Wings of Deception (16 page)

“Tomorrow Jacks, I will have the first name for you tomorrow.”

He was expected to fulfill duties assigned to him and if he did
all that was required of
him
,
Sheila and her father would not be harmed.

Jacks
knew that once a person was blackmailed there was never an end to it. All he wanted was time
,
so he let Morgan believe that he
had power over him. He also talked in a way that would lead him to believe he was every bit as warped as he.

Jacks’ was a smart man, successful in his line of work because he was good at what he did. Convincing
juries
, judges and people in general was his expertise. To him Morgan
Belk
was no different.

Morgan bid his guest
s
good night and Jacks was shown to his room
,
which he noticed was in a complete
ly
different wing from Sheila
’s
.

                                                                                  NINE

P
rayer
was
being held for the Bowler family
after the Bible studies on Thursday nights.
Andrew was
concerned
about the judge who was taking Judge Langley’s place in the court room. She was known to be harsh and unsympathetic in her rulings and her political connections gave her more power than most. It was just a matter of time before the ACAA filed a new motion against the Bowlers
.
T
heir friends and family were banding together
fiercely
,
getting
ready for spiritual warfare. With all that was going on, the couple
was even more
devastated because Carol was
now
losing her sight. The doctors were unable to do anything to stop
it
.
I
t was a sign that
the tumor had
nowhere
else to go
and
was pushing harder against the optical nerves.

Honey was at the church
the same Thursday night that Jacks was in New York. True to her word
,
she had not spoken
of
her
conversation with him
to anyone
. She worried that what he
told her
may be truth and if
it
were
,
she did not want to put Carol in any more danger than she was already.

Having a
late appointment
,
she
missed most of the Bible study
that night
and afterwards
Pastor
Dwight
asked the forty to fifty people who were there
,
to come up to the front of the church and form a
prayer
circle.

She placed
herself between Jean and another girl Sissy
.
Honey loved the
se
prayer gatherings
.
Everyone held hands and the prayer went completely around the circle
,
each person
as sincere as could be in asking
God
to
intervene
for the Bowlers.

Basking in the afterglow of communion with the Heavenly Father, Honey gave Jean
and
Sissy
a hug
.
She really did love all of her new friends!

E
ager
to see Carol and her parents
she made her way
to where they were talking with Pastor
Dwight
near the entrance
. Carol was sitting on the
very last
pew with a pen
doodling in a
notebook
. Honey
sat down beside her.

“Hi Carol, how are you feeling?”

“Okay,”
Carol
kept drawing, not looking up.

“What do you have there
,
Sweetie
, do you mind if I see?”

Carol
shook her head
making her new glasses slid
e
down her nose. Pushing them back up, she
handed
Honey
the book. What was depicted
in the drawings gave Honey a shock.

“What a
…
nice drawing Carol! Do you think I might have it?”

Carol looked at Honey sideways
,
carefully
shaking her head yes
,
so
Honey tore the page out and handed the book back to Carol.

“My momma told me I mustn’t speak to strangers
anymore
.”

“That’s right Carol, for now it is better not to.” She had asked Carol’s parents not to let Carol even be around anyone they didn’t know very well.

Carol was swinging her feet and seeming to concentrate on the action.

“Okay
S
weetie, good night. I will see you th
is
weekend.”

She was surprised when Carol clutched her arm
suddenly
and looked up at
her
with the palest of blue eyes.

“Miss Honey, wait. If I tell
you
something and
you
tell
the
stranger
,
then is that bad?”

Honey’s stomach lurched
but
she held a steady voice as she smiled at Carol.

“
Aw,
i
t is not that it
’s
a bad thing darling, you have done nothing bad
.
D
o
you hear? F
or now it is just safer, with all that you and your momma and poppa are going through
, that you not be around anyone who does not know you well
.
You can understand that we just want to keep you safe, can’t you?”

She
looked at
the little girl who was obviously worried about something.

“I
guess
.
Then c
ould you give the picture to that strange man
?
I really drew it for him.”

Honey felt a chill go down her spine. “What strange man is that Carol?”

“You
know
th
e
one
that
made
M
omma and
P
oppa
go to
jail
.” Honey
frowned
at her words.

“
Sweetheart
,
they weren’t actually in jail…they were
just
being held at the police station until things were worked out. This man
who you
are talking about
…
his name is Jacks…you made
t
h
is
picture for him?”

Carol made a funny look with her mouth and nodded her head.

“Carol, is
this him in the picture and you
wanted to tell
him
something
?”
She pointed to one of the figures Carol had drawn.

Her nod became more pronounced. Honey looked at the picture again.

“Stay here Carol, I will be right back.” She stood
up
and walked to where Carol
’
s parents were and spoke with them a minute before rejoining their daughter.

“Okay Carol, I talked with your parents and we agree that you may tell me what it is that you want this man to know.”

Carol leaned over and whispered, “
He didn’t kill that woman,
it
was
n’t
his fault
she
died
,
it
was the bad people.
Tell him that
she
’
s okay now with Jesus
and
when th
at
man dies it
’s
because Jesus just wanted him to come live with Him in Heaven
too
.
It’s not his fault
either
.
”

Honey swallowed
and
carefully
wrote her words on the back of the picture exactly as
she
said
them
.

“Is that all?”

“Uh-huh
. Miss Honey, why did God make bad people?”

“Oh Carol, God did not make bad people, he made good people. You see, we have to choose to be bad and it makes God very sad when some
people
do.”

Carol thought about Honey’s answer and seemed content with it as she resumed her doodling. Honey kissed the top of her head and left her to her
drawing
.
The picture and the words given
to her
in hand
,
she went to join the adults. Most
everyone was
gone and she waited a few moments until it was just the pastor and Carol’s parents left before sharing with them Carol’s drawing and the words meant for Jacks. It made no sense to them but they were not privy to what she knew and was bound in confidence to keep to herself. To
her
,
there was great meaning in both picture and words and
she was sure
they would be to Jacks also. They all left the building, going to respective homes.

Honey lay awake past midnight thinking and praying
for
the man
who was
called
‘
just Jacks
’.

                                                                                    TEN

Jacks
finally slept, though it was an uneasy sleep, and awakened the next
morning later
than he
usually did
. After showering and dressing for the day, he found his way downstairs where he was served coffee and offered breakfast. There was no sign of either Sheila or Morgan
,
so he ate a light meal and waited in a huge
library
to which
one the servants
had
led him.
He
grinned when the same servant posted himself at the
entrance;
obviously he was not to be left alone.

Two walls in the room
were
filled with shelves of books so he ambled around looking, picking certain ones out and flipping through the pages.
There was a wide variety
.
H
e saw many on topics such as
Zionism, Socialism and Satanism.
He was holding a rather large red copy of
Dyer
H
udestaat
when Morgan appeared behind him.

“Are you an avid reader Jacks? I am a lover of books, all sorts as you can see.”

He spread his hands indicating the many shelves of books.

Jacks closed the
one
he held in his hand and turned around to face his host.

“Good morning to you too Morgan, I was wondering when you would be down. Where is Sheila, surely not still sleeping, it’s after ten already.”