Chapter 19

Jonesy pays a visit to Pastor Worthington and the case takes a new twist.

Just as Frank and Anita were heading back to the beach, Jonesy was setting out on the short trip over the Intracoastal Waterway to Queens Harbor to visit Pastor Rick Worthington. He wanted to give Worthington enough time to get home and settle in after his televised Sunday morning service. He thought that confronting Worthington when his defenses were down might elicit better results than their last chat. Jonesy drove his Subaru crossover which, while not stylish, was long enough to carry his surfboards and respectable enough to drive around different residential neighborhoods without drawing attention. He pulled up to the guard shack that restricted entry to the complex and told the guard he was here to visit his friend Bob Frenzel. The guard checked the list, gave Jonesy a temporary pass and opened the gate. Jonesy drove through and navigated to the address that he had for the good pastor. It occurred to Jonesy as he drove past the $1-8 million homes that the traditional image of religious leaders had changed.  This pastor didn't even try to portray an image of humility.

Jonesy turned down a street with a "No Outlet" sign and pulled in front of a tan stucco covered house in the middle of the cul-de-sac. The house was on the water with its own dock in the back. As Jonesy looked toward the dock, he could see Worthington sitting in a folding canvas chair fishing in the stocked waterway. Jonesy decided to walk directly to the dock. As he got close to Worthington, he could see that the pastor was enjoying a beer while he fished and that there were four empty beer cans on the floor dock near his feet.

"Are they biting today", Jonesy asked.

"I suppose you mean the fish, Mr. Jones", Worthington said. "I was wondering when one of you would get here. Once my file in Tulsa was unsealed, I knew it was only a matter of time".

Jonesy was struck by the calmness in Worthington's voice, possibly attributed to the beer consumption. "You must admit that the parallels between your file and the Maggie Bullock situation are more than an amazing coincidence", Jonesy said.

"I was a young and troubled man then. I am quite different now", Worthington said.

"That sounds great, but forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical. We have a pregnant 16 year old girl who wrote about being in love with an older charismatic man. Add to then factor your past history and our investigation leads to you", Jonesy said.

"That assumes that I am the same lecherous person that I was in my youth, Mr. Jones. I can assure you I am not capable of what you are accusing me of", Worthington said.

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it".

"You don't have to take my word. You see, I am physically unable to do what you and Mr. Rozzani are accusing me of". Worthington went on to tell Jonesy his story.

Rick Worthington, in his youth, was the typical rebellious child of a preacher. He went out of his way to impress his peers by drinking the most alcohol, doing the most drugs, and sleeping with the most girls. Luckily, most of the girls that he slept with were experienced and used some type of contraception. Sally Fulsom was different. She was a sophomore at the high school Worthington attended. He was a senior. She had wholesome looks and was incredibly bright. She was an honor roll student with an incredible potential future. Worthington crossed paths with her as a result of his continual bragging to his friends about the number of girls that he had conquered. He bragged that as a handsome, charismatic senior, he could have sex with any girl in the school. His friends, tired of his bragging, challenged him to land Sally Fulsom. She never had a boyfriend and seemed totally focused on school. Worthington took the challenge and, although it was difficult, he used every bit of his charm and finally convinced Sally to go on a date with him. Worthington had his own car and picked Sally up for that first date, took her to dinner, to a movie, and back home. He was a perfect gentleman. He now faced a dilemma. From this first date with Sally, he realized that she was an intelligent, fun girl to be with. He actually liked her and enjoyed spending time with her. He felt guilty about the bet and tried to back out of it on the day following his date. His male peers were unrelenting. They questioned his manhood. Even worse, they called him the name he hated most, "Preacher's Son". He decided that, with his reputation as a lady's man at stake, he would continue with the bet.

Two things happened that young Rick Worthington did not anticipate. First, Sally Fulsom fell head over heels in love with him. She daydreamed of him. She wanted to spend every minute with him. Worthington could easily cash in on his bet, but the modicum of conscience that he possessed prevented him from following through. Eventually, teenage hormones took over, however. One night, as they were parked in Rick's car on a deserted dirt road, it finally happened. Rick knew that Sally was a virgin and he counted on the teenage folklore that stated that a virgin could not get pregnant the first time she has sex. The false nature of this folklore led to the second unexpected event for Worthington, Sally became pregnant.

Rick Worthington could not escape this predicament. His father was angrier than he had ever seen him. Rick offered to the right thing and support Sally and the baby. His father would not hear of it. The scandal would affect his position in the church and would reflect on the church itself. Sally's parents were not any more understanding. They wanted Rick, who was nearly 18, tried as an adult for statutory rape. They wanted him to pay for ruining their daughter's promising future. Sally just wanted to be with Rick. Rick was prohibited from contact her. He was eventually arrested. Sally sunk into a deep depression and the sum total of all of the changes in her life drove her to commit suicide. While her parents aggressively discussed their position with the police in their downstairs living room, she quietly slipped into the bathroom and slit her wrists in the bathtub.

Rick's father called in some serious favors to have his son tried as a juvenile with sealed records. When it came time for sentencing, the church exerted its influence and Rick was sentenced to two years in a Texas-based Christian "Boot Camp". The camp was closer to a prison than to a Christian retreat or seminary. Days were spent laboring on the fields of the camp's small farm where fruits and vegetables were grown and sold. The remainder of the day and early evening were spent studying scripture. In the two years that Rick was at the camp, the Bible was analyzed cover-to-cover at least four times. He could handle the labor and survive the studying, but it was the nights in the dormitory that was the hell of being at this camp. There was a definite pecking order. Although Rick never disclosed why he was there, somehow the more hardened "campers" discovered his crime. This is when the beatings and abuse started. It started with taunting, but when Rick refused to retaliate, it quickly escalated to physical abuse. Rick was beaten, sodomized, and otherwise abused repeatedly. By the time the abuse stopped, Rick has been physically damaged to the point of irony. The acts that had landed him in the camp were no longer physically possible for him. As a result, he devoted himself fully to God's work.

Jonesy was truly stunned by the revelation that Worthington was incapable of being the father of Maggie's baby. The man would never physically recover, but he had apparently recovered spiritually to the point where he could inspire thousands of people, including Maggie.

"I feel like I owe you an enormous apology on this", Jonesy said.

"I appreciate that", Worthington said quietly with his head bowed. "I'm not completely innocent when it comes to your case, however".

Worthington went on to explain that Maggie and the father of her baby had come to him for advice. Unfortunately for the father, the church, and its pastor, Maggie was in love with and had become pregnant from a 19 year old seminary student that was interning at the church for the summer.

"What advice did you give them?"

"I advised them to sit down with their parents and explain the situation. They are both the children of Christian parents and they obviously love each other deeply. My hope was that the parents would see this and work through it with them".

"Did they follow your advice?"

"They intended to. Maggie was going to talk to her parents immediately after the retreat. She wanted to talk to them together with the baby's father. She had every confidence that her parents, although likely to be shocked, would ultimately be helpful and would help them speak with his father".

"And then she ran away. Do you find that strange?"

"I do. I have been agonizing over it since we first spoke. The reality of the situation has sunk in. I am starting to agree with the Bullocks".

"When Maggie and the baby's father met with you, who else did you tell?"

The pastor struggled for an answer to Jonesy's question.

"My first reaction was to keep it confidential until they had a chance to at least speak to the Bullocks. Travis is a church elder. My fear was, if I told the other elders, word would get back to Travis before Maggie had a chance to speak with her parents. Because of Maggie's age, however, I had to bring the situation to our senior elder, Stuart Jameson. He is a Saint Johns County judge so I felt he was the best choice to lend advice and to practice discretion".

"Are you aware of the ownership hierarchy of Christianity Today?"

"My accountability is to the elders and to the membership. I've never been much of a business man. I'm a man of God. This house, my car, my expenses, they're all covered by my business manager who was appointed by the church. I do not even know how much I make, Mr. Jones."

Jonesy was seeing Worthington in a new light. This man was not the manipulator, he was the manipulated.

"I want to thank you for your honesty this time around", Jonesy said.

"It's the least I can do. If there is further help I can offer, please feel free to contact me without a sneak attack".

"I will", Jonesy said as they shook hands.

As Jonesy left, he actually felt an emotion toward Worthington that he not felt previously, pity. Now he would turn his attention to Stuart Jameson who must have tipped someone off that started the process that led to Maggie's disappearance. Jonesy called Frank as soon as he was back in the Subaru.

"Rozzani"

"Frank, how is your day going?"

"Let's see. I was pulled over by a yokel cop, threatened twice, and had to drive all over North Florida to enjoy these things".

"Sounds like you had more fun than I did. I was able to talk with Rick Worthington. He's not our man, but he did give me a good lead".

Jonesy and Frank caught each other up.

"Every time I think we're on the verge of solving this one, it takes a turn", Frank said. "Is Cobb just a sick old man with shady business dealings? Is Worthington just a simple, gifted preacher? What about Drake? He was nowhere to be found".

"We've still got some digging to do", Jonesy said. "If we can find the baby-daddy, we might find a clue to Maggie's whereabouts. Worthington would not share his name with me. I'll hit the ground running tomorrow with Judge Jameson."

"I'll work on the doctor and the baby-daddy angle", Frank said.

"And, I'll track down Bubba Drake", Anita chimed in. "If he's involved in this, I want to be the one to bust him".