Now it was Evans’ turn to ponder. Finally, “What did Short give you, and where do you want to go from here on this?”
Jason filled her in on the information he now had. Because of Short’s unique position at Gaiatic Charities, he had access to much of the financial shenanigans of the organization, the connections with Green Liberation, the money laundering through the Gianelli family’s various business entities, and the payoffs to Senator Toomey. It was all there.
“Here’s what Lizzy and I are thinking as to what’s next. It involves Universal Children’s Day. We know the bizarre ideas of these UN bodies; that they’re on-board with the ideas of the Georgia Guidestones. There’s a major assault being planned on corporations. It’s highly likely the instigators will use the kids in some kind of suicide operation. That’s the implication from all this. It’s horrendous and needs to be stopped. But here’s the bigger question: So what? What’s the purpose? Where does it go from there?”
Evans said, “Assuming Drennan is somehow in the loop on this, that explains why he’s so nervous.”
“Oh, he’s in the loop, but only a bit player,” Jason said. “I doubt he knows any particulars, but he was likely instructed—perhaps more pointedly, he was ordered—that he’s to keep CID far from Gaiatic, so that no one can put the pieces together like we’re trying to do.”
“If you weren’t on leave and still active here, I guarantee you Drennan would keep you so busy with other cases that you’d have no time for any of this. That’s been his MO with me.”
“Nancy, hold a moment.” Jason turned to Lizzy. “Can you bring me a calendar?”
When she returned, he said to Evans, “Universal Children’s Day is only a week away—next Wednesday.”
“Jason, send me the info from the thumb drive. I have to try getting someone in law enforcement to listen. I have a friend in the FBI. Hopefully, they aren’t compromised like we are here with Drennan. Do we have any leverage with anybody else to derail their plans?”
“The only person,” Jason said, “that we have access to, who could potentially help us, is my brother, Rick.”
Beside him, Lizzy groaned.
Chapter 68
Cheshire Cat blog - July 31
I apologize for being so lax in attending to this blog recently. Life has been…interesting. But don’t think that because I haven’t written anything that I’m lying down on the job. Au contraire. I’m in the midst of so many things that I’m almost overwhelmed, yet there’s little of any of them that I can share right now.
Most of you who read this blog regularly know that I’m not particularly religious, but I’ve been having stirrings in that direction. They’ve raised moral quandaries in my life and may even have triggered spiritual attacks that I’m not equipped to deal with. As to morality issues, I’m learning that despite my good intentions, I don’t have much strength in my own power to carry them out. I always thought I could control my feelings and actions to a large extent, but I see now that doesn’t seem to be the case.
A friend who’s a Christian recently asked if I thought I was a good person. Naturally, because I believe that am, I answered in the affirmative. Not having much of a religious orientation, when she held up certain of my behaviors against the Ten Commandments, I resisted the comparison. She asked if I’d ever stolen anything. Who hasn’t in their youth at the very least? What did that make me, she asked? I tried to skirt the question by answering, “A bad person.” She wouldn’t let me off that hook so easily, though, and I finally had to admit it made me a thief. But only back then when I did it! That’s not what I do today or who I am.
That didn’t faze her. She queried if I’d ever told a lie. Naturally, I couldn’t get around that one. In my day job I have to lie sometimes. Guilty there. What’s that make me? A liar.
Then she had to ask if I’d ever looked with lust at a woman. I wasn’t about to tell her the details of my private life, but I did admit I’ve done that once or twice. She told me Jesus said that if a man even looks with lust at a woman, he’s already committed adultery with her in his heart. I didn’t ask my female friend about when someone actually commits the act of fornication or adultery. No need. Just the fact of thinking it apparently condemns me. Whoa!
She said to me, “I’m not judging you, but by your own admission, you’re a thief, a liar, and a fornicator. If God were to judge you on the basis of the Ten Commandments—and we’ve only considered three of them—would you be guilty or not guilty?”
What else could I say but that I’d be guilty?
The painful part came next. My friend asked if based on my guilt before God, whether I deserved to go to heaven or to hell.
I didn’t want to be honest about this. Come on! I’m a good person. I try to be kind to others and help them when I can. But the standard raised against my life wasn’t my own goodness; rather it was God’s declaration that we must live by His rules and decrees. In this case, the Ten Commandments. I admitted that I’d probably go to hell looking at that expectation.
By this time, I wasn’t too happy. The fraud in my life had been exposed. It left me without recourse.
“Do you know what God did so you wouldn’t have to pay the penalty of your transgressions?” my friend queried.
I swallowed hard and said no.
She told me that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to sacrifice Himself on my behalf. He came willingly and paid the penalty that should have been mine by dying on the cross and shedding His blood for me. In the courtroom of God’s judgment this meant that He had substituted Himself for me and that I was free to leave—no longer guilty and under the declaration of the law. Then, Jesus rose from the dead to demonstrate that He is God, and to show us the promise of eternal life we can have with Him.
“Even better,” my friend said, “Jesus is coming back soon.”
All I had to was acknowledge my sins, ask God to forgive me, and believe that Jesus is Lord and can do all this for me. My friend quoted a verse that has haunted me since that conversation:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
We left it at that. I didn’t acknowledge this. There’s too much I’m fighting in my life. I seem to enjoy the sin that I’ve fallen into. It makes me feel good. The question is: How long do good feelings last before they’re stripped away? What happens then, and where does that leave me? The sin may feel wonderful, but there’s a part of me that feels wretched.
That’s all I can say for now.
Posted by Smiley at 2:03 AM. - Comments [2]
#1 It seems to me that if you believe this claptrap, then everybody else in the world who doesn’t fall for it is doomed. Are you trying to tell me that less than 10% of the world’s population will be under God’s mercy, but the rest of humanity will die a horrible death and live for eternity under some precarious judgment?
Are you implying that a book written thousands of years ago is something you or your friend can defend? I’d prefer to rely on common sense and a healthy exchange of ideas that lead to truth and away from hearsay. Sorry, I think you need to find a choir that’s already singing your song. Your version of God is both cruel and single-minded.
- Ron
#2 I’m praying for you, Smiley. Find the Truth, and it will set you free. God bless.
- Emily
Chapter 69
Overnight, a tropical storm that had been moving up the eastern coast of the U.S. dumped on North Carolina. The temperature increased and rain fell in sheets. While Jason struggled with sleep the night before and turned to writing his blog, water had been pummeling the area. He and Lizzy rose in the morning to find her driveway submerged under several inches of water.
Bleary-eyed, Jason gulped his coffee and said, “I think we still need to carry on with the plans we made last night. Time’s too short to waste a day.”
Beside him, Lizzy rested her head on his shoulder and observed the flooded landscape. “Let’s hope your rental car is up to the task.”
He had an SUV as usual. “It should be able to get through the water as long as there aren’t any low spots.”
“Jason, look at me.” She turned him around. “About what Nancy said last night…”
“What am I going to do about it?”
Lizzy nodded, a troubled expression crossing her face. “Her questions made me think about my life. Who I am. What I am.” She had been privy to the conversation, hearing everything that Evans asked and Jason answered about his thinking that he was a good person.
A gust of wind rattled the windows. Startled, both glanced outside.
“Nasty out there,” Jason said. “I was up for a while overnight—writing on my blog.”
“I know. I read it while you were in the bathroom.”
“This whole sin thing. I want to ignore it. Our relationship? It hits pretty close to home.”
“I don’t like it one bit,” Lizzy said. “I enjoy our relationship.”
“But apparently God says it’s wrong.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“One of these days, we have to do something about it. I’m not sure how long my conscience will allow me to continue. Lizzy, after Mary Sue, I vowed never to get married again.”
She laughed. “Thankfully I wasn’t married to Moriarty, but shacking up with him didn’t do much for my appreciation of a stable relationship. Is that even possible, Jason? I mean, having a good, loving relationship? One that’s stable and…and…” she had to force out the remaining words, “…one that’s honoring to God?”
“Whoever and whatever He is. If what Nancy said is true, that He made all those commandments, not to be a dictator over us, but because He loves us and there are consequences to sinful action, then yes, I guess that kind of relationship is possible.”
“But, what I understand from Nancy, it’s only possible when we fully commit to God.”
“That’s the hard part, isn’t it?”
“Very hard,” Lizzy agreed. “And I imagine this subject won’t die easily.”
“Not if how I feel about it right now, and maybe you too, continues,” Jason said. “Well, we’d better get on our way.”
Within the hour they headed out for the hospital with the intent of visiting Rick without the interference from Jason’s father.
There were a couple of underpasses that Jason wondered whether or not he should attempt to drive through. In the end he did, with water almost reaching the top of the tires. Another inch and the engine might have stalled.
It was before visiting hours, but no one seemed to care. At Rick’s room, Jason steadied himself with a deep breath, felt Lizzy squeeze his hand, and in they went.
His brother was awake, staring at the door as though he knew they were coming. He scowled. “What do you want?” His breakfast tray was thrust aside, much of the meal uneaten.
Where Rick’s left arm had been, a large white bandage was wrapped around the stump. He appeared drawn and fatigued. From the leanness of his face, he had apparently lost more weight than just his arm.
“You’re welcome,” Jason said.
“For what?”
“Finding you. Rescuing you. That you’re still alive.”
“Sure. Whatever. I wish I wasn’t.” He glared at the stump. “My life is ruined, and I have you to thank for it.”
Exasperated, Jason blurted, “This is my fault? I’m not the one who kept pythons for pets! Who let them out?”
Rick began the motion to cross his arms and stopped midway with no left arm to finish. He pounded the bed. “I hate this!”
In an urgent whisper, Jason said, “Rick, who let them out?”
Grinding his teeth, Rick said, “Moriarty. Everybody was drinking. He said that no snake could ever get the best of him. Mary Sue was there. I think he wanted to impress her.”
“Why didn’t you put them back?”
“I was too out of it. Figured he’d do it when he was through showing off.”
“But he didn’t.”
In a lowering voice, Rick said, “Guess not.”
“Nice friend you got. You’re passed out, and he lets the snakes roam free when everybody else leaves. Ever stop to think that was intentional? That maybe Moriarty wasn’t terribly concerned for your welfare? May even have been fine if you died?”
Rick’s eyes wandered toward the window where rain lashed the hospital grounds. “Why would he do that?”
Jason shrugged. “Maybe you’ve outlived your usefulness.”
His whole body seemed to contract into itself. “I’ve done everything he wanted. Why this?”
In a change of direction, Jason asked, “Did Moriarty tell you to build that altar?”
His brother’s eyes shot up. “You saw that? Yeah, I guess you would have. Moriarty told me that if I did certain things around that altar that I would gain friends in the spirit world. They would help me. I could gain power, and money would flow to me. I didn’t believe in any of that, but I figured, why not? What could it hurt?”
“How long have you been doing it?”
“’Bout six months.”
“Did it work?”
“Odd things were happening around me—very scary things—but I was meeting new people in powerful positions. And, yeah, whatever I did, money seemed to rain down from the heavens. It did work. That’s what the party was about—to celebrate my newfound wealth. Ha! Then this…” He gestured with his chin to his arm.
The clanking of trays in the hallway drew everyone’s attention for a moment. An orderly pushed a silver cart past the door filed with breakfast trays. He stopped outside and entered the room. Without a word, he collected Rick’s tray and continued down the hall with his task.
Lizzy had remained quiet during the conversation. She suddenly spoke. “How does Mary Sue fit into all this?”
A blush crept up Rick’s face while he chewed the inside of his mouth.
As though by revelation, Lizzy said, “You want her, but she’s with Moriarty!”
The first thought that Jason had, which he fortunately didn’t utter, was, Why would she want anything to do with Rick? He shook that away. Not helpful.
Lizzy continued. “Is that why Moriarty did this?”
“Maybe,” he ventured.
“Come on, Rick. Out with it,” she demanded. “I’ve known you too long for you to lie to me.”
The wind howled outside, and the trees bent with the wind as the dark skies poured out their contents.
They both had to strain forward to hear what he said next. “She and I got together a couple times. Not my idea; she encouraged it, but I gladly went along. I think Moriarty got wind of it. Probably wasn’t too happy about me messing with his girl.”
Again, Jason thought, What could she possibly see in Rick compared to Moriarty?
It was as though Rick read his mind. “She flirted with me. I had no idea why. One thing led to another, and there we were in bed together. With all Moriarty has going for him, and she has an affair with me! Who was I to say no?”
“Maybe Moriarty had Mary Sue do that to give him an excuse to use against you,” Lizzy suggested.
Before Lizzy’s thoughts got any traction, footsteps sounded at the doorway.
“What are you doing here?”
The bellowing voice of Henry Ruger disrupted the intimacy of the conversation. “Didn’t I tell you that we wanted nothing to do with you?”
“Henry, please!” Helen Ruger attempted to restrain her husband.
Shaking her off, he strode to Jason and confronted him face-to-face. The scent of coffee on his breath was strong.
“We were just leaving, Dad.”
He extracted himself from the tight quarters where his father had positioned him against the bed.
Lizzy turned as they were leaving. “Rick, what’s next?”
It didn’t seem like he would r
espond, but then: “Universal Children’s Day. If you want to stop him—”
“Shut up,” Henry Ruger demanded.
Rick’s lips clamped down tightly.
Chapter 70
Coming as early as they did, they’d found a place in the hospital parking garage. Otherwise, if they’d parked in the outdoor lot, they’d have been soaked getting to the car. Jason turned the wipers on high as they exited the structure, but the blades did little to help visibility.
Behind them, Jason noticed, another vehicle drove from the garage into the downpour. No one had followed them in the hospital down the corridor to the elevators, and they’d been alone on the ride to their parking level. Regardless, it bothered Jason. He was feeling a little paranoid today and didn’t know why. Maybe it was the ferocity of the weather.
Wind buffeted the car once he accelerated at the street. Rain poured down in sheets, and traffic on the road was light. The other vehicle had turned the opposite way, but Jason continued to be uneasy.
Away from town, they hit a stretch of empty road. Jason held the steering wheel with both hands to keep the car steady in the wind. It was blowing extremely hard, and he concentrated on staying on his side of the yellow line.
The next thing he knew, headlights came up quickly from behind. The brights reflected off his rearview mirror and made it difficult to make out the car shining them.
“Idiot,” he muttered.
Lizzy turned around. “Jason, he’s right on your tail.”
“I know,” he said through gritted teeth.
In the next moment their pursuer rammed the bumper, jolting them forward.
“What’s he doing?” Lizzy said.
“Nothing good.”
Wham! Another jolt.
Jason sped up. The rain had kept him at fifty, now he increased to sixty-five. The other guy kept pace and butted them again.
Seventy-five. Inches away, the vehicle showed no sign of letting up.
Green Dreams Page 26