The Divine Appointment by Jerome Teel Read Free Book Online Page A

telling parents that their child was dead.

    Belle Meade, a suburb of metropolitan Nashville
    The unmarked dark blue Ford Crown Victoria containing Lieutenant Brantley and Sergeant Dodson traveled the tree-lined thoroughfares of the exclusive Belle Meade area of greater Nashville before entering a residential area east of the famed Belle Meade Plantation. Their destination was the home of Jessica Caldwell’s parents. Neither man relished the thought of this assignment, particularly Dodson. It hit too close to home. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d feel if it was his daughter.
    “How do you handle it, Dodson?” Brantley asked from the passenger seat when they were less than ten blocks from the Caldwells’ residence.
    “Handle what?” Dodson responded.
    “You know,” Brantley replied. He dragged out the rhythm of the word know . He motioned with his hands, as if Dodson should continue the conversation without any further prompting.
    But Dodson refused.
    Brantley pressed forward. “How do you tell parents that their daughter has been murdered?”
    “Oh, that.” Dodson nodded slightly as he thought through his answer before responding. “It ain’t easy. I can tell you that for sure. Never is. But someone has to do it, and it might as well be me. You can’t let your emotions get in the way. Is this your first time?”
    Brantley appeared uneasy. He stared straight ahead and stretched his legs out on the floorboard as far as they would go. “Not my first,” he said, shaking his head. “But I haven’t had to do this very many times. Someone else involved in the investigation usually handled it.”
    “You’ll be fine. Just don’t cry.”
    Brantley eyed Dodson. “I’ll try not to.”
    “This is the place.”
    Dodson pointed to a Tudor-style house that rested on a slight rise on the left side of the street. He drove the car into the gated entrance that was flanked by two gray stone pillars. The gate was already open, and Dodson steered the sedan to a parking area adjacent to the wood double-front door.

    Jordan Caldwell peered through the large arched window of his dining room at the dark sedan as it approached. He shoved his hands in his pockets and dropped his head. He already knew that his daughter’s whereabouts were unaccounted for and feared that the occupants of the approaching car carried news that he didn’t want to hear.
    Jordan looked up again to watch as two men exited the car and began to walk toward his front door. Their official appearance made him sick to his stomach. The passenger was the younger of the two. Dark hair. Dark suit. Starched shirt. His face showed signs of apprehension. The driver had a slightly disheveled appearance, but his hair—brown with gray around the edges—was maintained in a military-style crew cut. His face was firm…determined.
    Anticipating the worst, Jordan moved toward the front door. When the bell rang, he opened the door.
    Both men displayed badges and credentials for Jordan’s inspection, then returned them to the inside pockets of their jackets.
    “Mr. Caldwell,” the younger man said, “I’m Lieutenant Mike Brantley from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, and this is Sergeant Lee Dodson. May we come in?”
    “What’s this about, Officer?” Even as he asked, Jordan feared he already knew the answer. He and his wife, Heddy, had grown concerned when Jessica’s secretary called their house looking for her this morning. They had tried to reach her at her town house and on her wireless phone, to no avail. “Is it about my daughter?”
    “I’m afraid it is, sir,” Lieutenant Brantley responded. “May we come in?”
    Jordan stepped back from the door and allowed the two officers to enter. “Please have a seat in there.” He pointed to a sitting area to the right of the front door. “I’ll get Heddy, my wife.”

    Brantley surmised that Jordan Caldwell was in his late fifties. Maybe sixty. He was six feet tall, slim, and his