Wings of Deception (43 page)

“Okay
.
S
ay I want you to let them go
. H
ow can I be sure you
will
keep your word?
You have not been exactly honest with me.”

Asa
stood up and walked close to the camera. “You can believe
this;
they will die if you do
nothing!

“So everything you told me before, about all the good you were doing, it was all just propaganda?”

“The
N
ew
W
orld
O
rder is not
propaganda
.
I
t is a fact that will bring all
people
together as one.”

“But before you denied there was a God, now you want me to believe there is one but he is not the good guy and you are. This makes no sense to me. Make me understand and I will do as you want.”

A crafty look appeared on
Asa’s
face
,
which made Jack’s skin crawl but he tried to look interested.

“
You will get nothing more from me until we meet face to face.”

“Then tell me where you are and I will come to you.”

“I am not a fool Jacks, do not mistake me for one.”

“Just saying….I would like to hear more about you, the real you, before I make
up
my mind.
From what I am gathering from this conversation, there seems to be a conflict going on and I want to make sure I am on the winning side.”

Asa
contemplated Jacks words for a minute and decisively concluded, “Very well, I will see you
,
but know that if you try anything not to my liking, I will destroy th
o
se women without a thought.”

“
F
ine.
Where do we meet?” Jacks tried not to show his
desperation
. If he could only get to where Honey and Sheila were
,
he could help them, he was sure.

“Tonight I will send for you. Make no contact with anyone until then and I do mean anyone Jacks. I will know if you do and….well use your imagination.
”

“Where should I be?”

“Go back to your friend Sang-mi and you will be contacted there.”

“Sang-mi, don’t tell me….”

“No, I won’t tell you she belongs to me
.
It is just
a matter of time
until
she
too, will make a deal.
J
ust a matter of time and she will belong to me.” With this
,
he laughed and the set went blank.

Jacks turned around and the woman was gone
. H
e made his way back to the front and saw that there
were
a few customers
now sitting
at the bar
. S
he was too busy to notice him as he went out the door. His head was swimming with the conversation he had just had and he touched the recorder, hoping it had picked up the entire thing. Sighing deeply
,
he hailed a taxi, instructing him to take him by the hotel
.
There
he
quickly
added dialog to the voice recorder and left it on the dresser. At the front desk he gave the clerk the card the detectives had given him and asked that she call and have them come and pick up his belongings.
He knew his phone was most likely monitored
,
so he dare
d not
use it.
He
just
hoped they would be prompt and figure everything out
before it was too late. Then he made his way back to Sang-mi’s
. S
he gave his still bleeding wound much needed attention, jabbering away in her native tongue.

There was so much going on in Jacks mind that he was overwhelmed.
Asa
in Garrett’s body was almost more than he could comprehend
. H
e was a smart man and was thinking that if something as evil as whatever
Asa
was, would admit that God did exist, then he had been wrong
in
thinking He did not. He concentrated on remembering everything he had ever heard about God
.
The most recent being what Honey had
told
him
just days before. Coming to the conclusion that she was right and he was wrong
,
he began to wonder what would happen to him if he died. Surely he would not go to the same place as Honey or any other Christian
.
T
hat meant he would be in the company of people or things like
Asa
. This did not sound
thrilling
to him
. H
e
secluded himself off from the comings and goings of the restaurant
where Sang-mi was busy
and did some heavy thinking.
He wished he had someone to talk to but did not dare use the phone to call Dwight. He had no idea how to tell God that he did believe
in Him
or what to do about it. Remembering back to his early childhood how he was forced to pray did
not
appeal to him
,
so he took a deep breath and began his first talk with God since he was ten years old.

“Okay God. I
t’s
just me and you here and I need some
help
. Honey says you will help me if I believe. I have decided that you must be real because I have come face to face with someone who hates you and he really does believe you exist. This is the deal. I do not want to be on the same side of this thing between you and
Asa
as h
e,
so I was wondering if you would take me on your side. I
am
not such a good person
,
but I am loyal
. I
f you will have me
,
I know I would be a better person with you on my side.
Honey says that you loved me from before and even gave your flesh life for me and now I believe that. I want to be on your side if you will
forgive me and
have me.
”

Jacks continued to talk open
ly
and honest
ly
to the God he had never believed in
. G
radually there was something that settled over him and he felt a bit strange.
He touched his face and found his
cheek
s
was
wet with tears he did not realize he had shed. Emotionally, he wiped them with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket and sat for a long time just feeling the unfamiliar peace that surrounded him.  It was weird
,
but he felt as if his heart would burst with
all the
emotion
and it felt good.

When his ride showed up
he
was calm and he was ready to face the future whatever it might bring.

                                                                               THIRTY-TWO

The door opened and a woman entered the room where Honey and Sheila were still sleeping. She walked over and stood above Honey’s bed
. A
s if by instinct Honey’s eyes
flew
open and she quickly sat up. “Who are you and what do you want?”

Sheila sleepily roused but quickly became wide eyed too
,
seeing the strange woman
who
remained stone faced as she said in a husky voice.
“Your food is on the table. Eat.”

Sheila snickered and whispered to Honey, “So they
are
going to feed us before they kill us
,
huh?”

Honey frowned but Sheila continued. “I guess
Asa
wouldn’t want us to die from starvation and cheat him of the pleasure he w
ill
get from
killing us
himself.”

The woman turned around look
ing
at them without any expression
and
just
walked out
.

Sheila was still in a flippant mood
,
as she got up and looked at the tray of food
and said, “Gee, it even looks good! Hey, you know, I
’
m pretty hungry
. You think it is okay to eat this stuff?”

Honey sighed, “I am sure it is
,
for why
would they
want to poison us
?
T
hat would be no fun either.
”

She joined Sheila at the table and looked at all the food.
“
Let’s bless it first, to be sure. I hate to think what kind of people prepared it.”

They closed their eyes briefly and silently asked a blessing.

Honey had been thinking
. S
he prodded Sheila as they began eating
, keeping her voice to a mere whisper.

“
Have you noticed that none of these people are talking
like normal
?
No one.
I have not heard a
nyone talk
normally,
except
Asa
, why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know, but you’re right. When we came through that huge room there must have been two hundred people in there working all that hi
-
tech equipment and no one was chattering.
Must be against the rules or something.”

“Or something.”
Honey’s expertise was in the field of the mind and
there was definitely
something off about the way all
of
Asa’s
employees
acted
,
starting with the ones at the stone house.
  She was beginning to think they were not ordinary people. If the thing in control of Garrett’s body was a demon, then it could be that all his people were not really human either
, or humans under his control
. The thought made her shiver.

“What are you thinking?” Sheila stopped eating
,
seeing Honey so deep in thought.

Okay
,
so when I was going to college to be a physiotherapist, we had to learn all forms of hypnosis.
What if all these people are being controlled with
some sort of
hypnosis?
”

“You could be right but if that is so
,
we certainly won’t find anyone to help us
!” It was Sheila’s turn to shudder at the thought.
She put her fork down, no longer hungry
. She got up and walked over to the door and impulsively pulled on the handle. It swung
up
and she gasped as Honey came to her feet and ran over to where she stood with the door wide open.

“It’s not locked! The door is not locked! Do you think it has been open all this time and we didn’t even think to check
it!
”

Honey was eagerly looking down the hall
.“
That woman probably just forgot to lock it.”

Sheila was standing behind her
,
looking too.
“Unless they know we can’t go anywhere. That is most likely the case. So how come we don’t just act like we are supposed to be wandering around and see what we can see?”

“
Good idea!
”
Honey
replied excitedly
as Sheila was already pushing past
her. “Come on! If they stop us we can act dumb and say we needed exercise or something.”

Walking as if they were not in a hurry
, they proceeded to explore the vast hall stopping at the first door. Honey gingerly put her hand on the knob.

“Wait!” Sheila hissed. “If we open that door and someone is in there how will we explain we are just out for exercise?”

Honey let go of the doorknob. Sheila was right and she wanted to make it further than just the next door down. They continued
on
until they came to a wide opening.