by Mark Goodwin
AVA’S CRUCIBLE
THE COMPLETE BOX SET
By Mark Goodwin
BOOK ONE: DIVIDED WE FALL
BOOK TWO: EMBERS OF EMPIRE
BOOK THREE: UNITED WE STAND
BOOK ONE: DIVIDED WE FALL
By Mark Goodwin
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Technical information in the book is included to convey realism. The author shall not have liability or responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or allegedly caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.
All of the characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is entirely coincidental.
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DEDICATION
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5
To Grace: I pray that by staying connected to the True Vine and teaching you to do the same, I can spare you much of the heartache that Ava has to endure throughout the pages of this book. And I pray that I will be a godly example for you to follow. I love you more than you will ever know.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my Editor in Chief Catherine Goodwin, as well as the rest of my fantastic editing team, Jeff Markland, Frank Shackleford, Kris Van Wagenen, Sherrill Hesler, Paul Davison, and Claudine Allison.
CHAPTER 1
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Isaiah 48:10 NKJV
The city bus splashed through the murky puddle, sending a spray of filthy water over the curb and drenching the back of twenty-nine-year-old Ava Wilson’s jeans. Soaked from the middle of her thigh down, she sighed. Surrendering to the futility of trying to stay dry, Ava lowered her umbrella. She looked up at the raindrops falling from above. “Really God? Is today not hard enough?”
She swallowed the lump forming in her throat, folded her umbrella, and sprinted toward the lobby door of her apartment building. Her shoulder-length auburn hair soon became as wet as the back of her jeans.
The two plastic grocery bags in her hands swung in lockstep with Ava’s stride until she reached the entrance to her Austin, Texas apartment building. One bag held a package of coffee and two boxes of donuts. The other contained a box of Captain Crunch cereal, a half-gallon of milk, and an assortment of chocolate candy bars.
She jerked open the door and hurried in out of the rain. Ava reached the elevator doors and glanced down while she waited. “Terrific.” A small stuffed bear lay on the ground near her foot. Instinctively, she stooped down to pick up the odd-looking toy animal. It was shaped like a long potato with teeny feet and tiny hands, which were approximately the same size as its ears.
She addressed the child’s plaything to voice her displeasure over the imposed inconvenience. “I just wanted to go home and cry Good Bear, but now I’ve got to make a detour so I can get you home.”
The metallic doors opened and she stepped inside the lift. Ava considered going straight to her apartment, leaving the misplaced bear to be returned at a more opportune time. She didn’t, though. Dutifully, she pressed the scuffed glowing white button with the number 4 on the front.
The doors opened, and she made her way down the hall to 4-G. Ava rapped on the door, standing back so Megan could see who it was through the peephole. Like Ava, Megan’s experiences with men had been less than optimal. The father of Megan’s only child had a bad habit of showing up uninvited, unannounced, and often drunk.
“Ava!” Megan opened the door. “You’re all wet. Come in.”
Ava forced a smile. “I found Good Bear in the lobby.”
“You’re kidding! We’ve turned this apartment upside-down three times looking for him. Where was he?”
“On the floor by the elevator. He got a little wet, and could probably use a run through the washer.”
Megan examined the damp soiled areas of the toy animal. “He must have fallen out of her backpack. I tell Danielle to zip it up all the way, but she doesn’t pay me any mind.”
A six-year-old girl, with long blond hair, like her twenty-something mother’s, came bounding out of the back room. “Good Bear! You found him!” Danielle snatched the oblong bear from her mother’s grasp. With her other hand, she hugged Ava’s wet leg. “Thank you! Thank you!”
Megan looked compassionately at Ava. “I’m so sorry about your mom.”
“Thanks.” Ava’s eyes glanced down at her two grocery bags. “At least she’s not suffering anymore. We’ve been fighting this thing for three years. The last two months were—unimaginably difficult.”
“Yeah, cancer is tough. Danielle and I will be at the funeral this afternoon, rain or shine. Your mom was a wonderful person. Everyone who knew her thinks that.
“Why don’t you come in and have a cup of coffee? I just made a fresh pot.”
Ava shook her head and looked back up. “I can’t. I’m soaking wet. I just want to get a hot shower and put on some dry clothes.”
“Okay then. We’ll see you this afternoon.” Megan put her hand on Ava’s shoulder tenderly before she left.
Languished, she walked back down the hall, summoned the elevator, and waited until it arrived. Once on the sixth floor, she fumbled through her keys and stuck the appropriate one in the lock of apartment 6-C. However, it was already unlocked.
“I can’t believe I left the door unlocked. What an idiot.” She turned the doorknob, walked in, placed the milk in the fridge, and her bags on the kitchen counter.
Something fell in the bathroom and crashed to the floor with a great clamor.
Ava’s heart stopped as she realized she wasn’t in the apartment alone. Frozen with fright, she looked around for a weapon. Quickly, she opened the kitchen drawer and pulled out the eight-inch chef’s knife. No other noise came from the bathroom, which frightened her even more. Ava held the knife out toward the threat. She grabbed her purse and backed out the door she’d just came in. Unwilling to wait for the elevator, and with adrenaline pumping through her veins, she ran down the hall to the stairwell. She dashed down the two flights of stairs to the fourth floor and sprinted to Megan’s, banging on the door.
Seconds later, the door flew open. “Ava, what is it? Are you okay?”
Still holding the knife in her hand, she said, “Someone is in my apartment!”
“I’ll call the police.” Megan ushered Ava inside and shut the door, locking the deadbolt and the chain lock.
Ava became conscious of her erratic breathing and held a long deep gasp. Then she slowly exhaled in an effort to bring her respiratory system back under control.
Megan talked on her cell phone. “It’s a robbery in progress at the Riverview Apartments, unit 6-C, 1300 East Riverside Drive.”
She paused. “No, the girl whose apartment it is ran out the door. She’s with me in my place with the door locked.”
Megan paused again. “Two hours? The creep is still in there! If you send someone now, they can catch him! In
two hours all the furniture will be gone, he’ll have the place swept clean, and be trying to get her deposit back from the management company.”
She was quiet once more. “Listen, none of that stuff matters to her. The girl’s mom just died. She has to go to her mother’s funeral at 2:00 this afternoon. She’s lost enough. Can’t you bump this situation up on the priority list?”
Megan looked apologetically at Ava as she listened to the 911 operator continue her spiel. “Okay. Can you have the officer stop by 4-G first? There’s no way she can go back up there without the police.”
Megan set her phone down and shook her head.
“What did they say?” Ava asked.
“This whole pension thing the local news has been talking about for the last two years. The city is bankrupt and emergency services are running on a skeleton staff. If no one’s life is in danger, they can’t send a unit right away.”
“So it’s going to be two hours?”
“Yeah, but you go get a shower. I’ll lend you some clothes.”
At 5 feet 4 inches, Ava was about the same height as her friend. She also had the same slender frame as Megan, with slightly more muscular legs from running. She had no doubt that the clothes would fit. “Okay. I’ll take you up on that.”
“Good. I’ll have breakfast waiting for you when you get out. What do you want?”
“Something with a lot of sugar.”
“French toast it is, then.” Megan retrieved a towel from the linen closet and handed it to Ava. “And coffee.”
“Thank you.” Ava summoned a smile to express her gratitude, then went into the bathroom. Once in the shower, she let out the surge of emotion which had been welling up all morning. She sobbed quietly as the hot water washed her tears and spiraled down the drain.
She allowed herself a good long shower and a good long cry. But, when she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, Ava turned off the weeping also. Life wasn’t fair, and it sure wasn’t easy. Ava had determined long ago that she’d have to get tough or be chewed up and spit out.
Two hours later, Megan handed a grocery bag to Ava who was sitting at the small table. “Your clothes are clean and dry. But no rush on bringing back the outfit I lent you.”
Ava spun the half-drunk cup of coffee between her fingers nervously. “Thanks.”
“You’re safe. That’s what’s important. No matter what they took, it can be replaced.”
“Not if it’s my mom’s stuff,” Ava replied grimly.
Megan nodded with empathetic eyes. “But it could have been worse. Thank God he didn’t get a hold of you.”
“I know. A lot of bad stuff could happen in the amount of time it takes the police to get here. Maybe I should get a gun.”
Megan grimaced. “I don’t know. I hear a lot of people get hurt with their own gun. What about a dog? They say burglars won’t break into a place with a dog, even if it’s only a small one. A pet could also help you be less lonely. It’s going to be awfully quiet in your apartment.”
“I don’t know. I just want to see what they took so I can mourn in peace.” Ava sipped from the cup that had turned cold long ago.
A firm knock came to the door. “Austin Police.”
Megan checked the peephole before removing the chain and turning the deadbolt to open the door. Two uniformed officers stood waiting outside.
Ava got up and walked to the entrance. “I’m Ava. It’s my apartment. 6-C.”
“Do you need me to come with you?” Megan offered.
“No. Wait here, ma’am.” The officer with the name tag which said Bell held up his hand to Megan and turned his attention to Ava. “You follow us upstairs and hang back in the hallway until we’ve cleared your apartment.”
“If he’s still in there after two hours, he’s dumber than I can imagine.” She trailed behind the two city cops to the elevator.
Once on the sixth floor, the two policemen drew their side arms and proceeded to the apartment where the door was wide open. Ava waited cautiously outside.
Two minutes later, Officer Bell came back out. “It’s all clear. You can come in.”
Ava walked in, not knowing what to expect, but at first glance, things didn’t look too bad. “My TV is still here.”
The other officer, whose name tag read Tacchella asked, “Do you have a roommate? I noticed this is a two-bedroom.”
“I did; my mom. She just passed—cancer.” Ava’s gaze dropped to the tile floor. The apartment felt empty and cold without her mother.
“I assume your mom was on a lot of pain medication.” Bell stood in the doorway of the bathroom.
“Yeah, why?”
“It looks like that might have been what the burglar was looking for. Why don’t you step in here and see if you notice any bottles that are missing.”
Ava followed the directive. An aspirin bottle, some allergy medicine, a box of Band-Aids and several other items from the medicine cabinet were lying in the sink or strewn about on the bathroom floor. “I don’t see any of her prescription bottles.”
“Can you remember what she was taking?” Tacchella held his phone out, ready to type in Ava’s response.
“Um, she was on Fentanyl, Oxycontin, Phenergan, and Ativan. And something else—Marinol. They’re all gone.”
“I don’t want to sound insensitive, but at least they waited until she’d passed to steal her meds.” Tacchella switched off his phone and returned it to his pocket.
“You’re right. That would have been tough.” Ava wandered to her mother’s old room and looked around.
“Anything missing in here?” Bell asked.
She removed the bottom drawer of her mom’s dresser and retrieved the thin box where her mother kept her valuables hidden. She opened the box and looked inside. Ava took out the 1.5-carat diamond ring given to her mom by the man she referred to as Lee, her adoptive father. “No. They didn’t even get her jewelry.”
The fact was, her mom was also adoptive, but she’d proven herself to be the best mother Ava could have asked for. Lee, however, not so much. The day he walked out on Ava’s mom for the sweet young thing at the office, was the day Ava began referring to him as Lee. It was also the day she considered him to be no type of father whatsoever.
“Ma’am, if you don’t mind, we need to work our way through the rest of the house as quickly as possible. We’re really short-staffed and the criminals seem to know it.” Bell wasn’t pushy about it, but his voice conveyed that he and Tacchella had tons of other calls to get to.
“Sure.” She stuck the ring in her pocket and walked back to her room. She examined her closet, sticking her hand into the inside pocket of her winter coat. She pulled out a Ziploc baggie where she kept her checkbook and a small stash of emergency money. “Nothing important seems to be missing in here either.”
“Any idea who might have broken in? Do you know anyone who uses those types of drugs?” Tacchella inquired.
“No.”
“It was probably someone who knew the medications were here. Someone from the pharmacy or the hospital could have tipped them off. Could have even been someone at the morgue. There’s no use in sugarcoating it. We’ll probably never find who stole the medications.” Tacchella looked at Officer Bell like a middle-school football player whose team was up against the top pick for this year’s NFL Super Bowl winner.
Ava didn’t need the drugs back, but neither did she like the idea that the perpetrator would go unpunished. She felt violated, and the fact that the robber would get away with it made things worse. “Okay. Thanks for coming out.” She stood by the door as the officers left.
“We’re so sorry for your loss.” Tacchella sounded sincere.
“Thank you.” She closed the door behind them and locked everything that could be locked.
CHAPTER 2
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and r
ose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Ava tromped through the soggy ground to reach the gravesite where the roll-away covering sheltered three rows of folding chairs. The rain had stopped, but the sky remained gray and overcast for Emily Wilson’s burial. Megan and Danielle took the seats to the right of Ava, sitting quietly as the other people from the procession arrived.
Ava’s friend and co-worker, Raquel, took the seat on the left. Raquel had short, jet-black hair, a razor-thin, almost-sickly body, and a black skirt that was too short for a nightclub, much less a funeral. But what she lacked in covering with clothing, she compensated for in her liberal application of makeup. “Seriously? I beat Charity getting here? Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes is always on time.”
Ava sighed, not having the energy to engage Raquel in her usual banter. She knew it was likely her way of trying to cheer Ava up, but finesse had never been Raquel’s strong point. “She’s stuck in traffic. There’s another Antifa rally at UT, cops are making people go all the way around downtown.”
“Why are they blocking off downtown?” Megan asked.
“Antifa is marching from UT to the river I guess.” Ava checked her phone for any additional updates from Charity.
“She should have come straight here from the office,” Raquel said smugly. “She works in billing. It’s not like she’s a dental hygienist like us. When we leave, we’ve gotta get a shower. We’re covered in overspray from cleaning people’s filthy mouths all day.”
“She just wanted to look nice. She didn’t know Antifa would be rioting again,” Ava defended.
