Nancy thanked them and told her viewers one more time when Bobby Earl’s telecast aired in our area, then rushed out of the room, her crew trailing after her, equipment in tow.

“Chaplain Jordan,” Stone said, his furrowed brow and squinting eyes parental and chastising. “Where have you been? I wanted you to take part in the interview.”

“Traffic,” I said, though there wasn’t much to speak of in our little part of Florida’s forgotten coast.

His brow furrowed even more deeply, his mouth twisting in disbelief, but he decided not to press it. Instead, he introduced me to Bobby Earl, Bunny, and Nicole, who had obviously captured his heart—proof at long last he had one.

“I want to thank you for allowing this humble preacher and his family into your chapel tonight,” Bobby Earl said.

I tried not to laugh at his use of the word humble while referring to himself in the third person. He reminded me of a pro athlete who does the same thing—taking all the credit while saying it was a team effort. It seemed my first impression of the man had been accurate.

“Actually,” I said. “I didn’t know anything about it. In fact, I’d already scheduled a program for tonight—over a month ago.”

I now had the full gaze of Bunny Caldwell as well, her blue eyes taking me in between the fluttering of her thickly-coated lashes. She moved into my space, which is probably all she usually had to do to get her way. “It would mean so much to the men,” she said, “if they could hear Bobby Earl preach.”

“Cancel it,” Stone said simply to me, then looked at Bunny. “Excuse me for interrupting, Mrs. Caldwell,” then looking back at me, “but it’s not every day we can welcome the Reverend Bobby Earl Caldwell into our institution. Do you know how many places are on a waiting list to get him to preach?”

“Speaking of which,” I said, “how can I get him in? It takes a minimum of two weeks to complete the FCIC/NCIC checks, obtain authorization, put the clearance paperwork in the control room, and brief security. Not to mention notifying the inmate population of the program. I didn’t know anything about this and haven’t done—”

Edward Stone lifted his hand, signaling me to be quiet. “I’ve taken care of everything,” he said. “All of this will take place under my authorization. You don’t even have to be here during the program.”