Wings of Deception (46 page)

Jacks nodded and stood watching as he left him.
Because he was sure that he was being monitored himself, he casually sauntered around looking at the amazing array of pictures that were on the monitors. The spacecrafts were what interested him the most and he kept looking, searching for something that would tell him more than
Asa
had. He was sure that
Asa
was too smart to divulge any of his top secret affairs
and
h
is mind kept wandering back to Honey and Sheila.
He would have to exercise patience and that was something he was short on.

Having enough of watching the various screens and watching the dozens of people act like robots, he found the woman
who was
to show him his room.

She promptly responded by taking him in the same direction
Asa
had gone
,
when he left. While they were walking
,
he tried to draw
her
into conversation but she answered his questions with clipped and generic answers. When they reached their destination
,
she opened the door and walked into the room ahead of him.

It was what Jacks would normally describe
as a five
star
s
plus room and he was slightly surprised to find it to be warm and inviting. He looked around at
the
things he would have personally chosen for himself.
The larger than life television
monopolized one
wall and the furniture was exactly what he liked.
Even the art work was in his taste.

The woman walked over to a bedside table and picked up a fancy looking remote.

“You will find this to have everything you may need. It works the television and though the programs are recorded should provide adequate entertainment for you. It also controls the stereo equipment as well as the windows.” She pushed a button and a wall of windows opened up to the most beautiful garden Jacks had ever seen. He could not help but to be drawn to the opening and walked out into another world. With the rock of mountains surrounding them he was blown away by
the growth of flowering vines and trees. He felt as if he were in a tropical paradise. The woman followed him and handed him the remote.

“There is a button on this for anything you may wish for.” With this she left him on his own. He looked at the thing she put into his hands and seeing a button marked pool
,
he touched it
. Magically
,
a pool appeared at the edge of the garden and he walked over not believing that it was real
,
so put his hand into the
water. It looked real and it felt real
. He laughed and looked at the different buttons. There was one that said food, another said music and then there was one that was labeled girls. Surely not…..he pushed the button and saw nothing but
was
startled when someone touched his shoulder from behind. Whirling around, he sucked in his breath as he looked into the face of Honey.
Honey?

“How did you get here?”

“You summoned me.”

“I did?” He looked at the remote
,
as the girl rubbed her hands over his shoulders and stepped around and slid them up his chest and around his neck.
She was scantily dressed in a bikini and she looked incredibly like Honey.
“What the hell are you doing? He took both of her hands into his own and held them still. The face was Honey’s but Jacks knew something was not right.
What had
Asa
done?

“Answer me! How did you get here and where is Sheila?”

“I am here at your request and for your pleasure, my lord.”

“I am not your anything and you are not her
,
are you?”

The girl tried to free her hands and reached her face up to his
with kisses. He shoved her back away from him and picked the remote up from where it had fallen when he grabbed her hands. Finding the girl button, he pushed it again and before his eyes, the girl disappeared. Breathing a breath of relief, he reentered the room and looking around again thought,
Asa
, has given me
everything
he thinks is the desires of my heart, even a look-a-like Honey. Why?
He already knew the answer. He swallowed hard. As a man
,
it was hard not to fantasize about being with the woman of his dreams and
Asa
had given him this world of fantasy
,
which included a fake Honey. What
Asa
did not know was that he hated fake anything and he had no intentions of falling for this temptation.

“I wonder if that bed is
real.
” He laughed as he went over to it and sat down. It was very comfortable and he laid back and
relaxed. Oh well, this was something he could indulge in
,
even if it weren’t
real
.

He lay there thinking,
God, this is where you come in. You are going to have to help me stay in the real world and not get sucked in by this man’s incredible deception.

He
a
woke with a start when there was a knocking at his door. He had not meant to fall asleep and jumped up.

“I
am
coming! Hold on a minute, will you?” He called out as he headed for the door. Opening it to a young man this time, he asked, “What do you want?”

“It is the master’s wish that you join him for dinner.” The man looked at Jacks in the same fashion that Jacks had noticed in the woman who escorted him earlier
and in the one of the woman who looked incredibly like Honey.

“So where is your….master?”

“I will show you the way, sir.”

“I am sure you will. Well, come on, let’s not keep him waiting.”

Jacks looked at the
man
or what was more of a boy and wondered if he too was
a
fake. “Whatever. The food here probably
was going to be
too.”

The young man looked at him curiously and Jacks saw a flutter of something in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

Jacks shut the door behind them and followed the boy
, surprised when he spoke again.
He continued walking as he said,
“My name is William and you are the friend of Miss Honey and Miss Sheila. Do not speak
,
but listen to me
. O
ur time is short out
side
the sight of the cameras. I am also their friend. They have been waiting for you….”

Jacks could not help
but to ask
, “Are they al
l
right?”

“They are
,
but you must know that the people here are under a spell
….
hypnosis is what Miss Honey says. She has been successful in reversing
it
on me and others
,
but we must not show this
,
so we still pretend
to be as we were. The way you will recognize us is that when you meet one that has been deprogrammed
,
that one will blink three times before he or she speaks. Do you
understand?
Quickly
….
for we are almost to him!”

“Yes! I understand. Yes!” Jacks’ was overcome with excitement. It looked as if his girl was working hard.
“Thank you William, you are a brave man!”

“No sir, I just want to go home.”

He turned a corner and went through a set of doors, standing aside to allow Jacks to enter another elaborate setting. This one was as amazing as
his own
private garden
,
only it was indoors. There were larger than life flowering plants and hanging vines surrounding a table covered with white linen and place settings for two. He looked back
to where he had left
William
, He
saw that he was
gone but
Asa
was coming through the doors.

“You found your accommodations to your liking
?
” He mistook Jacks look of excitement for one of pleasure.

Jacks smiled
and told him, “I just hope the food is as good.”

“Ah,
it is
even better. Come and let us make ourselves comfortable and you will see for yourself.”

Jacks joined him at the table
just
as two servants appeared. One carried a bottle of wine and the other pushed
in
a cart full of food
. Wine was poured into the oversized goblets and
the
food
was
placed in front of them.

There was music playing somewhere in the background
. J
ust as Jacks was thinking it was as perfect a setting as one could imagine, there appeared three exotic dancers
,
float
ing
around the room
. Each was pure temptation for most men and the old Jacks would have enjoyed their dance immensely. He pretended to enjoy everything
anyway
,
for the only way to get what he wanted was to be as deceptive and as manipulative as he could be. He knew he had to be good to deceive a master deceiver.

THIRTY-FOUR

Dwight was
overwrought
with worry about Honey
,
Sheila and
now Jacks too, since he had not heard from him. I
n the midst of that worry
,
was the
repercussions
from a
terrible oil spill on the gulf coast. It was causing Mississippi and its neighboring states many problems, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Jobs were lost, businesses were closing down and volunteers helping with the cleanup were getting ill from the chemicals used on the spill. At the same time
,
multiple other problems were attacking Christians in the entire USA.
Teachers lost jobs because they had prayer in the class rooms.
Republicans and Democrats were fighting over border issues and the military was sending home sons and daughters to be buried from the wars being fought
overseas
.

Never had Dwight witnessed such widespread disaster and evil happenings. He thought the days he spent in New York
were
bad but
now
it seemed only the beginning
of the evil that descended
up
on
all of
God
’
s
children
.

Faith Chapel members were fasting and praying
like
never before
,
as were many other Christian people
everywhere
.

Jacks had not called since he left the hospital but
Dwight
finally
got word from
one of the
detectives
. T
hey had received orders from their superiors, to quit working on the case.
Purcell
told
him that Jacks also had disappeared and from the recorder they found in his hotel room, it was evident
he was now with the person or persons behind
Honey and Sheila’s disappearance
. When Dwight asked why they were pulled off the case
, Purcell
admitted it was because
he had
believed Jacks story.
He had apologized to Dwight saying,
“I am sorry I cannot give you better news but I want you to understand that I plan to unofficially keep searching for the stone house. I believe we will get our answers there.”

“If there is anything I can do to help, I am willing to come back up there. Just let me know. Meanwhile, I will be praying.”

“You do that, I have a feeling they all three could use a lot of it.”

“Thank you for keeping me updated. Please, if you find out anything
more
let me know.”

“I will. Goodbye.”