27
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2003 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI BUCK’S HOME
Success seemed to be raining down on The Road to Calvary in sheets of good news. To Buck’s astonishment, Susannah’s two-minute Christian beauty tip segments were an instant hit. Women sent in their stories of makeup triumphs right along with the prayer requests. Susannah was often insufferable, forever reminding Buck and Jeff that makeup was the component that made them different from every other religious broadcast.
The segments did separate the program from other religious fare. As Buck suspected, Susannah relished the attention parishioners lavished on her makeup tips. He assumed being noticed was the real reason she had been so insistent on producing them.
Soon after Ray’s proposal, Jeff called Buck to discuss the happy couple. Susannah was already making plans for a spring wedding, and the men agreed to meet after New Year’s.
Freshly brewed coffee infused the air of the small kitchen where Jeff and Buck sat at a wooden table in the early morning. Buck found himself taken aback at how quickly Jeff dispensed with the pleasantries. They normally tried to catch up with each other’s lives, but this conversation would solely revolve around Susannah Baker.
“It’s a weird coincidence that Susannah appeared right as Ray was calling it quits. First Ray listens to everything she says, then he falls in love, and now he wants to marry her. And we don’t know a damn thing about this woman.” Jeff took a swallow of black coffee from his ceramic mug.
“Agreed,” Buck replied, stirring cream into his mug of steaming liquid. “While part of me is glad there’s still The Road to Calvary, I’ve never gotten comfortable with this idea of eavesdropping to pull off ‘miracles,’ no matter what Susannah’s rationale.”
“Me neither. Honestly, I don’t like her or the direction we’re headed, and I’m disappointed in Ray. Like I said from the start, this is fraud, ain’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. We’re using trickery to deceive people into thinking Ray has a direct line to God, and he’s healing them. Remember at the beginning how hesitant he was? You can’t tell me he doesn’t honestly realize this is wrong.”
Jeff put down his coffee mug and chuckled. “Direct line to God—wouldn’t that be sweet?” He took a deep, heavy breath. “You and I both said that if we were ever uncomfortable with this, we were outta there. At the Christmas Eve show while you worked the phones, I sat and watched all the excitement over their engagement. It made me think I shouldn’t be a part of this anymore.”
“I hope you’re not serious, Jeff.” Buck broached the subject of the two of them undertaking research on Ray’s bride-to-be. “If we’re serious about investigating Susannah’s background, we need to act now. We have five months until the wedding, not a lot of time.”
Jeff picked up his coffee again. “I’m thinkin’ with Susannah soon to be Mrs. Williams, anything we discovered wouldn’t change Ray’s mind. I’m keepin’ my nose outta this.” Buck’s shoulders drooped. “We’ve been doing this since the beginning, buddy. We’re a team—”
“Used to be a team,” Jeff said. “Now, it’s whatever Susannah wants, and she almost always gets her way. You think you don’t like the current changes? Wait until they get married. She’s after somethin’—money for sure, fame, power—I dunno. But it all goes against everything Ray has ever stood for as a preacher.”
A spoon tinkled in Buck’s mug as he stirred his coffee absentmindedly. “If you leave, what would you tell Ray? He’d be devastated.”
“He ain’t gonna be devastated, especially now that he has a fiancée,” Jeff said, emphasizing the word fiancée sarcastically. “Besides, Bush is talkin’ about invading Iraq soon. I’m thinkin’ seriously of reenlisting in the army.”
Buck’s posture went from slouched to ramrod straight. “Jesus, Jeff, you were awarded a fucking Silver Star in Desert Storm! Why risk going back?”
“Thanks for the appreciation, dude, but I was doin’ my job.” Jeff paused, running his open palm over his short-cropped hair. “Right now, I’m more afraid of Susannah Baker than any Iraqi enemy. Maybe if we could uncover her story before Ray marries her, I’d feel differently.”
“I don’t believe for a minute that our broadcast stopped her from committing suicide before she came here. If the program was that powerful, it wouldn’t require trickery now.” Buck clasped his hands behind his head. “And Ray, a guy who’s been a widower for a long time, fell for her hard and fast.”
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, bro. Not so much as a mention of another woman, then boom! Wouldn’t even admit that he and Susannah were livin’ together; it was this big secret. They honestly thought we didn’t know.”
Buck’s arms were outstretched. “I’ve had my share of experience with picking the wrong woman. After enough bad choices, you become a good judge of character. There’s something not right about her tale of suffering. I tell you what. Let’s get on the internet in my office—there’s a new search engine called Google that’s pretty popular.” Buck stood up. “And maybe I can keep you from reenlisting and getting yourself killed.”
Jeff laughed. “We haven’t even gone to war yet. Just somethin’ I’m considerin’. But I’m game for your internet search idea.”
In his office, Buck motioned for Jeff to pull up a chair. “I recently got a broadband connection, sure as hell a lot faster than dial-up.” In the blank box above the colorful letters spelling out G-O-O-G-L-E, Buck typed in “Susannah Baker, St. Louis, MO” and hit search. There were pages of Baker family genealogy, and a few listed Susannah Bakers, but they had died decades ago.
“Maybe Baker isn’t her real name,” Jeff suggested.
“My gut instinct says it isn’t, but I haven’t got any proof of it.”
“Yet.” Jeff moved his chair closer. “She must have a driver’s license because she had that old Buick she sold.”
Buck sat back from the computer screen and looked at his friend. “You obviously have a strategy.”
“Yeah, we get a copy of her driver’s license.”
“How are you planning to do that?” Buck asked with a nervous twitch.
“We get a copy of her license and take it to the St. Louis PD. A buddy of mine, Malachi Johnson, joined the force after we returned from Iraq. He’s a detective now. I’ll send him the information we’ve collected and explain the situation. He has access to other databases, and we’ll see if that’s even her real name.” Jeff’s arms opened expansively. “Even though we work in the building, we’ve got to get the layout down cold, specifically where she leaves her purse and the distance to the copier.”
As edgy as their plan made him, Buck couldn’t believe what he said next. “Maybe we should go over there now and start memorizing the layout.”
“Sounds like a plan, bro,” Jeff said with a hearty slap to Buck’s back. “Man, I haven’t felt this jazzed since I was a ranger!”