The names, characters, places and events in this story are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. All characters are over the age of 18. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Thank for reading and I hope you liked this tale. Please do leave a comment as I read all of them and take them all onboard.
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From evidence supplied to ATF by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Our database shows that as ATF already have an ongoing investigation into Deacon Jedediah Stearns and his organization, 'The Church of the Loving Holy Rebuke', it was decided not to refer this matter to our colleagues over the state line in Ohio but to pass it onto ATF to be rolled up in their inquiries. It is to be hoped that they conclude their activities soon.
Evidence Document: MY/08/87/630 is as follows. It is a statement given by Mrs. Carol Stepanek regarding her sister and brother in law Libby and Jedediah Stearns and their activities within the above church.
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This visit to my sister was so unlike my previous ones when she was married to her first husband. Back then there was a really tense atmosphere at my sister and ex brother in law's home. They were constantly sniping at each other and Libby had given up on her appearance and was simply wandering about in jogging pants and a shapeless old top. She wore no make-up while her hair was loosely scraped back into a pony tail and she looked so fed up and unhappy. However her first husband, Mitch, took no notice of her and spent all his time at home on a La-Z-Boy in front of the TV watching a ball game with a beer in his hand. I remember Mitch's hair was lank and greasy and he was putting on weight.
Honestly, Libby could have danced around naked in the lounge and I doubt he would have noticed or cared. I was so upset as I could see them getting divorced like I did several years ago and it's not a nice thing to go through even if you manage to remain on good terms with your ex. That said she would have been better off getting rid of that useless lump rather than sticking with him. I tried speaking to Libby but she brushed me off so I was quite glad to get home and when I did I freshened up my spare room in case Libby needed it in the future.
Eventually she had gotten a Reno divorce and quickly remarried a man who had recently moved to Ohio and established a church out in the boondocks. I was a bit suspicious about the timing and wondered if Libby had known this guy before her divorce. But it's not my place to query her life; she's a grown adult after all. I didn't know anything about him but heard he was a rough sort. Well, Mitch was no angel so I guess Libby had a thing for bad boys. Unfortunately I couldn't make their wedding as I was at a conference in Sacramento I couldn't get out of. So a few months after their wedding I kind of invited myself over on a visit. I didn't know what to expect but this time it was like I'd fetched up in another dimension.
Second time around, the home atmosphere was so pleasant. Their ranch style house out in the piney woods was freshly dusted and vacuumed and sparkled like a new pin. Libby greeted me at the door when I parked my little Ford Pinto on their driveway. Even the lawn looked freshly mowed. But the biggest difference was Libby herself as she showed me inside. Gone were the depressing black warm-up clothes. Instead she wore a sky-blue linen dress that showed off her calves to perfection. And it was modest but not prudish with a hint of my sister's ample cleavage on display. A gold chain with a pendant drew your eye to her chest. I looked at her face which wore a hint of discreet make-up but her eyes sparkled with happiness. Her hair was cut in a soft bob with a blue hair band in it making her look almost like a 1950s housewife. I was impressed with the transformation. As I gave her a quick kiss I caught a hint of her perfume, something she'd given up on while she was married to Mitch.
She showed me to my room which even had a bunch of chrysanthemums in a vase on the nightstand and I freshened up. Not long after, I heard the front door open so I stepped out into the hall to see her husband, Jedediah Stearns, himself. I'd seen some photos of the wedding of course but they didn't prepare me for the reality of the guy himself. Stearns is a big, strong looking man, older than I'd expected being aged about fifty with a military style buzz cut and a biker's mustache. He wore a brown sports jacket and slacks. He grinned wolfishly at me and stepped forwards to give me a hug and I smelled his cologne.
"Glad to meet you but sorry I can't stay long tonight, Carol, it would've been good to catch up. But I've got to haul some machine parts to Pittsburgh to deliver to a church over there. Apparently they've set up a training center for homeless men and I don't want to let them down. Their pastor is such a good man and he's done so much for our church so I must return the favor. If I set off now, I won't be too late home tonight."
I nodded, unable to speak. There was something about the man's aura that made you realize you were in the presence of a stronger being. I don't mean physically even though he was powerfully built, but that he had an overriding presence that made others defer to him.
"That's right, he's so good," Libby echoed. "I'll make something for you to eat. Don't want you eating at some dirty roadside diner."
"No, ma'am," Stearns said with a deep laugh.
After he left, Libby fetched out a pot roast and we ate. I remember she said grace. I'd never known her to be so religious but I guess marrying a minister must rub off on you. After we'd eaten I helped her carry the dishes into their gleaming kitchen and as I dried, I asked her what was going on.
"Nothing, sis," Libby said.
"What's happened? Not that I'm complaining as I'm glad you and Jedediah seem so happy together." I waited for my sister to speak.
She licked her lips and her blue eyes focused on the window and the porch lamp outside as she gathered her thoughts. Moths battered themselves against the light and I wondered if my sister had likewise been drawn like a moth to the flame.
"Yes, Mitch and I had grown apart and neither of us was listening to the other. We were heading in different directions is all and I realized that our marriage couldn't be saved." She paused. "So after our divorce was finalized, a friend of mine at work, who knew what was going on, told me about this church she had started going to over in Adams county, Ohio. She said the pastor there is incredible, straightened out her life and family no end so I thought, well, I've got nothing to lose so I went along."
Libby licked her lips and thought. "Well, over the course of several weeks the pastor, Deacon Stearns, really got to the bottom of my problems and explained why my marriage had failed. He said something like a ship can have only one captain or it would crash into the rocks and a family can have only one head. And that God appointed the man to be the head and not the woman. I finally realized that's what I should have been doing -- letting Mitch take all the big decisions and it's my job to support him in that rather than pull in another direction. Of course, I can have my say and make suggestions but ultimately the man is in charge. Deacon Stearns showed me heaps of scripture proving this."
"Hmm," I said. I didn't really like the sound of this but I admit that she seemed so much happier.
"I found over the course of the weeks and months that I was falling hard for Jedediah and I was so glad when he finally asked me out. I knew he was the man for me -- a man who knew how to satisfy my inner desires as well as providing me with guidance and protection. He's so strong in all things." She flushed as she said this and I thought I knew the 'inner desires' Libby was talking about.
"Hmm," I mused. It sounded to me that Stearns had her well under his thumb and I wasn't entirely sure I liked that. But I had to admit that I sensed the strong power latent in the man.
