Game day arrived. Since the man and two boys hadn't mentioned a time or date for the robbery, the sheriff and the others had to go was it was planned for game night, which started at seven o'clock. So he and his men were in place at that time. Miss Leighton and Ruthie had all the snacks, drinks and board games set up in the gymnasium, along with a large screen TV for playing video games, at the appointed time. Everything was set for the students to have a great time and to keep them busy within the gym, so they wouldn't want to go wandering off.
The sheriff's deputies were stationed up and down the main hallway out of sight. The sheriff was in the office waiting inside a closet. There were also a couple of his men watching the basement window beside the dogwood tree. But he told them not to apprehend the suspects. He wanted to catch them in the act. That was necessary to make the charges stick.
It was 7:45 when Sheriff Cooper climbed into the closet and then came the waiting game. It was hot in the closet and he was perspiring furiously. He took a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his brow and his almost bald head. Then he heaved a great sigh and whispered, "Come on guys. Come and get it." So everyone waited, hoping their crooks hadn't lost their nerve.
The minutes ticked by, 7:47, 7:50, 7:55, 56, 57,...and suddenly Sheriff Cooper heard a noise, actually, two noises. The first one, a door creaking open, then a ragged trap door banging softly on the floor. The sheriff tense for battle, a habit from his old army days, his every nerve was on alert. "Wait for the alarm." He whispered.
Then his shout! "Get them!" The sheriff and ten teenagers jumped out of the walk-in closet and whooping and hollering at the top of their lungs, rushed toward the very surprised robbers, along with eight of Sheriff Cooper's deputies, their guns drawn on their quarry. The two petrified boys dropped their empty bag and Johnny's uncle threw his rasp file on the floor in anger. All of the culprits threw their hands in the air in surrender.
While the deputies cuffed the bad guys and read them their rights, Annie and her friends high fived Collin and his buddies, and Collin, Jamie and Zack picked Charlie up and carried him around the room, singing, "For he's the jolly good fellow." For without Charlie, this victory wouldn't have been possible.
Everyone cheered as the deputies hauled Bobby, Johnny and his uncle off to jail. Then Sheriff Cooper and his Mystery Club Detectives sprinted to the gymnasium and the sheriff made his announcement, after his detectives had melted in with the other students, that the thieves had at last been apprehended. His audience burst into thunderous applause. Sheriff Cooper stayed for a few minutes to tell how the capture had been accomplished. Charlies' fellow students gave him looks of awe and respect when the sheriff praised him for his involvement in the case.
Charlie always considered himself this shy, skinny loner, who more or less just melted into the woodwork. He thought of himself as someone who would never do anything special. But God had other ideas for him. So when his fellow students applauded him, he just gave a shy grin, and said, "Thank you." Sheriff Cooper put an arm around him and said quietly to his detectives, "Well, I've got to go and interrogate my suspects. Good Job! I'll keep in touch." And with that, he walked away.
After the noise had died down, some of Charlie's classmates surrounded him; students who had never talked to him before, but now, they wanted to hear what he'd done from his own mouth. Charlie shrugged and said, "I was just the messenger." "What?" " What do you mean?" "You're going to have to explain that." Were some of the comments he received. "I'll tell you all about it, if you want me to. There's a free table over there." He said pointing. He glanced back at Annie, as the others who had been gathered around him headed across the room. Annie beamed at him, giving him a thumbs up.
Annie knew that she and her friends names wouldn't be in the papers or on TV as participants in the case. But that was alright. They hadn't done what they did for fame or recognition. In fact, There were times when some of the students wondered why Annie and her friends seemed always to be around when Sheriff Cooper visited the school, but they never ask them why. For which Annie was truly grateful.
Charlie made arrangements with the headmaster, Mr. Hartman to visit Johnny and Bobby at the juvenile jail facility a week later, to tell them that Jesus could offer them a better plan for their lives. Ken Sawyer, the boy who had assaulted Patti, had been sent to juvenile for two weeks and Charlie went to see him too that day.
He had visited with Ken the third day of his incarceration, so this was his second visit. Ken seemed to respond to Charlie's quiet way and understanding heart. The two boys made plans to get together during the summers and holidays when they could. Charlie worried that maybe Patti would think him a traitor for paling around with her abuser.
When he talked with her about it, she just smiled sweetly at him and said, that she would never deny anyone the chance to turn their life around. Then she added, "I'm so glad I know you Charlie." He smiled at her, thinking that was just what Annie had said to him, the day she gave him his Bible.
Charlie knew how blessed he was. When he came to Ridgewest, he was anything but a hero; a kid from a broken home, abused and neglected, and very lonely. But Collin and his friends accepted him into their lives and treated him like an equal. Things changed radically after that. Now he wanted to give back, to help others who just needed a friend.
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Book 1-Annie Adams and the Mystery Club Detectives
Mistero / ThrillerAnnie Adams was orphaned at two years old. Her mother's last wish was that Annie be placed in the care of her mother's sister and her husband. Annie was very happy with them on their farm in Hopskinville Tennessee. But at age thirteen Annie learn...
