Two days later, the smell of smoke still hung in the air. There were still a couple of hot spots here and there, but the fire danger to residents was finally over. Oliver looked forward to the day all the smoke would be gone, and he’d see his beautiful Oregon blue sky again. Because of the fire emergency, he’d missed a couple of regular appointments. Now that the worst had passed and the fire was on its way to being completely extinguished, he was able to reschedule one of the important ones. This meeting brought him to the Jackson County Jail, where he was led to an attorney-client room to meet with a convicted felon awaiting trial on new charges.

Oliver had met Don Cherry a couple of months ago, when the man had ostensibly been in the employ of a local pot farm. In reality, he worked for a drug lord, a man who was out to kill Tess O’Rourke. Thinking about that order still gave Oliver the shivers. The drug lord was eventually captured after a shoot-out at a local residence, and now he was in custody in a federal prison in California. But long before the shoot-out, Cherry had been paying Oliver visits for questions and conversations. At the time, Oliver believed Cherry was struggling with fully trusting in God; he wanted to have faith, but a hard life, including time in prison and an affiliation with a violent street gang, had clouded and stunted his ability to believe.

In spite of Cherry’s gang tattoos and scary demeanor—an FBI agent once made the comment, “One glare from that guy could scare the white off rice”—Oliver saw good in the man who’d been hardened over time. His insight proved golden when Cherry actually saved his life. The drug lord had ordered Cherry to kill Oliver and two other people, but instead, Cherry hid them and saved them all.

After the shoot-out, when Cherry was taken into custody along with the drug lord, Oliver didn’t end his relationship with the man; rather, he made a point to try to visit him at least once a week. Since that time he’d had many interesting conversations with Don, including one where Cherry confessed faith in Christ and a desire to lead a Spirit-filled life.

Cherry was cooperating with federal and state authorities and had been placed in protective custody until his day in court because there was a bounty on his head, courtesy of the Mexican mafia. Plus, the drug lord he once worked for had issued many threats to kill Cherry. The threats seemed to not faze Don at all. He was calm, full of questions about the Bible, and clearly at peace with all the life decisions he was currently making. He would eventually be transferred to federal custody, but until that happened, Oliver was committed to doing all that he could to help the man.