by Mark Romang
Maddix turned to Matthew. “I love my fellow saints, but I sure would like some space.”
Matthew beamed back at him. “I should take you to the Garden. Jesus is likely there. He often goes there.”
“I can’t get over how beautiful and intelligible your voice is, Matthew.”
“My voice was always inside me. It just couldn’t come out until I got here.”
“I remember how your mother used to sing to you often. You always seemed the happiest when she sang to you.”
Matthew nodded. “One day I will sing to her,” he said. “Now are you ready to go to the garden? It’s far from here, but we can get there in an instant.”
“Are we going to fly?”
Matthew shook his head. “We don’t fly like the angels. I can’t explain how it works, but we sort of teleport. Grab my hand. I’ll show you.”
Maddix grabbed Matthew’s hand. And before he could even blink, the crowds were gone and they stood in a lush garden. “Wow that was fast!”
“You’ll figure out how to do it on your own soon enough.”
Maddix looked around the garden. He understood why Jesus liked to come here. The garden provided a tranquil place to unwind. Maddix saw fragrant plants and brightly colored flowers and verdant shrubs that didn’t exist on Earth. There was also a river—clear as glass and bright as crystal—that flowed through the garden. Maddix figured it was the same river that flowed through the main golden street. Trees laden with fruit stood on each side of the river. Maddix also saw a man and a woman laboring, trimming a shrub. “Are they working?”
Matthew nodded. “Everyone has a job up here. But the jobs are fun and give us great joy and contentment. It doesn’t seem like work.”
Work is like play in heaven, Maddix thought. “So what is your job, Matthew?”
“I work with the heavenly choir. I’m one of the directors. I also sing solos.”
Maddix nodded. “I can tell you have a lovely singing voice.”
Matthew pointed to a man sitting in the grass by the stream. “I thought we’d find him here. That man is Jesus.”
Maddix looked at the man sitting in the grass. It was the same bearded man he saw in his visions.
“I’ll leave you alone with him. All encounters with Jesus are wonderful, but the first encounter is the most special.”
“Will I see you around?”
Matthew nodded. His eyes sparkled. “I’ll come get you when worship service starts. I’ll get you a seat up close.”
Chapter 46
No longer with his talkative cousin, Maddix approached Jesus alone. His feet made no sound on the garden path, yet Jesus must’ve sensed his approach. He turned his head and beckoned with his hands.
When Maddix neared to within a dozen feet, Jesus stood up and opened his arms wide. Maddix rushed up to Jesus. They embraced tightly, the same way loved ones embrace after being separated for a great length of time and distance. Maddix felt compassion and forgiveness pour out from Jesus and into him, a supernatural love transfusion. He wanted to stay in the garden all day, wrapped in the King’s arms. But Jesus pulled back.
“Andrew, my brother, welcome to paradise. I’ve been expecting you. I knew Matthew would bring you here to the garden. Come, let’s go for a walk. I have much to show you.”
Jesus wrapped an arm around Maddix. They continued up the path and deeper into the garden. Despite the garden’s lush growth, the ubiquitous golden beams still shined through the woodland canopy, kissing every leaf and every petal and every blade of grass with soothing light.
Maddix felt happiness wash over him as he strolled along in the garden. The discontent he’d lived with on earth could no longer torment him. He felt satisfied, and he felt complete.
They came to one of the many fruit trees in the garden. Jesus stopped and picked off two pieces of fruit from the tree. He gave one fruit to Maddix. New fruit instantly appeared on the tree, replacing those Jesus picked. “Because you overcame and conquered, Andrew, you may eat from the Tree of Life.”
Maddix lifted the fruit to his mouth, delighting in its fragrance. He bit into it and chewed the most luscious fruit he’d ever tasted. The juicy flesh was not too soft or too firm, contained no seeds, and possessed a mild sweetness. Jesus ate with him and wiped his beard with the back of his hand when he finished.
Maddix finished his fruit; its unique flavor remained on his tongue to savor. “The fruit is delicious. I like it.”
Jesus smiled. “You may eat from these trees whenever you wish. All those who overcome and conquer may eat from the Tree of Life.”
Maddix looked at his savior with fondness and curiosity. Jesus stood a little shorter than him, had a lean build and dark features, and wore the same white robe and sandals as Maddix wore. Jesus appeared like a man, was indeed a man, yet his divinity clearly showed. His deity burst out his torso, limbs and head. It couldn’t be restrained. And yet despite the holiness and boundless power, Jesus remained accessible to all. His magnetic charisma beckoned for all people to approach, regardless of standing.
Maddix looked at the nail holes on the tops of Jesus’ feet, as well as the holes in his hands. “Thank you for dying for me,” he said humbly.”
“I laid down my life for the whole world. And then I rose again to give eternal life to all who believe and ask me for it.”
They began walking again and soon came to a vast meadow. Wildflowers of every color painted the meadow—and some colors he didn’t recognize. Hues and shades not found on earth were abundant in heaven. Butterflies filled the air, flitting to and fro. But the meadow’s fantastic beauty couldn’t hold Maddix’s attention. His gaze locked onto the mountain in the distance. The rugged and majestic peak stood so tall it made Mt. Everest look like an anthill. A waterfall, pristine and mighty, plunged from near the summit all the way down the mountain and fed the river in the garden. The mountain’s radiant summit flashed and sparkled as bright as the sun, and Maddix realized at once he’d found the source of the golden beams. “Is that God up there?”
“Yes, you see the Father, our Father.”
Maddix turned away. Even in his transformed state he couldn’t stare at the intense light for too long. He looked at Jesus instead. “I once had many questions to ask you once I got up here. But now that I’m here I already know the answers.”
Jesus nodded. “Your understanding has increased dramatically, and you’re beginning to see things as I do now. Your mind has been enlightened.”
Jesus bent down and picked a flower. He admired it and then held the flower up to his nose for a time. A new flower immediately rose up from the ground to replace the picked one. “I longed to help you, Andrew, when you fought Satan in the cave. I could have easily allowed you to defeat him. But the story has already been written. And the story cannot be altered. Everything in the book of Revelation must play out the way it was written down by John. But I was with you along every step of your journey. And I guided your sword strikes.”
Maddix nodded. “I felt your spirit moving within me and giving me strength.”
A seraph suddenly appeared in the meadow and hovered in front of them. The seraph held a golden pot in its hands.
“Reach into the golden pot, Andrew,” Jesus commanded gently.
Maddix reached into the pot and pulled out a piece of manna.
“Because you overcame and conquered you may eat from the hidden manna. All people who overcome and conquer may eat from the hidden manna.”
Maddix placed the manna into his mouth. It tasted even better than the manna he ate on earth. After he chewed and swallowed he looked around expectantly.
Jesus laughed. “You will not see demons, Andrew. They are not welcome here.”
“I remember a question now.”
“By all means, ask it. Ask me anything.”
“Matthew says we all have jobs to do in heaven. What will mine be?”
Jesus grinned mischievously. “Matthew could never talk while on earth. He’s making u
p for it now. But yes, Matthew is correct. I have a job picked out for you, Andrew, a job that will give you limitless pleasure. You will find purpose and fulfillment in your task.”
“I’d love to know what it is.”
“You’re going to train the saints for battle. Nations from all over earth will one day mass their armies near Megiddo. Jerusalem will come under siege.”
“You refer to Armageddon, the battle that takes place at the end of the tribulation period?”
Jesus nodded. A gleam appeared in his eyes and flickered brightly. For a brief moment Maddix sensed Jesus’ immeasurable power—his righteous anger—flaring to the surface. The Lion of Judah will one day roar, Maddix thought.
“But Jerusalem will not fall. I promise you that, Andrew. And you will ride into battle with me.”
“Training the saints for battle will be a big job for one man,” Maddix said.
Jesus smiled knowingly. “You are well suited for this job, Andrew. When I knit you in your mother’s womb I was thinking of the future. I gave you unmatched fighting ability, leadership skills, and a mastery of battlefield strategy. But you are right. What I ask of you is a difficult task. You will need helpers. Michael will assist you, as well as Coleton Webb when he arrives. David’s mighty men will also help you prepare the saints.”
“Is Coleton going to die soon? I asked him to watch over my family.”
“Coleton Webb will not see death. Nor will Sara or Spencer.”
“So the Rapture will bring them here?”
Jesus nodded. A sad look appeared on his face. “Time is running out for the lost people of earth. I will soon gather my followers from every nation. But I don’t know the appointed day. Only God the Father knows.”
Maddix looked up at the mountaintop, so high above the garden. His eyes settled on the dazzling light obscuring God’s throne.
“Look at me, Andrew.”
Maddix turned his head and looked at Jesus.
“You long to see God’s face. But you can’t. My father lives in unapproachable light. But when you look at me, Andrew, you see God in the flesh.”
Maddix suddenly dropped to his knees and started to worship. Jesus touched his head gently, caressed his cheek. “Get up, Andrew. You have all eternity to worship me.”
Maddix stood up. He saw that Jesus held a crown in his hands. He hadn’t noticed the crown before. “Whose crown is that in your hands?”
Jesus smiled proudly, a toothy grin. “It’s yours, Andrew. Because of your strong faith in me, and because you did my Father’s will all the way to the end, even when the cup given to you was harsh and full of sorrow, I present to you the Crown of Life.” Jesus slid the jeweled crown onto Maddix’s head. It fit perfectly. “You look like a king, Andrew, a king that will reign.”
“If I may be so bold, can I ask my Lord for one favor?”
“Go ahead. I’m listening.”
“At the end of the tribulation period, when the angel binds Satan with a great chain and throws him into the Abyss, I would like to accompany the angel.”
“Be careful what you ask for, Andrew. Satan will put up a fierce battle. But I will consider your request and take it to the Father. He will have the final say.” Jesus slapped him playfully on the back. “Come on, my brother, enough serious talk. I want to show you where you’ll live. I built a mansion for you. Your house will never crumble or see decay. And you will live with me in heaven forever. Your life will never end.”
Chapter 47
New Plymouth, NZ—Taranaki Base Hospital
72 hours later—autopsy room
Five men stood around the corpse in the autopsy room: forensic pathologist Phillip Hawke, New Zealand Police Inspector Felix Kirk, New Zealand Police lead detective Brian Matic, and FBI Special Agents Nick Loomis and Eric Shank.
“Did you get the DNA tests back?” Felix Kirk asked the forensic pathologist.
Wearing a lab coat over his scrubs, Philipp Hawke nodded his head. His wavy gray mop shook atop his head. “I pushed for expediency, and I got it.”
“So did the foreign DNA on Maddix match up with the sample we took from Nikko Castellanos?”
“It did.”
Felix Kirk smiled, as did his detective Brian Matic. “Looks like our murder suspect left behind plenty of damning evidence,” Kirk said confidently.
“I’m not so sure Castellanos killed Andrew Maddix,” Hawke said.
“It had to be Castellanos. Who else could it be? We know they fought. They both look like they boxed each other in a prize fight.”
Hawke pulled the sheet from the corpse, allowing them to view it. “Although the injuries Andrew Maddix sustained from the brawl in the cave are serious, they were not life-threatening. Maddix sustained a broken nose, a fractured eye orbit, and fractures to the L-1, L-2, and L-3 vertebras in his back. His spinal cord is considerably swollen. And it’s a safe bet he would have no functions in his legs had he lived. But none of these injuries killed him.” Hawke put on a pair of surgical gloves. He then touched the cavity in the corpse’s chest, running his fingers around the edges. “What killed Andrew Maddix was the removal of his heart. Without his heart to pump oxygen-rich blood to the cells in his body, he died, and did so rather quickly.”
Lead detective Brian Matic spoke up. “Are you saying Maddix was still alive when his heart was removed?”
Hawke nodded. “I am. I believe Andrew Maddix was very much alive when the fatal injury occurred.”
“Okay, but Nikko Castellanos could’ve removed the heart. It would be a sick thing to do, but the world is full of twisted people,” Matic suggested.
Hawke shook his head defiantly. His gray hair flopped again. “Castellanos couldn’t possibly have made such a precise incision. No matter how steady his hand, very slight hand tremors imperceptible to the human eye would’ve left ragged edges on the incision. I’ve studied the entire hole through a microscope. There is no raggedness to the edges of the hole. It’s perfect. Only a world class surgeon using a da Vinci robotic surgical system in a carefully controlled surgical theatre could come close to duplicating the incision. We all know such an expensive, bulky and heavy device wouldn’t be available to Castellanos in the cave. Besides that, he doesn’t have the training to operate such a system. The da Vinci is difficult to operate.”
“So who did it then, Doctor Hawke? The heart removal didn’t just happen on its own,” FBI Special Agent Nick Loomis asked.
Phillip Hawke sighed resignedly as he looked at the corpse. Andrew Maddix was a mystery he couldn’t solve. He’d performed autopsies on hundreds of crime victims over the years, many of the cases baffling. Some were even cold cases. But he eventually found a clue each time that shed light on the how’s and why’s. This time was different. “I’m not sure any human could’ve done this,” Hawke finally said after deliberating several moments.
Snickers filled the cold autopsy room. “So I suppose we have to conclude an alien removed the heart,” Special Agent Eric Shank said, trying hard not to laugh. “They’re supposedly more technologically advanced than us humans.”
“I don’t believe in aliens. Earth is the only planet that can sustain life.”
“We’re not going to get anywhere until Castellanos can calm down and talk sensibly. But who knows when that will be. He’s still crazy as a loon, swears up and down he can see demons,” detective Matic said. “If we can only find Maddix’s wife, she might be able to shed some light on all this. But she disappeared with her son right under our noses.”
Inspector Kirk nodded, agreeing with his colleague. “I can’t tell if Castellanos is truly crazy or simply faking it. He says a demon killed Maddix.”
“There’s another oddity about this case that might prove revealing,” Hawke admitted quietly.
“What would that be? I’ll take any lead I can get,” Kirk said.
“There was additional DNA found on the heart and inside the hole that doesn’t belong to Castellanos. It turned out to be snake DNA. I sent the DNA
sample over to the University of Sydney to a leading herpetologist. He confirmed the DNA to be from a kingsnake.”
“That’s nothing to worry about, Doc. A snake simply crawled into the hole to feed or stay warm. Castellanos is playing you all as fools. He removed the heart somehow. And he’s not going to talk. He’s acting crazy so he won’t go to trial,” Shank said.
“There’s only one thing wrong with your theory, Mr. Shank.”
“What’s that?”
“New Zealand doesn’t have any snakes on either island.”
“Wait a second, Doctor Hawke.” Nick Loomis said. “Did you say the DNA belonged to the kingsnake species?”
Hawke nodded. “I did.”
Loomis scratched his chin. “That is so weird. Kingsnake DNA was found on the brake lines of an Escalade that overturned with three men inside back in Utah a little over five years ago. All three men inside the Escalade died. Andrew Maddix was the lead suspect in their deaths, even though his DNA was not found on the brake lines. He was seen arguing with the three men the day before.”
“I would be interested in comparing the DNA samples,” Hawke said.
“I think I can arrange for that to happen,” Loomis said.
“Nick, surely you don’t think it’s the same killer snake,” Shank said, barely able to contain himself. “The snake would’ve needed to swim over seven thousand miles across the Pacific to get here.”
Inspector Kirk raised a duffel he held in his right hand. “Perhaps we need to look at motives instead of the cause of death. Maybe that will stir up an epiphany. I have the crime scene evidence here in this bag. Maybe if we look at the evidence we can come to a consensus on a motive.”
Hawke pointed to a nearby examining table. “You can place the objects on the autopsy table. It’s been sterilized.”
Inspector Kirk removed a few objects from the duffel and placed them one by one on the stainless steel table, lining them up. Among the items were a sword scabbard, a baggie filled with precious gemstones, a rucksack, freeze-dried camping food, a change of clothes and a small leather pouch. “All these items were found inside the cave in close proximity to the deceased. The leather pouch was found inside the rucksack along with the miscellaneous camping gear and clothes,” Kirk said.