Jenn: The Road of Sacrifice

Jenn: The Road of Sacrifice

© 2012 Rebecca Robinson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Author photo taken by Gary Collier, Collier Photo: www.collierphoto.ca

EPUB Version ISBN: 978-1-77069-620-4

Word Alive Press

131 Cordite Road, Winnipeg, MB R3W 1S1

www.wordalivepress.ca

Also by Rebecca Robinson

When Times Stands Still under the pen name of Rebecca Hickson

(Xulon Press 2005) ISBN 1-594677-27-1 Printed in the United States

The Narrow Road Series

Roseway – The Road that Never Ends (Word Alive Press 2012)

Ripley – The Road of Acceptance (Word Alive Press 2012)

Jenn – The Road of Sacrifice (Word Alive Press 2012)

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Robinson, Rebecca Wills

Jenn : the road of sacrifice / Rebecca Wills Robinson.

ISBN 978-1-77069-426-2

I. Title.

PS8635.O2635J46 2011 C813’.6 C2011-907662-4

Contents

Acknowledgements

1. Road of Sacrifice

2. The Road from Hell to Eternity

3. The Power of Prayer

4. Shaken Faith

5. Denial, Drugs and Deception

6. Ties that Bind

7. Flirting with Danger

8. Peril of Decision

9. Defining Love through the Bond of Blood

10. The Sharp Edge of the Tongue

11. The Dungeon of Humiliation

12. The Tangled Webs We Weave

13. Like Prey Caught in a Web

14. Intercessory Prayer Warriors

15. Lions’ Den

16. Taking Justice into Your Own Hands

17. The Ties that Bind

18. The Letter

19. The Road Untraveled

20. Monumental Moment

Decision

Joseph: The Mountain Road

About the Author

Author’s Artist Statement

Acknowledgements

Mum, thank you for your daily prayers, encouragement, wise guidance and the many sacrifices you have made for your children. You have always been a constant in my life, not only as my mother but my treasured friend.

To all ladies who share their testimonies of how God has brought them from darkness to light and set them free from addictions. Each of you has begun to walk that road of sacrifice by helping others find that same deliverance you found through Jesus Christ. May God continue to bless you and empower you as you minister to others. I recommend Francine Gilchrist’s book From Darkness to Light.

I may have stopped writing long ago if not for the prayer and support of my sisters in bible study and the many prayer warriors who stand in the wings praying for me and for these books. You are such an important part of these novels. You are like the ink on the paper. Thank you.

Gwendolyn, thank you for editing, encouraging me and for giving your constructive criticism. Your words and comments really have given me the excitement to continue to write. A good

edit is like shoe polish. Thank you, Tom Buller, for your final edits and contributing your light to these written words.

Praise, glory and honour go to our amazing Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. He showed us by his example how to walk the road of sacrifice. He carried my cross down the Via Delarosa, called the way of suffering, to the hill called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. There, He sacrificed His life on the cross, and took my sins upon himself.

1

Road of Sacrifice

The rope was tight around her wrists. She pleaded with Link Jones not to inject her. He tapped the full syringe and squirted out a few drops of the drug. The droplets sprayed into the air in a mist. The drug lord had no pity and it would seem no soul. Jenn clutched her hands into fists and tensed her body, trying to resist. Heat flooded into her veins like a wildfire consuming a dry bush as he injected the heroin slowly into her body.

He laughed with an evil tone as he said to his cronies, This large of a dose ought to fry her brain. She won’t be saying much of anything when this gets into her bloodstream. With a cloth tied around her mouth, she couldn’t speak.

A tear trickled down her face as fearful thoughts ran through her mind. I don’t want to die. Oh God, if you exist in the way that Ripley told me, then Jesus please save me. The drug ran through her veins up her arm, numbing her face as the heroin flushed into the arteries within her brain. She tried to fight it. Her eyes rolled back in her head and within minutes she began to convulse, then fell into unconsciousness.

Removing the wrist restraints and the gag from around her mouth, two men lifted Jenn’s limp body out of the van and placed her in a back alley in the core of Prince George’s drug district. It was not unusual to see a drug addict lying on the cement sidewalks, intoxicated and feeling the effects from drugs taken. Jenn would be no different. After all, she once had a reputation for being a prostitute who was addicted to heroin. The subtle fade of the needle scars on her arm were like permanent tattoos, solid evidence of her past, drug-user lifestyle, whether she was free of her addictions or not. Her long black hair flowed over her shoulders. Her normally tanned skin was pale as she lay deathly still.

It was an unusually cool night in the City of Prince George. Fog floated through the city streets in and around some of the high-rise buildings. The city lights looked fluorescent in the fog. A slight, cool breeze slowly moved the fog from the Fraser River, pushing the salty night mist along the alleyways like a crawling lizard seeking out its prey.

An anonymous call to 911 emergency notified police of Jenn’s body. The voice of a young woman reverberated through the phone line. In a frenzied panic, she asked for help. Trying not to cry, the young woman desperately told the 911 operator, Please get an ambulance to the alley at 6th Avenue and Main Street. There’s a young woman unconscious. I believe she has had a drug overdose. Please hurry. When the 911 operator asked the caller her name, she told them, My name is Sarah. Look, I can’t tell you anymore. I really have to go before— The line went dead.

RCMP Constable David Miller and his partner Corporal Bill Layton took the call and immediately drove to the scene at 6th Avenue. Corporal Layton had been in the force for fifteen years. He was not as enthusiastic about the job as he once was. Years of fighting crime had tired him. Nearing retirement, Layton started dabbling in other ways of making revenue. Miller was a rookie learning the ropes and easily influenced by his partner. Eager to become a good RCMP member by enforcing the law, he joined the force with all intent on serving and protecting the community. Now his ethics were already staring him in the face. He bent over the woman’s body to check her vital signs. They had immediately recognized her. Both officers looked at one another with blank expressions.

Constable Miller questioned, What should we do? This is the same young woman who was nosing around in Link Jones’ business. This is Jenn Big Canoe. Do you think Link did this to her?

Corporal Layton replied with a definite warning, Don’t say a thing about Link to anyone about this mess. If he goes down, we go down.

Miller’s conscience was working overtime, knowing they were the ones who fingered Jenn about the questions she was asking around town. A man with deep convictions and compassion, Miller was concerned for the girl’s life. Placing his fingers on her neck, he felt a pulse. She still has vital signs, as low as they may be. Panic filled his eyes, realizing the impact of a couple of bad choices he had made. Miller blurted out with a sense of worry as he turned his head and looked his partner in the eye, Layton, I didn’t sign up for murder on this one. You better hope that she comes out of this alive.

Layton became a hard shell to crack. In fifteen years he had seen it all. To him, finding one more dead junky was nothing more than a tagged toe. Heartlessly, he replied, If she comes out a vegetable, I won’t be too disappointed. Vegetables can’t talk. You better hope that it is so. If she talks, you and I could both go down for having connections with Link.

When Miller and Layton first met and became partners, Miller was somewhat intimidated by Layton’s overpowering confidence. Miller highly respected Layton, knowing that he had been on the force for years. The other officers at the station helped fuel the intimidation with all their stories of Layton. He had a reputation for being a hard case, not afraid to use his muscle or his voice if a situation arose. Of course, Miller was young and still learning the ropes. He didn’t want to appear as unconfident as he felt. For the first little while, he felt like he just wanted to fit in with the other officers.

While on duty one night, Layton and Miller were called to a domestic disturbance. They arrived at the house. The husband had beaten his wife severely. The children were screaming while the husband was behaving irrationally. Things quickly turned to chaos. The father grabbed the gun from the table and aimed it at Miller, telling them to get out of the house. Miller tried to reason with the man. Sweat was rolling down his face. He was afraid the man was going to shoot him. His life flashed before his eyes, thinking about his own wife and daughter as he looked at the children crying. They reminded him of his own children. The thought ran through his mind that he may never see them again and he just froze. Layton pulled his gun from his holster and aimed it at the man, telling him to put away the gun before someone got killed. The man pulled back the hammer on the gun until it clicked to engage the bullet. Miller stood in the middle of the two men. One squeeze of the trigger and he would drop like a fly— he knew it and so did Layton. Miller looked into the man’s eyes—fear was exchanging glances with each other.

Layton negotiated with the man. Please put the gun down. Think of your children. What good does it do your children if you end up dead? Put the gun down and let’s work everything out.

The man looked at Layton and then back at Miller. Then the man put down his gun and surrendered. For those couple of minutes, it had seemed like time stood still. They arrested the man and tended to the wife. Miller’s hands shook for the rest of the shift. Layton asked Miller, What the hell happened to you in there? You just froze. You damn near got yourself killed.

Miller responded with his hands still shaking. Man, I thought I was going to bite the bullet. I think I’m going to be sick.

Layton reached into his pocket. Here, take a sniff of this. It will help take off the edge. Looking around first, Layton handed him a little dispenser filled with cocaine. Miller looked at it. Layton directed Miller, Take a little sniff. It won’t hurt. You will feel much better.

Miller looked perplexed, thinking about doing it. He asked with a little reservation in his voice, Do you take this stuff?

Sure I do. It actually helps to keep me more alert. A lot of the guys take it. It is not a big deal. If you don’t want it then don’t take it. I just thought it might help take the edge off. Man, you are a basket case. I don’t want a partner who is going to fall apart on me every time we are in a situation like that one.

Miller took the dispenser and inhaled a little cocaine. After a few minutes, he did settle down. He felt more composed and confident than he had in a long time. That was the first time Miller took cocaine. Since then, they had both become connected with a drug supplier named Link Jones. Now, they were looking at this young woman, knowing it was Link’s handiwork. They both knew they had helped contribute to this situation, no matter how small a part they played.

An ambulance was quick on the scene. There was no time to plan anything. The paramedics arrived. That put an end to their conversation. They just kept their mouths shut about knowing Jenn or how she ended up there. Miller felt sick as his stomach did summersaults. He wanted to say so much more, but what Layton had said hit the heart of his fear. How could he face the truth of what they did? How could he stand in front of his wife, his parents and his children and tell them that he had broken the very thing he vowed to uphold?

Just before the paramedics moved Jenn into the ambulance, another squad car pulled up. Constable Janice Cooper was curious to know what was going on. Janice had a real heart for some of the girls on the street. More than one addict had turned their lives around when Janice helped them get into a rehabilitation program. Some would end up back on the street while others overcame. Whenever she heard a 911 call about an addict on the street for pick-up, she would try to get to the scene if at all possible. Upon arrival, she quickly closed the car door as the red lights on their police car flashed. Her six-foot tall frame walked with long strides toward the other two officers. Her long blond hair was braided tight and tucked under her hat. One hand rested gently on her holster and her other on her hip. With a curious tone, she inquired, What is the problem, Corporal Layton?

It looks like we’ve got ourselves another drug overdose. Don’t know if she will make it. Pulse is pretty low. I don’t know what she took, but from the looks of her, it wasn’t good.

Janice walked over to the paramedics, who were just about to put Jenn into the ambulance. Let me have a quick look at the victim. I may know this girl. Janice brushed back the long black hair and stared at the pale face. Her expression sank like a ship. Oh God, This is Jenn Big Canoe. I know her quite well. She has been working with the British Columbia Drug Counseling Centre. She has been clean from drugs for almost three years now. Get her to the hospital quickly.

It didn’t make sense to Janice. I want this area taped off for an investigation. I don’t think this was her doing. I’m getting a forensics team over here right away.

Corporal Layton refuted. We see this all the time. Girls go into rehab and next thing you know they are back on the street. What makes this one any different?

With a reprimanding tone in her voice, Janice snapped back, We can’t treat every case like this as being common. I know this woman and there is no way she went back on the drugs. If she did then we will find out. If someone else did this to her, then I’m going to find that person. They will wish they never touched her. She put the police radio up to her mouth and called for a forensics team.

Corporal Layton almost laughed as he gestured to Miller. "You have got to be kidding me. She wants to investigate. Of all cases, she picks this one. We have to do something