The Illuminati (14 page)

Over the next several days, items began to appear in the media indicating that Justice Bowman was siding with Justices Hartman and Kinney to uphold the so-called “Fair Tax Bill.” Nothing could have been further from the truth. Justice Bowman had already decided that taxing church income violated the very principle of separation of church and state. But in his normal manner, he refused to be interviewed or to discuss the pending issue. “With Bowman's vote, it will be five to four against the bill,” Marcia Harms, aide to Justice Bowman, reported to Cal Rutland. “They plan to hear arguments tomorrow.”

“You're sure he's going to veto the bill?” Rutland asked.

“Positive,” she replied. “He's had us go all the way back to Marshall's argument against Virginia's tax on church property. He'll use this case to reverse the property tax bill, too.”

Rutland hung up the phone and dialed Jason Franklin's private number. Franklin had been waiting for the call.

“You were right,” Rutland said when he heard the scrambler connect.

“Is it set?” the aged industrialist asked without further response.

“Tomorrow,”Rutland replied. Then he filled Franklin in on the details of his plan. He heard the line disconnect and replaced the receiver.

In a routine established through years of habit, the Supreme Court justices arrived at their offices by seven o'clock in the morning. They spent an hour or so going over the court docket and receiving briefings from their assistants on applicable laws and previous Court rulings.

That morning three justices—Hartman, Bowman, and Kinney—all arrived at almost the same time. Their chauffeurs dropped them off at the justices' entrance and proceeded to the Court parking lot to await their call to return home.

Justice Bowman was the elder statesman of the Supreme Court; he had been appointed by President Kilborne three years earlier. Then seventy, he was the oldest Supreme Court nominee in history. But his staunch adherence to the Constitution had won over the Senate and assured his confirmation. Along with Kinney and Hartman, the three became the guiding force behind the Court's direction, bowing to neither liberals nor conservatives. Their positions were “liberal” as often as “conservative” on any issue, and seldom did they all three take the same side on a case. The one issue they seemed united on was the potential invasion of privacy created by the new cash-less system proposed by the Hunt administration. It was no secret that Bowman eagerly awaited the first case to make its way through the lower court system.

Recently, Kinney and Hartman had inflamed the Christian lobby by voting on the side of the government in regard to taxing church property. In their majority ruling they stated that the Constitution did not specifically prohibit taxing church property, provided the same standard of measure was applied to all taxed properties within the community. It seemed probable that Hartman and Kinney would apply the same reasoning to the taxing of church income. Bowman would be the swing vote. Information was leaked to the media that made it appear he was siding with the more liberal element on the court. This infuriated many church and quasi-Christian groups, including the outspoken Constitutional Rights Committee. Recent interviews with supposed members of the group demonstrated a growing demand for action. The arrest of John Elder was reportedly met with threats of retaliation.

The last to arrive, Justice Bowman stepped out of his vehicle unaware of the two armed, masked men that stepped out from either side of the building and opened fire with automatic machine guns. The three justices were cut down where they stood. They died almost instantly.

As soon as the firing began, security police emerged from the building. Several were cut down by the gunmen, but the odds were in favor of the policemen. As more armed guards appeared, the masked men bolted away to a waiting car. The car was roaring down Pennsylvania Avenue when several heavily armed security guards—part of the elite force recruited for protection of Washington officials—stepped out into the street. They poured a fusillade into the accelerating car, killing the driver instantly; the vehicle went out of control and burst into flames as it crashed into a parked car. Within seconds, the gunmen's car was an inferno.

In the White House press office, the phone rang a few minutes later. As the wail of sirens sounded in the background, Cal Rutland heard the voice on the other end say, “It's done. The car burned with the bodies inside.”

Rutland hung up the phone.
It's time for Phase Two
, he said to himself quietly.

The news media carried countless scenes of the justices lying on the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court building. Then the scene would shift to the burned-out vehicle where the two gunmen and their driver were cremated.

The TV anchorman from WNN was questioning one of the many Washington police officials on the scene: “Is it true that the gunmen have been linked to the CRC—the militant religious group that has been making threats on government officials?”

“I can't comment on the case at this point,” the deputy commissioner replied.

“Do you expect any arrests?” the newsman asked in typical reporter fashion. “Is the arrest of John Elder in any way linked to this assassination?”

“I can't comment. Mr. Elder was released yesterday by order of the district judge. We will be questioning members of his group about his present whereabouts.”

Before the news interview was over, the Insta-pol showed that 78 percent of all those polled believed Elder and the CRC were responsible.

Later that day at Elder's church in Atlanta, a hastily called meeting took place. “John, what's going on?” Bill Frost asked. “It looks like the whole U.S. government is coming down on us. Why?”

“I don't really know, Bill. But remember, we talked about coming under persecution. We've taken some unpopular stands on some issues, and when a country gets into trouble, politicians begin to look for scapegoats.”

“I guess I really never understood the true meaning of that term before,”Ann Boatman said through her tears.“How can people allow this to happen? We're Americans too—we're just trying to do what's right.”

“I suppose that's the same thing the Jews asked in Germany,” Elder said. “There seems to be a mass mentality that takes over during times like these. People just want to blame someone for their troubles.”

“What about the assassinations, John? This is serious. They think we're some kind of terrorist group. It's getting likely they'll shoot first and worry about the facts later.”

“It's hard to believe this is happening, all right. As soon as the meeting is over I'm going to surrender to the local authorities.”

“But John, you're already under suspicion. I don't know if they will even set bail this time,” Archie Warner, the attorney representing the CRC, said. “I couldn't believe it when they shipped you off to D.C. after the last arrest. You should have been arraigned in Atlanta.”

“That was peculiar,” Elder agreed. “I'll tell you, I was a little frightened there for awhile. They treated me like I was John Dillinger, not John Elder.”

“Who?” Ann asked.

“Never mind,” Elder said with a grin. “I guess you're too young.”

“You know, John, I think you were set up by someone in the government. They wanted you in Washington when this assassination took place. What better way than to arrest you, ship you off to D.C., and then release you just before the assassination?” Warner said as he paced around the table.

“I've been thinking about that too, Arch. As unbelievable as it seems, I have to agree.”

Just then the telephone in the outer office rang.

“I'll get it,” Frost said. “I asked a friend in Washington to call if he heard anything.”

Picking up the receiver he answered, “This is Frost.”

“Bill, this is Sam. You're in real danger. The Justice Department just got warrants for Elder and all the district leaders of the CRC, including you. You're all being charged with terrorist activities and are to be held without bail—indefinitely. Listen to this, though: Justice also got a court order to shut down the CRC and confiscate all CRC's property as evidence. Bill, I'm afraid this thing is rotten at the highest levels here. I wouldn't doubt if they planted evidence.”

“What do you suggest, Sam?”

“Have your people surrender to the local police there in Atlanta. Things are so hot here, an accident might happen when the Feds make the arrests. A special antiterrorist force is being dispersed. The whole scene here in Washington is chaos. It looks like something out of the Middle East. My God, three justices gunned down right in front of the Supreme Court!”

Bill Frost was visibly shaken as he hung up the phone. He had been a practicing attorney for more than thirty years and couldn't believe what he had just heard.
The United States government involved in framing a religious leader
—it was almost too incredible to believe. Then it struck him: It was too incredible
not
to believe. Most Americans would accept the government's case as fact, given the current atmosphere about religion in the country. Christians had taken on some unpopular causes and had made some powerful enemies, especially in the media.

A web was being woven by their enemies. The more they struggled, the more they would be entrapped. “At the highest levels,” Sam had said.

I wonder just how high the level really goes
, he wondered silently.

He could see the fear on the faces of most of the others in the group. They were the leaders of the CRC that had started the nationwide organizations to link churches together.
It's no longer an academic exercise in free speech
, he thought.
Reality has come home to this group. I wonder how many will be able to stick it out?

After Frost hastily relayed the latest news, John Elder stood up.

“Christian friends, this is what we all feared most, and yet what we all really expected. Perhaps the persecution has come a little sooner than I had predicted, but here it is. Now each of you must decide Whom you will follow this day. Things look bad, but the Lord is still with us. Just remember, our enemy is not the people who seek our destruction; it is the enemy of Christ. This battle has been planned from the beginning of time. We're just the foot soldiers. Take heart and don't deny what you know to be the truth. God will prevail, even if we fail. Let's pray. . . .”

The pastor led his accused leaders in prayer for more than an hour. After the others left, Elder, Frost, and Warner sat in the pastor's study for nearly another hour waiting for a reply to Archie's call to a friend in the Atlanta police department. He had asked his friend to ensure that the local police place them in custody before the federal officials could serve their warrants.

“I need to share something with you that I never shared with anyone except Julia,” Elder told his friends. “I was always concerned that people would think me some kind of kook, or worse.

“For years, when I was a child, my mother said I would sit up in my bed with my eyes wide open, as if I was in trance. She said my eyes would be moving just like I was watching a scene in front of me. But when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything about it.

“This continued for quite some time—until I was thirteen years old. Then, she said I sat up one night and began describing what I was seeing. She had been waiting for that moment, so she was able to record everything I said. I'd like for you to hear it.”

Elder opened his desk drawer and took out a cassette. “I made a copy from the original reel-to-reel,” he explained as he dropped the tape into the player on his desk. “Remember, this took place nearly forty years ago.” The men listened to the voice of a young boy as he told of thousands of Christians being arrested and imprisoned because of their faith and tens of thousands of others hiding from the police. Trials were held, with religious leaders from around the world testifying to the guilt of those accused, especially one—a pastor, known to be their leader.