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Realigning Destiny
By TT

Sometimes chance intervenes in our lives and causes destiny to jump the tracks. When this happens, fate steps in and realigns destiny’s course to bring us to where we need to be. But, as with the course of true love, the road of realignment doesn’t always run smooth.

Part 25 - Forget

Stephanie just sat there shaking her head.

“I’m really sorry, Deputy Mazur,” Jimmy Brown apologized for the forth time. “I thought I had it tied down really good and I wasn’t going all that fast.”

“It’s OK, Jimmy,” Stephanie assured, patting the teen on the shoulder. “This sort of stuff just happens sometimes.”

The two stood in silence for a few minutes staring at the patrol car. It looked just like any other patrol car, if you ignored the clothes dryer resting part-way through the front windshield.

About once a month, someone from the sheriff's office set up their car and radar gun in a fairly conspicuous place. This simple set up served as a reminder to the public to watch their speed. Since instituting it several years ago, speeding in the area had been greatly reduced.

Today, Stephanie had been given the task of setting up and checking people’s traveling speed.

Knowing she would have time, she’d snagged the photos she had yet to review and set them in the front seat of the patrol car.

With the morning “rush” over, Stephanie had been sitting in the car flipping through the pictures when she noticed a pick-up headed her way. Setting the pictures aside, she had grabbed the radar gun and stepped out of the car.

Checking the truck’s speed, she smiled as she saw it was going exactly the speed limit. As it drew a little closer, she recognized the plate as belonging to the Brown family and was able to make out seventeen-year-old Jimmy driving.

She lifted her hand to wave at him. He nodded and smiled in greeting.

The truck had just passed the patrol car when something happened. She had no idea what had happened – the truck hitting a bump, swerving or what have you – but Stephanie could feel her eyes widen as the clothes dryer that had been strapped down to the back of the pickup came loose and bounced out of the pickup bed, went through the air and landed right on the hood of the patrol car. The hood of the car looked to only have a few scratches and maybe a dent or two, but the top corner of the dryer had ended up through the front windshield.

Jimmy had pulled to a stop a short way in front of the patrol car and exited the vehicle.

After determining that she was OK, Jimmy had started apologizing.

“Let me give Bucky a call and let Jed know what’s going on,” Stephanie said, pulling her cell phone off her belt.

Hitting the appropriate speed-dial number, she waited as the phone rang. It was picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Bucky,” she greeted as he finished his greeting.

“Tell me it's not destroyed,” Bucky groaned.

“I did not destroy the car!” Stephanie exclaimed. “It wasn't my fault.”

“Do I need the flatbed or can it be driven?”

“Well... there's a dryer through the windshield,” Stephanie admitted. She was met with several seconds of silence.

“A dryer? Like a clothes dryer?” Bucky asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

“Yes, as in a clothes dryer,” Stephanie replied, her teeth gritted. Silence stretched for a few more minutes.

“Where are you?” Bucky finally asked, his voice struggling to be neutral.

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. She couldn't quite tell what emotion was behind the statement, but she was pretty sure there was amusement and maybe some resignation. “About a mile past Old Mill Road,” she stated.

“I'll be there in twenty,” Bucky replied.

Just before Stephanie's line went dead, she could have sworn she heard him muttering something about the car not even lasting a day. “Shows what he knows,” Stephanie muttered. “It's a different car.” A throat clearing brought her attention back to her present circumstance. “Why don't you wait for Bucky to get here?” she advised Jimmy. “He'll have more luck than I will in getting the dryer back in your truck and strapped down.

“O. K., Deputy Mazur,” Jimmy replied respectfully. “I really am sorry about this.”

Stephanie smiled reassuringly at him. “Don't worry about it. Things like this happen around me.”

Jimmy just nodded.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes. Stephanie could see that he was nervous standing around with her, so she tried to find a topic of conversation. “So, you planning on doing cross country again this year?” she asked. She watched a smile crossed Jimmy's face as excitement and enthusiasm danced in his eyes. How anyone could enjoy running that much was beyond her, but Jimmy held most of the records at the high school as he headed into his final year.

“Yeah,” Jimmy replied, sounding more excited than she could remember hearing him before. “Coach did a bunch of research at the end of school last year and we came up with a new work-out schedule. It's the same one a lot of the Olympian distant runners use including a new diet and everything. It's really working well and I've managed to shave several second off my time so far.”

“That's great,” Stephanie encouraged, unable to think of anything worse than having to be on a special diet.

“Yeah,” Jimmy agreed, missing the gleam of horror in Stephanie's eyes. “I've been saving up all summer too so I can afford these running shoes I saw. The company has you do all these tests and then takes a clay model of your foot. They then make the shoes specifically for you and how you run to help you do better.”

“Wow,” Stephanie said, impressed with the younger man's dedication. She could remember in high-school how she had always struggled not to spend the money she was saving on things she didn't need. “So, how's that going?” She almost winced as she saw the light fade slightly from his face before it was replaced by determination.

“I'm not there yet, but I'm getting close,” he assured. “It'll be tight, but I'm pretty sure I'll make it before the school year starts.”

They continued chatting about the upcoming cross country season, Jimmy's hopes for a scholarship to college and other neutral topics until Bucky arrived.

It took only a few minutes to get the dryer off the patrol car and tied back down in the back of Jimmy's truck. Stephanie waved to him as he left on his way and then went to her car to retrieve her files before Bucky loaded the car on the flatbed.

As she reached in, she noticed the photos had scattered all across the seat and onto the floor. As she gathered them together, her stomach dropped. The work this morning and the time with Jimmy had successfully distracted her from the problem that had brought Ranger back to her life. Now that she saw the photos again, she couldn't help but worry about the two men in her life who would be approaching the terrorists' compound tonight to plant bugs and cameras. There was a tremendous risk in what they were doing despite their years of experience and training. It was possible that one or both could be injured, capture or worse. She could only hope they would both show up tomorrow morning for breakfast. That would be the first she would know of the success or failure of their mission.

Reaching down to snag the last picture, she placed it on top and squared the pile.

She glanced down at the photo on top and gasped. Looking up at her from the still was a face she would never forget.

Continued In Part 26: Invisible

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