Wings of Deception (19 page)

Tom agreed to meet with him in
private.
His boat was moored at the South end of the Ross Barnett Reservoir and he would pick
Jacks up at a place close to where he lived
,
late
Tuesday
evening just before dusk.

They both were dressed and geared for fishing
. W
hen Jacks recognized the boat described to him
,
he
was ready to climb aboard without being conspicuous. Another man handled the boat so that when it came to a place in the water
which
was desolated to their satisfaction
,
it was stilled and they
proceeded to cast for fish that neither
man
was interested in.

Jacks had met Tom on one occasion at a fundraiser for the ACAA and though he remembered, Tom did not.
He
only
knew Jacks
through
his reputation.

Jacks
sketched the outline of
how
he was expected to destroy
Tom’s career
and
there was a sharp intake of breath
from
the man.

“I see.
” Carefully choosing his words
,
he asked Jacks,
“
What I do
n’t
understand
is why you are telling me
all this
instead of
just
following their orders.
It would be the easiest way out for you.
I know some of what you stand for Jacks,
and it is my understanding that w
hen it comes to
principles
,
you can be somewhat ferocious in getting what you want
from the courts
, especially
where children are
concerned
. I also know
that
you are an avid atheist and it causes me to question your motives in helping me
,
instead of
hurting
me.
You do know I
’
m Catholic?
”

Jacks shrugged his shoulders and reeled his line in with a nice sized bass on the end. He took if off and gently lowered it back into the water before he answered.

“First of all Tom,
your personal beliefs are no concern of mine
.
And
al
though I despise your holier than thou attitude that comes across in the office you are in, I respect the fact that you
do
have a clean record
.
I could
not
find any dirt on you.
I figure that and the bills
they want you to push through for them
are the reasons you have been targeted.”

“I can’t just put myself, my reputation, in your hands. How can I know that this is not just part of your plan?”

“
You don’t.
”

“What can I do?”

“You can
go along with me on this until I can figure it out.”

“Let me think on it a day or two and
I will let you know
.”

Jacks nodded, “
Good enough.
.
.”

“We can set up another meeting then.”

Waving at the man fishing at the
other end of the boat
, he signaled for him to head back.

When
the boat pulled up to let Jacks off
,
he
stood
watch
ing
as
they
sped
away
into the
fast approaching
darkness.

                                                                                  TWELVE

Sheila waited anxiously for Monday evening. Her letter was written and ready for her father to post first thing on Tuesday. She knew he would say nothing to anyone. She spent the days after Jacks departure
putting everything she could remember about Morgan’s highly secretive
sect she
had learned in the past months.
For the most part, h
e kept her secluded from his activities but there had been occasions when she had glimpsed into the underworld
in which
he was royalty.

The Monday night gatherings were guarded carefully from outsiders and she was not allowed to be downstairs when they were being held, nor did she have any desire to
be
. But during one such meeting she could hear what sounded like a chanting, not distinct enough to understand but the creepy feeling it gave her sent her to her knees in prayer.

When Monday did finally arrive
,
she paced the floor until her father was
brought into her rooms. She sent the maid or as she preferred to call her, the jailer, to fetch some snacks and threw herself into her father’s arms.

“Daddy, I am so glad to see you! How is everything at home?”

Smiling for his benefit, she pulled him
over
to
an
overstuffed sofa and sat with him. Her heart hurt for him, knowing that he blamed himself for her dilemma, just as much as she felt responsible for his.

“Don’t you worry none about you old daddy sweetheart, it
is
you I
am
worried about. Is he treating you good, cause if he
is
not
…”

“I am fine really
,
Morgan tries to be nice in
a weird
way
,
but Daddy, listen to me.
I have something I need you to do, a letter I need you to mail first thing in the morning. Overnight. You remember Jacks, my old boss?”

“Sure I do. Sheila
,
this is not something that you can get in trouble is it?”

“Daddy, we are both in a world of trouble now and Jacks can help us. Please, just say you will mail the letter for me…for us.”

“You know I will
,
but I don’t want you doing
anything
that
is
go
ing to
get you hurt.”

“I won’t Daddy. I love you!”

“I love you too
.”

She laid her head on his chest and he held her, smoothing back her hair just as he did when she was a little girl. She felt comforted and he felt sadness
,
for he knew he would not be the hero who would save her.

John Herbert was not young any more. He was about to turn seventy-seven.
His wife conceived Sheila when she was going through the change and John already thought of himself as old then. Childless up until that time
,
they were happy to at last have
a little girl
of their own. They had brought Sheila up in a Godly
home;
teaching her good Christian values and watching her grow into a beautiful
Christian
woman. His sweet wife
died before Sheila’s twentieth birthday and now it was just the two of them and
now
he
felt he had
let her down.

When there was a hit and run, with a dead victim and his car was impounded, he had no idea what was going on. He tried to tell the police that he had not left his h
ome
in two days but they did not listen and he found himself facing arrest. Before that could happen he was visited by two men who claimed to be detectives but when he asked for identification they laughed. He was told that all the evidence against him would go away if his daughter marr
ied
Morgan Belk.

At first
,
he thought it was all a joke but when Sheila
came to him and told him she was going to marry
and why, he knew it was no joke.
He begged her not to, and to go with him to the police.
She
refused
and told him that it was they who falsified the evidence against him. Still, he would rather die than see his only child become the wife of such a man.

He
was having no
part of it until Morgan hinted
to him
that things would go
bad not only for him but for his daughter as well, so with a sad heart
,
he watched as Sheila gave up dreams of spending her life with a true soul mate
,
for a man who had given his
own soul
to the devil. He never stopped praying for God to intervene and never gave up on his faith that He would
.

When he left that night
,
neither father or daughter could know that it was the last time they would ever see each other. Tuesday morning after John put the letter in the
mail
,
he collapsed on the sidewalk with a massive heart attack and died before he reached the hospital.

It was Wednesday when the letter arrived, carefully addressed to Honey but she knew the contents were meant for Jacks. She signed for it and immediately called his cell phone. It went straight to voice mail so she just said that the letter he was waiting for had arrived and she would keep it safe until he could pick it up.

When he got the message at a later time, he told Tina that he would be out for the rest of the afternoon and headed for Philadelphia. Not wanting to take a chance on being seen at Honey’s clinic he called her on the way and asked that she meet him at the Golden Moon, a casino on the Choctaw Reservation right outside of Philadelphia.

“Where will you be?” She asked and he replied with a question. “Do you play Blackjack?”

“No,
I
never
enjoyed losing my money.” When she visited the resort it was usually to meet friends for a meal.”

“I will be sitting at a Blackjack table
and when you see me, make it look like an accidental meeting.
Speak, but don’t linger. Go to the restrooms that are behind the escalators. There are phone booths just before you get to them.
Pretend to use a phone and scribble on the back of the envelope as if you are writing a number or something.
Leave
it
lying
there
and go into the
lady
’s room. I will be close behind you and pick it up.
It is not safe to be seen with me
right now
.
I think I am being followed so do not try to talk with me again. I will call you
later
.”

“Okay, I can do that, but who
is
follow
ing
you? Never mind, you can tell me
that
later
too
.”

“
Bye
then
, I will see you in a few minutes.”

“I am leaving now Jacks, bye.”

She placed the letter into her purse and
telling Betty that she was going to lunch, headed for the parking lot. She was intrigued by the covert activity and a little apprehensive.

She prayed the short distance there for protection.
Ra
ga
s, unseen by her, was
seeing that she was well protected from the evil spirits who sought to do her harm.

She
parked and went inside the casino and found the area Jacks would be at and
walked around the tables where people were playing all sorts of card games
.
N
ot seeing Jacks
,
she assumed she got there ahead of him
,
so she sat at a slot machine where she could easily see all the tables. Not to be conspicuous, she put a bill into it and punched buttons, not having any idea of what she was doing.

It was only a few
minutes
before
she spotted Jacks walking up to a table but waited until he was playing before getting up meandering around
,
casually stopping at different tables observing until she reached the one he was at. He looked up seeming surprised to see her there and spoke. She politely smiled and returned his greeting before moving on into the direction he had dictated. Doing exactly as he asked
,
she waited in the rest room until she was sure he had time to retrieve the letter. She walked out and as she passed the phone booths
saw
the letter was gone
. H
oping that
he now had it in his possession
,
she left the Golden Moon and headed back to the clinic
,
wondering what the letter contained.