Wings of Deception (18 page)

“
D
addy visits
me
every Monday evening too
.
Morgan thinks it is good for me to see him while he has his meetings. Poor daddy, he lives oblivious to the world around him and loves company. He
complains that
the postman
never
brings
him good letters
and that he is always sad
after he visits me, bless his heart!”

Jacks
’
was trying to figure out what it was she was trying to say
,
afraid he would miss something. He smiled and nodded and one would think he was just indulging a most talkative hostess out of politeness.

“He
keeps saying that he
can never
get
a
friend’s
address or he would write sometimes. He
tells me how much he loves me and misses the old days at the office
.”

“I am sure he does too
,
Sheila.”
He
finally
understood what she was saying and when Carman
came across the room to where they were,
he had his hand on a card that was in his pocket. It was one that Honey
had given
him with the clinic’s address and phone number. It was a safe one to use and he knew he would be getting a letter soon from Sheila
,
explaining all the unanswered questions he still had.

“M
a’am
, Baggett is here with the car. Shall I send
Joey
here for Mr. Jacks’ bag?
”
He spoke of
the
younger man who had come in to
get
Jacks.

Jacks answered for Sheila. “No need Carman, it is a small bag and I left it in the entry way this morning. I was not sure I could find my way back up
to get it
.”

He laughed. “Tell Baggett I will be right out.”

Turning to Sheila he took her hand and promised, “I will be back for another visit
,
Sheila. It was great seeing you
again and your new home here. It looks like Morgan is
giving you a lot of
…
attention
. Give you
r
father my regards when you see him next time and tell him he is welcome to write anytime and I will be sure to answer. You take care of yourself.”
He kissed her cheek and she did his.

“I will and you do the same. Bye Jacks.”

“Good-bye.”

He followed
Joey
to the entrance where he picked up his bag and went out to the waiting car.

Sheila felt the paper in her hand and slipped it into her
own
pocket
,
relieved
. Jacks had understood what she was trying to
communicate
to him. She felt a burden lifted off her shoulder
s
as she made her way up to her beautiful prison to wait for the dreaded gowns to arrive.

                                                                                      
ELEVEN

Honey was busy all day Friday and had little time to think about anything other than her work but at one point between appointments, she took Carol’s
drawing
out
and studied it carefully
. To most
,
the picture may seem to be just the doodling of a child
,
but to her trained eye it spoke volumes. It was the words Carol had whispered
in her ear
that made no sense to her
,
for why would Jacks’ feel responsibility for the judge’s murder? She was hoping it held more meaning for him than it did her.

He said he would only be gone overnight
Thursday,
so
she hoped to hear from him before night, and she did. He called from the airport close to six-thirty
,
asking if he could see her. Of course he knew he could tell her what he wanted over the phone and as tired as he was
,
probably should
,
but he really did want to
see her in person. She invited him to her place and said he could share her dinner which she was picking up on her way home from work. She did not mention anything about the
drawing
she had for him
. She
felt that when
he did see it,
he
probably
would not take it seriously.

She waited until they finished the meal and they went out on the patio in the warm breezy dusk. The conversation was casual until Jacks explained that he had given a friend of his in New York her work address and if she would watch for it.

Honey was curious, “
I do not understand w
hy
you did not have her send it to your work or your home. I mean, I am happy to oblige
,
but why?”

“Because no one is watching your every move and mine is under close scrutiny.” He grinned, “And because I still had your card in my pocket with the information needed on it, so I hope it is not a bother for you.”

She
could not
ignore his boyish grin
but was more interested in what he had said
, “Why are you being watched? The people you told me about, the dangerous one
s
, is it them?”

Before he could answer her she jumped up and
said,
“
I will be right back, I have something to show you!”

When she came back
,
she
showed him
Carol’s drawing.

“What is it?”

“
Carol
said she drew this for you
,
look on the back. I wrote exactly what she said to tell you.”

He turned it over and read the words
and frowned
.

“I thought you were going to stop her from doing this stuff
!
Do you know what this could mean?”

His tone was steeped with concern and
alarm causing
Honey
to
stare at him.

“I am sorry Honey, I did
n’t
mean to sound so manic. To answer your last question yes, the people watching me are the same ones and this,” He held up the paper, “Is exactly what will make them more dangerous for Carol, her family and you too.”

The drawings depicted were several
evil looking
men
dressed in dark clothing
cowering over a single one
with a large knife
.
T
he intent
was
obvious
and above
it
all
,
there
w
ere
what looked to be
many
angel
s
. For an eight year old
,
it was
an
incredible
drawing
. The words on the back were unbelievable
,
for there was no way the child could know the situation with the judge and he
briefly
wondered
about the
man
who
was
supposed
to die,
that is
if you could believe it was going to happen. He was
mystified
but adamant when he leaned forward. “Honey, there are things going on that I do not understand but I do know that I
have chosen to
trust you. I do
n’t
know why, but I
have
. I still cannot answer all your questions just yet, but in time I hope I can confide in you completely. I have to ask you to trust me too. I told you
before that
I believe in no God and that is true, I don’t
. It does not mean I refuse to believe that there are good people and there are evil people
in this world
.
But
I have never harmed anyone in my life
.
I need you
to
believe that.
”

He looked at Carol’s drawing again and was amazed at how she managed to give the faces such
detail
s. Shaking his head he handed it back to Honey.

“Keep it
,
but do
n’t
show it to anyone
for Carol’s sake
.”
As an afterthought he added with a wry smile, “I see she did
not
give me one of the evil faces. I suppose that is a good thing.”

She took
the piece of paper
and folded it carefully.

“What did she mean about you feeling guilty
over
Judge Langley’s murder
or can you
tell me
that
?”

He thought about it for a minute and decided
to
share with her. “I was being set up, by these
people
, to be accused for the murder of the judge.
It was an elaborate plan
to
blackmail me
and at the same time eliminate her from the equation
.”

“But why
would
they want to blackmail you?”

“Because there are things they want from me that I would
not
give them otherwise.
”

He fidgeted
uneasily
in his seat. It would be so easy to tell her
everything. She had an aura about her that
made him want to confide his greatest secrets.

“I won’t even ask you what that may be.”

He
nodded and said, “Thanks.” Then he
got up making ready to leave and she stood with him.

“
And
,
t
hank you for letting me come over
and bum dinner.”

She laughed
at him
,
as she had
informed
him
earlier that
it was takeout
, she
teased,
“
I worked really hard on it too! Seriously
though
, any time you need to talk I will listen, just call.”

He nodded
again
. “
I appreciate you taking the letter for me, will you
call when
it arrives?”

“
Sure
I will.” She
walked with him to the door. “Be careful, I know you are not much on prayer but know that I will be praying for you
anyway
.
You know, even if you do not believe it will do any good, it certainly will do no harm.
”

In answer
,
h
e waved good-by and climbed into his SUV and headed for the reservoir and his little cabin.

He remembered
what Carol wanted him to know
. It was remarkable at how she knew
that
he did not have anything to do with the murder of Judge Langley. “It wasn’t his fault.” She had said
. He wondered if he had been arrested and convicted
,
if Honey would believe that
he was innocent
. He had no intentions of taking the fall for something he did not do
nor did he intend to let Morgan Belk get away with his
outrageous
plan.

He was busy
over
the weekend
catching up on paperwork he picked up from his office. He also
began
setting his
carefully laid
plan into motion
with a phone call to the Lt Governor, Thomas Crenshaw
.