Heaven Painted as a Free Meal Read online

  Laverne nodded. “I remember that. He is a god in the farming area, a powerful one, and hates what happened to him and his settlement he had out there in the desert.”

  “It seems almost an obsession,” Deanna said.

  “He has hidden corporations,” Stephanie said, “that control state of the art explosives, medical technology, and drone research.”

  “Everything needed to build those bombs in people’s heads,” Deanna said. “And the drone company really concerns me.”

  “But why would he want to depress the economy of Las Vegas?” Elliot asked.

  “He doesn’t,” Laverne said, her voice cold. “As Deanna came up with earlier, the attacks at the casino are a distraction.”

  “So what is his target?” Deanna asked.

  “The desert he can’t buy,” Laverne said.

  “Why can’t he buy it?” Stephanie asked.

  “Because the Silicon Suckers live there,” Laverne said. “He’s going to start a war much worse than fighting a small army of black magic beings from the past. He’s going to start a war with the Silicon Suckers. That’s a war humans cannot win.”

  Deanna had no idea what to say to that.

  Nothing.

  Because she had no idea who the Silicon Suckers were.

  Laverne turned to Stephanie. “You want to help more in this fight?”

  “I would be honored,” Stephanie said.

  Laverne pointed back at Stephanie’s computer. “See if in the next thirty minutes you can find dates and times that the land to the north was blocked, or that Numa was removed from his ranch. See if any of them have an anniversary today.”

  Stephanie nodded.

  “I’ll be back to get you in thirty minutes.”

  Then Laverne turned to Deanna and Elliot. “Meeting in Poker Boy’s office in thirty minutes. Round up your team.”

  Then Laverne vanished.

  “Poker Boy’s office?” Stephanie said, almost in awe.

  “Wait until you see it,” Deanna said. “I’m told it is something. I’m going to stay and help you. Elliot, you want to get the team, bring them up to speed, and warn them. And get Belle and Nancy digging into Warren Numa’s corporations for thirty minutes. See what they can find from that direction.”

  Elliot nodded and vanished.

  Stephanie sat down and faced the screen. “Come on in.”

  Deanna smiled and joined Stephanie in her body.

  And then the two of them went to work, combining both their skills to dig as deep as it took.

  SECTION SIX

  Attack

  TWENTY-SIX

  JEWEL AND TOMMY had found nothing at all that was out of place anywhere in the hotel or casino. So they had started to scan people when Elliot and K.J. appeared.

  They were on the top floor and just happened to be in the wide, carpeted hallway.

  K.J. was not looking happy in the slightest.

  “Deanna and a superhero named Stephanie might have gotten us a lead,” Elliot said.

  “The lead they found has the gods scared beyond words,” K.J. said. “And me too, to be honest.”

  “What is it?” Jewel asked, wondering what could be so bad as to scare the gods like K.J. said.

  “I never met a Sucker and I don’t want to now.” K.J. said, then took a deep breath. “It seems that there is a chance that a god named Warren Numa wants to attack in some fashion the Silicon Suckers home to the north of town for revenge.”

  Jewel and Tommy both glanced at Elliot, who just shrugged.

  So Jewel turned back to the distraught ghost in the blue suit and red tie and asked, “What is a Silicon Sucker?”

  “Humans who see them think of them as aliens,” K.J. said. “They are called ‘The Grays’ by flying saucer believers. But they are actually an ancient race of beings that has been on Earth far longer than humans and giants and the Titans.”

  “Oh,” was all Jewel could say.

  “They live in huge sand caverns and one of their main cities is under the desert to the north. All that land is Silicon Sucker land. And they protect their land.”

  “So does this god named Numa know this?”

  “He would have to,” K.J. said, “since it seems after Atlantis went under, he built a compound to the north of here and was removed from it by treaty with the Silicon Suckers at some point a number of years ago. He’s been trying to force governments ever since to give him his land back.”

  “So what makes him a suspect in the gunmen here?” Jewel asked, trying to connect the dots.

  “He owns a company that does high-tech explosives,” K.J. said, “and another company that does state-of-the-art health inventions. And, on top of that, he’s a god who was alive in the days of Atlantis and settled near here after Atlantis went down, so he would know about this power ring.”

  “Okay,” Jewel said, now seeing why K.J. was rattled. “What do we do next?”

  “Meeting in a couple minutes from now in Poker Boy’s office,” K.J. said.

  “Deanna is still with the superhero searching history for more legal issues with this guy,” Elliot said. “And Belle and Nancy are now doing a fast dig through the man’s multiple corporations to see what they can find.”

  Jewel nodded. “So let’s go a few minutes early.”

  K.J. took a deep breath, nodded and a moment later they were standing in Poker Boy’s office.

  Jewel still found the office stunning, not in a normal office way, but in the fact that it was a giant invisible cube floating about a thousand feet above the Las Vegas Strip. And besides a few chairs, the only furniture was a large 1960s style diner booth in the middle of the room.

  K.J. had told her after their last visit here in the fall that Poker Boy and his team had started out meeting in a diner off of Fremont Street, and when Poker Boy learned how to build an office, he had just replicated the diner booth.

  For a glass cube with a railing against the glass all the way around, the diner booth made the place feel comfortable.

  And the view was amazing. She could see the mountains all the way around and planes approaching and taking off from the airport. Far below the cars looked like small toys on the busy streets.

  Since today was a bright sunny day with deep blue skies, this office just felt perfect.

  “Wow,” Elliot said softly, turning slowly to get all the view.

  They had arrived near one corner of the office and Poker Boy in his black leather jacket and black Fedora-like hat was sitting in the booth talking with his girlfriend, Patty. Only one other person was there, an older god named Ben who seemed to be the memory for Poker Boy’s team.

  Patty and Ben both waved hello at them, but kept talking.

  Jewel turned to the north and looked out over the vast open desert area in that direction. So all of this might be caused by some god wanting that land. How really, really stupid.

  At that moment, everyone else seemed to arrive at once.

  Laverne arrived, pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the booth,

  Deanna stood next to a woman who looked scared and nervous that Jewel didn’t know. Both of them just gawked at the fantastic view, both turning slowly as Elliot had done.

  Belle, and Nancy arrived holding hands and looking upset.

  Jewel moved over and stood next to Tommy. She just felt stronger that way.

  It seemed the meeting was about to start. And most of Poker Boy’s team were clearly off doing something else.

  Jewel had no idea what that something else might be.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  DEANNA NODDED TO Ben as she and Elliot were officially introduced as new Ghost of a Chance agents by Laverne.

  The ghosts, plus Stephanie, were all standing around the right of the booth. Laverne had turned her chair to face them and Ben had moved around to also face them beside Poker Boy and Patty.

  Then Laverne introduced the superhero named Stephanie who managed to nod and say, “Nice meeting you.” But she was clearly shock
ed to be there.

  Deanna didn’t blame her in the slightest. This office was enough to knock a person’s socks off. For a moment Deanna felt like she might fall off the edge, even with the wooden rail all the way around.

  The bright blue sky and views of the mountains in all directions around Las Vegas were just breathtaking.

  And Deanna knew that Stephanie was in awe of Laverne and Poker Boy and his team. Stephanie had heard so much about them over the years, but had never dreamed of meeting them, let alone helping them.

  The only reason Deanna wasn’t feeling the same way was Elliot’s reaction. He had worked with them and had described them and liked the team members he had met. So that had helped her a lot.

  And learning about them through Stephanie’s thoughts had helped some as well. Poker Boy and his team were impressive. Not scary.

  “We somehow need to find out what Warren Numa has planned for this evening,” Laverne said. “And do it quickly.”

  “Are we convinced he is behind all this?” Poker Boy asked.

  Laverne nodded.

  “We traced the money and programs,” Belle said, “that Numa used to build those bombs he put in people’s heads.”

  Nancy nodded. “We even traced the guns back to him through a number of shell corporations.”

  “And Stephanie and I found what today is the anniversary of for him,” Deanna said.

  “He and his family,” Stephanie said, “were evicted by the police on this date in 1916 from his homestead in the desert. One hundred years ago.”

  Deanna smiled at Stephanie and nodded. The woman had courage, even in the face of meeting some of her idols.

  Laverne turned to Ben. “Is this kind of behavior possible from Numa?”

  “He has always been very vengeful,” Ben said. “Some pretty major famines in history were caused by him because of his anger. And since he is the god of agriculture, his powers have been fading with so much food now being manufactured and so much land being put under concrete. I can vouch for the fact that when a god’s powers start fading, it is upsetting, to say the least.”

  Deanna didn’t like the sound of that. They were dealing with a real god, and an angry one to boot.

  “So how do we stop him?” Poker Boy asked. “If he attacks the Silicon Suckers, we will never be able to repair the damage. And they will kill in retribution a hundred humans for every life they lose.”

  Laverne nodded and the silence filled the room.

  “Do we know where he lives, where he is located at the moment?” Tommy asked.

  “He has a fort-like compound in the rocks just to the east of town,” Laverne said. “He allows no visitors, including me, without an appointment. I would imagine his shields are major.”

  “We can get in,” Jewel said. “Give us an hour to figure out his plans.”

  Deanna had a hunch that shields didn’t hold ghosts. And that someone like this Numa god wouldn’t even give ghosts a second thought.

  Laverne looked at Jewel and then the rest of the Ghost Agents, then nodded.

  She turned to Poker Boy. “Ask for a meeting with the Supreme Ruler of the Silicon Suckers. Tell him what is happening, that we plan to stop it, but that he needs to mount his defenses as much as he can.”

  “Should I tell him who is at fault?”

  “Yes,” Laverne said.

  She then turned to Patty. “Work with our people at the casino. At five get that fire alarm going, get everyone out of that hotel and keep them out until after the power point has passed.”

  Then Laverne turned to the Ghost Agents. “Get into Numa’s compound, find out his plans exactly and what we can do to stop them.”

  All of them nodded.

  Laverne look at K.J. “You be the relay back to me here in this office, since none of us who are alive dare go near that compound until this is all cleared.”

  “After that why don’t we let the Great Leader and his people deal with Numa when we have this solved?” Poker Boy asked. “I am sure such a trade would be the honorable thing to do in sight of the threat involved.”

  Laverne nodded. “Let me check with the powers that be and the Fates, but I like that idea. But first things first, we have to stop what he is planning. And we have to know what that is first.”

  Suddenly an image of a large walled compound built into the rocks appeared in Deanna’s mind. She knew exactly where it was at and what each building held.

  “I have given you all the location and plans,” Laverne said. “Good luck. Now I’m going to go talk with Ceres, his boss, see if she can get this guy under control.”

  Laverne vanished.

  Deanna felt stunned. Lady Luck herself had just wished her luck. That had to be interesting. And Deanna hoped it was powerful as well.

  “Teams of two,” Tommy said. “K.J., you keep track of all three teams, listen for our calls. We are after information first, remember, to get back here.”

  Deanna glanced at Elliot and smiled.

  She had no idea what she was walking into, but it couldn’t be worse than dying alone, wasting away to nothingness. And no matter what, she was with Elliot.

  “We’ll take Numa’s computer area,” Belle and Nancy said.

  “We’ll take his walls and guards,” Elliot said.

  Tommy nodded. “Jewel, you and I are going right to the head of the snake.”

  Jewel nodded.

  And with that they all jumped to the compound of an ancient and angry god.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  JEWEL AND TOMMY jumped into a massive library. The ceilings towered overhead and books filled all four walls, with walkways about halfway up the walls. A spiral staircase in one corner led up to the walkways. A giant chandelier hung in the middle of the room, casting only faint light over the books.

  The room smelled like really old paper, with a slightly musty smell added in. From what Jewel could tell, some of these books had to be hundreds of years old.

  The floor was stone and covered with expensive-looking thick Persian rugs. A giant dark wood desk larger than some bedrooms filled one corner of the room with a huge wooden chair behind the desk that looked more like a throne than a desk chair.

  A man who looked to be in his sixties, with short gray hair sat behind the big desk, studying some papers. Jewel assumed that was Numa.

  There was no door into the room. None. Every inch of the room’s walls was covered in books.

  Jewel really liked the feel of the place except for the hate and anger radiating from the man behind the desk.

  When they arrived, Numa looked up and frowned, glancing to one side, then the other.

  Jewel panicked a little as she and Tommy froze, not moving. She was ready to jump out of there instantly if needed. She had no idea what Numa could do if he sensed them or could see them, but she had no desire to find out.

  At that moment, a knock echoed through the large room and the man behind the desk said, “Come!”

  A bookcase slid back and two men wearing modern three-piece suits entered and bowed slightly.

  “Everything ready?” Numa asked.

  “Completely,” one man said.

  Tommy indicated that Jewel should go into the one on the right, Tommy would take the one on the left.

  A moment later Jewel was inside the man.

  Evil did not begin to describe this man. Not an ounce of conscious remained. He had no family and had been a mercenary for a dozen years.

  And then Jewel saw the entire plan. They were to send a couple dozen people to the casino to continue that ruse, but the man knew that would fail.

  The drones were to attack the desert with massive bombs right at six p.m., along with a dozen trucks full of high explosives.

  Jewel could see the image of the entire desert to the north of Las Vegas exploding in giant fireballs.

  The man Jewel was in was not a god, or even a superhero. And he had no idea why his boss wanted to blow up the desert. But he didn’t care. He was getting paid enough t
o not question.

  “Then get it started,” Numa said, turning back to study the papers in front of him.

  The two men nodded and turned.

  Jewel stayed inside the man until he was outside of the main office and the two men were out a back door.

  Then she dropped out and shouted for K.J.

  K.J. appeared instantly.

  Tommy appeared after the men had taken a few steps and came back to join her.

  “K.J.,” Jewel said, “get inside that one man on the right, get the plan, and report it to Laverne. We’re going to try to stop it from here.”

  K.J. instantly faded into the man.

  After the man had taken three more steps, K.J had returned.

  “Got it,” he said. “I’ll tell her you are trying to stop this as well and then come back.”

  He was gone.

  Jewel glanced at the two men headed for a building that Jewel knew from the information that Laverne had given her as a communications center near one wall of the compound. There were a dozen other buildings around the compound and the large house they had just come out of.

  “We have them give the order to stand down?” Tommy asked.

  “Yes,” Jewel said. “But did you see those papers our host was reading?”

  “An ancient map of some sort,” Tommy said.

  That’s what Jewel had seen as well, and it made no sense. Why would Numa be studying an ancient map at this point, when his plan is being set in motion?

  “Let’s take care of stopping this all,” Tommy said. “Then we’ll go back and see what we can see.”

  Jewel nodded and a moment later she was inside the man again just as he entered the communications room with banks of computer screens and a dozen men and women behind the screens.

  “The boss has pulled the plug on this entire operation,” Tommy’s man said.

  “Shut it down,” Jewel had her man say. And she planted the thoughts that the boss had really said that and if he disobeyed, he would be killed.