Wings of Deception (38 page)

Jacks squeezed his eyes shut trying to coordinate his thoughts and the images flying around in his head. Black birds, white birds
,
whirlwinds were all swimming around mixed up and he opened his eyes back open and asked
in despair
, “You knew it was a farce from the beginning, why couldn’t I
?”

Honey knew he was referring to
Asa
.
“It is okay Jacks; we do not need to talk about it right now. You have to rest and get better. We have to go now
anyway,
our time is up but we will be back for the next visit so you just sleep and we will talk later, okay?”

Jacks just shook his head and made no response
,
as Honey kissed his cheek and Sheila did the same before leaving. Dwight let them go on out and then he walked over to stand next to the bed and asked Jacks, “When you do remember everything that happened Jacks, remember too that this is not a battle that can be fought in the flesh but must be fought in the spirit dimension
.
Vengeance belongs to no man save the Lord. We can talk about it later when you feel
better;
I just do not think Honey or Sheila can handle
what you and I know was
the real truth of what did happen last night
. You get some rest buddy, we are praying for you.”

Jacks almost told him to save his prayers for someone else but something stopped him and he just nodded
instead
and closed his eyes.
Sadness flooded over him as he faced the fact that he had no ‘grandfather’ and anger accompanied it
,
fueled by the fact he had been used.

Feeling good about Jacks progress
,
the trio left the hospital and got some breakfast before going back to their hotel. Dwight used Jacks room
,
while Sheila shared Honey’s and they all slept for the next two hours before they were roused by detectives working the case.

Cranford and Purcell
,
the same
men
from the night before
, said
they needed Honey to show them where the stone house was located. She had mentioned that she was with Jacks when he visited
Asa
there but there was not any place resembling it anywhere within an hour’s drive from the city.

“I am sorry but it was dark and I told you everything I remember about it last night.”

“Anything you can think of may help us find who did this to your friend. Try, maybe if you go over it again you will remember something.”

Honey reached for coffee that Dwight ordered for them
,
hoping it would help her wake up better.

“Okay. We were picked up in a black limousine at like seven and I remember Jacks saying we were going north because his watch has this little compass thing on it. We rode for an hour or so because I looked at my watch after we arrived and it was a few minutes after eight. There was a wall of stone with a black iron gate and the driveway was quite long and it was dark. When we came to the house
,
I could
not
see well
,
for the lighting was so dim inside and I was a bit spooked, I guess and didn’t notice much detail. There was this servant that just popped up like out of nowhere. It is a huge place though
,
with high ceiling and the rooms were large too.” She paused, thinking
back to the stairs and how they wound down. “I said something to Jacks about it being almost cave like and I think he said it was
a
cave down there and that part of the house was underground….yes, I am sure he said that
.
Asa
told him that it was used for smuggling many years ago! Does that help?”

The two men exchanged looks and Cranford replied, “That could be helpful. Is there anything else
?
A
nything at all
?
T
hink
.
W
ere there other servants that you observed while you were there?”

“Two women
, one I mentioned before that met us in the hall. She was probably in her late sixties and had dark hair and was stout in her figure and the other one was my age and you know they could have been related
,
for they did look a lot alike. But neither talked and you would only see them at a distance. It was such low lighting
,
that I could be wrong. I am sorry
.
I really want to help you catch that horrible old man!”

Dwight caught his breath and the detectives both looked at him and he swallowed hard
,
for they would never believe him if he told them what he was thinking.
If he told them t
hat
the old man was dead but
his evil spirit
still existed
in Garrett’s body
, it
would be a joke to them.

“Is there something you want to
add
Mr.
…
?”
Cranford
looked at his notes. “Uh, Reverend Ferny
….
m
aybe you remembered something from the roof?”

Dwight cleared his throat. It would do no good to look for a dead man so he volunteered, “It’s just that I do not believe you will find the man
Asa
,
alive.”

“Why do you think that, from my notes last night none of you saw anyone kill him?”

“No we did
not
, but I saw him collapse and I think it was because he may have had a heart attack or something.
His eyes grew large and he grabbed his left shoulder
,
as if in pain
. I have seen many dead people in my line of work and he certainly looked dead to me.

”
But you have no proof of this?”

“No sir.”

A look passed between the detectives and Purcell said with sarcasm.

“So you
are telling us that you
witnessed one of these men kill another
,
and you say
you think another dropped dead
but we found neither body. We
also
ran a
check on Abe Cannon and
Garrett Dell.  According to family and co-workers they both have been
in Europe
since Friday
and not expected back for a while. Are you sure Miss Herbert
,
that you could
not
be mistaken?”

Sheila adamantly shook her head. “No, it was
them
, I am positive and I am just as positive that I watched Garrett kill
Abe
with his bare hands!
And, if you do not believe us
,
then why are you even here?
”

Purcell sighed, “
We never said we did
not
believe you
,
Miss Herbert. Obviously
,
something happened on that roof. Your friend has a major knife wound
,
but there was no knife found either.
We will keep investigating and we will keep looking for this house
, but there is no record of an
y
Asa
Ruther
s
that we have been able to locate
.
Unless you can give us more to work with, it is not looking good.
”

T
he two men got up preparing to leave. Purcell thanked them for their cooperation and said that they would be in touch
,
then asked how long they would be in New York.

Sheila looked at Honey knowing she would never leave Jacks there alone and she looked at Dwight for she knew he would have to go home to his responsibilities
.
This was the first time he had ever spent a night away from Gem and she knew he was anxious to get back to her. They had
all
discussed it
at the hospital
and
reluctantly
he planned to leave later in the evening and had already booked a flight
,
whereas
s
he
would
stay with Honey and go back with her as soon as
Jacks
was able
to travel
. She shared this with the men.

“Dwight has to go
back
home
but Honey and I will stay
here
until Jacks can
travel
however long that takes.”

“So
,
we can reach you on your cell phones if we need to?”

“Sure and we w
ant
to know everything
you find out
,
so please keep us updated on those creeps!”

“Yes ma’am and we hope your friend has a speedy recovery. We will be talking with him later
on
too. Oh and,” Purcell looked specifically at Dwight. “If you should think of something you have
not already
told us, I
am
sure you will
contact us.
”

Without waiting for a reply the two men took their leave
. They were sure there was more to the story than they were being told.
It was not the first time some of the names had appeared connected with some unsavory happenings around town but there were always airtight alibis.

After they had gone
,
Sheila voiced her irritation. “Can you believe those idiots? They
kept giving each other these looks
,
like we were from another planet or something!”

Dw
ight was trying not to smile at her indignation. “Well, they are supposed to act like that I think. It must be frustrating for them not
to
have any leads at all.”

Honey agreed with Sheila. “Yes, but Sheila is right, they did have that certain look and I bet you that they are not happy to have this case.”

“Maybe you both are right but there is nothing we can do about it. Jacks
’
is going to recover and we can get back to Mississippi and our lives there. Speaking of which, are you sure you girls do
not
want me to stay another day or two? I am sure Gem will be fine with Jean.”

Both Honey and Sheila
were adamant that he go on ahead of them,
so
halfheartedly
he
got his bag ready for travel.
He was going to drive them all to the hospital to visit with Jacks and then go on to the airport from there.

Jacks’ was awake when they got there and was
much
more alert than he was earlier.
He was sitting up
,
looking at a newspaper, which he put aside when he saw them. It had been a long day for him and his patience at being confined
,
was wearing thin
. He was still having trouble
with what had happened with
Asa
and filled with anger as well as disappointment.

“Come on in, I was waiting for some company.”

Honey and Sheila both gave him a hug and Dwight shook hands with him saying, “You look much better than you did this morning. How are you feeling?”

Jacks grinned, “Better than I did this morning
,
but I am plenty sore
and I am starving for some real food.”

“Hey, there is a place right around the corner from here. I could go bring you back something, want me to?” Sheila volunteered.

“Would you?” Jacks perked up.

“I will go with her and you two fellows can talk about us while we are gone.”

Honey said and turning to Sheila, “
Come on girlfriend.”

Dwight was elated to have some time alone with Jacks
,
for there were a few things they needed to talk about and he would rather do so without Honey or Sheila there. Before he could begin the conversation, Jacks beat him to it.

“You know something about what was happening on that roof don’t you? Something the girls do
not
know, what is it? What were they….
Asa
….going to do with me?”

Dwight walked over to the window and stood looking out as he answered. “This is a lot more complicated than you know Jacks
.” He turned back toward the bed where Jacks was now in a reclining position. “I am not sure I can explain how something you do not even believe exist, works.”