Stirring Up Strife (2010) by Jennifer - a Hope Street Church Stanley

to Brooke's document.
     
"Oh, please!" Ashley dismissed the idea. "Everyone judges a book by its cover for at least the first few minutes. You ever want someone else to open up your cover and peer inside, then you better do something, 'cause right now your book title is Thirty-Three and Heading Down the Road That Leads to Spinsterhood ."
     
Cooper scowled. "I'm not thirty-three yet . Now, do you want to hear about my experience at Hope Street or not?"
     
Ashley nodded and Cooper got up to brew some decaf coffee. As the girls ate several of their mother's raspberry squares, she filled Ashley in on the death of Brooke Hughes.
     
When Cooper was done, Ashley gestured at the scraps of paper. "So this mess is what you pulled out of the copier?"
     
Cooper smirked. "Yep. And this mess may actually contain some kind of a clue. It's real important for me to piece it back together. I'm not going to do anything else other than my job until this is done." Staring at the minute progress she had made, she sighed. "So far, the only word I've been able to make out is Hazel ."
     
"Hazel? What's that?"
     
"I'm guessing it's a woman's name, but who she is and how she ties into this whole thing is a mystery to me."
     
"You're lucky, Coop. You're right in the thick of it all." Ashley folded her manicured hands and rested her lovely chin on top of them. "It's so exciting!"
     
Cooper frowned at her sister. "I don't think Mr. Hughes is feeling all too excited about what's happened. If it weren't for him and the fact that his wife was so nice to me, I'd be watching HGTV with a pile of gardening catalogues on my lap."
     
"Then thank God for small favors," Ashley declared. "Here you are with a real, live murder case that you could help solve. I mean, maybe you were meant to meet Brooke and these Bible study folks." She sighed. "See? You're lucky to have such an important role to play!"
     
Cooper watched her sister pout. "Aw, cheer up, Ashley. Maybe someone will meet their Maker by getting wrapped too tight in seaweed during your spa visit."
     
Ashley picked up the shopping bags and fluffed her radiant blond locks. "Well, it could happen! But for now I'll just have to settle for exchanging these clothes for some of those darling summer sandals I saw on display. Bye now!" She wiggled a few of her fingers in a lazy wave and then marched out the door. Cooper could hear the clomp-clomp of Ashley's designer heels as her sister made her way downstairs.
     
Shaking her head, Cooper got back to work. She was determined not to go to sleep until she had something to show her new friends at Hope Street.
     
     
     
     
     
    5
     
The nations will see your righteousness,
     
and all kings your glory;
     
you will be called by a new name
     
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
     
     
    Isaiah 62: 2 (NIV)
     
The morning of Brooke's funeral arrived and the weather seemed completely out of sorts for such a sorrowful event. A bright sun rose in a cloudless sky and the temperature climbed to a delightful sixty-five degrees by the time dark-clad mourners had gathered around Brooke's grave.
     
Cooper spotted the members of the Sunrise Bible Study Group clustered behind a tall man in a gray suit flanked by officers from the sheriff's department. Instead of joining them, she took a seat on a memorial bench several yards away.
     
As the minister spoke in a voice filled with gentle conviction, Cooper studied Wesley Hughes. He was thin and balding but still very attractive. His drawn face was splotched by tears and he kept his eyes riveted on his wife's casket. When it was time for him to sprinkle dirt into Brooke's grave, he fell to his knees, sobbing, and had to be supported by his two guards. A young man in his early twenties with closely cropped blond hair and broad shoulders embraced Wesley with a desperation that tore at Cooper's heart and she had to assume that he was Caleb, the Hugheses' son.
     
After the final benediction was spoken, the deputies