbing it, too.

  “What do you mean?”

  Dan wanted to echo Shannon’s question. Instead, he kept his features as clear of confusion as possible and waited for Sarah’s answer.

  “Okay. You know everyone sins, right?”

  Dan almost nodded along with the kids as they agreed. “Right.”

  “And you know, according to God’s law, we all deserve the same punishment for those sins.”

  Dan was all over this one. “Death. We all deserve death.”

  Sarah looked at him, a half smile on her face. “Right.”

  “But that’s why Jesus came.”

  Aaron flicked a glance at his sister. “Yeah, He came to die for all our sins. And when God brought Jesus back to life, we were set free.”

  “Exactly.” Sarah patted Aaron’s knee. “So Jesus’ blood washed away all our sins, past, present, and future.”

  Shannon frowned. “So we can do as much bad as we want now? And it’s all okay?”

  Dan could have told Sarah that question was coming. It only made sense. If grace covered everything, then why worry about being good? “Not quite, half-pint. God showed us grace by sending Jesus, but that’s for the eternity side of things. Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection bring us eternal life. But it doesn’t take away the consequences, here and now, of our wrong actions.”

  Shannon pursed her lips. “But if we’re forgiven …”

  “We’re forgiven by God, honey.” Sarah leaned her elbows on her knees. “That’s the grace part of God’s justice. Someone had to pay the ultimate price for our sins.”

  “Death.” Dan grinned at Aaron. Like father, like son. They had that one down pat. “Right. But Jesus paying that price didn’t get rid of consequences. So if you do something wrong—”

  “Like force your kids to watch a gazillion John Wayne movies?”

  Dan flicked a finger at Shannon’s pert nose. “Funny kid. If you do something wrong, there are consequences. No escaping it. That’s where the punishment side of justice comes in. So justice is about grace and punishment.”

  Shannon chewed on that for a moment. “So, it’s like, okay, so Aaron hurts me—”

  “Sure, make me the bad guy.”

  Shannon ignored her brother. “So grace means I forgive him for being stupid and mean and—”

  Dan put his hand out to stop Aaron’s protest. “I think we get the point, Shannon.”

  She snickered. “Okay, fine. But it takes a while sometimes to trust people who hurt you, even after you forgive ’em. So that’s the consequence he has to deal with, that I might not trust him for a while?”

  Sarah hugged her. “That’s right. The one who hurts you receives grace when you forgive him. And he faces the punishment of losing your friendship for a while.”

  “Okay.” Aaron stood again, yawning. “I think I get it.” He grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “But I still like it when the real bad guy—” he made a face at his sister—“gets his.”

  Yup. Dan grinned to himself as laughter filled the room. A definite case of like father, like son.

  THREE

  “Parting is all we know of heaven

  and all we need of hell.”

  EMILY DICKINSON

  “He was … a man of sorrows,

  acquainted with bitterest grief.”

  ISAIAH 53:3

  “STAND ASIDE, KNAVE, OR PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE!”

  Dan crossed his arms. “You gotta be kidding me.”

  Sarah peeked at him from behind her hand holding an arrow nocked against the string of her bow. She hadn’t drawn the bow, of course, so there was no danger.

  Not unless you counted what Dan’s eyes did to her heart rate. Yes indeedy. That was danger. And all she could say was, bring it on!

  A pout tinged her features. “Come on, Dan; I got set up first. You have to let me shoot.”

  He hesitated, and she could almost hear the gears turning in his brain as he tried to come up with an argument that would win him first shot. But finally he surrendered, stepping aside with a heavy sigh and a gallant wave of his well-muscled arm.

  “After you, my lady.”

  My lady. Oooo, she liked the sound of that. Even better, she liked the feel of that. Being Dan’s lady.

  She tossed him a kiss, then took her stance. She drew a bead on the target, pulled back the notched arrow … then let the arrow fly.

  Dan slipped an arm around her waist as they followed the projectile’s sure path, straight to the heart of the target they’d chosen: a thick piece of moss-covered bark leaning against a boulder.

  “Perfect!”

  Sarah grinned up at him. “The shot or the shooter?”

  The evocative curve of those broad lips sent a shiver across her nerves. “Both.”

  Their mutual love of field archery had been a happy discovery early on in their dating years, back in college. Some of their best times in the nearly seventeen years they’d been married had been times just like this, where they hiked, taking turns choosing a target, then seeing who could hit it with the most speed and accuracy. A competitor to the core, Sarah loved it when she shot better than Dan—which even he admitted was most of the time. She seemed to have an uncanny eye.

  At the end of the first day they shot together, Dan gave her a lopsided grin as he helped her into his Jeep. “Remind me never to make you mad at me while you’re holding a bow.”

  She leaned forward, slid her arms around his neck, and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Even if you did, it would be okay.”

  His arms encircled her. “Oh, yeah?”

  She nuzzled his neck. “Yeah. I’d make sure to miss all the vital organs.”

  Sarah chuckled at the memory.

  “What are you laughing at, Mrs. Justice?”

  She glanced up at her husband. The wind ruffled his thick, brown hair. She’d tried so hard to get him to wear a hat when they were out in the wilderness, but to no avail. And for once, she was glad. Slinging the bow over her shoulder, she reached up and tugged at his wind-tumbled hair. Even cut short, it was thick and soft, and she loved to comb her fingers through it.

  “I’m not laughing at anything, Mr. Justice.” Her fingers caressed the back of his neck. “I’m laughing because you make me so happy.”

  If he’d been a cat, he would have been purring. As it was, the low sound deep in his chest had more the rumble of a lion. Or a tiger. “Mmm. And you make me happy.”

  Target shooting was forgotten as he tugged her close. Her eyes drifted shut, and the feel of him flooded her senses. When he finally released her, they both were breathless. Sarah took a step back, glanced at the target, then dropped her best imitation of a curtsy.

  “Next shot is yours, Sir Justice.”

  His grin was all male. “Indeed, wench. Step aside and watch a master at work.” Dan slid an arrow from the quiver at his belt and took his stance where Sarah had been.

  He nocked the arrow and drew back, his smooth motions bearing testimony to his athletic grace. Standing there, bow and arrow at the ready, he reminded Sarah of the old Robin Hood movies. Except Dan was better built than the actor in those old movies.

  Sarah s
miled. Much better built.

  At six foot four, Dan stood head and shoulders above most folks. Add those broad shoulders and the trim waist, that devil-may-care smile, those looks just rugged enough to save him from being pretty …

  Oh, yeah. He was pretty well perfect.

  At least Sarah thought so. And she wasn’t alone. She saw the way women watched him when he walked by. Just last week he’d stopped in to say hi at the high school office where she worked part-time. When she walked out to the parking lot with him, Sarah spotted female students and teachers alike watching her husband. And there was no missing the feminine appreciation in their features.

  Sarah didn’t mind, though, because Dan was all hers and had been almost from the day they met.

  The sound of an arrow striking home drew Sarah’s attention—Dan’s arrow struck just above and to the left of hers. She patted his arm, waggling her brows at him. “You’ll win the next one, Danny Boy.”

  He nudged her away, his deep laughter as sweet as the summer breeze blowing on their faces. You couldn’t buy days like this. Not for a million dollars.

  Sarah knew it and appreciated it. Deeply.

  August and September were too often brutally hot. But July days, like today, had just enough breeze to cool the sun’s heat, which made it perfect for hiking.

  As Dan reached down for his day pack and lifted it back onto his shoulder, Sarah started walking. “I think I’ll scout ahead and see if there’s a good spot to settle down for lunch.”

  “Okay, meet up in fifteen at the most?”

  She looked back at him over her shoulder, drinking in the sight of him, basking in the love shining in his face. “You got it, handsome.”

  Nope. You couldn’t buy days like this for all the money in the world.

  The woods around them were dense enough that Sarah was out of sight within minutes, but Dan didn’t mind. He preferred a more leisurely pace to Sarah’s bounding energy. Nor did he worry. Sarah could handle herself out here. She might be small—the top of her head barely reached his shoulder—but she was fit and strong. That was one of the things that first drew him to her. She wasn’t one of those fragile women who had to be sheltered and protected. No way. His wife was a tiny package of energy and spunk, and he loved that.