Tricks and Traps (Gray Spear Society Book 7) (9 page)

"It's called the illusion of normalcy. The belief that we live in a rational, predictable universe."

"It's not true?"

"For most people, it is," he said. "That's how God wants it. Otherwise, there would be chaos, and His plan would be disrupted."

She wasn't comfortable with this sudden detour into religion and philosophy. He was starting to sound like the leader of a cult.

"My people live outside the illusion. You could say we're the Lord's stagehands. We make sure the show goes on. When an actor blows his lines, we yank him off the stage."

"I don't understand," she said. "You're speaking in metaphors."

"I can't give you the details yet. First, you have to step out of the audience and join us behind the curtain."

"Sure." She shrugged.

He walked over and stood on the other side of the desk. His shadow fell across her food.

"Don't be so quick. That door opens in only one direction. You'll work for me for the rest of your life. There's no quitting in my business, and it's an extremely hazardous business. This is your last chance to walk away."

She didn't know how to respond. He was asking her to risk everything based on almost no information. Was he serious?

He smiled encouragingly. "Smythe can do a trick. Do you want to see? It's fantastic!"

"Even better than spitting acid?" Sheryl raised her eyebrows.

"You won't believe your eyes," Aaron said. "Choose a small object that you know well, something unique and identifiable. I want you to swallow it, so it can't have sharp corners. The smaller, the better."

"Is this going to hurt?"

"No. Pick something, quickly."

She looked at Smythe. He smiled back at her.

She went to her suitcase in her bedroom. After digging through her clothes for a moment, she found a shirt with wooden buttons. An interesting pattern of gold leaf decorated the edges of the buttons. She popped one off.

She returned to the main room. "Like this?" She showed Aaron the button.

"Perfect," he said. "Swallow it."

She was trying to figure out the trick. Nobody else had touched the button. The choice had been hers entirely.

She washed down the button with a glass of wine. It felt like a big pill in her throat.

"Smythe," Aaron said, "you're on."

Smythe approached Sheryl. Despite his size and musculature, he was a lot less menacing than Aaron. Smythe actually seemed like a nice man.

"Lift up your shirt, please," he said.

She snorted. "Is this some kind of psychic surgery trick? You're going to make the button appear in your hand?" She looked at his hands to see if he was palming something.

"When I reach inside you, it's very important that you hold still. I don't want to hurt you. OK?"

"Right." She rolled her eyes and lifted her shirt.

He put his hand on her flat belly. "Don't move."

"I got it!"

He pushed his hand through her skin. She squeaked in shock. She could actually feel him moving inside her! It was the most unbelievable thing she had ever experienced. There was no possibility he was using mirrors, clever angles, or tricky lighting. The effect looked absolutely real and frightening.

He pulled his hand out. "Is this it?" He held up the button for her inspection.

It was stained red, and she smelled the wine she had drunk. There was also the distinctive odor of stomach acid. She took the button and stared at it in disbelief.

"Amazing," Aaron said, "isn't it?"

Sheryl looked at him with wide eyes. "How?"

"If you want to know more, you'll have to join my team. I'll give you until the morning to decide. That will be your opportunity to leave freely if you want. Enjoy your dinner. It looks delicious."

Aaron, Smythe, and Marina walked out of the suite.

Sheryl was left with the impossible button in her hand. She felt her stomach but the skin was unbroken. There was no pain. She ran back to her bedroom and checked the shirt that had provided the button. All the other buttons were still sewed on.

She had to know how the trick was done. Otherwise, the mystery would haunt her for the rest of her life. If there was real magic in the world, she wanted to be part of it. She hated being fooled by the "illusion of normalcy." She would pay any price to learn the truth.

She already had a good idea of what she would tell Aaron in the morning.
To hell with the risks.

Chapter Five

A knock on the door woke up Sheryl. With bleary eyes, she looked over at the clock and saw 7:00 AM. She hadn't been awake this early in years. She usually worked at night and slept all morning.

Wearing just a nightgown, she stumbled out of bed and went to the door of her suite. She opened it and found Aaron standing there. He was wearing a baggy, gray sweat suit.

"You look tired," he said.

She rubbed her eyes. "I didn't sleep well. I had a lot to think about."

"I can imagine. What's your answer?"

"You want me to decide now? I haven't even had a cup of coffee."

"I can't wait," he said. "It's going to be a very busy day, and address me as sir."

"Yes, sir." She yawned. "Can I ask one question first? Will I be happy?"

"When you were a little girl, you dreamed of deceptions and mysteries. You wanted to learn secrets nobody else knew. You wanted special power. Do you know why?"

"No."

"You were dreaming of us," he said. "Are you ready to see your home and meet your friends?"

She already knew the answer. "Yes, sir."

He smiled. "Congratulations. Welcome to the Gray Spear Society. I'll talk while you get dressed."

She went back to her bedroom. She was still a little groggy and disoriented.

He stayed in the living room and spoke through the door, "Our mission is easy to understand. God and His enemies are at war. They want to destroy His world, and we fight to protect it."

The explanation sounded preposterous to Sheryl, but she wasn't about to argue with Aaron. After what she had seen, she was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"What does that mean exactly?" she said.

She picked out a green embroidered dress with a wavy hemline. She wondered if it would get Tawni's attention.

"Remember the riots in Chicago two months ago?" Aaron said.

"Yes," Sheryl said.

"The people who kidnapped you were the same people who caused those riots. We killed them."

"All of them? How many are we talking about?"

"I don't know the exact body count," he said. "We probably killed three or four hundred enemies over the course of that mission. Roger Gains was the man in charge."

"He disappeared."

"I know where he is, or rather, I know where his bones are hidden."

She shook her head. It was another preposterous statement, and she wondered whether he was telling the truth at all.

She put on green shoes with medium heels and walked out of the bedroom. "How do I look?"

He appraised her openly. "You're very pretty. Still trying to snag Tawni?"

"Do I have a chance with her?"

"She's not taken, but I don't think she's a lesbian either. I could be surprised. I know she has a very open mind when it comes to sex. I should warn you though. She has a fierce temper. Handle with care."

"I like feisty chicks." Sheryl smiled.

"You'll get that and then some with Tawni," Aaron said. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Upstairs."

She furrowed her brow. "We're already on the top floor."

"This hotel has many secrets. There are two extra floors above us, and my headquarters is the real top floor."

She was intrigued. "Really? What about the other floor?"

"Death waits there. Come."

They went down to the lobby. He led her to a conference room which was off a side corridor.

He talked at length about making sure she wasn't followed, and she listened with great interest. She loved keeping secrets.

She was even more delighted when the conference room went up like an elevator.

"This place is like a fun house," she said excitedly.

He nodded. "It's actually a high-security fortress. The outer windows are bulletproof. There are sensors and hidden weapons everywhere. Every room is under surveillance."

"Why so much security, sir?"

"God's enemies are always looking for a weakness to exploit. This is our stronghold. It's the one place where we can feel safe."

They walked through a secret chamber into another elevator. He entered a code on a keypad. The elevator shot upwards.

"That's the second time you mentioned God's enemies," she said. "I'll be honest. I have my doubts, sir. I barely believe in God. The idea of a secret celestial war happening behind the scenes strikes me as a little crazy."

He shrugged. "You'll accept the truth in time."

"Speaking of truth, how do you spit acid? How did Smythe reach inside my stomach?"

"We are God's secret warriors. Sometimes He helps us by giving us gifts. These are special abilities that make us different from ordinary people."

"That's not a very satisfying explanation." She frowned.

He shrugged again.

The elevator doors opened. Sheryl and Aaron walked into a white chamber made of concrete. Jack sat in a darkened room behind a window which looked extremely thick.

"Hello, Sheryl," he said. "Welcome aboard."

Light gleamed from his bald scalp. He was wearing a red shirt with silver tips on the collar. The style was distinctly Western.

"Thank you," she said.

"Jack is our chief of security," Aaron said. "He's responsible for keeping the rest of us safe when we're home. He spends eighty hours a week just sitting and watching for trouble. It's not something I could do."

"I was born to do it, sir," Jack said.

A side door buzzed. Aaron led Sheryl into a gray hallway.

"Half the team hasn't come to work yet," he said. "The twins are here though. That's our next stop. I'll give you the tour along the way."

Headquarters turned out to be much larger and more impressive than she had expected. It included a science laboratory, a machine shop, a kitchen, a living room, a weapons locker, a gun range, exercise facilities, a conference room, and guest quarters. It was a place where people could live as well as work.

Aaron and Sheryl arrived at the "computer room" on the far side of headquarters. She gaped in astonishment when she walked inside. She had never seen so many computers in her life. They lined the walls, two racks deep. The fan noise was like listening to a hurricane. Bethany and Leanna sat in futuristic workstations with a dozen computer monitors each. Bulky headsets covered their ears.

"The twins are our computer experts," Aaron explained. "They could be the smartest people in the world. They're certainly the best hackers."

He went to one of the girls and shook her shoulder. "Bethany! Bethany! Pay attention."

Bethany took off her headset and looked up. Her big, brown eyes were a little glassy.

Sheryl came over. "Hi!'

"Hello." Bethany nodded vaguely. Her voice was soft and polite.

She still wore her diamond necklace. Sheryl had assumed the jewelry was fake because the pendent was so huge, but up close, it looked real. If that were true, it was worth millions.

"I want you to do a trick for Sheryl," Aaron said.

"Sir?" Bethany said.

"Make her disappear."

"Ah. Yes, sir."

Her fingers clattered on an exotic keyboard. It was shaped like a ball instead of being flat.

Information scrolled quickly across all the monitors. Sheryl couldn't make any sense of it.

"What are you doing?"

"Making you disappear, ma'am," Bethany said.

Sheryl drew back. "Are you being obscure on purpose?"

"One moment, please."

Sheryl waited impatiently. The twins certainly had a setup suitable for the best hackers in the world. Sheryl looked through an open doorway and saw even more computers in the next room. Large power conduits ran across the ceiling. The ventilation ducts were big enough to crawl through.

Bethany's fingers stopped moving. "All done."

"What just happened?"

"I erased your identity. All records of your existence are gone."

"Huh?" Sheryl raised her eyebrows. "What records?"

"Bank accounts, credit cards, driver's license, insurance, criminal records, everything."

"Sheryl," Aaron said, "our real identities might give our enemies leverage over us. That's why they have to be erased."

Sheryl stared at him in shock. "What about my money? I have investments."

"Money will be the last thing you need to worry about."

"Is that all, sir?" Bethany said. "I need to get back to the project."

"Yes, thank you," Aaron said.

She put her headset back on.

He grabbed a manila envelope from a table. "And this stuff is for you." He took a thick, gray phone out of the envelope and gave it to Sheryl.

It was surprisingly dense. Metal plates on the exterior looked like armor.

"Carry that phone with you at all times," he said. "It has a lot of emergency features that will save your life some day.
Never
leave it behind. Here are the instructions. Read them and burn them."

He gave her a small booklet.

She opened the cover on the phone and found a display screen and a keypad. Except for the thickness and weight, it seemed normal.

He fished some identification cards out of the envelope and handed them over. There was a driver's license, two credit cards, and insurance cards. Her face was on the driver's license, but the name on all the cards was "Susan Curie."

"That's your new identity," he said. "It's clean and safe. Use it whenever you leave headquarters."

"My name is Susan now?"

"To the rest of the world, yes, until we change it again. Let's go eat breakfast."

Sheryl followed Aaron out of the room. After a short walk, they entered the kitchen. It was spacious and well stocked with professional grade appliances. She didn't like the décor though. There was a lot of stainless steel and a lot of wooden cabinetry, which didn't go well together. A smoked glass table looked like it had come from another kitchen entirely.