On Every Side (19 page)

A ripple of slow laughter escaped Judge Webster's throat. Then just as quickly it faded, and he raised his eyebrows at Joshua. “It isn't optional, Counsel. Either you tell me the name of the citizen, or I'll have to assume this is nothing more than politi-cal posturing, a trick devised by the city of Bethany to avoid car-rying out my order. You give me the name, or I'll hold you in contempt of court and have the statue removed anyway.” He looked at his watch. “At this point you'd have less than twenty-four hours to get it down.”

Joshua worked his jaw, desperately searching for a trick door or an open window, any way out of the jam he was in. But there was no escape…

There was an odd light in the judge's eyes, and Joshua won-dered again if the man didn't already know the answer, if he was playing with Joshua, drawing out the hearing in anticipation of watching the press's reaction. Because finding out that Faith Evans had bought the property was definitely going to be news.

Just last night he'd spoken to her about this very thing—about the possibility that he'd have to give her name in court. She'd been adamant: “It doesn't matter what happens, Joshua. If you need to tell them it was me, then tell them. I want the statue to stand. If I lose my job, so be it. Godi take care of me. I'm not worried.”

Joshua loved the girl for her attitude, and he knew her father would be proud. But it didn't make this moment any easier. He clenched his teeth and released them. “Very well, Your Honor. The citizen is Faith Evans.”

A roar went up around the courtroom as reporters reacted to the news. Joshua closed his eyes for a moment and heard Faith's name uttered over and over, heard the whispered comments…

“Faith Evans? The nighttime anchor for WKZN?”

“She's
the citizen who'd purchased the park property?”

“Faith Evans helped the city of Bethany avoid a ruling by a state judge?”

While Joshua felt certain someone had leaked the information to the judge, clearly the news took the press by surprise. He glanced at his opponent and thought Jordan looked paler than before. His eyes were glazed over, as though the revelation of Faith's name had sent him spiraling to some far away place.

Did Jordan even know who Faith was? Joshua didn't think so. After all, the young attorney lived in New York, too far to recognize Faith as a WKZN news anchor. Besides, why would Jordan care who had bought the property? Joshua couldn't quite place the expression on Jordan's face, but it wasn't simple anger or aggression or the desire to win. It was all of those things, but Joshua could swear there was also regret.

Judge Webster banged his gavel twice and waited for the uproar to die down. “Order. I will not tolerate another outbreak. If you people—” he motioned toward the reporters— “can't keep
quiet 111 have you all charged with contempt.” He turned his attention back to Joshua. “So you're telling me that the land has been purchased by Faith Evans—the same Faith Evans who does the WKZN nightly news?”

Joshua's chin dropped several inches. “Yes, Your Honor.”

There was a moment of silence while the judge considered this new information. “Very well, then. You have a point, Mr. Nunn. Since the property now belongs to a private citizen, there is nothing I can do to enforce the removal of the statue.” He glanced at the others in the courtroom. “I hereby dismiss the ear-lier judgment against the city of Bethany and will no longer require officials of that city to remove the statue of Jesus, which now stands on private property” He cast a calculated look at Joshua. “You may be seated.” His gaze shifted to Jordan. “If you have something to add, Counselor, please take the floor.”

Jordan undid the lower button on his jacket and stood, approaching the bench with a practiced ease. Joshua watched him with a mixture of admiration and regret.
What an impact this young man would have made if he'd been fighting for Your side, Lord…

“On behalf of the HOUR organization, I'd like to share with you details of another lawsuit filed this morning and brought up as an emergency matter before you today”

The judge nodded to Jordan. “Go ahead, Mr. Riley”

“It is our opinion that the spirit of the law in this case has been evaded. Yes, the people of Bethany seemed to have found a loophole by selling the public property in question to…”

Jordan stopped short of saying Faith's name, and Joshua was sure there was more to the story than he knew.

“To a private citizen.” Jordan took several steps toward the judge but spoke loud enough for the reporters in the back to hear. “But Your Honor, we fear as a result that justice has not
been served. In response, the new lawsuit names the city of Bethany as being responsible for subjecting park-goers to a blatantly Christian display—whether on private property or not. In the suit we are asking for a remedy which we believe is reason-able and would serve the same purpose as Your Honors original judgment. We will expect Mr. Nunn to have some type of response, of course, but not until we make our requests clear.”

Jordan's jacket hung beautifully on his lanky, athletic frame, and Joshua had the sickening feeling that somehow—regardless of Faith's effort to put herself, her job, her reputation on the line—the HOUR organization was going to win. I
know You're here, Lord. Make Yourself known… please…

Judge Webster nodded and motioned for Jordan to continue. “Explain the remedy you're seeking.”

Jordan reached for a document and flipped past several pages. “Okay here it is. HOUR is asking that Your Honor order the city of Bethany to build a wall around the statue. Since the statue is ten feet high, the wall would also be ten feet.”

Joshua's heart ached at the thought. Was it possible? Would a judge really order a wall to be put up around the statue? He began scribbling notes, listening to every word the judge said.

“Hmm. A wall, is that correct?” Judge Webster actually smiled, as though he wished he'd thought of the idea.

Joshua let his gaze fall to his hands. So much for taking pride in being objective.

“Yes. It is our opinion—and quite obviously your opinion based on the earlier ruling—that the people who visit Jericho Park should not be subjected to the Jesus statue. We understand that although a small piece of property—along with the statue— now belong to a private citizen, there is still the problem of the statue seeming to be supported by the city of Bethany In sum-mary, that is our case and the remedy we seek.”

The judge looked comfortable and happy, like a man enjoying a favorite movie for the fourth time. He shifted his attention to Joshua. “Mr. Nunn, normally I would postpone making such a decision but since it's so closely linked to the previous matter, I will ask you to state the city of Bethany's position.”

Joshua rose and locked eyes with the judge. “Your Honor, erecting a ten-foot-high fence around the base of the Jesus statue is a ludicrous suggestion. Not only would it be wrong to leave a private citizen with no access to her property, but it would also create an eyesore in a park that has been beautiful, generation after generation. A park in existence for more than a century.”

For the better part of an hour, the two men debated the issue until finally the judge had heard enough. “I will take a brief recess and return in a moment with my decision on this new action.”

Joshua buried his attention in the notes at his table and across the courtroom he could see Jordan doing the same thing. Joshua had expected him to use the time to entertain the reporters, to talk up the fact that Faith Evans had started this mess by pur-chasing the property But Jordan was easily as intent on his notes as Joshua. The minutes flew by, and finally Judge Webster returned.

Once he was seated at the bench, the judge glanced at a sheet of paper in front of him and rapped his gavel a single time.” Court is back in session. I have made two decisions while in my chambers, both of which will affect all parties concerned in this case. First, I want to agree that Mr. Riley has a valid point about the people who happen to visit the park. It is wrong to assume the public will know that part of the park—the place where the Jesus statue stands—belongs to a private person. For that reason, most park-goers will believe the statue is supported and main-tained by the city of Bethany”

His glasses fell a notch lower on his nose and he looked hard at Joshua. “My understanding on the ruling that separates church and state is very simple: We cannot have a city park giving the appearance of having sided with one religion over any other. For that reason there must be a wall erected around the statue.”

Joshua thought about his short-lived victory and his stomach settled somewhere around his ankles.
God, where is this going? Faith put her job and reputation on the line, hut for what? What vic-tory is there with a fence around the statue?
There was no time for holy answers. The judge was moving on to his second point.

“However—” the judge shot a gaze at Jordan— “I've made another decision as well. Fm not sure that the statue requires a ten-foot high wall. That, Mr. Riley I will leave up to you.”

The man beside Jordan pointed to something in a file on their desk, and Jordan nodded. He stood and faced the judge.” Your Honor, it is the opinion of the HOUR organization that nothing short of a ten-foot high fence will successfully hide the statue in Jericho Park.” He glanced at his associate, then back at the judge. “We don't feel we need thirty days to make that decision.”

Joshua felt more like a silent bystander than a part of the pro-ceedings, but he knew if he didn't say something now he might not have another chance. “Your Honor, may I interject?”

Judge Webster shot him a surprised look and seemed to con-sider Joshua's request for several seconds. “Very well, go ahead.”

“Since the property now involves a private party, I believe another hearing—between that person, myself, and Mr. Riley—is essential. Certainly we cannot come up with a final decision without consulting the person who now owns that property” Joshua stepped back and resisted a smile. He hadn't planned on making that argument; the words could only have come from God.
Thank You, Lord…
He blinked and waited for the judge to respond.

The muscles in Judge Webster's jaw tightened and relaxed three times before he spoke. “We do have an unusual situation here, I'm afraid. Mr. Nunn is correct—we must involve the pri-vate citizen before I make a permanent ruling.” He checked his notes. “At the same time, I have already stated that the people must no longer be subject to a statue of Jesus Christ in the center of a public park.” He leaned his forearms on the bench and frowned. “For that reason I am ordering that a temporary ten-foot-high plywood wall be erected around the statue for thirty days, until our next hearing. At that time I will hear from Ms.—” he looked at his notes again— “Ms. Faith Evans, along with the plaintiff and defendant in the case. Only then will I make a per-manent ruling.” He leveled his gaze at Joshua. “You will inform the Bethany city council that they have seventy-two hours to build the wall around the statue, and that the city is to incur the cost of building it.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Joshua did his best to hide his disappoint-ment. At least the ruling was only temporary Still… he was heart-sick at the ground they'd lost. He'd come to court that morning certain the judge would throw out his earlier ruling, sure that Faith's decision to purchase the park land had been God's way of handing them a victory Instead the city was now party to yet another lawsuit and in three short days the Jesus statue would be surrounded by a ten-foot wall.

The hearing was over and the reporters moved in with their questions, most of them directed toward Jordan Riley “Are you happy with the judge's ruling?”

“Do you think the wall will become permanent?”

“Is it right for a newscaster to get involved in something this political?”

The air of tension in the courtroom lifted as Jordan smiled at the cameras. “We won't be completely happy until the ruling is
permanent, but it's the best we could hope for at this point.”

“What type of wall are you going to request at the next hear-mg?”

He glanced at his friend and flashed another smile for the reporters. “Brick.”

“Do you feel justice was served today?”

Jordan hesitated, and from where Joshua was gathering his legal files several feet away, he could see the air of professionalism in the way Jordan angled his head, his eyes suddenly serious again. “Justice will be served when we don t have to go to court to see that the Constitution is honored. There are still hundreds of thousands of citizens across America who hold to a dangerous belief that the government should advocate a state religion— Christianity, to be specific.” He shifted his attention to another camera. “We attorneys at HOUR refuse to rest until that belief has been eradicated from the public conscience of these great United States.”

Across the room, Joshua resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Jordan couldn't have sounded more polished if he'd been run-ning for office. The reporters seemed to be finished with the plaintiff's point of view and the group of them migrated across the courtroom and fell in around Joshua. But whereas they'd smiled and bantered easily with Jordan, they seemed to have just one question for Joshua Nunn and the Religious Freedom Institute:

“How can we get in touch with Faith Evans?”

J
ordan hadn't expected to be back in Bethany so soon, but now that he was there he planned to spend the night and return to New York in the morning. When the press had fin-ished with him, he dismissed X J., explaining he had to take care of paperwork at the local courthouse.

“I'll take a room next to yours,” T. J. said as they made their way to the parking lot. The men had driven to Bethany in sepa-rate cars since T. J. needed to finish a case he was working on before driving up. “You never know, you might need help. Besides, that way we can find some all-night Italian diner and catch up on the other half of life—you know, the hours we actu-ally spend at home.”

Jordan looked at his friend, convinced again that something wasn't right. Without a doubt Jordan and his assistants could have handled today's hearing on their own. Dozens of times he'd handled more demanding hearings without the help of an associ-ate. And now—instead of heading back to New York to be with his wife and baby daughter—T. J. wanted to spend the night in Bethany?