The Demon Deception (23 page)

Lazarus pulled Faith from the kydex sheath,
“I had to make the kydex sheath for them. I was tired of replacing
the leather sheathes every three to five years.”

Sam didn’t hear what Lazarus was saying. He
was staring at the blade of the sword. Lazarus took the blade,
reversed it, and held the handle over his arm, towards Sam. Sam
looked up, his eyes wide.

“Go ahead, take it.”

Sam slowly put his hand on the hilt of the
sword. He lifted it carefully away from Lazarus. Sam had no doubts
that the edge of the sword was razor sharp. The last thing he
wanted to do was put Lazarus on the disabled list right before the
mission kicked off. Plus, Lazarus might get upset if Sam took an
arm off.

Lazarus grinned at the way Sam was holding
the sword, “Don’t worry, you won’t break it. Believe me, there were
a situations in which I thought I broke that one. I’m glad to say,
they seem to be indestructible.”

Sam was still in awe. The weapon should have
weighed several pounds, but it was as light as a feather. It was
perfectly balanced for his hand, which was amazing, since it had
been built for Lazarus.

Sam looked over at Lazarus, “Please don’t
tell me that you left these here in the room.”

Lazarus grinned, “Okay, I won’t tell you, but
it’ll be a sin of omission, then.”

Sam was floored, “These are irreplaceable.
They’re priceless. How can you just leave them in your room?”

Lazarus shrugged, “Nobody ever bothers them.
I’m not sure anybody can see them unless I want them to. I was
wounded in battle during the middle ages, and I was unconscious. I
woke in the hospital, swords missing. They had fallen on the
battlefield. I asked everybody about them; nobody had seen them. I
was frantic, to say the least.”

“As soon as I was able, I went back to the
battlefield. There were scavengers looting the bodies. I watched as
women and children stripped corpses of anything of value. I watched
as they walked past the twin swords time and time again. One of
them had fallen point into the ground, and it was standing straight
up over the other. Had the scavengers been able to see them, they
would have taken them, as surely as night follows day.”

Sam shook his head in amazement, “Had they
only known. These blades are worth tens of thousands of
dollars.”

Lazarus nodded, “At that time, we’re talking
a few pounds of gold, at least. But since then, I’ve never worried
about anybody stealing them.”

Lazarus pulled Mercy out and handed it to
Sam. Sam held them both in his hands, then did a few Eskrima Kata
movements. Lazarus watched, and he halted Sam’s movement at a few
points. He repositioned Sam’s arms and wrists to take advantage of
the swords’ edge or point.

Sam stopped, and stared at the swords in
wonderment, “These are amazing.” He looked up at Lazarus, “I’m
going to feel very bad when I have to return to using my Kershaw
camp knives again.”

Lazarus smiled, “Well, the nice thing about
the camp knives is, they’re cheap and easily replaced.”

“I am so into weapon envy right now.”

Lazarus held out his hands, indicating that
Sam should hand them back to him. Sam held the swords by the pommel
so that the blades hung straight down towards the floor. Lazarus
grabbed the swords by the handles, and he laid Faith down on the
bed so that he could slide Mercy back into the sheath. Then he
picked up Faith and slid it back into the sheath as well.

“What time do you want to get started
tomorrow?” Sam asked.

“I’m thinking we eat about eight, then we can
head over and grab our munitions before we leave town.”

Sam spoke, “Ah, we don’t have to go anywhere
to grab the munitions.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t we supposed to pick
them up in Amarillo?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, we are, and we already
have.”

Lazarus was puzzled, “What do you mean, we
already have?”

“Well, it wasn’t that much, just ten pounds
of C4, a hundred feet of det cord, and twenty blasting caps.”

“Yeah, I know. Where’d you pick them up
at?

“Didn’t have to pick them up anywhere. I
called my contact, gave him the hotel and room number, and a
courier brought them to me.”

“That’s original. What about operational
security?”

“Well, my contact didn’t have to go through
his organization. So, he sent out some bogus information on the
drop, then hired two different couriers to bring me the boxes.
Since they were private couriers, and the boxes didn’t cross state
lines, he didn’t have to declare what was in the box.”

“Let me guess, the blasting caps were sent
separately from the explosives.”

“Yep, that way there wouldn’t be any big
booms if the blasting caps accidently went off, just some energetic
pops.”

Lazarus was amazed by the turn of events. It
wasn’t how he would have handled everything, but as long as it
worked, he was okay with it. Hopefully the bogus information would
send out a false trail to throw Mephistopheles and his ATF agents
off the scent. It might do the same for any others that were trying
to track them as well. They still didn’t know who sent the two
snipers out to the Poconos. Lazarus had the feeling there was still
another party out there that they had to be wary of.

“Well, that solves that problem. Let me wire
the next set of cash so that we know where we need to be. When we
get the last of the munitions, we can head to Bisbee.”

“Bisbee?” Sam asked, “Where’s that?”

“Have you ever heard of Tombstone, or Fort
Huachuca?”

“Tombstone, yeah, Huachuca, no. You mean like
the movies, Wyatt Earp and the OK corral?”

Lazarus nodded, “Exactly like that. Fort
Huachuca is in the area as well.”

“What, we’re going to the OK corral to have a
shootout with inter-dimensional demons?”

Lazarus laughed, “How appropriate would that
be? No, not that dramatic. Though, it would be pretty cool.”
Lazarus put emphasis on the ‘pretty cool.’ “No, we’re headed a
little bit south of there, to a place called Bisbee. It’s the
capital of Cochise County, Arizona and has what used to be the
largest open pit mine in the world. The Copper Queen is now a very
large pit in the earth, and a tourist attraction. That’s where
we’re headed.”

“To a large open pit in the earth?”

“Yep.”

“I almost wish it was in Tombstone. I’m not
sure I like the idea of being down in a pit with a hoard of angry
demons.”

Lazarus shrugged, “once you’ve been in one
pit with demons, it’s all pretty much the same.”

Sam laughed, “Well, that’s one experience I
never hope to experience.”

Lazarus replied, “Just keep your head clear
when you’re around Darcy. Something’s in play here, and I’m not
sure what it is.”

“Yeah, not too sure myself. So, you want me
to go down to Darcy’s room and give her the low down on pistol
etiquette? Just in case?”

Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, you can do that. Watch
yourself though. Don’t get too involved. Besides, she may not let
you leave the room.”

“What, you don’t trust me? I’m a big boy, I
can take care of myself.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. I’ve seen the way
you look at Darcy. What’s more, I’ve seen the way she looks at
you.”

Sam looked up at Lazarus, startled, “What,
she’s been checking me out?”

“And there you go, thanks for making my point
for me. You’re a little too concerned about what Darcy thinks about
you. Next thing you know, you’ll be passing her notes in homeroom,
asking if she likes you, check yes or no.”

Sam looked embarrassed at being called out
for his reaction. Still, he waved off Lazarus’ statement, “Nah,
that’s a girl thing. Boys pull the girls pigtails, trying to get
attention.”

Lazarus smiled, “Thanks for correcting my
misconceptions.”

“No problem. You didn’t get a chance to
experience the basics, like homeroom at the William H. Taft
elementary school, in Brooklyn, New York.”

Lazarus nodded, “Yeah, I guess my education
is sadly lacking in fundamental things like hierarchical
interactions between children in the modern world.”

Sam walked over, and clapped his hand down on
Lazarus’ shoulders, then pointed a thumb back at his own chest,
“Don’t worry Eli. Stick with me. I’ll make sure the gaps in your
education are filled with erudite observations of the state of
worldly affairs from my youthful edification growing up in
Brooklyn.”

Lazarus laughed, and began steering Sam
towards the door of the room, “My, what big words you know. Have
you been reading the dictionary again? You might want to curtail
that activity. You could accidently sprain something, then you’ll
be sitting in a chair, staring blankly out a window, and drooling
on yourself.”

Sam presented what he thought was a scholarly
demeanor, “Hey, I’ll have you know I’ve been taking college
classes. I got an A in English Lit. Besides, how do you know that I
don’t drool on myself now?”

Lazarus smiled at Sam as he opened the door,
“Well, I don’t. But, I guess everybody needs a hobby.”

Sam laughed at that, and stepped out into the
lobby, “I’m going to go ahead and give the girls the timeline for
tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.”

“And, I’ll try not to be lured down a path of
sinful iniquity by Lilith and Darcy when I talk to them
tonight.”

“Good luck with that. I’ll give you odds of
five to one that Lilith with be dressed in something skimpy.”

“I’m not going to take those odds, because I
know you’re probably right.”

“I’m telling you. You’re going to end up
taking a cold shower just like I had to.”

Sam had a smirk on his face as he turned and
walked towards Lilith’s room. Lazarus shut the door, and walked
over to pick up the remote and turn on the TV. An hour later, he
got a phone call. It was Sam, “You were wrong.”

“About what?” Lazarus asked.

“About what Lilith was wearing,” Sam
answered.

“She wasn’t wearing something skimpy?
Lingerie?”

“No, she wasn’t wearing something skimpy. She
wasn’t wearing lingerie. In fact, she wasn’t wearing anything at
all.”

“What about Darcy?” Lazarus asked.

“Not naked, fully dressed. But let’s just say
the invitation was there. I thought Darcy was sexier than Lilith,
even with her clothes on, though. I find Darcy very appealing.
Tough to leave the room after I showed her the pistol basics.”

“Cold shower?” Lazarus asked.

“Firing up the water as we speak.”

Lazarus laughed, and he heard the click as
Sam hung up the phone. The image of Lilith with no clothes on
wandered into his head. He stood up, stripped out of his clothes,
and walked to the bathroom. The sound of water running could be
heard, and then a great gasp as Lazarus stepped into the cold
stream. Being a saint was not for the faint hearted.

----------------------------------------------------

Lilith and Darcy were already in the lobby
when the elevator door opened. Lazarus stepped out. He walked over
to them, “How was everybody’s night? Did you ladies get a good
night sleep?”

Lilith smiled and stretched. Darcy’s cheeks
turned pink at the display.

Lilith replied, “Well, it would have been
much better if I had somebody to share it with.” Her eyes were very
aggressive when she looked at Lazarus, “I’m not too sure about your
boy Sam. I mean, he pretty much had an open invitation last night,
and he didn’t take me up on it.”

A light flared in Darcy’s eyes. Lazarus could
see a hint of jealousy there.

“Well, answering your door completely naked
may have scared him off,” he replied. The light appeared again,
more intense this time
. “Yep, she’s jealous,”
he thought.
That could be a very good thing for him.

“Well, if he’s scared of me, what good is he
going to be on our mission?” Lilith asked.

“Don’t worry, I think I
may
be able to
rely on him. He and I have a history together. We’ve fought back to
back more than once. Demons don’t faze him. I think it’s more of a,
‘I don’t want to put my immortal soul in jeopardy thing,’ not a,
“OMG, it’s a naked woman, I haven’t seen one of those before,’
things.”

Lilith smirked, “OMG, really?”

Lazarus grinned back, “Got to keep up with
the times.”

Darcy looked confused, “What are you two
talking about? Demons?”

Lazarus looked at Darcy, then looked at
Lilith, “So, when are you going to clue her into your modus
operandi?”

Lilith smiled, “When it’s appropriate.”

Darcy looked even more confused. “Modus
operandi?”

Sam chose that moment to walk through the
front doors of the lobby, “Hey, van’s outside. You ready to
go?”

The ladies turned towards Sam, and followed
him out. Lazarus made sure the hotel bill was paid, then followed
them. He walked over to the van, put his bag into the back, and
walked around to the side door. Darcy was up front in the passenger
seat. She smiled at him, “I called shotgun.”

Lazarus climbed into the back seat next to
Lilith. She leaned over, wrapped both her arms around his, and laid
her head against his shoulder, “I’m still tired. I’m going to use
you as a pillow today.”

Lazarus’ heartbeat increased dramatically.
“I really need a girlfriend,”
he thought.

Lazarus caught Sam’s eyes in the rear view
mirror, the mirth in Sam’s gaze evident. Lazarus endured it
stoically. He fastened his seat belt, and Sam pulled away from the
hotel. Two miles down the road, they pulled into a Denny’s. Sam
parked, and then followed Lazarus, Lilith, and Darcy into the
restaurant.

Lazarus walked behind Lilith and Darcy. The
waitress showed them to a booth. Lilith and Darcy sat down on two
different sides of the table, and Lazarus slid into the booth next
to Lilith, making sure that Sam would be sitting next to Darcy. Sam
walked up, and Darcy smiled brightly at him, and patted the seat
next to her. She turned her head towards Lilith as Sam sat next to
her, and smiled as if she had won some type of competition. They
ordered breakfast. Everybody had coffee, except for Darcy, who had
chocolate milk.