

#### Remember the Halocracy

#### by David J. Wighton

#### Book #15 in the Wilizy Series

### Smashwords Edition

### Copyright 2019, David J. Wighton

###

### This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy.

### Although this e-book might be sold at no cost to the reader at times, I retain ownership of the copyright and may elect to charge a small amount for its purchase at times.

### Thank you for respecting my copyright.

# Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to my wife, Dale, and to my other family members whose support made it possible.

Cover design by Rita Toews at WordPress.com

**Parent and Reader Advisory**

As a science-fiction novel, some events in this book take place in a fictional location named _Heaven_ where mythical creatures named _angels_ exist. Included as well are mythical _devils_ and _demon_ s existing in a fictional _Hell_.

The descriptions of the two **fictional** afterlives are intended as a satire, not as a commentary on your religious beliefs. As a satire, these two afterlives are described in somewhat ridiculous ways. Please do not take these depictions seriously or as an affront to your religious beliefs.

# Wilizy Family Members as of March 2088

• Doc and Granny, about 77 years old.

• Hank (47) and Yolanda (43).

• Wolf (23), Mac (23), Jock Jr. (4), Emily (2), Jock Sr. (53).

• William (22), Melissa (22), Will & Izzy (4), MayaLou (2).

• Yollie (22), TG (23), Liset (8), Yo-Yo (5), Hank (3), Ivanika (2).

• Wizard (20), Dreamer (18), Wanda (59).

• Lucas (18).

• Theo (17), Nary (17), Marie (about 78).

• Mathias (16), Kashmira (16).

• Reese (14).

• Winnie (12), Patella (6), Scapula (4)

• EmmaGee (8), Freya the wolf (1) and Madison the wolf (1).

• Stu McKenzie (48), Momaka (44), Petro (2).

**Main Characters in Toronto**

• Bean and Cowboy.

• Mrs. Madhuri Lee and Annika Lee.

• Lieutenant Thomas J. Baker, Detective Louie Tubb, Carlos Escondido (a corpse) and Harry Morgan (another corpse).

**Main Characters in Heaven**

• Arthur, Amy Louisa, and Joe-Joe.

This page is to help you if you get confused about who is who in the story. If that happens, click your way back to the Table of Contents and scroll back one page.

# Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Books in the Wilizy Series

About the Author: David J. Wighton

# Chapter 1

For a murder that had just been discovered, the investigation was rapidly coming to a close. At least it was almost over in Lieutenant Thomas J. Baker's estimation. Baker was the Toronto police officer in charge of murder investigations.

A heavy rainfall on Wednesday had proven to be lucky. Late that evening, hikers in Toronto Park had found a hand sticking out of a shallow muddy grave. That wasn't so much lucky as it was observant. Most people would notice such a thing.

Police were at the murder scene early Thursday morning and Baker took charge at 9 am. After carefully removing the mud around the burial site, the police found a man's body. A wallet inside his pants pocket revealed him to be a Mr. Harry Morgan. That same wallet gave them his address. The dry dirt under his body suggested he was placed in the grave before Wednesday's rainfall. That, and the condition of the body led the police coroner to establish the date of death as Tuesday, April 13, 2089.

The bullet through Morgan's forehead gave cause of death. A discolouration on the man's forehead established that the gun had been shot from close range. The bullet was recovered at the scene. Investigators would be looking for a Colt 45 handgun. They didn't have far to look. A Colt 45 was found safely entombed under Morgan's body. It had been protected from the grave's loose dirt by the heavy-duty paper bag that enclosed it. The gun was carefully removed from that bag. "We have fingerprints," Lieutenant Baker observed through a magnifying glass.

The gun and the body were removed from the grave and sent to police headquarters for processing: the body for an autopsy; the gun for fingerprint analysis. They also found a portable shovel underneath Morgan's body. Campers take this kind of shovel with them for multi-purpose duties, like digging latrines. The blade of the shovel was olive green – a replica perhaps of a military shovel. The paint on the blade was almost pristine. Digging this grave was likely the first time it had been used. Baker concluded that the murderer had shot the man close to what would be his grave, dug the grave with the shovel, placed the shovel in the grave first, the bag with the gun second, and the man third. The murderer had then used his hands to cover Morgan up with the soft dirt. He may not have known that the first rainfall would wash some of the loose soil away.

The shot through the forehead prompted Lieutenant Baker to remember a second murder that he had worked on recently. That death was that of a teenager – Carlos Escondido. He also had been murdered at close range. The bullet had gone through his forehead and the coroner had found a similar discolouration. Baker ordered the police lab to compare the bullets from that murder to the recent murder and to test fire the Colt 45 that had been found in the shallow grave. While this was being done, he dispatched Detective Louie Tubb to interview all the residents in Morgan's apartment building. He instructed Tubb to withhold the news about the earlier murder.

### # # # # # # # #

Tubb started on the top floor of the building and made his way apartment by apartment down to the ground floor. He told each resident that the police were looking for Harry Morgan, the occupant of apartment #4 on the third floor, because his sister had filed a Missing Person's report. He then asked if they could tell him anything at all about Mr. Morgan that would help the police find him. Unfortunately, none of the residents knew anything about Mr. Morgan. They might nod at him in passing, but that was the extent of any communications they might have had with him.

During his tour through the building, Tubb questioned a young woman named Beneditka Ekelund. Like other residents, she told him that she knew nothing about Morgan, but her ignorance about the man was because she didn't live in the building. She was staying temporarily in the third floor apartment with her boy friend who was downtown talking with his employer. That led to Tubb discovering that her boyfriend was Cowboy, also known as Jim Jackson. Tubb didn't think anything of that at the time. He did notice some wet camping gear that was spread around the apartment to dry.

One of the ground floor apartments belonged to a Mrs. Madhuri Lee who lived there with her teenage daughter, Annika. Neither of them knew anything about Morgan. Tubb was only making conversation over a cup of coffee and some banana bread when he happened to mention that he had worked with one of their neighbours in a recent murder case – the neighbour being Cowboy. That led to Mrs. Lee praising Cowboy effusively, especially with how he had helped Annika deal with a persistent bully at her school. Tubb probed for details as any detective would. That led to Mrs. Lee saying that Cowboy had repaired the bars outside their window so that the bully couldn't force his way inside. He had even gone to the bully's home and spoken to him about leaving Annika alone. That led to Tubb asking Mrs. Lee who the bully was. That led to Mrs. Lee revealing that she only knew of him by Annika's nickname – Pitface. That led to Tubb asking Annika what his real name was. Annika replied _Carlos Escondido._ It was at this point in the interview when Tubb's social conversation became less social and more detectivey.

Mrs. Lee continued her side of the conversation by saying that whatever Cowboy had said had definitely worked. Pitface never bothered Annika again but that probably wouldn't be a problem for her any longer. Annika was much more confident now and she didn't need Cowboy's protection. That led to Tubb learning that Cowboy had given Annika shooting lessons. That led to Tubb asking her what kind of gun she had learned on. A Colt 45 was the response.

My readers may recall from the events of the previous novel ( _Old Stone Face)_ that Cowboy had taken over a murder case from Detective Aloysius Tubb and had solved it quickly. Tubb's image within the Toronto Constabulary had taken a hit when that quick success had garnered praise for Cowboy and sarcastic comments about Tubb. You'd be right in concluding that Tubb was not particularly fond of Cowboy.

Annika joined the conversation at that point and said that Cowboy's girl friend had also helped with her shooting. The friend, nicknamed Bean, was a very good shooter. At the shooting range, she had hit the bull's eye six times out of six even though she was rolling around on the ground while she shot. Bean used to be in the military. She had told Annika that she herself would aim for the forehead when she had an open shot because death would be instantaneous.

Tubb thanked Mrs. Lee for the coffee and dessert, but he was needed back at the police station now and would have to leave.

"He seemed nice," Annika said as she helped her mom clean up the dining room.

### # # # # # # # #

By Thursday noon, the examination of the fingerprints on the gun under Morgan's body had been completed. The prints were top quality. All the police forensics specialist needed now was a suspect. If that suspect had killed Morgan, the finger prints would convict him. Since the first murder had been committed in the same style, Lieutenant Baker believed those fingerprints would solve the first murder too.

Lieutenant Baker decided to act now even though microscopic examinations of the bullets found in the two bodies were not ready yet. He personally conducted the interview with the girl friend in Cowboy's apartment. He said that he was investigating the murder of Harry Morgan, the neighbour next door. Questions included: _Where did she receive her military training? What position was she trained for? Had she ever killed in the line of duty?_

Bean refused to answer, as was her right. She knew that neither she nor Cowboy had been involved in any way with Harry Morgan. She had learned that saying nothing until you knew the reasons for the questions was a smart strategy.

Lieutenant Baker didn't need answers right now. He was looking for signs of guilt and this non-communicative young woman had given him that. He brought Bean down to the police station for further questioning. When she continued to refuse to answer the simplest of questions, he informed her that he was concerned for her safety, living all alone as she was in a building where a murderer could be hiding. His concern was so acute that he was putting her in protective custody until he could establish that she would be safe if she returned to the apartment complex. Bean learned that Baker's idea of protective custody meant locking her in a cell. It was standard procedure for all occupants of locked cells to have their fingerprints taken. Those fingerprints were immediately compared to the fingerprints on the gun that had been found under Harry Morgan. They were identical.

The conclusion was obvious. Bean had murdered Harry Morgan.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 2

We'll take a one chapter break from Baker's murder investigation now and skip merrily back in time. The last time my readers saw Cowboy, he was watching Dr. Richardson's trial in Nebraska. Cowboy left Nebraska the day after Dr. Richardson had discovered that it was inherently dangerous to climb up to the rafters of a Wal*Mart store with a rope fastened tightly around his neck and its end tied to a ceiling girder. Cowboy arrived in Toronto the next morning, Monday April 12. His last contact with Bean had been the previous Monday. For reasons some of my readers will understand, he had been very motivated to return quickly to Toronto. I'll skip describing what happened after he arrived.

Tuesday morning, he and Bean began to catch up on the past week. Cowboy told her all about his investigation including accounts on how others had been involved in bringing Professor Richardson to justice. He also gave her the black Stetson that he had bought from Stu as a gift for her.

Bean was happy for Cowboy but her mood was subdued. She had passed her courses, but the marks would never qualify her for advanced medical studies. That prompted Cowboy to suggest that they go camping which was exactly what Bean needed. They packed up the camping gear that Cowboy has received in a barter deal and headed downstairs. While Bean packed the copter, Cowboy rapped on Madhuri Lee's door and asked Annika if she would tell her mom that Dr. Richardson had been caught and the girls Cowboy had been looking for had been rescued. The tent that Cowboy had propped up against the wall prompted Annika to ask where he was going. Cowboy replied that he and Bean would be camping outside of the city for a couple of days. When they returned, he'd give her mom all the details of his investigation.

The camping trip had mixed results. Cowboy was able to tell her about Professor Zewinski from York University and how she had suggested that Bean might find York's accelerated program for medics appealing. It was geared for first responders to traumatic events. Bean was receptive to the idea so long as the courses didn't require her to memorize page after page of medical definitions.

They spent the rest of Tuesday hiking. The weather turned nasty on Wednesday morning with a heavy rain and biting wind. They decided to come home early and unlocked the door to Cowboy's apartment Thursday morning at 8. Bean would spend the rest of the day online checking out York University. Cowboy left the apartment after breakfast.

His first errand was to check in with Megan O'Flaherty and tell her that his investigation had been concluded successfully. With no new work assignments available to him, Cowboy decided to visit Professor Lillian Zewinski. Perhaps she'd be back from her visit with her family. The university's departmental secretary shared the bad news as kindly as she could. Professor Zewinski had died of cancer and he had missed her memorial service. She did give him the name of the cemetery where she had been buried.

Cowboy spent some time at the grave site. Professor Zewinski had seemed so happy and energetic, but all the time he had been with her, she had been silently fighting the cancer. The gravestone boiled her life down to two facts. Professor Astrid Zewinski: born March 13, 2019, died March 30, 2089. But she was so much more than that. If it hadn't been for the professor, Cowboy knew that he might never have caught Richardson and rescued his daughters. He certainly wouldn't have known about York's accelerated program. However, he couldn't help but think that with a first name of Astrid, no wonder she liked her Lillian nickname more.

Cowboy left the gravesite and arrived at his apartment at 5:30 pm. By then, Bean was sitting in a cell, but he didn't know that yet.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 3

We're back to present time. Cowboy opened the third floor hallway door and found his way blocked by a big stocky man in a dark blue uniform who turned at the noise and raised his palm in a _Stop now_ order.

"No entry," he declared. The badge he was wearing gave some authority to that edict. The yellow tape barring entrance with the words _Crime Scene_ added some more.

"I live on this floor," Cowboy revealed. "What happened?"

"The floor is closed while we investigate," the constable explained and moved closer to the open doorway so that Cowboy couldn't push his way any further into the hallway.

"Break and enter?"

"No. Murder. You'll have to leave now."

"My girl friend is waiting for me in apartment #3. Can I come in and get her?"

"Apartment #3, you said?"

"A-yup."

"Come onto the floor and close the door. Turn and face the wall."

Cowboy did as requested. He was now able to see the entire floor. There was more yellow tape across the open doorway to the third apartment on the left. His apartment.

"That's my apartment. Is my girl friend alright?"

"Put your hands on the wall and step back one pace." The constable began to pat Cowboy down for weapons.

Cowboy interpreted the constable's refusal to say anything about Bean's wellbeing in the worst possible light. He swatted the constable's hands away and tried to push his way down the hall.

"AGRESSIVE MAN ON THE FLOOR!"

Seconds later three handguns were pointing at Cowboy. A second constable and two men in plain clothes had emerged from Cowboy's apartment. He recognized one face. Detective Louie Tubb. In Cowboy's estimation, the man was not particularly good at his job.

"This is the man I told you about, Lieutenant," Tubb said. "People call him _Cowboy_."

Lieutenant Baker was used to giving orders. The constables were used to enforcing them. "Face the wall and put your hands on the wall," he ordered Cowboy.

The constables helped Cowboy to move more quickly in his swivel to the wall. They also assisted in patting down Cowboy's clothes so that they hung quite nicely from his body. They also checked inside his Stetson, perhaps for signs of mold, dandruff, and sweat stains.

"He's clean, Lieutenant."

"Cuff his hands behind his back."

...

"Help him to sit on the floor."

...

"What's your real name?"

"Jim Jackson. I'm the former sheriff of Helena, Montana."

"You have no jurisdiction here. Don't move from that wall, Jackson. We take two murders very seriously in Toronto."

"What are you charging me with?"

"Poor choice in hat wear, for now."

"Where's your search warrant for my apartment?"

"Tubb, show him the warrant and then resume the search of his apartment. Constable, keep him sitting on the floor."

"Is Bean alive?"

"All in good time, Jackson."

### # # # # # # # #

Tubb sauntered out of the apartment and squatted next to Cowboy. "You need anything? Water? Bathroom break?"

"No, what I need is information."

"Lieutenant Baker is a real hard-nose. I had to ask him three times for permission to come out to see if you needed anything."

"Appreciate that."

"I see that you've been camping. I've never done much of it myself. City boy, born and raised. You worked out of Montana. Must have done lots of camping. Saw your fishing rod too."

"Everybody in Montana has camping gear."

"So you brought yours up to Toronto? Why? There's no real place to camp here."

"Nah. I got that stuff up here."

"Bought it with your private detective salary?"

"Nah. I bartered for it. Traded some tips on increasing a store's security for whatever gear I wanted. Bean and I like to camp."

"That explains why it all appears new. I didn't know that Toronto had any camping gear stores." In a whisper - "She's alive and unharmed."

"There's a good one in Midtown if you're feeling ambitious. Spadina and Eglington." In a whisper- "Thanks."

"I'm not that ambitious as far as camping is concerned. Too many bugs. I hate getting bit."

"Detective, what are you doing out there?"

"Coming, Lieutenant."

_Right on cue. Did you think that I wouldn't know a good cop, bad cop interrogation when I'm on the receiving end?_

My readers might be wondering why Cowboy gave up that information on the camping store so readily if he knew that he was being interrogated. The reason was because he didn't believe that the camping gear could be part of whatever Bean had found herself in. Sleeping bags. Tents. How could those be involved in two murders?

### # # # # # # # #

Detective Tubb left the apartment complex soon afterwards. He returned to the building in about the same amount of time that it would take a bug-bite-loathing detective to copter to Spadina and Eglington, ask some questions, take a picture of a piece of camping gear, and copter back to the apartment.

Twenty minutes after Tubb returned, Cowboy was escorted into the bedroom of his apartment where he saw a number of his possessions displayed on the bedspread. He also saw a kitchen chair positioned in front of an evidence taking camera. Not surprisingly, he was guided to that chair and seated in it with his hands still cuffed behind his back.

"Is the handgun in that holster on the bed yours?" Baker asked and pointed.

"Yes."

"Have you shot it recently?"

"No."

"Would we find your fingerprints on it?"

"Of course. It's my gun."

"What kind of handgun is that?"

"Colt 45."

"A Colt 45 with an ivory pistol grip. You never see those in Toronto. How'd you get it?"

"Family heirloom."

"The gun belt with the bullets is yours too, I assume."

"Yes."

"What about that empty holster. Is that yours too?"

"Yes."

"You own two ivory handled handguns along with a gun belt complete with holsters and bullets. I guess that makes you a typical American cowboy."

"No. It makes me a typical American sheriff. The Colt 45 holds only six bullets. If I'm pursuing an armed suspect, I want to know that I won't have to abandon pursuit after I've fired my gun six times."

"What kind of rifle is that?"

"A sniper's rifle."

"Did you use that in your sheriff's job too?"

"Yes, I did. Numerous times. Montana has wide open spaces. A long gun was essential equipment for a lawman which I was until recently."

"You've confessed that you own a second Colt 45."

"I didn't **confess** to the ownership. There's nothing illegal about owning guns, even here in Canada. I checked."

"So it's true that you do own a second Colt 45."

"Yes."

"Where is it?"

Cowboy had been waiting for that question. The empty holster had bothered him. It had bothered him a lot. "In the same hiding place where you found the other guns."

"It wasn't there."

"It should have been. I don't leave my guns lying around. I store them properly and safely."

"Did your girl friend have access to your guns?"

"Yes."

"I hear that she's a very good shot. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Your girl friend must have used your other handgun and forgot to put it back where it belonged."

"Highly unlikely."

"Unlikely that she used it or that she forgot to put it back?"

"Both."

"So, where's the gun? It's not in the apartment. We looked everywhere."

"I don't know. It was in the hiding place the last time I looked."

"How long ago was that?"

"I can't remember. Could have been months ago."

"Where did you go for your camping trip?"

"Lake Simcoe area."

"Any place in particular?"

"No. I found a deserted beach and set the copter down."

"When did you leave Toronto?"

"Tuesday morning. We were rained out and returned this morning."

"How long did it take you to get back?"

"About an hour."

"When you left on Tuesday, did you or your girl friend leave something behind in this apartment that you needed? You could have come back to Toronto and returned to Lake Simcoe easily enough."

"We did not come back earlier than what I said we did."

"Can you prove that?"

"It's impossible to prove something that never happened."

"Does it bother you that one of your guns was not where you thought it was?"

"Yes, it does."

"You can put your mind at ease now, Mr. Jackson. We found your missing handgun."

...

"Would you like to know where we found it, Mr. Jackson?"

"I expect you're going to tell me."

"We found it at a crime scene. A murder scene, to be specific. The murder of Harry Morgan."

"Don't know the man."

"He lived in apartment #4 next door."

"Never knew him. Never had anything to do with him."

"So why did your girlfriend kill him then?"

### # # # # # # # #

Baker's conclusion about Beneditka Ekelund being the murderer was a mite premature. _[A mite is a biting bug. Detective Tubb wouldn't have liked it. Obviously, Tubb's boss had no reservations about biting bugs including mites.]_ Bean's fingerprints were found on the gun in Morgan's shallow grave, but the gun hadn't been test fired yet. Test firing would provide the police with a bullet that had the unique markings that had been produced when the bullet exploded through the gun's barrel. When they compared the test bullet with the bullet that was found in Morgan's body, Baker believed that they'd have a match. At that point, he would know for sure that Cowboy's girlfriend had murdered Morgan.

Baker's case was looking solid. He could prove that Ekelund had the opportunity to kill Morgan. She had a key to the building, a key to Cowboy's apartment, and access to firearms. She was an excellent shot and preferred shooting her victims in the forehead.

Ekelund had the opportunity to bury Morgan as well. As part of the barter deal, the manager of the camping gear store at Spadina and Eglington told Tubb that he had given Jackson two green-coated shovels. Only one was found in the apartment. Its twin was found in Morgan's grave.

### # # # # # # # #

At 4:00, Tubb handed his superior a sealed envelope and waited. Baker opened it and read the lab report. "The girlfriend's gun did not kill Harry Morgan," he shared angrily.

"The gun that was immediately below the body was not the murder weapon? That doesn't make any sense. Why would the murderer shoot Morgan with one gun and place a second gun in the grave?"

"To confuse us?"

"What about Escondido's death?" Tubb asked.

"The gun wasn't a match for that murder either."

...

"We can't hold the girl friend much longer," Tubb reminded his boss.

"I know. But we have nothing tying her to either murder now."

...

"Jackson must have been the murderer," Tubb accused confidently. "We should run a bullet test on the second gun. Compare it to the murder bullets."

"Good idea. Tell the lab I want the results before 5 pm."

### # # # # # # # #

Tubb released Bean at 5:15 pm with the warning that she should not leave Toronto. If she did, she could be facing two charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Leaving Toronto would be interpreted as evidence of guilt.

"With whom did I supposedly conspire?" These were Bean's first words since she had been _protected._ Notice how grammatically perfect her question was. That didn't get her any points with Tubb.

"Your boyfriend. We have conclusive proof that he murdered Harry Morgan and Carlos Escondido." And with that bombshell, he turned her over to a constable for processing out of Toronto's witness protection program.

"Well? How'd she react?" Baker asked when Tubb entered his office.

"She's impossible to read. No protestations of Cowboy's innocence though."

"Give me your theory again."

"We know that Jackson's gun was the weapon used in both murders. Obviously, he had access to it. For reasons we don't know yet, he killed Escondido. Morgan may have been a witness and that's why he had to die too. Jackson takes his girl friend up to Simcoe Lake and then finds an excuse to return to Toronto. He lures Morgan out to Toronto Park. Perhaps he forces him there at the point of his gun. He kills him with his second gun but places his first gun in the grave. He knows that Ekelund had used that gun for some reason and he knows that we'll find her prints on it. He puts the gun in a paper bag to protect the fingerprints. He knows that she could never be found guilty on the murder because she's not in town, but he wants us to pursue her. She's a diversion. He wipes the real murder weapon clean so that he can't be implicated, puts it back in his hiding spot, and returns to Simcoe Lake."

"You have no motive for either murder."

"I don't have a motive, **yet.** We've learned from the Lee woman that he knew Escondido and confronted him at his home. Plus Jackson is living right next door to Morgan. Proximity alone links him to both murders. His gun killed both of them. He has a sniping rifle and admits that he has used it a lot. That weapon suggests a military background. Ekelund also had a military background. That may be how they met. Military people will know that the surest way to ensure a victim is dead is with a brain shot. The discolouration around the wound means that the gun was held right up against the victims' heads. That takes a certain amount of coldness. Military snipers are trained to be cold. We have enough to hold him indefinitely."

"We need to find a motive for both murders. Start with the Lee woman and her daughter. We know that Jackson can be linked to Escondido. But why would he kill him for just harassing the girl? Why would he kill his neighbour? Search Morgan's apartment. Get me a history on him."

### # # # # # # # #

At 5:20 that afternoon, Bean admitted something that she didn't want to admit.

_Yolanda. I need the Wilizy's help. Cowboy has been arrested for two murders. I don't know what to do._

_Stay where you are. I have to talk with my family. I won't be long. Try not to worry too much._

_Too late for that._

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 4

Giving Cowboy and Bean assistance was complicated by Bean's reluctance to get too close to Wilizy operations. My readers will probably remember that Bean had been given a Wilizy brain plug and that she and Yolanda could communicate mentally. You'll also remember that Bean had learned a lot about the Wilizy during the Scandinavian attack on the family's home base in Montana. _[Second Base]_ She knew about their ability to make themselves invisible; she also knew that they had a communications network that allowed them to send mind messages to each other. In spite of knowing these amazing capabilities, she had indicated on several occasions that she did not want to become involved in what the Wilizy did.

She repeated her reluctance when she and Yolanda met at Christie Pits Park a few blocks north of Police Headquarters. They found an empty park bench and sat down. Bean told her all that she knew about Cowboy's arrest, which wasn't much. Supposedly, the police had conclusive proof he had murdered two people. She herself could be accused with being his accomplice.

"We will help you and Cowboy, of course," Yolanda started. "The key people in our family talked together a few minutes ago. We have a very good attorney in Stu. You know him and so does Cowboy. Stu will serve as your and Cowboy's defense lawyer. He'll start tomorrow by finding out what evidence the police have. If they've formally charged Cowboy, they'll have to share their evidence with him. After we have that, he may have ways of getting the charges dropped. Stu will advise the family what we need to do next."

"Thank you, Yolanda. I didn't want to ask you for a favour, but I had nobody else to turn to."

"We'd be able to help you better if you would agree to join us. We could be more open with you. I know that you've been reluctant, but wondered if perhaps you had changed your mind after helping us with the Scandinavians."

"I can't, Yolanda. If anything, I'm convinced more than ever that I can't be involved with you."

"Because?"

"What you do ends with deaths."

"We bring evil people to justice. Evil people like Scandinavia's Prince Regent."

"I've killed far too many people already. I can't be involved in any more. I have to make up for my killings by healing people. Otherwise, I'll go to Hell."

"You believe in Hell and Heaven then? When we talked before, you weren't sure."

"I believe now."

"What changed your mind?"

"Do you remember how my mom left Toronto on a whim and came to visit me in the cadet camp? If it hadn't been for that lucky whim, she never would have been able to save Cowboy's life. That's not the only bit of luck that helped Cowboy survive the knife attack. You know how I caught a reflection off Cowboy's badge and that led me to where he was dying. That reflection could not have happened if he were lying on the ground where he was and I was searching where I was. Somehow, I saw a flash that never could have happened. That's why I believe in Heaven. I also believe that Cowboy will go to Heaven when he dies. Something made sure he wouldn't die too soon. Twice."

"And you?"

"If there's a Heaven, that means that there's a Hell too. Cowboy's miraculous rescue was a message to me. A warning. I'll be going to Hell if I don't make up for all the men I murdered."

"Those men deserved it. You saved the lives of other women who would have been victimized"

"I enjoyed it too much. I took pride in eliminating rapists from the world. Yolanda, I've been warned. I know I have. I have to save lives. But I'm not smart enough to be a doctor. I almost failed my first year courses. I'll never get into medical school."

"There could be other options."

"Cowboy and I talked of one. But I can't be anywhere near killings and deaths. I'm sure of that."

"That's OK, Bean. Stu will defend you and some of our family will help Stu. He needs to talk with you first and then, once he knows what you know, we won't involve you in any way. I doubt that there'll be any killing. There'd be no earthly reason for it."

_[My readers might want to make a note of Yolanda's last sentence.]_

### # # # # # # # #

Stu couldn't meet with the family until Friday afternoon. They met in a spiffy looking board room on the fifth floor of a professional building in North York. "I'm renting an office and getting access to this board room as well as to the firm's legal library and document copying services," Stu explained. "Plus, it's close to the law courts and police headquarters."

"Do you think that you'll need all of this, Stu?"

"Yeah. This trial will be tricky," Stu revealed.

That wasn't encouraging.

Introductions followed with Yolanda making sure that Bean knew everybody. _Everybody_ meant Hank, Yolanda, Dreamer, Momaka, Winnie, Marie, and Reese. Yolanda had invited Reese because he knew Annika already and his friendship with her might lead to a possible witness who could support Bean and Cowboy's defense. Reese had wanted to visit the Lee family as soon as he had heard that Annika lived in Toronto, but Yolanda had prevented that. "Only if the planning group approves it," she had warned him.

Stu began the meeting by describing what he had done so far. His meeting with Cowboy had been perfunctory. Stu told him that he was there to help him with a legal defense. Cowboy didn't know why he had been accused and couldn't explain how the police had found evidence that suggested that he was a two-time murderer.

Stu's meeting with Lieutenant Baker had also been short. He learned that Cowboy would not be released from incarceration because he was a flight risk and because Cowboy was facing two charges of murder. Stu asked for access to all the evidence against him, which Baker approved. Waiting for that had taken several hours. Stu had studied the evidence that night and again this morning and had formed a number of conclusions.

"This case will be difficult to win because police have found circumstantial evidence that Cowboy shot and killed Carlos Escondido and Harry Morgan. They both died from bullets that came from one of Cowboy's guns. His other gun was found underneath the Morgan's body. That gun had Bean's fingerprints on it, which is why she was initially arrested. Plus, Cowboy was linked to both victims when they were alive. He visited the teenager and warned him about harassing Annika. His link to Morgan is physical – he's Cowboy's next door neighbour."

"Flimsy evidence, isn't it, Stu?"

"Yes, Yolanda. But it was sufficient to arrest and jail him. What I've told you are the key things we need to remember. Other new evidence could be important as the prosecutor develops his case. I've made copies for all of you of every piece of evidence that they had as of last night. Read through your copy and speak up if you see something that doesn't seem right."

...

"I don't see a motive here." Hank was the first to respond because as an ex RCMP officer he knew that means, opportunity and motive were vital to a prosecutor's case. He had scanned the copies looking for motive.

...

"Means and opportunity are present." Hank again. "He had the gun and knew where both lived."

...

"His fingerprints aren't on the gun that killed the men. Doesn't that weaken their case, Stu?"

"Yes it does, Yolanda. But they'll just claim that Cowboy wiped the gun clean after using it. Crooks do that all the time. Having the weapon is considered more important evidence linking the accused to the murders. Two different murders committed with the same weapon will be sufficient to overcome the absence of motive and fingerprints."

"But he didn't do it. He's not like that," Bean blurted out.

"The evidence introduced in court will say that he did. Keep reading, folks. We're looking for anything that can prove Cowboy couldn't have murdered the victims."

### # # # # # # # #

"Cowboy was not in Toronto for the second murder," Marie pointed out.

"He was only an hour's copter ride away from Toronto," Stu poked a giant hole in that defense.

...

"Was he out of town when the first murder was committed?"

"They haven't determined that yet. That would be very important to know."

...

"That little bitch!"

Everybody looked at Bean who had been the person to introduce the topic of female dogs into the conversation. _[Narrator: I have to be careful of the language I use when I write these stories because of our dedicated censors and how effectively they curtail freedom of speech. Way to go, guys! Keep up the good work.]_

So far, Bean hadn't realized that everybody was looking at her. She was busy flipping pages.

"Bean?" Yolanda ventured into the silence.

"I know who murdered those two people."

"Who?" Stu asked.

"I can't believe she's that evil."

"Who?" Stu repeated.

"Annika," Bean replied.

### # # # # # # # #

I'm sure my readers are not surprised by Bean's revelation. You've been privy to a great deal of information about Annika – some of which the Wilizy have yet to discover. So, I'm going to skip Bean's detailed explanation and just touch the high points of what she told the Wilizy to refresh your memories.

She talked about: Annika's crush on Cowboy; her request that Cowboy give her lessons on shooting; how those lessons turned into _dates_ , at least in Annika's mind. Plus, she related how those lessons became increasingly intimate and inappropriate. Asking Cowboy to measure her rib cage expansion is one example. Bean had discovered what Annika was doing and warned Cowboy who had been completely unaware of Annika's emotional attraction. Bean told them that she had given Annika the last shooting lesson, one which Annika had hoped would involve the two of them lying on a sleeping bag together. On the way home, Bean had informed Annika in no uncertain terms that Cowboy was not available to her as a boyfriend.

"So you used one of Cowboys handguns at the range and that's why your fingerprints are on it. What did you do with the gun when you got home?" Stu was now into his cross examination of the witness mode.

"I put it back into our little hidey-hole."

"In Cowboy's apartment."

"Yes."

"Did you use it again?"

"No."

"Would Cowboy have used it?"

"Obviously he didn't. That would have smudged my fingerprints and the constabulary's lab report said that my fingerprints were clear."

"How did the gun get from your hidey hole into that grave?"

"Cowboy told me that he gave Mrs. Lee a key to his apartment whenever he was out of town in case somebody needed to get in. Or, if I lost mine."

"So, Annika had access to that gun."

"Yes, and she had access to Cowboy's other handgun too."

"Are you claiming that Annika killed Mr. Morgan?"

"Yes, that's what I am claiming. She didn't use the gun with my fingerprints to do that; she used Cowboy's gun. She had access to it and that's why the forensic tests on Cowboy's gun proved it was the murder weapon. She would have wiped that gun clean after murdering Mr. Morgan."

"That suggests that she was trying to incriminate Cowboy."

"No, she was infatuated with him. She was trying to get me out of the way."

"Explain."

"In Tubb's interview with Mrs. Lee, he never mentions anything about Annika until the end. It was at that point that Annika inserted herself into the conversation to say how I was a very good shooter and I was in the habit of shooting people in the foreheads. That's exactly how those victims were killed. She pointed Tubb directly at me. You'll notice that he stopped the interview immediately afterwards."

"Why would she have killed Morgan?"

"I have no idea. Perhaps to get me out of the way. I had been rough with her when I was warning her off. She may have been getting revenge on me for doing that."

"And the murder of the teenager who had been harassing her?"

"A practice run? She didn't use the gun with my fingerprints because that would have destroyed the evidence she wanted the police to find. She used Cowboy's gun and then wiped it clean and put it back in the hidey hole."

"But that would implicate Cowboy."

"She probably didn't know that. I never told her that each gun produces its own unique bullet; I doubt that Cowboy did either. We had no reason to. She thought that because the guns were identical on the outside, they'd be identical inside the barrel too."

"Nobody will believe that a young girl committed two murders because she had a crush on a man."

"But it does explain the evidence that the police found, doesn't it Stu?" Yolanda _barreled_ in with a comment.

"Yes, it does. It fills every hole except for why she would murder Morgan."

"Perhaps, he was an innocent victim. She had an opportunity to get rid of me and she took it. He was handy."

### # # # # # # # #

The first part of the meeting broke up soon afterwards with Stu warning everybody that knowing the truth and proving it were two different things. Yolanda walked Bean home to Cowboy's apartment, which was no longer a crime scene. Their discussion on the way was mostly about how Cowboy could never have committed those murders and how evil Annika was.

The topic of Annika's evil nature was the first topic of conversation in the Wilizy family meeting that began immediately after Bean's departure. Reese had been unable to say anything to counter Bean's accusations about Annika since his ability to see her nature through her coloured aura was a deep dark Wilizy secret. Now, with Bean out of the meeting, he went on at some length about how Annika could never have acted that way. He had seen Annika's colours when she and he had been friends; her colours said that she was incapable of murder. Yes, he hadn't seen Annika for three years, but she could not have changed into a murderer in such a short time. This was impossible.

Stu ended the meeting with some research assignments: Reese and Winnie would find Annika and Reese would read her colours without revealing himself to her. After that, the two of them would look at the murder scenes in Toronto Park.

Winnie stepped in at that point and said it would be better if Bean went to Toronto Park with her. Bean's military training gave her crime scene examination skills that nobody else had.

Stu agreed that this would be better and that Reese didn't need a partner to read Annika's colours. Plus, Winnie would be able to keep Bean away from Cowboy's apartment while Momaka and Dreamer set up TiTr drones that covered the interior of Cowboy's apartment and the hallway outside. Momaka and Dreamer would examine the videos coming out of those drones and report back to the group. If Annika had planned those murders, they'd find visible records of her in Cowboy's apartment.

Hank and Yolanda were to prepare a history on Harry Morgan using TiTr drones as necessary. The Wilizy needed to know if he were an innocent bystander or if he had been murdered for a reason.

Stu would start researching Ontario's laws on whether motive had to be proved in murder cases.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 5

William, Wolf and TG were taking air quality tests over the Arctic Ocean when all three suddenly put their hands to their heads. Whatever was bothering them lasted ten seconds.

"What was that?" Wolf asked.

"A warning signal that our communications network has just failed," William answered. "Could be an attack. TG, try and reach Granny in Australia. Wolf, message somebody in Montana. I'll do Toronto."

...

"Granny says nothing unusual is happening there."

"I can't make contact with Toronto."

"No contact with Montana."

"Ask Granny to try and reach Toronto and Montana."

....

"Nobody answers."

"We gotta get back to the lab. As quickly as possible."

....

"Granny says that media are reporting a large solar flare. Communications are messed up in North America; no problems in Europe and Asia."

"Can we slow down?"

"No. We'll need to reassure people and I need to test some equipment."

### # # # # # # # #

"Did you feel that tingle?" Winnie asked Bean. They were in Toronto Park and they'd have about a short walk to the Morgan crime scene after they passed a steep cliff.

"I didn't feel anything."

"I felt it in my head. It was definitely weird."

"As weird as that smell?"

Both put their noses into the air and sniffed.

"Smells nasty," Bean said.

"Yuh."

With their faces looking up, both had about a two second warning, which wasn't nearly enough time. Something big and heavy came hurtling off the top of the cliff and landed squarely on Winnie knocking her to the ground. The something leapt up and stomped on Winnie's head with both feet, crushing her skull. The creature turned his head to see Bean's knife slashing at its eyes. The beast lowered his head and Bean's knife skittered off what passed as its skin. Five seconds later, it threw Bean's struggling body full force against the cliff face. That may have been what killed her. If not, another two foot stomp crushed her chest and ensured she wouldn't be telling anybody what she had seen.

A quick check of the murderer's surroundings followed to determine if he had time to hide any evidence of the two deaths. Nobody was approaching so the beast picked up Winnie's body with one big hand and held it tight against its own body. It saw some small bone fragments on the ground. A few foot scrapes later, Winnie's murder site was covered with leaves and other debris from the forest. Bean's body ended up under the other arm. The ground at the base of the cliff had some blood that the beast urinated away. Then, carrying the two corpses effortlessly, it bounded up the craggy hillside and disappeared over a tree covered ridge.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 6

By the time that William arrived in Montana and had turned off his warning alarms, most of the Wilizy had learned of the solar flare that had swept across North America. Solar flares are sudden flashes of increased sun brightness. They are accompanied with a release of energy and radiation. Solar flares can affect Earth's upper atmosphere and can disrupt long range communications. The Wilizy were the only people on the Earth who were using long range communications, so nobody else paid any attention to the flare. It didn't affect them.

It did affect the Wilizy because the radiation from the flare burned out their network of satellite drones that served as repeater stations. Normal communications for all citizens continued unaffected. People in Toronto, for example, could communicate with other people in Toronto and the surrounding territory. Toronto Wilizy could communicate via messages and traditional messages with other Toronto-based Wilizy. They could not communicate with the family in Montana.

In the first twenty-four hours after the flares hit that Saturday, William focused on reassuring the Wilizy that he would be able to restore his world-wide network of communication satellites. While he was reassuring people, Wolf and TG were sailing the submarine out of its atmospheric orbit and placing it high above Montana. William installed a primitive repeater station on the sub, and with its very high altitude, he was able to bounce communications signals throughout North America by Sunday. This would be a temporary measure. It would take much longer to replace the satellites, in part because William wanted to use that opportunity to upgrade them. In the meantime, the Wilizy would scarcely notice that their communications had been destroyed. After the second day, only the GPS locator system in their brain plug was not working. The GPS system locator required the full set of communication satellites to function.

Given the turmoil resulting from the solar flare, it's not surprising that Winnie and Bean's disappearance went unnoticed. Yolanda had asked Winnie to try and develop a friendship with Bean. She had assumed that both of the girls had done their research in the park and had then returned to Bean's apartment for a sleepover. Nobody checked. Nobody had any reason to.

### # # # # # # # #

Winnie woke up, if _waking up_ is the right term, to find herself in an extraordinarily long queue. She didn't remember how she had died. She did know that she was dead. That's because some metallic voice was beaming that message into her brain, if in fact she had a brain.

"Welcome to the line-up to the Afterlife Sorting Station," a metallic voice said. "If you are not sure how you got here, that's because you are dead. Don't be disturbed if you have no memory of that. Few souls do."

Winnie picked up on the use of the word _soul_ and looked down. She saw no feet, no legs, and no hands. No clothes even. All she could see was a shimmering silvery light around herself. She didn't know what the shimmer was made of. She did see that she was on a conveyor belt – the kind that used to be found in ancient airports. People would stand on it and the conveyor belt could transport them from one end of the airport to the other end. This particular conveyor belt was black and immobile.

Winnie turned around. Her view was blocked by a shimmering of something that must have been another soul. She couldn't see a thing behind that soul. Whatever body that soul had, it was taller than Winnie's. Another bigger soul blocked her view forward as well. Winnie had gone through life with a small body. Even after death, she was shorter than everybody else. It's hard to know what she felt about that. Afterlife was proving to be very confusing. She should have been annoyed at her shortness because Winnie was always annoyed at that. Now, she didn't feel anything.

There was a cranking noise and the conveyor belt crept ahead and then stopped. Another message began.

"Welcome to the line-up to the Afterlife Sorting Station. Please be patient. Our staff is working hard to process all souls as quickly as we can. Please stay in line. We estimate that you will enter the Afterlife Sorting Station's main terminal building in one hour and fifty-six minutes."

Greeting messages were repeated after every conveyor belt stutter step. Using the time that was remaining before she'd enter the main terminal, Winnie estimated that she would hear that tinny voice twenty-three more times. That voice was going to become very irritating very soon. At least that meant that she could have an emotion. Then, since she had been able to estimate her remaining time on the belt, she concluded that souls had a brain to go along with emotions.

### # # # # # # # #

Bean still had a brain too. As well as emotions. Bean's emotions were running in high gear right now because she was receiving the same messages as Winnie. She had understood the implications of the words _sorting station_. The souls in the line were going to get sorted. Some would go somewhere; others would go somewhere else. Bean hadn't been able to save any lives with her limited medical skills. She knew where she would be going. Far off in the distance she could see a building of some kind. Probably the main terminal. Bean was able to see ahead because her soul was very tall. It was probably skinny too.

Bean wondered where Winnie was. She had to be in closer to the building because she had died first. Bean remembered seeing the thing that had killed Winnie.

### # # # # # # # #

"Welcome to the Afterlife Sorting Station's main terminal. We appreciate your patience. Our staff is working as quickly as possible to process your entrance to the afterlife. It is here, in this building, where your life on Earth will be judged. All assessments of mortal lives will be conducted in an impartial and objective manner. The basis of assessment that we use is the HEE, which is short for the Heavenly Entrance Exam. If you reach the minimum score necessary to pass that assessment, you will be welcomed in Heaven. Other candidates will go to Hell."

...

The line in the main terminal building snaked forward a little more. Soon it would go around one pylon and snake forward in the opposite direction. Then another pylon would put the line into a different direction. Thick braided ropes connected the pylons to deter souls from changing lines. Hovering over the line were security personnel in white feathers and wings. One soul tried to sneak under a braided rope and bolt through one of the exits. An angel caught him easily, raised him into the air, and deposited him back into line.

_[Angelic Narrator: I am using the male pronoun because souls do not have an identifiable gender marker like sexual body parts. Their gender, so to speak, is the same gender as they were when they were mortal. This allows Hell to create gender specific torture pits such as the "tea party torture pit" where male souls are required to pretend to sip tea and eat finger sandwiches daintily. This may not seem much like torture but I'm told that the tea is battery acid and the finger sandwiches are their own fingers that are still attached. That changes the dynamic of the pit somewhat. Female souls meanwhile have to face the "escape maze torture pit" where they are expected to navigate safely through a maze of burning farts and blazing belches without once being able to ask for directions. Back we go now to the main terminal building where a tinny voice is explaining how souls are going to be assessed in the Sorting Station.]_

...

"The HEE uses information on how you have lived your life while on Earth. Since Heaven knows all the good things that you have done in your life, as well as all the bad things, your assessment will be fair. In the event of a score that is just below the minimum required, a small tribunal representing both afterlives will examine your life in more detail and will make a ruling. Their decision is final."

...

"At this point in the line, you are ten minutes away from reaching one of our PEAs which is short for Personnel Evaluation Analysts. We appreciate that you may be stressed, but please do not abuse these personnel. They are following the rules that govern the afterlife. Souls who abuse our staff will be taken to the back of the queue where once again you will have to use the Soul Conveyer Belt (SCB) to advance to the main terminal. Your abuse will be added to your HEE results and that may affect what the PEA will tell you."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 7

Winnie was facing an angel standing behind a plywood counter that stretched the entire length of the terminal building. PEAs were positioned at a counter every five feet, which didn't afford much privacy for those souls who were going to receive bad news. The noise in the terminal building was not deafening, but it was constant. Some souls raised their voices _[Yes, electronic bodies can have voices]_ in anger or fear when they heard the news. Some had to be pulled out of line bodily by devils who used a pitchfork to impale them and then carry them to the sewer grate awaiting them. _[More about that later.]_

The first sight of an angel up close can be intimidating. Angels range in height from eight feet to ten feet tall. They have a human head and face, human arms and hands, and human legs. All are covered in feathers of course. The wings are very bird-like. At rest, they are tucked in tightly to the body. When extended, an angel's wingspan is about eight feet wide. Although these could not be seen by the waiting souls, angels have bird like talons that can be contracted into a tight human looking foot. When necessary, they can extend the talons into claws that can pick up and transport fleeing souls, for example.

The angelic physique is similar for both male and female angels. Broad shoulders and strong chest muscles are a given since they do fly every day. There's not much to differentiate between male and female angels because they do not have the traditional human reproductive organs. _[At one point, female angels were referred to as angelettes, but that practice died out after feminist souls started to arrive in Heaven. Interestingly, Hell still refers to its female devils as devilettes. Hell refers to its female devils in a disparaging manner to remind them that they aren't as evil as real devils. You're not surprised by that, are you?]_

All PEAs had a computer terminal in front of them, which they referred to before talking to the soul and revealing the verdict. Winnie's PEA looked at her screen and started to talk. She had a real voice that Winnie could hear. Souls had ears. Who knew?

"I regret to inform you that our assessment of your life did not meet the minimum requirement for you to enter Heaven. Please turn left and walk to the sewer grate at the end of this counter. You'll be transported to Hell where they will give you an orientation session."

"What?" Winnie reacted with some heat. "I've never done anything really wrong in my entire life. Why are you sending me to Hell?"

"You spent your entire adult life preying on elderly gentlemen and luring them into marriage. You stole all their wealth and prevented the rightful heirs from receiving their inheritance. You spent your last husband's wealth on plastic surgery. People who knew you well called you a despicable person."

"I never did any of those things."

"Mrs. Wiltz, lying will not do you any good here. If you do not willingly move to the sewer grate, I will be forced to ask a devil to pitchfork you down to Hell personally."

"I am not Mrs. Wiltz. I am too young to be married. I was twelve years old when I died."

"Your name is Winnifrew Wiltz and you were eighty years old when you died from too much booze and drugs."

"My name is Winnie Wiltz. My aboriginal name is [indecipherable]. I was born May 7, 2076."

"I need a supervisor," the PEA called out.

...

An angel with a halo took over the position at the counter in front of a simmering, shimmering Winnie. She spent some time clicking on some keys, examining the screen and peering at the audacious soul in front of her.

"Translate your aboriginal name into English," she said coldly.

"Little Gem, cause I'm little."

"I see that."

"My mother's name is Yolanda, my father's name is Hank. I have a whole lot of brothers and sisters. Ask me anything."

Click, click, click.

"Why did you wrestle with an alligator?"

That story took some time. During Winnie's narration, an angel came up to the station, whispered _solar flare_ to the halo'ed angel, and then slipped away. "I need a truth ray," the supervising angel said to nobody in particular. A bright light tracked across the floor towards Winnie and illuminated her.

"You can try to lie, but the truth ray will know. Have you ever read a pornographic bot?"

"Yes. Lots of them. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. Some people would be embarrassed to admit it."

"It's only sex."

"Have you had sex?"

"No, I'm only twelve years old. Like I said."

"Have you ever killed a human?"

"Not personally. But I've been involved in trials where people were found guilty and were sentenced to death."

"How were you involved?"

"I kept records of the trial."

"A man named Franklin died in an underground prison. You did more than keep records of his trial. How did you contribute to his conviction and ultimately to his death?"

"That's a secret that I can't tell anybody." _[Winnie had used her ability to read minds to tell the court whenever Franklin Franklin was lying.]_

"Your secret will be safe in Heaven."

"Aren't you the people who brought a twelve year old girl into this sorting station? Don't you have a rule against taking children before their time to die? Isn't that why the other angel called for a supervisor?"

"Truth ray, off! Winnie Wiltz, your entrance into Heaven is denied. Come with me."

### # # # # # # # #

At the far end of the Sorting Station's main terminal, another candidate was the target of an enthusiastic welcome. Sort of. The soul of Beneditka Ekelund had arrived at the front of the queue and was facing her own PEA who was taking a long time to finish reading her HEE. A briefcase-toting human-looking man dressed in a black suit, a black shirt, and a red tie approached the angel from the staff side of the counter and interrupted her review of the file. She looked up and frowned.

"We'll take her," he announced.

"I'm still working on the HEE."

"She's one of ours," the words emerged from his human mouth but they were covered in metaphoric oil. Slimy.

"I need to finish the appraisal of this file," the PEA countered. "There are complications. Step back."

"Ours," the man emphasized, but he did step back.

### # # # # # # # #

The halo'ed angel took Winnie to the very back of the building where she could talk with her privately. "My name is Amy Louisa. I wondered if you would be able to read faces in Heaven. You're right about the rule about children in Heaven. Did you learn that from the PEA's face? Can you read my face too?"

"I couldn't read the other angel's face and I can't read yours. It was obvious."

"How so?"

"Your queue snakes back and forth. I could see all the souls in the lines. Out of hundreds and hundreds of souls, I saw nobody my size. There should have been other children souls. That means that I'm here by accident. What happens now? Can I go back home?"

"No. You're dead, Winnie. A solar flare fried some electrons and you ended here because your SIN was off by a single digit."

"I had sins?"

"No, you had a Soul Identification Number that was off by a single digit. Your SIN told us that you were a Winnifrew Wiltz."

"Why can't I go home?"

"You were murdered. That's very hard to undo, even for Heaven. We'll give you a guest pass here in Heaven while we try and sort things out. You'll probably go back to Earth to be born to some other parents. You won't remember any of this."

"Why can't I go back to my real family?"

"Because they'll know that you're dead soon. How can you appear in front of them alive after they've learned that you're dead?"

"What will happen to my murderer?"

A smallish angel approached. "They're calling for a supervisor on the line."

"Winnie, this is Arthur. He's going to help you move around Heaven while we sort this out. You'll receive an angel's body similar to Arthur's."

"You mean you're giving me a small body. Why do I have to be small?"

"Angel bodies are big and cumbersome. You don't have the strength to control that kind of body and since we fly everywhere, that would be a safety concern for you and the angels you collide with."

"I thought children aren't allowed in Heaven. How come he's here?"

"Arthur is an apprentice angel. He's not as young as you believe he is. Have a good temporary afterlife, Winnie."

### # # # # # # # #

Back we go to the Main Terminal and a confrontation that is intensifying at one of the PEA stations. Amy Louisa is striding to the counter.

_[Narrator: Yes, angels do fly almost everywhere, but they are constrained from flying in crowded locations, or in locations where the breeze from their flapping wings might disrupt orderly business, for example by blowing loose paper off of desks. There is an actual halocratic rule prohibiting such flights and building supervisors are authorized to remind careless angels that they are being inconsiderate of other working angels if they fly inside congested areas. That's generally all that's needed. Naturally, all angels are rule-abiding creatures. They wouldn't be angels otherwise.]_

"Why are you here, Blbbr?"

"This soul is ours. I'm here to collect her. What are you doing here? This isn't a public relations issue."

"We had lots of deaths last night on Earth. We have all of our assessment stations open but still can't process this many souls. I was asked to lend a wing. What are the results of the HEE, Angela?"

_[Allow me to interrupt here. Consider me as your Angelic Narrator: Your Earth-based narrator is Liset. She's still on Earth. I'll take her place for the time being. You probably won't be surprised to hear that Heaven has many angels named Angela. They use numbers to differentiate one from the other. The numbers aren't normally used in informal conversation. This particular Angela was officially known as Angela2315]._

"I calculate the HEE score as 47.9%."

"Then she's ours," the devil purred. "I'll walk her to the sewer grate, shall I?"

_[Angelic Narrator: There actually is a sewer grate in the Sorting Station's Main Terminal building and souls stand on it prior to transport to Hell. Heaven and Hell exist in locations and dimensions that are very distant from each other. The grate doesn't open up into what humans would consider a sewer system, although Hell itself does have many similarities to a sewer. In this case, the sewer grate actually covered a high-pressure vacuum tube that whisked souls directly from the Sorting Station to their first torture pit]._

"Not so fast. Let me recheck the HEE."

All of the discussion wasn't doing much good to Bean's emotional state of mind. She had been ordered to step back when Blbbr came to the counter, so she couldn't hear the debate. But she did have a very good idea what entity Blbbr represented.

_[Angelic Narrator: Hell's naming protocol for its devils and demons stipulated that no vowel could be used. The reason for this ban has been lost in time. It's possible that it stemmed from a Heavenly practical joke. If you ban all vowels, then Hell's minions end up with names like Pftt, Bshssh, or Plfff. There's a high risk of saliva spray with such names. At least this way demons and devils did get a regular bath. Who says that afterlife rivalry can't be fun.]?_

"Blbbr, I've reviewed the HEE results. Angela's calculations were based on data that were accurate as of two days ago, Earth time. I've reloaded the data so that we have included everything up to her death. The new data include a decision to enter a medical program that would give her the training to save people lives. Furthermore, in the seconds before her death, Ms. Ekelund tried to save a friend from being killed. She could have just as easily run away and avoided her own death. Both of those decisions have high worth values. Item #36 now becomes an eight, and let's see, item #41 becomes a ten. That gives her a HEE total of 50.1. She's not yours; she's ours."

"She murdered many people. Those people didn't have the chance to change their potential HEE scores to positives because when she executed them, she denied them a chance to turn their lives around. The sins that her victims had on their death should be applied to her. That would turn her HEE into something in the 30s. She's ours."

"I am aware of the kind of people that Ms. Ekelund removed from mortal life. These were very sinful people. Because of that, I'm giving her a bonus award on item #62 – _Helping the world as a whole_. She made the world a much better place by removing them. That award will give her a 62.4 result on the HEE. That's well outside the range that Hell can dispute. She's ours. Don't slip on your tears on the way out, Blbbr."

### # # # # # # # #

With the line of souls in the Main Terminal gradually dissipating, Amy Louisa was now relaxing atop the rafters in the terminal. She was sitting next to another angel, name, gender, and position withheld for now.

"Winnie gave you a bit of a run. She's feisty isn't she?"

"I wanted to see how she would react to stress. Plus whether she could read my mind."

"Apparently, she can't."

"Not when she's in a soul's entity. We'll find out soon enough if her skills are transferred with her into an angel's body. Arthur will set that up."

"I'm getting the bean pole, right?"

"Yeah. Don't hit her with book learning. She can't handle that. She learns by doing."

"How much time do I have?"

"Within the hour, Winnie's brother Reese is going to tell Yolanda that Winnie isn't answering his calls. That will cause a family emergency that they'll never forget."

"No going back for us. I'll need at least a week, two if possible."

"I'll try and stall."

### # # # # # # # #

_Mom, Winnie's not answering my calls. I looked in Bean's apartment. She's not there. Neither is Bean._

_I'll ask William to bounce a message off the sub. They might have gone to Montana._

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 8

_DON'T DO ANYTHING UNTIL I'M IN TORONTO WITH YOU!_

William's system-wide message via the sub-link certainly got the attention he wanted. Reese's message to Yolanda had resulted in a group search through all of the possible locations Winnie and Bean might be in Toronto. They had found nothing. Yolanda went ballistic in an unhealthy way and that prompted Hank to call for help from all Wilizy who could make their way to Toronto. His message suggested only that Bean and Winnie had gone missing but he held the news about Yolanda back. Hank carried Yolanda into a cabin in the Wilizy/America and tucked her in. Doc was on his way while Momaka put her needles to work.

By Sunday evening, all available Wilizy had flown into the Toronto skies. Hank designated the Wilizy/America as the command center. All senior Wilizy would stay there where they could communicate more easily with each other. The Wilizy/Europe, the bigger sailing ship, was relocated from over the former Professor Richardson's lab to Toronto. For safety reasons, it was moored miles away from the command center and at a different altitude. They weren't absolutely sure that they weren't under attack.

It's easier for me to tell you who wasn't in Toronto. Mac offered to stay in Montana and take care of all the kiddies. For the time being, Bean's mother and father would not be told of Bean's disappearance. If that had to happen, somebody would copter them to Toronto and they'd be put up some place that wasn't flying invisibly in the skies. Cowboy remained in his jail cell. He too would be kept in ignorance until they had something to tell him. Stu would handle that. Everybody else was over Toronto and that included the Australian contingent and the wolves.

### # # # # # # # #

The Wilizy's most immediate concern was for Yolanda who was now in a deep sleep and could not be roused. Hank provided the necessary background to the group.

"Yolanda has always worried that Winnie would be taken from her; it was a miracle that Winnie survived her premature birth. That's why she was so intent on keeping Winnie from danger. Now, her worst fears have been realized. She told me before she collapsed that Winnie was dead. So was Bean."

"Mom has psychic powers," Yollie reminded everybody.

"We'll treat that as a real possibility," Jock assured the small group meeting outside Yolanda's cabin. Hank had asked Jock to take charge of the overall operation. He himself would be with his wife. As would Melissa, who once had been gravely ill but Yolanda had nursed her back to health. There was no way that Melissa could be kept away from Yolanda's bedside. Nor could Yollie or Momaka. Nor could Granny or Doc.

"We'll take shifts," Doc suggested. "Twenty-four hour coverage, but we can't have too many people in the cabin at a time. Don't count on any of us for search or rescue, Jock."

"We'll want to know what's going on though," Melissa added.

"I'll keep you informed," Jock assured.

### # # # # # # # #

"Before we think of the worst, we need to proceed in a calm and orderly manner." Jock was trying to settle everybody down. Everybody now knew about Yolanda's condition and her prediction. It was 9 pm Sunday.

"When was the last time that anybody saw them?" Wolf asked.

"We know that Winnie and Bean were on their way to look at two crime scenes in Toronto Park Saturday morning," Stu replied. "One was where the Escondido kid had been buried and the other was where Cowboy's neighbour had been murdered. A man named Morgan."

"So, we'll use their trip to Toronto Park as a starting point and a team of us can go back in time. We'll follow them in real time, at a distance, and invisibly. Or, we can set up TiTr'd drones in Toronto park and use them to see where they went. This shouldn't be too hard." Lucas had thought of the obvious solution and already had an organizational plan in his head.

"No, we can't," William interjected before Lucas could go any further. "We could make things worse."

Well, that got everybody's attention. What could be worse than Yolanda unconscious and Bean and Winnie missing and possibly dead?

"You better explain, William. Walk us through it in small steps." William had already briefed Jock who had just spoken and was adamant that they would face serious danger if they weren't careful.

"The Scandinavian threat is gone. The Safe Haven threat is gone. We are not conducting any operations against any group, nor are we even contemplating any such operations. Do we agree that the Wilizy is under no threat whatsoever right now? Hands please."

Everybody agreed.

William continued. "So, we can feel confident that no person or group has attacked Winnie or Bean in an ambush, for example. Even if they had, Winnie had her sling power and Bean was always carrying weapons. But nobody had reason to attack them. Do we agree that Winnie and Bean did not disappear because of foul play? Hands please."

You can see William's scientific mind at work here. So could the Wilizy. They didn't see any holes in his logic.

"That means that their disappearance was due to something other than human interference. The cause is obvious. Anybody?"

Nobody responded immediately. Then Mathias spoke. "Environmental."

"Exactly. I know that on Saturday morning, the consequences of a solar flare hit North America. I had software that recorded the exact time that our satellite system went down. The radiation from that solar flare hit Toronto at 10:12 Saturday morning. At that time, Winnie and Bean were probably in Toronto Park. I remind you that the solar flare destroyed our entire high altitude communications network. The circuits were fried beyond repair. If Winnie were using her sling at that same time..."

"The sling would be destroyed?" Dreamer asked.

"Perhaps. I don't know. We don't know what impact a high surge of radiation would have on our slings. They have no protection of any kind built into them. I have no way of replicating a solar flare to test it on our slings."

"Why would she be using her sling?" Nary asked. "Bean would have been walking."

Dreamer provided the answer. "Yolanda was hopeful that Bean would join the Wilizy. She already knew about our slings and our invisibility. She asked Winnie to work with Bean hoping that they would become friends. Winnie could have offered to show Bean what flying in a sling would be like."

...

"If they had been flying together in Winnie's sling and if it became inactive, they'd crash, right?" EmmaGee had the question. I (Liset, your narrator) was sitting right next to EmmaGee who was going to burst into tears if William said _Yes._

"Yes," William said.

I couldn't help myself. I joined EmmaGee in the waterworks. We had always assumed that nothing bad could ever happen to the Wilizy.

"But that doesn't mean they're dead, right?" Marie was very close to Winnie. She was looking gray when she asked the question. From what I could see through my tears anyway.

"No, their fall could have been cushioned and they could be only injured. The damage to the sling could have knocked out their communications. The built in alarm system relies on GPS which we no longer have." William with the faint hope.

"So we're going conduct a search through the entire area starting in Toronto Park. You're not just looking for Winnie and Bean, you're looking for anything unusual."

"Like what, Jock." Theo with the question.

"Like a large number of dead birds on the ground," William answered for Jock.

"Dead birds?"

"I have no way of knowing how intense the radiation cloud flowing through Toronto's skies was. If all it did was destroy our electronic slings, we'll find Bean and Winnie somewhere on the ground or in the trees. If we find dead birds, we'll look to see if radiation killed them. If so, we need to be prepared to provide radiation treatment when we find Winnie and Bean."

"I have broken you into teams and given you search grids to follow," Jock instructed. "Remember that you are looking for anything unusual at all. It's nighttime so we'll look for heat signatures in the park to begin with. When it's light, resume working through your search grid on foot."

"One more thing," William added. "This is as good a time as any to warn everybody." He waited for all eyes to be on him. "From now on, nobody and I mean nobody should be time travelling in North America on Saturday April 17, 2089. If the solar flare can destroy our slings, imagine what would happen to you if you were time travelling at the time that flare hit."

"You'd be dead from the fall, or lost in time where we'd never be able to find you." An unexpected non-scientific voice provided the answer. Stu's.

Back to the Table of Contents

#  Chapter 9

"Why are you so chubby and short? Aren't angels supposed to be big and muscular?"

Arthur didn't answer. He was already tired of being Winnie's host and the morning was not even half over yet. She had left Cranky City behind some time ago; Cantankerous City was on the horizon and approaching fast. Mind you, any young mortal would probably be in a bad mood if she knew that Heaven was going to toss her out and send her back to Earth to be part of a brand new family.

Monday morning had started politely enough. Arthur had picked Winnie up in her new angel body at her personal aerie and reminded her of Heaven's rules for flying. If she is descending, the angel below has the right of way. If she is ascending, the angel above her has the right of way. If she is approaching another angel at the same altitude, pass on the right. If she is overtaking another angel, then she should ascend and pass on the left. It was easy enough. She didn't need many flying lessons either.

Arthur offered to show her some of Heaven's sights – the canyons, the waterfalls, the mountains. She wasn't interested. "What's the point?" she asked. "I'm going to get kicked out anyway and I won't remember anything." This was back when she was in Sullen City.

So, Arthur gave her a tour of downtown Heaven with its huge heaven-scrapers.

"Big deal. You have buildings that are a thousand stories high. What happens when everybody leaves a building at the same time? Does Heaven ever experience road kill?"

"We have staggered arrival and departure times. Plus we have four landing and take off pads on every floor."

"Wow," she sarcasticated. "Do you ever have heaven-quakes that make the towers shake?"

"No. Heaven isn't located on a planet."

"Yawn," she said and then proceeded to yawn.

...

"What are all these buildings for?"

"The big one below is the Guardian Angel complex. Finance is to its right. Angelic Support Services is to that building's right."

"Yawn."

"Is there something that you'd like to do?"

"Go home to my family. Be a twelve year old kid again."

"We can't do that for you."

"You can build huge building in the middle of a bunch of clouds, but you can't send one kid back to where she was before you fouled up and died me."

I believe it's fair to say that Winnie had entered Cantakerous City.

"Why are you so chubby and short? Aren't angels supposed to be big and muscular?"

Silence. Arthur was in Sullen City, perhaps?

"Are you not exercising enough? I mean, aren't you supposed to be flying around a lot?"

"I fly around a lot."

"So then you must overeat."

"Angels don't eat."

"What do you do? Drink a bunch of shakes and smoothies?"

"We receive all of the energy we need from the sun."

"But food is delicious. You don't get to enjoy the tastes of food? Don't you have taste buds in your mouth?"

"Angels who are stationed on Earth can have their taste buds activated."

"Have you been stationed on Earth?"

"Not recently."

"Why not?"

"I kind of screwed up and got demoted."

"What did you do wrong?"

"I was a _Shoulder Angel Level 1_ and I thought that the rules were stupid, so I didn't follow them."

"What does a Shoulder Angel Level 1 do?"

"A shoulder angel sits on a mortal's shoulder and whispers in its ear. You can also rest in a mortal's hair, ear lobe.... anywhere close to the ear. A shoulder angel's job is to prevent mortals from doing what shoulder demons are trying to tempt them to do."

"Shoulder demons?"

"Yuh. Shoulder demons whisper in ears too. Bad things like _Punch that guy's face in. He insulted you."_

"And a shoulder angel would whisper back what?"

_"Walk away. Fighting is bad."_

"Who wins the argument?"

"Usually the shoulder demon."

"Duh. Of course he would with that advice. Bad people will listen to the demon."

"We lose but not because mortals are inherently bad; it's because angels are outnumbered."

"Outnumbered?"

"Angels are created from the souls of mortals who die and go to Heaven. Demons and devils are created from the souls of mortals who die and go Hell. These days, way more people go to Hell. That means that Hell gets way more demons and devils to influence mortal behaviour."

"In that crowd of souls I was in at the Sorting Station, how many ended up in Heaven?"

"Perhaps 20 percent. Out of that 20 percent, Heaven needs angels for running Heaven. We have to staff all of those buildings you didn't like. That doesn't leave many angels to go into the Guardian Angel Corps."

"Wouldn't the same thing apply to demons and devils?"

"No. Hell doesn't take care of their environment; they don't maintain their infrastructure; they don't provide health care. After they are promoted out of the torture pits, most demons are assigned into one of Hell's two basic industries. SINdustry, which is the promotion of sin on Earth, and Entertainment. Hell uses its torture pits for double duty – they use pits to torture the souls and to entertain devil spectators at the same time. With little need for devils to support their hornocracy, they can have way more field agents. When I was a shoulder angel, I had fifteen mortals in my caseload. Each of my mortals had a permanent shoulder demon encouraging them to sin. I was spreading myself out over all fifteen. Heaven can't win that kind of battle."

"So you were demoted."

"Yuh. Five times. They kept on sending me back to take the orientation about following rules and then putting me back into the Guardian Angel Corp as a shoulder angel."

"Orientation about following rules?"

"According to the angels that run the halocracy, rules are what separates us from being hellish. Heaven has thousands of rules. I'm not very good at following rules."

"Give me an example of not following a rule."

"I got a whole tavern of shoulder demons drunk on one assignment and they all ended up in big brawl. Some were demoted, some were sent back to a torture pit."

"Why'd you do that?"

"My mortal was suicidal. She couldn't deal with her shoulder demon who was particularly good at his job. So, I got the demon drunk, told him some lies about what other demons were saying about him, and he ended back in a torture pit. I thought that I'd be praised but I wasn't."

"You were demoted?"

"Yeah. We're not supposed to get demons drunk apparently."

"So now you're an apprentice angel. What's your job?"

"Any job that comes up that nobody else is willing to do."

"Like guiding me around."

"Yeah. I'm supposed to be learning a lesson."

"Are you the one who will push the button to send me back to Earth as a fertilized egg?"

"Probably. Nobody else will do it because it's not in their job description seeing as how no other mortal has ever been brought to Heaven by mistake."

"That's tough. As a angel, do I have a heart?"

"Yes."

"My heart bleeds for you."

...

"I'm chubby because I pig out on junk food."

"I thought angels didn't eat food."

"Not here in Heaven."

"But you eat junk food and you're here in Heaven."

"I sneak off to Earth and smuggle it back."

...

"I'm feeling hungry. What am I supposed to do? Go stand in some sunlight?"

"Want to share my junk food?"

"What took you so long to ask?"

### # # # # # # # #

It's still Monday morning, but let's look at what the Wilizy search and rescue team has been doing. The search for body heat signatures Sunday night had not been successful, which was in a way, a good thing. No near dead or dead bodies were found hanging in trees or buried in foliage. The physical search the next morning was equally unproductive. No dead birds. No signs of anything unusual in the park or surrounding areas. Jock gave the searchers time to grab a bite and take a short nap.

While the searchers were relaxing, William, Wolf and TG were installing time travel drones throughout the area between Bean's apartment and the murder scenes in Toronto Park. They returned to real time and started analyzing the video feeds from those drones.

They saw Bean leaving Cowboy's apartment at 9:30 am. She walked in a direct line to the closest entrance to Toronto Park where she met Winnie at 9:51. They stood and chatted for a bit. Winnie pointed her finger in one direction; Bean did the same but in a slightly different direction. They chose Bean's finger. They strolled through a wide path, apparently talking. (The drone was not equipped to pick up voices.) At 10:12 Saturday morning, the feed from all the drones in the area ceased abruptly.

The Wilizy men went back to work, this time traveling back in time to 10:25 am. Saturday morning. They plastered the area with drones starting with where the two Wilizy girls had been seen last. They returned to real time and started analysing the video field from those drones. Those drones would not have been affected by the solar flare because they weren't in place when that solar flare hit. Those drones should have shown where Winnie and Bean walked after the solar flare hit.

Jock re-assembled the searchers to report the results from the drones.

"The good news is that Bean and Winnie were walking just before the solar flare hit. They were not flying nor were they time travelling. They are not lying dead or injured on the ground somewhere because their sling malfunctioned."

A ragged cheer started which Jock stopped with a raised palm.

"We know that they were about three minutes away from reaching the Morgan murder scene. They would have passed a cliff face and then they would have followed a small animal trail to the burial site. They didn't arrive there. Nor did they appear anywhere else in that area. Those drones were not affected by the solar flare, but they show no sign of Winnie or Bean. We need an intense physical search of the area immediately west of the cliff face and from there to the murder scene. We can't have too many people in the area. We might destroy the evidence."

"Bring in the wolves," Nary said. "We'll use the panthers too. Liset and EmmaGee, you should come to manage the wolves."

### # # # # # # # #

The searchers reassembled two hours later. Theo reported.

"Winnie and Bean walked to the base of that cliff and their scent ends there. Contrary found a smell of urine at the base of the cliff. She knows it came from a large animal but couldn't identify it. The wolves said the same thing. All the mysticals found the trail of that large animal as it left the cliff area. It had no trouble getting up a nearby bluff and it kept going. We stopped following it after ten minutes. It was travelling fast but the mysticals found no scent of Winnie or Bean. Here's the problem about that animal. It's urine could have been deposited before Winnie and Bean reached the cliff, or afterwards. We found nothing tying the animal to their disappearance."

"So where did they go?" Momaka asked.

"We believe that they went invisible for some reason. Bean could have stepped into Winnie's sling and then flown off somewhere. That explains why our drones did not see them leaving."

"Give us the bad news part, Theo." Momaka again.

"We should have heard from them by now. Winnie's sling might have been initially usable, but damaged by the solar flare. At some point, it might have failed."

"We're back to where we were before," Yollie complained. "They're on the ground, injured or dead. We have no way of knowing how far they flew before the sling failed."

### # # # # # # # #

"Is my friend here in Heaven?" Winnie asked Arthur who was lying in his hammock in his aerie. Winnie was lying on some pillows that she had fastened into a makeshift bed. Empty junk food wrappers were scattered around them.

"Who's your friend?" Arthur asked dozily. He had feasted on three bags of potato chips and these always made him sleepy. Winnie had gone after the chocolate bars and at one point she was pushing them into her mouth with two hands. Winnie had just lost her whole family, so we'll ignore her chocolate binge just as Arthur was ignoring the chocolate smears in her face feathers. For her part, Winnie was ignoring the potato chip crumbles that covered Arthur's ample belly. He liked to eat lying down.

"My friend's name is Beneditka Ekelund and if she died, she would have been in the line up to the Sorting Station behind me. I didn't see her die but we were walking together through some woods when I died. Everybody calls her Bean. She was very worried about where she'd be sent after she died."

"I'll find out."

"Don't you worry about somebody finding all your junk food in your aerie? You don't have a lock on your door."

"I have a lock, you just can't see it. A sensor in my body unlocks the door when I approach. Nobody else can enter."

"You have break and enter crimes in Heaven?"

"No. We have to make sure that the doors are closed tight when Heaven's sanitation transports go by. They have powerful vacuums that suck up anything that's not tied down."

"Heaven gets dirty?"

"Mostly molting feathers; feather dandruff, that kind of thing. If you're not careful, feathers can get everywhere. Vacuum dumpsters go by on a regular schedule. Angels are encouraged to visit the Preen, Fluff and Snip outlets where a PFS angel will clip your feathers and vacuum your body. Some angels like to go through a wash cycle."

"I take it you don't go very often."

"Nah. How'd you know?"

"Some of your feathers have an orange tint."

"That's from the Cheesies."

"I'll give your aerie a little dusting to thank you for sharing your junk food with me."

Arthur gave a not-so-delicate snore in response.

Winnie couldn't find any cleaning supplies in Arthur's aerie. This didn't surprise her.

### # # # # # # # #

"Your friend is in Heaven," Arthur announced. "She was processed shortly after you were and she's been assigned to the facility that creates angel bodies."

"This big screen allows you to log into the Sorting Station database? Can every angel?"

"No. I was assigned to work there yesterday and so I have access to yesterday's entries. I'm registered in the computer as belonging to the Guardian Angel directorate, so those kinds of records are the only ones I can normally access."

"Could I visit her? Would she still remember me?"

"She's off work in half an hour and I can take you there. I don't know about her memory. Earthly memories usually disappear quickly."

### # # # # # # # #

Bean did remember Winnie and she invited her to come back to her aerie and have a visit. Bean's first day of work at the angel body production facilities had gone very well. She got to see the insides of an inanimate angel and even touch the organs. Tomorrow, she'd be shown the schematics of all of the bodily systems and a co-worker would explain how everything came together. The bodies didn't have blood in them yet, so Bean might even be allowed to put some of the systems together. She was finding it very interesting, especially because the anatomy course she had taken at the University of Toronto was still in her memories. "Angel bodies and human bodies have very similar organs and systems," she mentioned to Winnie who had wanted to sit right next to Bean on the love seat. "Angels don't have any sex organs though."

"So, they can't make any baby angels?"

"No. Angel bodies are built to accept souls. That's how they get animated. I don't know how that works, but you won't find any baby angels in Heaven."

Winnie told Bean about her day in general terms. She had a personal guide but hadn't been assigned to any job yet. Her guide was a sort of guardian angel. She didn't tell Bean that she'd be leaving Heaven soon and what that would mean. She figured that Bean would have forgotten her by the time Heaven found another family for her.

For her part, Bean didn't tell Winnie that she remembered how Winnie had died. This was not something Winnie needed to know. Her earthly memories would be gone soon anyway.

When their bodies' sleep cycle began to kick in, Bean offered to let Winnie stay in her aerie for the night. There was a spare hammock in her back room, which proved to be easy to set up. In the middle of the night, Bean awoke to find Winnie cuddled up beside her, weeping silently in her sleep. Bean turned, pulled her close, and that's the way they woke up.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 10

Five days after Lieutenant Baker had instructed Tubb to find out why Jackson would want to kill Escondido and Morgan, Tubb was ready with his report. He started with his research on Harry Morgan.

"Morgan is clean. I found absolutely nothing incriminating or remotely problematic for us. His apartment was almost bare of personal belongings and furniture. He ate in front of his large screen - take out food mostly. I talked with all of the restaurants that he patronized and they knew nothing about him. He was simply a stranger that ordered and then appeared for the pickup. He always paid cash."

Tubb continued. "He worked at a copter wash place on Spadina. The boss doesn't ask for references for the people he hires. Morgan had been working there for about three years and showed up regularly for his 3 pm to 9 pm shift. He took one day off each month for personal business. The boss never saw him drugging or drinking; he never smelt anything on him other than sweat. He wore the same clothes every day - overalls, long sleeved shirt and hiking boots. His closet showed that he had multiple versions of these clothes. My first impression was that they were from a thrift store and I confirmed that. Nobody at the store remembers him buying the clothes but they came from that store. They have unique hangars."

"According to his landlord, he paid his rent in cash and was always on time. Nobody in the building ever complained about him. Morgan only complained once and that was because the little clothes washer he had in his apartment died. The landlord replaced it and Morgan thanked him."

"I found nothing in the apartment that would give information on his family, if he had any. He had no wedding ring or jewelry on his body when he died. His pinky ring is in our evidence locker. We found no jewelry or any other kind of valuable in his apartment. I found nothing that would provide Jackson with a motive to kill him. I didn't find anybody that put the two of them together at the same time."

"Do you still believe Jackson killed him?"

"Yes. Jackson was in law enforcement. He knows how to avoid detection. The killing shot came from Jackson's gun."

"Then why didn't he get rid of the gun?"

"They're collector guns. Old, but valuable. Perhaps they have a sentimental value for him. Perhaps he didn't think that we'd tie him to the murder so quickly. Criminals make mistakes. Jackson may have been counting on his background of being a sheriff to avoid suspicion."

"The Lee family?"

"Mrs. Lee considers him a hero and not only because he helped out with what she called a local hoodlum. Jackson solved a very difficult missing person case and she worked closely with him on that. She works at the university and was able to help him with information on a suspect who later was found guilty."

"University personnel information is confidential, Tubb. No outsider can see it without a warrant."

"That means that we can arrest Mrs. Lee if we need to put pressure on him. He may confess if we include her as part of the conspiracy."

"It also means that our law and order man from Helena considers himself above the law. Do you have anything tying Mrs. Lee to either of the murders?"

"No, but we don't need anything to accuse and hold her. If she's holding anything back, the threat of a life sentence may bring it out."

"What about the girl?"

"I was able to interview her privately. She didn't have much to say other than Cowboy made her feel uncomfortable at times."

"How so?"

"She caught him looking at her when she was practicing her shooting while she was lying prone on the ground. She was pretty sure he was trying to look up her skirt. She stopped asking for his help after that but never told her mother why."

"We can't use that in trial. It's too flimsy."

"But it does give us insight into the man."

"You have no motive yet."

"We won't need it with the murder bullet, gun, and fingerprint evidence."

"Get some background on the good sheriff."

"Can the department afford for me to travel to Helena?"

"This is a double homicide. We have the budget for that. That lawyer is asking for bail, but the judge will deny it."

"I'll leave this afternoon."

### # # # # # # # #

Stu had started with seven investigators including himself. That was then; this was now. Yolanda was in her bedroom unconscious; Hank and Momaka were by her bed. Reese wasn't replying to any calls from anybody. Dreamer and Marie were too upset about Winnie to concentrate on Cowboy's case. That left Stu to work the case alone and frankly, he couldn't concentrate either. He spent the day with Jock searching for any option the Wilizy might have to mount a realistic search for Bean and Winnie. At the end of the day, they had to give up the idea of a search. Instead, they resolved to help the Wilizy move on. If they were still alive, Bean and Winnie would find a way to communicate their location.

Jock said that he'd focus on getting the Wilizy techies involved in re-establishing a functioning upgraded satellite system. If Winnie or Bean were unable to send a message because of being too far from Toronto, a new, upgraded satellite system might be able to pick it up. _[They didn't think of asking William to extend his network to Heaven.]_ Stu said that he would try and distract the other Wilizy by giving them something to do, namely save Cowboy from a jail sentence that he didn't deserve.

### # # # # # # # #

Bean spent Tuesday studying angelic bodies. The circulatory system was on the list for today's exploration. In the last hour of the day, she was tasked with putting blood into the trial body and then checking it for leaks. Since the body she was studying was a used demonstration model, it did have a number of leaks. Bean had to find them and fix them. She returned to her aerie covered in drying blood, but feeling buoyed from a smidgeon of praise her instructor had given her. "This body could afterlive."

### # # # # # # # #

Winnie started the day, intent on moving on. She would accept her new life as an infant with some unknown family. But she wouldn't let Heaven make the decision. Up to now, she hadn't been impressed with Heaven's record. Her intention to make the decision herself was solidified after she asked Arthur to explain the words _halocracy_ and _hornocracy_ that he had used yesterday.

"It's very simple," Arthur began. "On Earth, your biggest organizations are run as bureaucracies. There's a man or a woman at the very top who is the boss. He's known as the CEO, or Chief Executive Officer. He might be in charge of ten people who report to him. They might have the rank of Directors. Each of those ten might have ten people reporting to them. Call them Assistant Directors. Each of the ten Assistant Directors might have ten people reporting to them. Call them Associate Directors. Each of those ten..."

"I get it. It's like a big triangle with the tip of the triangle at the top and a very wide base at the bottom."

"Exactly. Huge organizations have to be run in a proper way with all the employees following rules and being supervised by people above them who tell them what to do and how to do it. All big earthly organizations operate that way. Heaven has millions of angels and every one of them reports to somebody above them who supervises their work. This expanding triangle is the only way for Heaven to operate in any effective manner. We call it a _halocracy_ because angels wear halos."

"I saw an angel with a halo yesterday - the angel who asked me questions under the truth ray."

"Angels can only earn a halo after they've worked their way up that triangle to the point where they are considered reliable and efficient. As they go higher in the halocracy, they receive more halos. The halos lock on top of each other so that they won't fall off when the angel flies."

"She was a beginner type of manager then."

"Yes. She's not important at all, except when Heaven's image might be damaged. Public Relations angels solve problems, as in when somebody like you comes along."

"And the hornocracy? Same thing for Hell?"

"Yes. Big triangle. Demons get promoted to devils if they generate enough sin on Earth. Devils are allowed to have a human body and they go to Earth pretending to be mortals. If they generate enough sins on Earth, they go back to Hell as probationary devils."

"They receive more horns?"

"No, the horns they have grow bigger."

"Devils can go to Earth?"

"Yes. Many of the worst things that have ever happened on Earth were caused by devils that were living in human form. Angels can go to Earth in human form too. Think of the most famous humans who have made Earth a better place. They could have been angels on assignment."

"Are guardian angels the angels that go to Earth and pretend to be mortal?"

"Yes. But it takes a long time to be promoted."

"And they'd have to follow the rules."

"Yes. All bureaucracies have rules that govern everything that an employee can and can't do."

"But you don't want to follow the rules."

"No. Some rules stop me from doing my job. I don't break rules. I bend them by taking short cuts."

"How's that been working out for you so far?"

### # # # # # # # #

"Arthur," Winnie called out. Arthur was showing her how to do a power dive into a deep lake and not get wet. At least not get very wet.

"What?" he dripped.

"If I have to go back to Earth..."

"No if. You have to go back."

"Well, seeing as how you guys screwed up, how about letting me choose which family I join?"

"How would you do that?"

"In the line up to the sorting station, one of the messages the souls heard over and over was that Heaven knew every good thing we had ever done and every bad thing too. How do you do that?"

"We have halocratic cameras covering every outside location on Earth. They are powered by the sun and are invisible. We also have cameras inside some buildings. We try not to break people's privacy though. Records from those cameras are stored and analyzed. If a human does something noteworthy, it is recorded and becomes part of the HEE. The same thing happens when they act in a sinful manner. Some humans consider Heaven to be _all-knowing_. That's close to being accurate."

"And Hell does the same thing?"

"They have hornocratic cameras powered by darkness. You don't want to know about those. Suffice it to say, a devil will be waiting for the rotten souls at the sorting station."

"So, what if you were to identify five families that you were considering that I could join and you let me look at them through those camera records. What if Heaven gave me the choice of which family?"

"I could ask about that. What would you be looking for?"

"I want to live in Toronto."

"And?"

"I want to be smart enough to have a good, challenging job."

"And?"

"I don't care what colour my skin is, but I don't want to be repulsive looking. And I want to be healthy."

"And?"

"I want to be in a big family with loving parents."

"Anything else? This sounds like you want to be yourself."

"I want to be at least average height."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 11

"A lady says that she desperately needs to see you, Lieutenant."

"I don't see citizens who come to the front desk, Sargeant. You know that."

"Her teenage daughter didn't come home from school. She says that she's desperate."

"Tell her the rules. The kid must be missing for forty-eight hours before we can open a file. She's probably at a friend's house. I don't take these kinds of cases, Sargeant. You know that."

....

"What, Sargeant?"

"The lady is freaking out, Lieutenant. She says her daughter was interviewed about those two murders. She believes that she's been killed."

...

"Annika always comes straight home from school, Lieutenant. When I get in from work, she always has supper started."

"Have you checked with her friends?"

"She has no friends to speak of."

"Did you see any signs that she made it home but then left? Perhaps to go food shopping?"

"Her backpack wasn't by her desk in her bedroom. That's where she always keeps it. The clothes that she wore today are not in the laundry basket. She always changes out of her school clothes when she gets home. She didn't make it home, Lieutenant."

"Could she still be at school? Some extracurricular activity?"

"She doesn't do any of that. I went to the school on my way here. It's all locked. There's nothing going on."

"Does she have anything going on in her life that ..."

"You mean other than two murders being committed and Annika knowing both victims? Why are you dithering, Lieutenant? Annika could be a third victim. The murderer could have killed her to shut her up."

"Do you have any pictures of Annika with you, Mrs. Lee?"

### # # # # # # # #

"There's no question about it, Jock. No chance of a mistake. Annika Lee murdered those two people."

"Does anybody else know about this, Dreamer?"

"No. Marie and I thought we should tell you first. Because of Reese. He was so sure that she wasn't involved."

"Give me the details again. I'll break the news to Reese."

"We time-travelled to both murder scenes. In the first, she and the Escondido kid walked into the park together. He had a bulky backpack that held a sleeping bag. When they reached a clearing that she approved, he put the sleeping bag on the ground and laid down on it to prove to her that there weren't any rocks underneath. She told him to close his eyes while she undressed. He did. She didn't. She took one of Cowboy's guns out of her backpack instead, put it against his forehead, and pulled the trigger. Then she pulled out a collapsible shovel from her backpack, dug a shallow grave, rolled him into it, and then covered the grave. She dumped his sleeping bag into a trash bin on the way home. We saw and heard everything – we were overhead but invisible."

"The second murder?"

"Almost exactly the same except they didn't walk in together. She told Morgan to close his eyes while she undressed. We saw her shoot Morgan with a pistol that she returned to her pocket. She threw a paper bag into the grave and we assume that was the bag that held Cowboy's other pistol. This would be the one with Bean's fingerprints. The shovel that she used to dig the grave went in as well. It was the same shovel she used in the first murder. Morgan brought a sleeping bag which she dropped into a trash bin on the way out of the park."

"What was her motive?"

"To pin the murders on Bean, we suspect. She had to kill Morgan because he caught her coming out of Cowboy's apartment. She pretended she was having an affair with Cowboy. Morgan threatened to expose Cowboy. Annika agreed to have sex with him to shut him up. She used the gun instead. The first murder may have been a trial run."

"She came out of Cowboy's apartment?"

"She had Cowboy's spare key and her mother was not at home. She poked her nose everywhere in his apartment, even holding up his clothes and sniffing them. She found the guns. She found two collapsible shovels and used one. She actually slept in his bed, in a sexy nightgown and cuddling with a pillow that she had stuffed inside of one of Cowboy's shirts."

"That's one sick puppy."

"One **lethal** sick puppy, Jock."

### # # # # # # # #

While Jock was listening to Marie and Dreamer's report on Annika's murders and overnight stay in Cowboy's apartment, Stu was listening to Lieutenant Baker who was reporting on Annika Lee's sudden disappearance. He made it very clear that Bean was at the top of his list of suspects in her disappearance. He was on the verge of laying charges of kidnapping or perhaps murder.

"I'm sure Ms. Ekelund had nothing to do with Annika Lee's disappearance. You have my word on that, Lieutenant."

"I don't want your word, Counsellor. I want you to produce Beneditka Ekelund now!"

"At this time of night, she'd be in Cowboy's apartment. Have you looked there?"

"Of course we looked there."

"Perhaps a late night trip to a take out?"

"There are no signs that the apartment has been used in the last couple of days. Where is she, Counsellor?"

"I really couldn't say, Lieutenant. I'm her lawyer, not her confidante. She could be staying overnight at a friend's place. Isn't the mother over-reacting a bit? Her daughter has been missing for only, what, nine hours now?"

"Your client has reason to want Annika Lee dead, Counsellor."

"That's outrageous, Lieutenant. You have no evidence that my client was involved in those murders. You yourself released her because you had no evidence. Implying that my client would want this young girl dead is impugning her character. Your comment is scurrilous, Lieutenant."

"Counsellor, when I released the girl friend of a man who is charged with two murders, I warned her that she must not leave Toronto. I warned her that doing so would be interpreted as a sign of guilt. You have twenty-four hours to produce Beneditka Ekelund at the downtown police station. If you can't, I'll be charging her as an accomplice in two murders."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 12

It was Tuesday, April 20 and evening was approaching in Heaven. With no darkness to distinguish between day and night, Heaven ran a modified 24-hour daily schedule. The brightness of their atmosphere was artificially dampened for evenings and fully dampened for night. Speaking of dampening. Yes, it did rain in Heaven, but only during the night. That's because the odor of thousands of angels with damp feathers all crammed into tight quarters in their buildings is not a pleasant smell.

Hell also ran a modified twenty-four hour day. Positioned as it was deep in the Earth's interior, there was no chance of daylight. Instead, Hell was illuminated by lamps that were positioned in various locations in its tunnels, grottos and caves. Powered by the heat bubbling magma from the center of the Earth, Hell is the biggest organizations to use renewable energy for light. Surprisingly, they haven't received much credit for that. By the way, it never rains in Hell. You would think that their various retail outlets would sell case after case of antiperspirant products, but that's not the case. Putrid bodily odors are not noticed in a land where their tunnels are actually running sewers. Now you know why Hell's denizens have thick, impervious cloven hooves.

...

"Today was great, Winnie. I learned about the respiratory system. Did you know that angels have more than double the lung capacity of mortals? This comes in handy when they're visiting Earth because they can fly in the upper reaches of the atmosphere where they can't be seen. I took some lungs apart and put them back together again. That meant opening up the body and closing it again. What about your day?"

"I spent the entire day here. _[Here being Bean's aerie. Bean had invited her to stay with her until she had to go back to Earth.]_ Arthur gave me access to Heaven's halocratic cameras in Toronto and I've been looking at prospective families."

"Did you find anybody you liked?"

"No."

"What's the matter with them?"

"People with high HEE scores tend to pray all the time. Their kids are boring, boring, boring. Besides, I don't believe in Heaven and Hell."

"Says the girl who is afterliving in an angel's aerie in Heaven."

"This could all be a dream, you know. What kind of afterlife would have a crumb-infested, pudgy, rule-hating, snack food addict as an angel?"

"I thought you liked him."

"He's alright as a person; not as an angel."

"What'cha going to do?"

"Ask Arthur if I can start looking outside of Toronto, I guess."

....

"I'm losing my memories of life on Earth now, Winnie."

"Do you still remember Cowboy?"

"Yes, but I can't remember anything about my childhood."

"Does this bother you?"

"I'd like to keep my memories of Cowboy. I'll miss my memories of the Wilizy. I won't miss the memories of what I did when I was in the Scandinavian military. Military life sucked. I'm glad to have that all behind me now. Making angel bodies is interesting. I won't mind doing that."

"For century after century? Really? Won't that become extremely boring?"

"I hadn't thought about that part."

### # # # # # # # #

"Where am I?" Annika asked.

"It's called _The Land of Fire_."

"I don't see any fires. I wish I did. This wind is freezing cold."

"It's almost winter."

"In April?"

"Think about that."

"Southern hemisphere?"

"Yah. You'll be safe here. The inhabitants call the place _Tierra del Fuego_."

"Argentina."

"This particular spot is in Chile."

"Do people actually live here?"

"Well, not in this specific spot. We're in the area where the Andes mountain chain ends. You can still find glaciers."

"But, no people."

"They'd speak Spanish. Do you speak Spanish?"

"No."

"Neither do I. No point in looking for people then."

"Food?"

"I brought plenty. We'll be warm inside the jumbo transport."

"And if I want to go home?"

"You're not safe there, Annika. You'll be safe here."

"Safe from what?"

"Safe from going to jail for the rest of your life."

"I didn't do anything."

"Nobody will believe that, Annika."

"Except you."

"Except me. I know you didn't do anything wrong."

"How long do I have to hide?"

"Until I can find a way to prove that you're innocent."

"How will you do that, Reese?"

"Do you want to take a look at that glacier? I can give you a tour of it in the jumbo."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 13

Baker barged his way into Stu's office one minute after Bean had failed to meet the deadline to appear at Toronto's downtown police station. He slapped a flier on Stu's desk and then stepped back.

**ALL POINTS BULLETIN TO ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN ONTARIO AND SURROUNDING AREAS.**

_Beneditka Ekelund is wanted by the Toronto Police Department on three charges: Suspicion of conspiracy to commit two murders, suspicion of a third murder, and suspicion of kidnapping a teen age girl. She has fled the area in spite of having a ban on her travel. Ekelund may be traveling under one or more aliases: Bean, Bean Pole, or Bean Stalk. Since she is tall and spindly, she is very noticeable. Law enforcement officers are advised to approach her with extreme caution. She is a deadly shot with both handguns and long guns._

"I didn't give you the flyer with the picture as I figured you knew what she looked like."

"Where'd you get her picture? Mug shot?"

"No. I wanted one with her standing. I used the picture of her and her murdering boy friend that was in the apartment. If I find any evidence that you know where she is, I'll be charging you with harbouring a criminal."

"She's not a criminal, Lieutenant."

"If so, why'd she flee? Why'd she kidnap or kill Annika Lee?"

"You have no evidence of that."

"The Lee girl didn't just walk out of Toronto. Somebody took her. Who else would want to do that, Counsellor?"

### # # # # # # # #

Stu was meeting with the senior members of the Wilizy that were still available for assignments. Jock had set up a battle command center in the hold of the Wilizy/Asia and that's where they had gathered. Yolanda was still unconscious, but stable. Granny and Momaka were on this morning's shift. Stu had asked specifically for Hank and Melissa to attend his meeting. Also present were Jock, Theo, and Lucas. Wolf, TG and William were working on the satellite network and were too busy to attend.

Stu started by filling them in on Baker's appearance in his office and the flyer. My readers already know about that, so we'll skip that part. Stu is still talking.

"If we can't find Bean and have her appear at the police station, they will change the suspicion charges into murder and kidnapping charges. They will try her in absentia at the same time that they put Cowboy on trial. We know she didn't do it. Annika Lee killed the two men, but we can't prove it in a court of law."

"If we could produce Annika, then the kidnapping charge could be eliminated immediately. Where are we on that?" Hank asked the question and then looked at Theo.

"We can't find Reese. He left a message with Stu that he was taking Annika to safety because she absolutely did not murder Escondido and Morgan. Then he probably loosened his brain plug so that we can't GPS him, even if we had a GPS network."

"The Wilizy jumbo that he uses is missing. We can't track it in TiTr mode," Lucas added. "Nor can we find it with GPS."

"Do we know if Reese used TiTr to look at the murder scenes?" Hank asked.

"We don't think so," Theo answered. "That would have required him to have a partner, and nobody in the family has admitted TiTr'g with him."

"Reese wouldn't have broken that rule," Melissa contributed.

"No, he wouldn't," Hank agreed.

"So, his confidence in Annika's innocence is based on the colours that he sees. I thought he was still unsure of his assessments."

"Apparently not now, Stu. How'd he talk Annika into leaving with him, Lucas?"

"Dad, he was waiting for her as she walked home from school. She was surprised and happy to see him. He told her that she was in danger and he needed her to do what he asked without any questions. We were in TiTr mode and lost them when he pulled Annika out of one of the metro cars unexpectedly. He knew that we'd be Titr'g him. We managed to pick him up again, but lost him for good when the jumbo took off."

"Were they holding hands at any time?" Melissa asked.

"No," Theo answered. "But she went willingly with him."

"He could be anywhere in the world right now and we won't be able to find him. Even if William gets the GPS network up and running, Reese knows where the GPS module is in the jumbo. All he has to do is unplug it."

"Stu, can you shift the suspicion from Cowboy and Bean to Annika without Annika being there to give testimony? We know she's guilty."

"I wouldn't be able to prove it without putting her on the stand, Melissa. Even then, all she has to do is lie. We know that she's good at that. The judge or the jury will believe her."

"Will Reese's intervention mean that Cowboy and Bean are going to be found guilty?"

"Good question, Melissa," Hank commented. "If we want to save them, we have to find Reese and convince him that Annika is guilty. Right now, the Wilizy are working against each other. Am I right, Stu?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any rabbits you can pull out of your magician's hat, Stu?"

"None."

"Any holes in the police evidence?" Hank continued.

"The lieutenant has stopped giving me their evidence. I expect I'll receive it twenty-four hours before the trial."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 14

While the Wilizy were concluding that they had to find Reese but that might be impossible, Reese himself was facing certain impossible realities too.

"I can't live like this any longer, Reese," Annika blurted out.

"What?" Reese had been reading a bot in the warmth of the jumbo transport when a female voice had broken his concentration. This kind of interruption had never occurred before in this setting. Annika had been reading a bot too, but she had slipped quietly to the back where the latrine was. She was back with a load full of blurt stacked up to the top of her blurt box.

"I can't live like this any longer, Reese," Annika re-blurted.

"Why? We're warm. We have food. We have bots to read. We're safe."

"Have you been in that latrine recently?"

"You become used to the smell."

"I stink. I need to have a bath and change clothes. I can't stay in the same clothes forever."

"It's only been one day."

"That's forever. I never wear the same clothes two days in a row. My body is all itchy. There's dirt all over the floor. I have to put my shoes on as soon as I wake up and even then, I can feel the dirt all over me."

"I can take you to a lake and we can swim. That'll give you a bath and wash your clothes at the time."

"Is that what you do? Swim in a near frozen lake?"

"Yes."

"Eeew. How can you live like that?"

"This is the safest place I know for us."

Annika walked over to Reese, put her hands on his shoulders, and looked him in the eyes. "Reese, listen to me. I need a bath with soap! I need fresh clothes. I want to brush my teeth with a toothbrush and not with my finger. I want food that tastes good and doesn't come from a vacuum pack."

"OK," Reese capitulated. "I'll find us another place to hide."

"I want to sleep in a bed with clean sheets. You can sleep in the transport. I won't."

"I'll take us to a big city. We can disappear into the crowds. Buenos Aires is nice."

"We don't speak Spanish. We're going to be noticeable and our clothes will look weird. What about Australia?"

"Perth is nice."

"When do we leave?"

"Now?"

Annika deposited a minute kiss on Reese's smelly scratchy face and disappeared into the back where she barricaded the latrine door shut and filled the gaps in the seal with wet toilet paper. Returning to the front of the plane, she asked, "How fast can this beast fly?"

### # # # # # # # #

"I learned the digestive system today," Bean said. "Did you know that most angel bodies do not have any digestive organs at all? Others have a primitive system."

"Yeah, I knew. Guardian angels get the bodies with the digestive system so that they can eat when they're on Earth."

"I was told that they had to have the organs because the senior angels can disguise themselves as human. Sometimes, they'll live for months on Earth in their disguise."

"It would be hard to fit in if nobody ever saw them eating. What does Cowboy look like, Bean?"

"What?"

"What does Cowboy look like? Describe him."

"He looks like Cowboy."

"You've forgotten him, haven't you?"

"I remember him. I just don't remember what he looks like."

"What was Cowboy to you, Bean? Brother? Friend? Work colleague?"

"Friend?"

"He was your lover, Bean."

"I can't help it if I'm losing my memories of Earth, Winnie. That's part of being in Heaven."

"Look at your big screen. Do you recognize the person on the screen?"

"No. That's a prison cell, right?"

"Yes, it's a prison cell and that's Cowboy inside of it."

### # # # # # # # #

"I've been in a hotel before," Reese said. "We're way too young to go into a hotel together. Somebody would definitely notice that. We have to register separately. They'll expect each of us to have luggage."

"I have my backpack. Can I leave the school stuff here? That way I can put my new clothes in the pack after I've bought them."

"Sure. I have a backpack too. I'll go into the hotel thirty minutes after you've registered. "

"How will I know what room you're in? You said this hotel was big."

"Tell them that you'd like a view of the ocean and ask for a room on the top floor. I'll do the same thing. This is the middle of the week. They'll have lots of empty rooms. Half an hour after you're in your room, open your hallway door and look out. I'll walk up and down the top floor halls until I see you."

"What do I do about paying?"

"I'll go into a bank on the way to the hotel and get some Australian money. As part of my job piloting this plane, I was given plenty of money to look for new things for our stores to sell. I'll give you plenty to cover the hotel and your new clothes."

"I'll pay you back when we get home. Mom said I was old enough to have a job. What do we do about food?"

"The hotel will send food to your room if you phone and ask for it. There'll be a menu in the room somewhere. The bill goes onto the bill for the room. We should each do that for tonight because it's so late. Other times, we can leave the hotel separately and then meet up and eat somewhere in Perth together. We'll just be two kids; nobody will pay any attention to us."

"Sort of like a date?"

"Sure. Like a date."

"I'm going to soak for an hour in my bath tonight, Reese. Tomorrow first thing, I'll go shopping for clothes. Did you want to come with me? You can tell me if you like what I'm wearing, if you want."

"I'm not very good at that. I'd think that everything you try on would be good."

"You should buy a razor or something, Reese. Your whiskers are showing."

"Yeah. My face is all itchy."

"You could buy a haircut too. I'll watch and make sure the barber does a good job."

"OK, but breakfast first before we do anything."

"I'll be in the hallway waiting for you half an hour after I get my room. Who knows, we may be in rooms next door to each other."

### # # # # # # # #

"Arthur gave me a bunch of halocratic camera coordinates so that I could look at more candidates for my new family. I didn't see any that I liked and then I thought about those coordinates and what the numbers might mean. The Saskatoon family had entirely different coordinates from the families in Toronto. The family in Hamilton had some differences too. It took a while but I've found out what some of the numbers in the coordinates mean, for Toronto anyway."

"You spent all day on this?"

"Yeah. I learned how to access the feeds from cameras that were geographically next to each other. I kept on walking the camera feeds in directions I wanted to go just by changing the numbers. I found the way to the city jail and then I found my way inside. I found Cowboy sitting in the cell. This is a live feed."

...

"I remember him now. He looks sad."

"He is sad, very sad. He knows that you and I are missing. He knows that it's unlikely that the Wilizy search and rescue team will find us."

"How do you know that?"

"I listened to Stu telling Cowboy all of that. Do you remember, Stu?"

"No."

"He's the family's lawyer. Do you remember why Cowboy is in jail?"

"No."

"He's been accused of murder. He didn't do it. Do you know who the Wilizy are?"

"Some."

"Well, we found the true murderer, but she is going to get off scot free."

"Do I know the murderer?"

"Do the words _that little bitch_ mean anything to you?"

"Annika Lee."

"Cowboy will end up in jail because of her. The love of his life has disappeared. That's you. You guys were going to make little babies and have a family. Instead, he's going to rot in jail for two murders that Annika Lee committed."

"Why are you telling me this? I won't remember any of it tomorrow."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've recorded all of Stu's conversation with Cowboy and you're going to watch the whole thing while I hang pictures of Cowboy all over your walls. I've looked for other Wilizy family members who would be searching for us. Probably Jock is in charge but I can't find a halocratic camera that is watching them. Tomorrow, I'll find the halocratic cameras that cover Toronto Park. There's gotta be a way to download archives of those cameras' footage. I can watch the murders being committed."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 15

Reese and Annika spent Thursday morning buying necessities such as a toothbrush for Annika, a razor and soap for Reese, and several changes of clothes for Annika. As he suggested, Reese wasn't a very good audience for somebody trying on clothes. When Annika came out of the dressing room, he'd shrug and say something like _Looks good_. Annika suggested that they'd get out of the thrift store faster if she just tried things on in the dressing room while he looked at the men's wear section. Reese didn't see any point in looking there because he had a change of clothes from his cache in the jumbo, so he wandered over to the entertainment section where he stocked up on bots of oldy-moldies.

True to Annika's prediction, it was faster that way. She was out of the dressing room and through the check out area before Reese had finished selecting his bots. For reasons my feminine readers will understand, Annika wasn't particularly keen to have Reese see some of the clothes she had selected. When he asked what she had bought as they walked back to the hotel, she said simply, "Three of everything plus a night gown and a swim suit. I got 40 percent off their already discounted price."

The news of her attention to discounted prices prompted Reese to explain that his dad liked shopping at thrift stores. Annika revealed that she and her mom did all their shopping that way, her being a single mom and all. Reese never did get around to asking her why she had bought a swimsuit. Annika did notice that Reese hadn't bought any clothes for himself, nor was he interested in getting a hair cut. She didn't mention these things again.

They left the contents of their backpacks in their respective rooms, which were on the same side of the hotel but separated by two other rooms. Naturally, they were still posing as strangers in the hotel. A walking tour of Perth was up next along with a nice lunch which they picked up on the way and ate as they walked. It was immediately after lunch that their two arms happened to brush against each other and Reese found himself holding her left hand with his right. This kind of contact had happened before when they were younger, and Annika didn't seem to object this time either, so they walked along that way for a few minutes. Since Reese was carrying the debris from their lunch in a paper bag, Annika kept an eye open for a place where he could deposit the bag. She spotted a bin across the street and pointed it out to Reese. While Reese was doing his _keep the environment clean_ job, Annika was trying to scrub the palm and fingers of her left hand clean with a spit daubed hanky which went back into her pocket before Reese returned. The personal contact continued for the rest of the day but with Annika's arm entwined inside Reese's arm instead.

Annika wanted to go back to the hotel before eating supper, so they agreed to meet at a restaurant they had picked out on the way back. Both showed up on time. Annika was wearing something different for dinner, but Reese didn't notice. She also smelled nice. Also not noticed. They spent a pleasant hour talking about what they had seen and had particularly liked. Reese went out of his way to comment on how many Asians were in Perth and how it was unlikely that people would have noticed either of them with their brown faces.

The plans for the evening were made on the way back to the hotel. Reese's bots were on the agenda. As to the room in which they would watch the bots, Annika settled that quickly. "It would not be right for you to be in my bedroom," she declared. Reese didn't care. They had already determined that the rooms were identical. He'd lie on one bed in his room and watch the bot; she'd watch the bot from the other bed. So, that's what they did. They took turns selecting the bot they'd watch.

At around 9 pm, instead of selecting another bot, Annika asked what the plans would be for tomorrow. Reese didn't much care and suggested that they could spend the day watching more bots. He had lots. Annika said that they should save the bots for evening entertainment when they couldn't be outside. She didn't want to walk around Perth again – she had seen all she wanted to see. What about visiting another city? Reese said that Darwin was nice, although quite small. Annika said that nobody had looked at them twice in Perth, so a small city would probably still be safe.

### # # # # # # # #

Stu was tired of waiting for the prosecution to share evidence. He'd find some of his own. He was meeting with two senior Wilizy in Jock's command center.

"Melissa, I want you to recruit all of the Wilizy who can time travel safely and put them to work. I need to know everything you can find me about the two victims. It'll mean breaking their lives into segments and then collecting TiTr'd data."

"Mac would be better at that than I would."

"What about the kiddies?"

"I'll take care of them. I'm not doing Yolanda any good right now."

"How is she?"

"She became worse when Hank was away from her bed. He won't leave her now."

"How long before Mac can be here?"

"I'll start the searchers this hour. Mac can be here to start analyzing data and giving out new assignments by this afternoon. Do we need the mysticals?"

"No, I don't believe so."

"I'll take Liset and EmmaGee back with me. They shouldn't be seeing the family in this kind of stress. Is that all you have for me?"

"Yes. Tell Mac I need daily updates on what her team finds. Time is of the essence."

"Really?"

"Yes. I think the prosecution will move quickly to trial. We have to be prepared for anything right now."

...

"Jock, I need you to do some face-to-face research."

"Name it, Stu."

"Cowboy gave me the names and positions of the people he dealt with in Nebraska and Colorado when he was searching for the two twins. Find them and talk to them about Cowboy. Wear your army uniform and act formally with them. You'll have credibility with them. Cowboy has given you a letter of introduction that authorizes them to speak frankly to you. We're looking for testimony to his character. We'll take taped testimony but, for the people who know him well, see if you can convince them to come to Toronto and give testimony in person. We can arrange transportation for them in the personal planes. The jury will have doubts if all we do is present taped statements."

"You're going with a jury trial?"

"Yes. I can influence a jury more easily than I can influence a judge."

"What about researching in Helena?"

"A Stetson salesman will be making a swing through Montana."

### # # # # # # # #

"Did you know that an angel's skin is covered completely by organic solar power receptors?"

"I didn't know that, Bean."

"The feathers automatically close or open to provide more or less heat to the body. They'll also adjust automatically to increase an angel's speed in flight. The wing feathers expand to catch more air while the chest and head feather close in and reduce friction."

"Interesting."

"An angel can lose up to 80 percent of its solar power skin cells and still retain sufficient energy to afterlive while his body replenishes them."

"How would an angel lose so many of his skin cells?"

"Heaven and Hell used to have pitched battles before they agreed on a bureaucratic truce. No artificial weapons were allowed in those battles. Just one afterlife body against the other. Those battles were vicious."

"Describe Cowboy's hair, Bean."

"Long and blonde."

"Who was the Wilizy person that was your contact in the Scandinavian war?"

"Yolanda. Your mom. She has an oval face and brown hair with gray in it."

"I found the halocratic cameras that are in Toronto Park, Bean. Watch the big screen."

...

"That's us."

"A nice pleasant walk in the woods."

...

"What happened, Winnie? I don't see anything now."

"I think that big flash exploded the camera. This view was from Saturday, April 17. The camera is still inactive. In the Sorting Station, I heard somebody telling the PR angel with the halo about a solar flare. When she talked to me privately, she said that solar flare had fried some electrons and that's why I was in Heaven. Her name was Amy Louisa."

"That big flash killed you?"

"I guess."

"What about me?"

"Did they know who you were at the Sorting Station?"

"Yes. That PR angel argued with somebody from Hell about me. They absolutely knew who I was."

"So if your electrons weren't disturbed, how did you die?"

"I don't know."

"We know that you died after I did because you reached the front of the line after I had been processed. The PR angel was talking to me and then left to solve a problem which would have been your Hell guy."

"It couldn't have been from the solar flare or we'd have been in the line right next to each other. Why would the flare kill you and not me?"

"Good question."

...

"Do you have any other views of the park, Winnie?"

"Only one that shows the area where we were walking. Coming on the big screen now."

...

"We've already passed this camera – you can see our backs. This is thirty seconds before the solar flare."

"We're just walking up the trail. There's some sort of cliff face in the distance."

"And now, this camera explodes too. Do you remember anything at all that happened after the solar flare?"

"Nothing."

"This is a dead end," Winnie admitted. "I'll have to try something else."

...

"Wait, Winnie. That cliff..."

...

"Do you remember feeling a tingle while we were walking?" Bean asked.

"Yes. Cold breeze perhaps."

"We smelled something in the air by that cliff."

"Yes, I remember. Stinky stuff. I looked around to see what it was."

"That's when you died, Winnie. You were crushed by something falling off that cliff."

"I don't remember that. A rock?"

"Rocks don't have legs. This thing deliberately crushed you, I went after it with my knife, and that's all I remember. I woke up in the Sorting Station queue. Whatever it was, it killed you and then it killed me."

"I didn't lose electrons from a solar flare?"

"No."

"That PR angel lied to me."

"Sure looks like it."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 16

Friday in Darwin. Reese and Annika's walking tour didn't last very long. Reese was correct that the town was small. Most of the morning they spent on a beach, sitting on a log. Reese asked if Annika wanted to go back to the hotel to change into her swimsuit, but she said that she didn't like swimming. He was going to ask her why she had bought the suit, but one look at her face stopped him. It wasn't because she had bad colours. They were the same as they had been when he knew her in middle school. Almost all white with a few streaks of yellow. She had a small dark spot now, but everybody had dark spots. The reason he didn't want to look more at her face was because it was very sad.

"Can we have lunch now? A proper sit down lunch?"

"Sure."

Annika didn't open up any conversation topics during lunch, and Reese certainly wasn't going to do that. They ate in silence, walked in silence back to the hotel, split up in silence, went their separate ways to their rooms in silence, and then Reese knocked on her door in silence – except for the knock which was just a light tap-tap. Are you seeing a pattern here?

Annika opened the door. She was wearing a thick white nightgown that reached to her ankles. "I was planning to have a nap," she explained.

"Do you want me to come back?"

"No, it's alright. You can come in. I don't mind you seeing me in this."

Annika plopped her way in her bare feet to the near bed, pulled the covers back, and slipped in. _Slipped in_ is probably inaccurate. It was a long, bulky nightgown and it bunched up when she tried to crawl in under the sheets. It took Annika some time to spread it out evenly so that it would be comfortable to sleep in. Bless his heart, Reese turned his back while she was doing this.

"I'm in," she said.

Reese turned. Indeed she was. Lying on her right side, a bulge in the blanket where her knees were, a pillow all plumped so that she could put her head on it and look at Reese. She pointed to the opposite bed. "You can lie there. Take your shoes off first," she directed.

Reese made himself comfortable although he was noticing that he was sharing a bedroom with Annika and both of them were lying down. This was brand new territory for our intrepid pilot.

She continued to look at him.

"Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not. I miss my mom, Reese. How long do we have to hide like this?"

"Until you're safe."

"How long will that be?"

"I don't know."

"How will you know when I'm safe?"

"I'll communicate with some people in a week or two. I can't do that right now."

"And you're keeping me safe from being in prison for the rest of my life?"

"Yes."

"Does this have anything to do with the police who talked with me and my mom about Pit Face and Mr. Morgan?"

"Yes." Reese looked again at her colours. _Dominant white._

"Why am I in danger because of that?"

"Because some people might think that you were involved in their deaths."

"Me? That's crazy. I don't even kill spiders which I hate because they run across my face when I'm sleeping."

_Dominant white._

"Do the police believe that I'm involved? The detective didn't say anything nasty to me when he was asking me questions."

"No. The police believe that they have caught the right people."

"So, they'll take them to court and convict them. Can I go home then?"

_Dominant white. Why wouldn't she know that the people the police suspect are Cowboy and Bean? She pointed them straight at Bean._ "Do you have any idea who the police think may be the killers?"

"No. Why would I?"

_Dominant white. I wish Winnie were here to read her face. She'd solve this in a second. Annika's colours say that she doesn't even lie. How could she murder people?_ "What?"

"I asked if you told my mom that you were taking me to safety."

"No. I had no time."

"She'll be very worried, Reese. Your mom would be worried if you were missing and couldn't be found."

"Yes, she would." _She's unconscious in a bed right now because of Winnie's disappearance._

"Could you get a message to her? I'll write it out so that she'll know it came from me."

"I'll do that somehow. I promise."

"I'll write the message now. There's note paper by the big screen."

...

"I'm falling asleep, Reese. Sorry."

"I'll leave."

"Could you stay? I feel a headache coming on and my mom isn't here to help me with it. I may need your help."

"What kind of headache?" Reese asked. But Annika's brain had left the building. _Dominant white. I'll have to sling at high speed back to Toronto tonight._

### # # # # # # # #

"What time is it?"

Reese took the bot out of his brain plug and looked at Annika. _Dominant white._ "It's 4:30 in the afternoon. How was your sleep?" Reese already knew the answer.

"Terrible. I was asleep, but I wasn't."

"I heard you mumbling in your sleep."

"It was like I was arguing with myself in my head."

"That may explain why you were rolling around a lot. It looked like you were trying to kick the covers off. I thought you might be hot so I loosened them a bit for you."

Annika looked down at the bed. The covers were pulled back. The nightgown had ridden up a bit and her encased lower legs were exposed. "I like to wear jeans under my night gown," she said in explanation. "Keeps me warm."

"Are you hungry? We could go for a little walk and eat at the Chinese restaurant."

"OK. How about I meet you there at 5:00? I need to shower first."

...

Annika padded into the bathroom after Reese had left. She shut the door firmly and proceeded to undress. Off came the nightgown. Off came the jeans. Off came the sweater. And finally, off came the one-piece swimsuit. No wonder she couldn't sleep. She would have been boiling.

### # # # # # # # #

The food was good. The conversation, not so much. Reese didn't want to ask her about her sleeping, her thrashing, and her mumbling. He really shouldn't have been in her bedroom. Annika didn't have much appetite and picked at her food.

"I get headaches," she explained as Reese finally gave up on the chopsticks and picked up the fork. "I pretty much know when they're coming, but not always. Like this afternoon, I didn't have a headache. I just couldn't fall into a deep sleep."

"Perhaps you reacted to the food for lunch?" Reese could talk when there was a problem to be solved; he just didn't chitchat.

"Perhaps. Mom and I used to think they were associated with my period, but they aren't."

Reese was caught off guard. First, conversations about a girl's... punctuation... were not something that he had ever been part of. He had never even conceived of the idea that people would actually talk about that. In his world, he thought that girls would have their... punctuation ... but never say anything about it even to other girls. But, here they were at the dinner table, albeit in an almost empty room, and Annika was clearly expecting him to respond to her revelation that her... punctuation... was not the cause of her headaches.

"How do you know that?" [ _Oops, wrong question, Reese. You should have gone to your usual delaying tactic – uhmmmm.]_

"My periods are pretty regular now. The headaches can come at any time."

"What are the headaches like?" _[Nice safe question, Reese.]_

"Mom thinks that they are migraines but she doesn't know why I would be getting them. We've gone to the family doctor, but he didn't know either. I try sleeping in a dark room and they eventually go away. Mom helps by rubbing my shoulders. Touching me near my head makes them worse."

"Are they really painful?"

"Yes. Sometimes I feel like throwing up. Mom is going to take me to a specialist. She says it could be endometriosis, but I'm a little young for that."

_[Change the subject, Reese. Change the subject. Now!]_

"I've never heard of this endo thing." _[There's a reason you've never heard of it, Reese.]_

"I had to look it up too. It's a condition found inside a woman's uterus and/or ovaries. What the experts think is..."

Turns out that Annika had collected a considerable amount of information about the endo thing.

On the walk home, Annika stopped and faced Reese. She went up on her tiptoes a bit and gave him a more than microscopic peck on his cheek. "Thanks for letting me ramble on, Reese. I expect most guys would have headed for the washroom as soon as I said _period_."

Reese was still trying to control his hyperventilation. "S'alright," he said.

"Mom says that we shouldn't hide these things from the men in our lives. They should know about our reproductive organs just like women should know about theirs. She told me about what happens to men's bodies when you..."

"Oh look. What's that flyer say?"

"Public dance. Tomorrow night."

"Why don't we go? We went to a dance once in middle school."

"That's sweet. You're asking me out on a real date."

"Why don't we talk now about what we're going to wear? What does semi formal dress mean?"

### # # # # # # # #

"I was doing something different today," Bean exclaimed.

"Better than making angel bodies?"

"Way better. They have a prototype of an advanced angelic body that they wanted me to test."

"Does the body have something that stops it from lying?"

"It's a military angel's body."

"I didn't realize that Heaven had a military."

"I didn't either. Joe-Joe said that Heaven needs a military to ensure that the negotiated truce is observed. Apparently Hell is always breaking it."

"Who's Joe-Joe?"

"Some retired military guy. He works as an advisor, or something, and he had suggested changes to the conventional military angel's body. The scientists had made the body and he wanted me to test it under field conditions."

"Field conditions?"

"I'll be in a fake battle against him tomorrow. He'll be inside a fake demon body and we're going to have a fight."

"Do you remember all of your martial arts?"

"Yeah. But I'll have to do them in the middle of the air. I'll be lucky if I can stay upright."

"Why?"

"I took the body for a short flight. It's amazing. Very powerful. They're installing the weapon system tonight."

"Weapon system? I thought weapons weren't allowed."

"They aren't."

"So?"

"I have no idea what weapons they might be."

...

"Arthur took you through Prayer Central?"

"I asked him if prayers actually work. He said that they can; they're certainly listened to."

"I said something like, _Prove it_. So he arranged the tour."

"And?"

"All prayers are transmitted to this huge, huge building in downtown Heaven. It's the biggest building by far. Inside, angels sit at desks and listen to the prayers. If too many prayers are coming in, they go into a queue until an angel is available."

"Sort of like: _Your prayer is important to us. Please be patient. This prayer is being taped for quality assessment and training purposes_."

"Exactly like that, except the person doesn't know that their prayer is on hold. Heaven is planning to add more floors to the building. They can't keep up with the calls and some prayers go on and on and on. Angels have to listen to the whole thing in real time. I saw some prayer angels yawning. Others were eating chocolates to keep their energy levels up."

"I thought junk food wasn't allowed in Heaven."

"Chocolate is. It's available only to Prayer Angels. Sort of an incentive for new angels to take this on as their afterlife career, I think."

"So, people pray and angels listen. Are prayers answered?"

"That depends. Let's say the prayer is for Heaven to help a specific individual – call him Henry X. That prayer is logged into Henry X's prayer database. Angelic resources are distributed to mortals only as they become available. If Henry X has one prayer from one mortal, he has to wait. Heaven doesn't have enough angels in the field to help him. Mortals who have received a lot of prayers for help can rise to the top of the queue and then a notice is sent to the Guardian Angel directorate. They assign one of their field angels to listen to the prayers and then help that person out. That's assuming that the help is reasonable. Prayers to the effect of _Make me rich_ are tossed out and never entered into the database."

"What kind of help do they get?"

"That depends. If a shoulder demon is causing the problem, they'll assign a shoulder angel to counter him. Shoulder demons apparently have very short attention spans and will quit trying to torture a mortal if they don't appear to be listening. In other situations, a field angel may arrange for the mortal to find a doctor who can fix a medical problem. Or a field angel may bring the mortal together with another mortal who can answer the prayer."

"How do they do that?"

"Most of Heaven's resources are spent on dream messages. These are like angels talking to a human and pushing them to do something, but in a dream. The person wakes up, remembers this wonderful idea, and then goes out and follows the dream's advice."

"Huh."

"In some cases, an angel will appear in front of a human, but not as an angel. Just as a normal person. Some times, the angel will simply listen, commiserate, and give advice like a friend. But if a guardian angel really wants to get a message through, she'll put her hand on the person's face and voice the advice like a normal person. The personal contact means that the angel blasts the advice directly into mortal's brain. He will believe that the idea was his, but it's actually an angel giving him direct help."

"Wow."

"Demons and devils do the same thing. They can appear as humans too. If one gets close enough to be able to put his hand on the mortal's face, his message is almost impossible to ignore. That's why Heaven is always trying to place more field angels into the system, but they aren't getting enough souls to work with."

...

"Sounds like you were impressed with Prayer Central, Winnie."

"I was, Bean."

"Are you more comfortable going back to Earth now?"

"No."

"Why not."

"Arthur allowed me to access my own file."

"People are praying for you?"

"Yeah. They believe I may be still alive because they can't find my body. You're getting prayers too."

"Why is that bad?"

"I read Granny's prayers. She's praying like crazy for her daughter not to die."

"Your mom?"

"Yes. She's in a deep coma and Doc can't bring her out of it. Momaka is trying to help. Dad is lying in bed with her. Granny is giving her intravenous drips and working her muscles. They don't know what will happen to her if she wakes up and they have to tell her that I'm dead."

...

"Winnie?"

"I can't let her die, Bean. I have to go back to Earth as me."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I have an idea."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 17

It was 11 in the morning when Annika finally knocked on Reese's door. "You can come over now," she said.

They had settled on meeting in Annika's room as a matter or routine. "It's more comfortable," she had argued. Since the rooms were identical, Reese found it difficult to understand how it could be more comfortable. Had Annika substituted the word _neater_ for _comfortable_ , she'd have been closer to the truth. _[Reese was one of those men who believed in horizontal closets. What? Hang my clothes up? That would mean opening up the closet door and pulling out a hangar. That's a waste of energy.]_

"Bad night?" Reese asked as he entered her room.

"No. Good actually. Slept almost the whole night through. You?"

"The same."

_[This was mostly true. Reese slept solidly after slinging to Toronto at high speed and then turning around twenty seconds later and returning. As my readers will expect, he didn't mention the bit about his speed run through the Earth's upper atmosphere to Annika. He also didn't mention that he didn't want Annika's mom to see him delivering the envelope so he didn't knock on her door or anything. He just put the envelope on the floor in front of her door. She'd see it as soon as she came out. Reese had thought enough about this delivery to make sure that he didn't leave any fingerprints. He had wrapped his hands in a sweater when he entered and left the building.]_

"I was worried that you might have had a headache," Reese continued. [ _This was entirely true.]_

"I washed my clothes last night and put them in the bathroom to dry. I didn't believe you'd be comfortable sitting here with me when I wasn't wearing anything."

Reese's mind flashed to imagining what that experience might have been like.

"I can show you how to wash your clothes in the sink if you like."

Reese's mind was still engaged in another thought.

"How about Indian for lunch?"

No answer. Reese was still engaged in another thought, now with an image to accompany it. Reese had always thought that Annika was pretty. In middle school, other girls had made fun of her because she was short, had a round face and squinty eyes. Reese didn't notice those things. He noticed her colours and how smart she was and how she seemed to like him. He never understood why she did, since everybody else in the school hated him. Now, three years later, Annika had grown into what was essentially her mom's body. In his reverie, he was imagining that body without clothes. Annika's body, that is. Not her mom's. He was a hormone-laden teenager, not a weirdo. In Reese's mind, she was beautiful. Annika, that is.

Reese felt the punch on his arm. "What?"

"Were you imagining me without any clothes on?"

"No?" Reese's lie would have been more believable had he said it and not asked it.

"I can tell when you're lying. That's how I beat you at crib, remember? Body signals"

"OK. I admit it. I was thinking about, you know."

"That's sweet." She deposited a kisslet on his cheek. "Don't ask me if I think about you without any clothes on."

This is known as a _conversational stopper_. Reese now had a terrible urge to ask her that exact question. He had to keep his mouth tightly buttoned all the way to the Indian restaurant lest the question squirted out unbidden.

Annika ordered for both of them. "These are all good dishes," she said. "They're not too hot and they are very tasty."

Reese nodded, still not trusting himself to speak.

"Did you mail my letter to my mom?"

"Yuh. It'll take a while to get to her."

That delay was certainly going to be true. The letter had sat on the floor in front of Madhuri's apartment for about an hour when a sudden breeze from the open front door spun it into the corner by the stairwell. The building custodian saw it there when he was sweeping the lobby, looked at the writing on it, shrugged at what he saw, and tossed it into the bin in his cart.

"You put _From Kinkin_ , on the front of the envelope. Is that an Indian word?"

"No. It's what my mother calls me when she's being affectionate. My dad called me _Annikinkin_ when he was pretending to like me."

"Oh."

"I was so wrong to yell at you in the courthouse, Reese. My dad was a terrible person. My mom told me some of things he did to her. I'm glad he's dead. He deserved to die."

"All forgotten." _[And it was.]_

"He's the reason I'm going to be a lawyer, you know."

"Lawyer?"

"Yeah. So I can put people like him in jail."

"I was thinking that I might be a judge when I got older. I kinda like the idea of being called Justice Reese."

The conversation flowed smoothly after that. All about university and what life would be like in the courtroom.

They spent the afternoon buying clothes for the dance. Annika took charge, and I'm sure you knew that she would. But she did it in a nice, not bossy, way. He bought a haircut and she paid for a hairdo. She bought a dark blue dress that fell to her knees, and Reese picked gray pants, a gray suit jacket, and a dark blue shirt that was the same colour as Annika's dress. This was the first option that Annika had shown him. She found a gray scarf to loop around her neck. They even bought new shoes.

### # # # # # # # #

The dance was coming to an end. Annika and Reese had been on the floor whenever it was a slow dance. Neither of them knew how to dance. They'd just slip into a dark corner where nobody could notice them and sway to the slow music. They were good at doing that in unison. Just before the last dance, the organizer went to the mike to announce the winners of the best-dressed couple. That took care of Annika and Reese's anonymity. Then came the last dance and they had to start it off. Annika put her arms around Reese's waist, Reese put his arms around Annika's shoulders, and they became one four-armed and four-legged body.

"Do you remember our last dance in school?" she murmured into his chest.

"Yes. I got all worried when our faces touched. I thought you'd be angry."

"Angry? I was the one who touched your face first."

"I thought that was because you stumbled."

"Fake stumble. I was worried that my face was sweating."

"That dance was the best three minutes of my year at North Penticton Middle School."

"Mine too. This is nice."

Had there been any light in that dance hall, there wouldn't have been any between Reese and Annika's bodies.

...

On the way back to the hotel...

"Why'd you agree to come with me when I told you that you were in danger?"

"Because I believed you. Plus I like you, you goof ball." They were walking home arm in arm. "I liked you the first time I saw you in class. I didn't forget you even though I figured I'd never see you again."

"You were the only reason I stayed at NPMS. When you stayed in Toronto, I didn't go back to school. I had no reason to."

...

At the door to Annika's hotel room.

"Do you remember the end of our date at my front door?"

"Yeah."

"I had unscrewed the light bulb on the porch so that it would be dark. I would have let you kiss me, you know."

"I wanted to, but didn't want to upset you."

"I wouldn't have been upset."

...

"Would you be upset now? I'm supposed to be protecting you."

"I won't be upset, Reese."

She raised her face. He lowered his. I'll leave what happened next to my readers' imagination. Go out and get a coffee if you like. You'll have ample time.

...

Getting out of her bath, Annika had one reaction to the kisses. _Worth the wait,_ she thought. Then she started dressing. First the swimsuit, then the sweater, then the jeans, and then the ankle length nightgown.

For Reese who was getting out of his shower, he had a reaction too. It wasn't as satisfying as hers. _What are you doing, Reese? She has murdered two people. You saw her do it. Her father was an evil man. Is she following in his footsteps? Did she seduce Escondido and Morgan before killing them? Will you be next?_

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 18

"I'd like to see a real demon and devil before I have to go back to Earth as a different person. Is that possible?"

It was Sunday in Heaven – the day after Reese and Annika's dance. Winnie was in her own aerie and talking to Arthur. She figured it wouldn't be a good idea to have Arthur come into Bean's aerie and see the wall plastered with pictures of Cowboy.

"I don't see why not. I was planning to make a trip to Earth to stock up on junk food, so I can do that at the same time."

"I can help. Should I bring a backpack?"

"Not necessary. We'll take the long cut to Earth."

### # # # # # # # #

Arthur and Winnie were standing on a long down escalator. Both had miraculously grown and were in adult angel bodies. As Arthur had explained to Winnie, his shoulder angel powers had been upgraded to full angel powers as part of his assignment to help Winnie. Those powers allowed him to change both of their bodies. They would need the full size angel suit they were in shortly.

Arthur began explaining about afterlivian transportation infrastructures. "The main transportation link from Heaven to Earth is airborne, as you would expect. An angel just steps into the vortex of power gate here in Heaven, visualizes the destination he wants to go, and seconds later, he stepping out of a forest into Earth life. If forests are not available, then buildings will do. We have portals in most major buildings."

"That's efficient."

"Yes. It's like a giant invisible airborne skyway system to every place on earth. Hell also has direct links to Earth through their tunnel system. Their tunnels also connect to every place on Earth but end up in the basements of major buildings. Their trips take longer because they're travelling through rock, albeit in another dimension. Halocratic and hornocratic security personnel are situated outside the Earthside portals to ensure no mortal blunders in. They also check to make sure that immortals remember to be in human form when they emerge."

"It wouldn't be too good for humans to see a real life demon?"

"When it happens, mortals are told it's all part of a movie that's being filmed."

"I'd totally buy that."

"During the most difficult times between Hell and Heaven, we needed a way for negotiating parties to meet. So, a transportation link was established between the two afterlives. It's heavily guarded at our end to ensure Hell can't invade. Hell doesn't have the same worries. This escalator we're on will take us to one of Hell's underground stations. We'll use their tunnel system to travel to Earth. They're used to seeing angels in their cars, but they're not used to seeing small angels. That's why we have to be full size. We'll have a brief ride and, on the way, you'll see what you want to see."

...

"These are all demons?"

"Yes. They are allowed to build the bodies they'll wear in Hell. They all choose to be big, heavy and muscular so that they can't be bullied too much when they're in Hell. Some decide to mix and match. That one over there – pig snout on a tortoise body with elephant legs. He won't be the fastest creature in Hell, but he's well protected. You'll see that all the bodies are covered in tight, interlinked scales. Every hellish creature needs scales to protect it from the heat and the occasional sharp pointed object that might find its way into the creature's back."

"They kill each other?"

"Not kill. Maim. They have to establish and defend their territory, so life in Hell is fraught with threats from other demons. Devils with their heavy scales, sharp horns, and hooved feet don't have to worry so much."

"That one in the corner. Devil?"

"Demon. You'll know a devil when you see it. This demon has chosen to create a body that isn't found on Earth. It's all muscles and bulk held up by two massive legs. Demon bodies like this are quite common. They fight by jumping onto their victims with their feet. They themselves are too strong and solid to be knocked off their feet. Lying in a sewer while demons are stomping you with their hooves is unpleasant. This is a good body to have if you want to survive in Hell. You can't be bullied by another demon. Let's go into the next car. "

...

"In the corner. Sitting all by itself. You can see by its horns that this devil is quite young."

"Do these cars always reek like this?"

"Yes. The smell is sulphur and because we're in a closed space, the stink builds up. They never wash out the cars, so you're smelling centuries of reek."

"Why sulphur?"

"Part of the afterlivian rules. The smell is to ensure that all afterlife beings can detect other afterlife beings. All afterlife entities carry a smell with them wherever they go on Earth. Angelic personnel on Earth smell faintly of cinnamon. Hell's minions smell of sulphur. If you're in a closed elevator, and you think somebody just farted, that person could be from Hell."

"Are they always like this? Yelling and screaming? Throwing food? Pummeling each other?"

"Demons are inherently dumb. Picture teenage boys at their worst, say in a frat party, boozing and being as obnoxious as possible. That's your typical demon when they're in a group."

"The moose-head guy is looking at you."

"I see him. He's working up his nerve. Angels aren't supposed to be bothered on these vehicles. Demons aren't known for following rules."

...

"What's it doing?" Winnie whispered.

"Trying to intimidate me by making faces at me." Arthur whispered back.

"A moose head does leave plenty of room for ingenuity."

...

"He's persistent. I'll give him that," Winnie said.

"We're getting too much attention which is not a good thing when I'm not supposed to be here."

"Angels aren't allowed? I thought you said..."

"I'm the one that is not allowed. I believe the term is _banned_." Arthur stood up and stepped out into the aisle where Moose Head was still trying to wrap its nose around its chin, or vice versa. It can be difficult to pick out specific features of artificially created monsters.

"Hey, Moose Head," Arthur said.

"What?"

"What's that behind you?"

The creature turned and looked. Meanwhile, Arthur plucked a feather from his body and inserted it ever so carefully.

"Nothing is behind me."

"My mistake. Did you know that you have a **feather** stuck under one of your scales?" Arthur may have raised his voice a number of decibels. The car fell suddenly quiet.

"Feather?"

"Yeah. It's a **white feather**. Are you an angel under those scales?"

...

Instead of food, the demons were now throwing Moose Head around the car.

"The colour white is banned in Hell because it signifies purity. The word is banned too, which is why all the conversations stopped when I said it. It's one of their foulest swear words. We should leave now."

### # # # # # # # #

Reese and Annika used Sunday morning to travel to Brisbane on Australia's east cost. It was a large city that was popular with tourists – for those people with money and copters that could travel from the parts of Asia that hadn't suffered from the rising waters. Much of Brisbane had been on low-lying ground next to the Coral Sea. That part of Brisbane and the Gold Coast resorts had been inundated. But Aussies have a _never say qui_ t attitude and the city adjusted. People were attracted to it for its culture, theatre, art galleries, and gambling casinos. Brisbane's economy relied heavily on the gambling casinos that were accompanied by artistic endeavours like removing your clothes to music. Two teenagers checking into the same room would not be noticed, so Annika and Reese did. As was their habit, they did a walking tour of the city first and that took up the rest of the day.

### # # # # # # # #

"Where are we?" Winnie asked. They were at the bottom of the escalator that would lead them up to mortal life.

"The portal gate said _Denver, Colorado_."

"I didn't see the sign. Too busy looking at all the bodies changing form. Does that always happen instantaneously?"

"Yes."

"The demons looked like real humans."

"Yes. Their clothes will all be in the current fashions."

"Have you ever been in Denver before?"

"No. We can fly over the city and then decide what to do next."

"Nobody will see us?"

"I don't have the power to turn us invisible. Only angels with a halo can do that. We'll use a shoulder angel form to fly into the air and when we're high enough, we'll convert to normal angel bodies. Mortals will see us as big birds flying high in the sky."

...

"Why did you want to land in this park?"

"There's a high percentage of devils in this part of Denver, I believe."

"And we won't be discovered?"

"How? You are in your normal Winnie body except with white skin. This is the body that I hope to use when I get to be a guardian angel."

"A puppy."

_Not just a puppy. A Nova Scotia Duck Toller puppy. The best dog ever_. Arthur's voice sounded in Winnie's mind. Obviously, puppies can't talk.

"Why a puppy?"

_Because humans love puppies. If I have a troubled human to guard, that human is going to pick me up and cuddle me. He won't be able to stop himself from doing that. All I have to do is put my paw on the human's face and any message I send will go straight to the human's brain._

"That's better than sending people dreams."

_Way better. But it can dangerous._

"How?"

_Fully powered angels can change to any life form they wish. Small animals are good for avoiding detection. But a mortal predator can kill the angel's small animal. If that happens, the angel inside the body dies too and ends up in the Sorting Station queue. They don't have to wait long because the security angels will pull them out of the line early._

"So angels don't actually die."

_No, but getting killed by a crow, for example, is embarrassing and the angel will receive a lot of teasing. The real danger is if you're a small animal trying to listen in on a conversation. You might be killed in a dark place. In that darkness, there's no solar power to send the soul to the Sorting Station. The angel's soul will stay in darkness until it eventually dies from starvation. We are taught to never go into a confined space without a partner waiting outside to free us if we are cut off from sunlight._

"What about demons and devils?"

_Same thing. They can't be killed eternally under normal circumstance. A normal death of the body they're inhabiting just takes them to the Sorting Station and from there, down to Hell. They might be sent back to the torture pits if they died for a very stupid reason; they might also be promoted._

"You said normal circumstances."

_Hell's denizens need darkness to replenish energy, recover from injuries and so on. If they are prevented from entering darkness for a long enough period of time, they will become weaker and weaker and their soul will expire from starvation._

"But you'll be safe in this puppy body, right?"

_Yeah. It's perfect. Watch. We'll walk down this street and anybody we pass will say something to you like, "Can I pet your puppy?"_

### # # # # # # # #

"Do you always eat junk food for meals?"

Reese and Annika were on their way back to the hotel and Annika had mentioned she was hungry. Reese had steered her into a fast food outlet.

"Yeah. I guess. I'm always eating on my own. I just want to eat fast and leave."

"They don't have any vegetables here."

"They have deep fried yams over there."

"No thanks. What are you thinking of getting?"

"The triple-triple meal with double gravy. You?"

"I'm thinking of throwing up. How about a nice leisurely sit down meal? We're in no rush to return to the hotel, right? Thai is good."

"Does it come with fries?"

"No. You can order peanut butter sauce though."

"My mom grows peanuts."

"You can tell me about your mom and I'll tell you about mine."

### # # # # # # # #

Arthur and Winnie were flying again on their way back to a portal.

"You were right. You were irresistible, but not to all. You received a few dirty looks."

"Did you notice the smell from those people?"

"I noticed heavy cologne."

"That's what devils use these day to try to mask the sulphur."

"Even the two snarky women were devils?"

"Yes. Not many female souls make it to devil status."

"Prejudice?"

"Of course. Hell is an old boy's network but with horns."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Hell must be running an operation here. Most devils operate independently. You can find collections of devils in work places like taxation offices, but not usually in a residential area."

"Very rich homes here. Did you see the one with the swimming pool shaped like a football?"

"Biggest house in the area. Wealth and power are dangerous when concentrated in a small area."

"Power?"

"Denver is the capital city of what used to the United States. Politicians are rarely virtuous. I'll send in a report on this part of Denver after we're back in Heaven. Are you ready to go?"

"Could we stop off in Montana first? I'd like to see my bedroom one last time."

"OK. We'll load up with junk food too."

"How will you get it back to Heaven?"

"Angels have pouches inside their wings. With two of us going past the purity gates, we'll have enough to last for a while."

"Purity gates?"

"Our defensive wall against Hell in case they break the truce. The gate measures purity; Hell can't fake that."

### # # # # # # # #

The Thai food was good, but the conversation about the moms didn't get off the ground. Reese knew about his mom being unconscious but there wasn't anything he could do about that. He could do something about an innocent girl being railroaded into jail, and he thought that his mother would approve of that. He had been certain of Annika's innocence back then. Now? Not so much.

Reese knew that the family was all against him. Once William fixed the satellites, they'd find him. What happened then was ... Well, he didn't know what he'd do when they found him. Cowboy was innocent. Reese knew that. He was hoping that Stu could get him off. He didn't know that Stu now had the entire family looking for help that would allow him to defend Cowboy. He didn't know that Stu had received a very full binder of information on Harry Morgan. He didn't know that Stu had just asked every researcher the family had to conduct interviews on thirteen Toronto citizens and their immediate families. TG had hacked into the city's land tax computers and that had given them the street addresses they needed. Reese didn't know any of this. It wouldn't have made any difference because, even if Stu got Cowboy off, the police would start looking elsewhere and eventually, they'd think of Annika. And Annika had indeed killed those two people.

On the way to Brisbane, Annika had asked Reese to share her room because she needed him there in case she had another headache. Part of him wanted to do that, just because Reese had promised to keep her safe. Part of him was tempted by the vision of him lying in bed with a girl. And another part was asking himself if Annika were a seductress who had used these kinds of temptations on two other men already? Perhaps people could kill without having blacks and reds in their colours. After all, Reese was still learning about the colours.

The dinner conversation was sparse because Reese was mentally creating a set of rules.

1.Yes, he would lie on the bed with Annika if that made her feel safer.

2. He'd cuddle and perhaps kiss, but nothing other than that.

3. If she started taking off her clothes, he would leave the room.

4. If she came into the bedroom with her clothes off, he would leave the room.

5. He would not respond to any invitation to take his own clothes off.

Now, all he had to do was follow his own rules.

### # # # # # # # #

Annika came out of the bathroom where she had been having her bath. She was dressed in her full-length nightgown. "Your turn," she said to Reese.

The first thing that Reese noticed was that the bathroom smelled like a girl. An Annika girl precisely. He had his shower and put on his sleep shorts and a t-shirt. He came out to find Annika sitting on the near bed, a light blanket on her lap.

"I didn't know which bed you'd want."

"I'll take the far bed," he said, thinking that she'd have the bed closest to the bathroom. She had wanted that bed before. So far, so good.

She watched as he settled into the bed.

"Comfortable bed?" she asked.

"Yes. Will you get the light?"

"OK." The light in question was the one on the bed stand between the two beds.

Annika approached the light and turned it off. Then, Reese felt something sitting on the side of his bed and then she was there, thrusting a pillow near his chest. "I won't stay long and I'll sleep on top of the bedcovers. I have a blanket to keep me warm."

He felt her head land on the pillow and she cuddled into his chest. He felt with one hand and she was indeed inside a blanket. Her head came up. "Kiss, kiss," she said and he felt her lips on his lips twice. The second kiss was much longer than the first. Then, her head was on the pillow and he could smell her hair. She put her hands on his chest and then relaxed. Without knowing how this happened, Reese found himself lying on his side, his free arm and hand around Annika's blanket covered body, holding her close. She fell asleep much faster than he did.

Technically, she hadn't broken any of his rules.

### # # # # # # # #

Hank and Yolanda's house in the Montana mountains was empty, as Winnie expected. The family would be living in the ships above Toronto and that was why she had been unable to find them with the halocratic cameras. There'd be no heavenly cameras hovering in the air looking for an invisible ship.

"Nice place," Arthur commented.

"I wasn't here much when it was being built. Mom and Dad moved all of the contents of my old bedroom into a new bedroom. I haven't actually slept in it yet."

Winnie roamed around the kitchen and living room, touching things. Picking pictures up in her hands and looking.

"I'm sorry about this," Arthur said.

Winnie looked at his face. She was in her Winnie body; he was in his Arthur angelic body. He was telling the truth. He really was sorry.

She walked down the hallway to her bedroom. Arthur followed. She opened the door, entered, and turned. "No men are allowed in my bedroom," she said. "Mom's rules." Then she shut the door.

Winnie came out of the bedroom fifteen minutes later, wet eyed. She had done what she had planned to do. Arthur saw her make a last stop in her parents' bedroom where she gathered her parent's pillows in her arms and kissed them. She put them back on the bed and fluffed them up.

"I'm ready to make a decision," she said. "I need one more day in Heaven and then I'll talk with Amy Louisa."

"Ok," Arthur said. "I'll let her know."

One last long look at her home followed. If anything went wrong, and if Bean didn't agree, Winnie would never see her home again.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 19

"What do you mean that nobody is looking for Annika?" Madhuri Lee had left _Peeved Station_ and was rapidly approaching _I'm going to stomp all over your face Station._ When a mom is afraid for her daughter's life, there aren't that many stops in the express train leading to stuffing a certain police lieutenant through the paper shredder.

"Our detective has been building the case against the man guilty of killing two people. He had to travel to the United States to interview potential witnesses."

"What's does that have to do with a missing person's case? Why don't you have police searching for my daughter?"

"Well, we don't know where to search. We did talk with people in the school."

"I had already done that for you."

"She has no friends."

"Which I told you about."

"We couldn't think of anywhere else to search, but we did notify police in the area with a missing person bulletin and it has a very nice picture of Annika on it."

"How many responses did you get?"

"None."

"Did you circulate the bulletin through social media?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Doing that would generate a lot of false leads which we don't have the manpower to pursue what with our detective being in the US. We believe that if we can prove that the suspect is guilty in a criminal trial, that will allow us to convict his girlfriend who probably kidnapped your daughter. That way, we'll be able to put more resources on the search for Annika."

"More than one detective, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps two?"

"We'll definitely have two."

"On a kidnapping case. After the trial is over, will you have any new ideas where to search?"

"Probably not, Ma'am. This suspect came from Scandinavia. That's where she might be."

"And Annika might be in a shallow grave somewhere. This woman has killed before, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am. She was in the military."

Madhuri started looking for the paper shredder. One finger at a time might prompt some action.

"You could try offering a reward, Mrs. Lee."

"On my salary?"

"Do you know any rich people who would put up the money?"

### # # # # # # # #

The missing daughter that the Toronto police were not searching for was spending another day in Brisbane. Annika found flyers on a number of museums and art galleries and she produced a time schedule and itinerary. Reese had never stepped foot in any of these places and so agreed, cautiously, that he might like them.

The morning passed quickly for Annika. Less quickly for Reese, although he did find one section of the art gallery riveting. They discussed what they would do next over lunch. Reese agreed that fast food was out and said that he'd like to try Indian again. Nothing fruitful came out of the meeting, other than the dessert that consisted of rice pudding with a small grape on top. "I know what you'd enjoy this afternoon," Annika claimed. "We'll go back to the hotel."

Reese was expecting that they'd have an afternoon of game bots, so he was surprised when she led him into the casino and to the lounge at the back by the game slots. "Why don't you go in here?" she asked. "It's free for hotel guests."

The pictures on the wall made it abundantly clear what this lounge's entertainment would be.

"The stripitorium?" Reese asked. The name of the room also provided a clue on what the entertainment would be. "You want me to watch women take off their clothes?"

"I don't want you to, but I understand that this is what men like to watch. I'll go back to the hotel room and get the laundry. The hotel has some machines. Those will be better than hand washing."

"You want me to watch women take off their clothes?" Reese was still working on the offer; he hadn't gotten to the part where Annika would be doing his laundry.

"Well, you did doddle a lot when we were going through the nudes section in the art gallery."

That was true. Reese did doddle. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he was cemented in place. Reese had never seen a picture or a painting of a naked woman before. He hadn't seen a live woman naked either. Mind you, he had seen diagrams, which didn't compare well to what he saw in the art gallery. Now Annika was suggesting that he could actually watch real live women getting undressed. Those diagrams couldn't compare with live undressing.

"But won't you be upset?"

Annika was struggling with Reese's reluctance. She had thought that this afternoon's entertainment would be perfect for any man. Why was he still standing in front of her? "I thought that you'd find it educational," she offered. Annika knew that Reese was interested in new experiences, which is why he enjoyed flying to different countries.

"Educational?"

"They'll strip right in front of you if you give them a tip first." Annika thought she was being helpful. "I think you'd get a better view that way."

"Better view?" Once again, Reese's mind was working in slow mo.

"Yah. You'll get to see what a woman's body looks like. You liked that in the art gallery. You're certainly not going to see my naked body, I'll tell you that."

That comment didn't actually register in Reese's mind until they were walking down the street towards the Brisbane Entertainment Centre that featured live entertainment and music too. Entertainment where people kept their clothes on. The flyer for the afternoon matinee of _Musical hits of the 2060s_ saved Reese from thinking in slow mo for the rest of the day. When he got around to processing Annika's declaration that he wouldn't be seeing her naked body, he mentally discarded a number of his rules preventing him from being seduced.

### # # # # # # # #

Winnie wasn't spending one of her final days in Heaven looking at naked bodies, or even singing and dancing bodies. She was reading Heaven's rules. These are compiled into (currently) 379 volumes of what are called _Heavenly Protocols._ These protocols volumes are found in every heavenly building as well as online. The online versions provided a search engine. Since she knew what kind of rule she wanted to find, her search was relatively quick, but still, it consumed more than an hour. She then cleaned up her aerie and took what few personal items she had accumulated in Heaven to Bean's aerie. She spent the rest of the afternoon, looking through the halocratic camera database for news on what the Wilizy were doing. She never found Stu's office where the main decisions had been made. One such decision was being made now.

### # # # # # # # #

"The prosecution says that they're going to trial tomorrow. They've sent over a copy of all the evidence they've accumulated."

"Can you arrange a postponement, Stu? They haven't even given you twenty-four hours."

"I expected this, Hank. I'll send the messages to the Wilizy who are waiting in the States with our witnesses. They'll fly them up this afternoon and we've arranged to put them up in hotels. Is EmmaGee set to appear, Mac?"

"Yes, she knows that she'll be in the trial and is all excited about that. She has no idea what she has to do."

"Good. Let's keep it that way. Wolf and I will spend the rest of today developing the trial strategy based on what we now know the prosecution will be doing. We're in better shape than I thought we'd be. Tomorrow, Wolf will make all the copies of the documents that I'll need in trial. I'll be stuck in the courtroom."

"Will Cowboy get off?" Mac asked.

"It's a jury trial. Anything can happen."

### # # # # # # # #

That anything that could happen? It just happened. Jock was in an unexpected meeting with Madhuri Lee.

"How'd you find me, Mrs. Lee? I don't normally visit Toronto."

"It wasn't easy, I can tell you that. I remembered about the trial where my husband was found guilty. I met with you very briefly when you were trying to get information on my husband and Judge Lewis."

"I remember."

"I've since read all the information I could find on that trial. There wasn't much. But, a news release did say that the trial was conducted in a military court with the Chief Justice of the Ontario Supreme Court in attendance. That man was Hector Rodrigues and his residence is listed in the Toronto directory. I went to visit him."

"I've been at his home, Mrs. Lee. I remember climbing up a lot of stairs. How'd you get up to the door in your wheelchair."

"I left the wheel chair on the road and pulled myself up the stairs with my hands, General. Then I pounded on the door and his wife answered. She wasn't too interested in arranging a meeting. I showed her my propane torch and told her I'd be burning her house down if he wasn't at home in half an hour."

"Did she believe you? "

"I lit the torch, General. I was desperate. Her husband came and we had a friendly meeting after I gave him my torch. He even carried me into the house. I told him what had happened to my daughter, just like I've told you."

"He said that he couldn't do anything about the Toronto constabulary's delays. Right?"

"Yes, he had no jurisdiction. But I wasn't after his help. I was hoping that he could lead me to you, or to somebody who would know a woman named Yolanda. She's the woman who interviewed me."

"I know Yolanda."

"So did he. And he knew that you were in Toronto because you and he had met for dinner earlier this week. And you agreed to meet me. So here I am."

"And your daughter has been kidnapped?"

"She has disappeared. She has been either kidnapped or she's dead. She'd never be out of the house for any length of time without leaving me a note."

"What do you want from me?"

"Yolanda and I shared some things about our lives. She was very kind to me. I got the impression that she had money. I want to ask her for some money so that I can offer a reward for the safe return of my daughter. Or, so that I'd be able to pay the ransom if she's been kidnapped. I don't know if I'd ever be able to repay her."

"Yolanda isn't able to meet with you right now. She has some medical issues that prevent her from seeing anybody."

...

"Mrs. Lee?"

"She was my only hope. I don't know any other rich people. The police won't act."

Jock knew that Annika had murdered two people. Mrs. Lee's problems were only beginning. Annika hadn't been kidnapped for money, but she would likely be facing murder charges soon. The Wilizy had the proof but couldn't use it in a court of law. They'd find another way. That's what the Wilizy did. They brought criminals to justice. When necessary, they brought justice to the criminals.

"Let me talk with Yolanda's husband, Mrs. Lee. Give me your address. I'll meet you there tonight."

### # # # # # # # #

_Tonight_ was coming very quickly for the people in our story. Given the time zone difference, Australia experienced nightfall first.

Annika and Reese had supper at the hotel in one of their restaurants. Both had kangaroo steaks. Kangaroos were so plentiful in Australia that restaurants were almost paying guests to eat the steaks. After hopping down their meal, Reese and Annika had a proper dessert of ice cream with hot chocolate sauce and then left quickly to return the Brisbane Entertainment Center where they were going to watch the musical show again.

They returned to their hotel room humming some of the songs. Neither could sing worth a lick. Once again, they took turns with their bath/shower. Once again, Reese took the far bed. Annika looked at him, and he nodded agreement. Annika wrapped herself in the blanket and scooted into the bed with him. Under the covers this time. They kissed for a while, and then Annika turned over on her side. Reese cuddled up behind her and they went to sleep.

### # # # # # # # #

Heaven is on the _I don't know what time zone they use_ time zone, so I'll talk about Winnie and Bean next.

"The upgraded military body is great, Winnie. I already told you about the increased power. Today, I inserted the bone scythes and..."

"What are bone scythes?"

"Long time ago, farmers used scythes when they were cutting down their harvest. They have a handle with a very long and sharp blade attached. Bone scythes are like very sharp knife blades but they're made of angelic bone. Since they're made out of body parts, they aren't considered illegal weapons. I inserted them right at the top of the wings. If an angel is diving at a demon, the top of those wings will connect with the body first. Any kind of dive would mean the wing scythes would be going fast enough to penetrate devilian or demonic scales. They might go all the way through."

"The new body also has upgraded claws. Military angel feet have three talons. The improved body has talons that end in extremely small and sharp points. Close a set of talons around a demonic body and those talons will penetrate the scales."

"Huh."

"The best weapon, I think, is the de-scaler."

"What's a de-scaler?"

"A weapon that strips the scales off a hellish body. Their scales are all linked with the armour terminating at the bottom of the body. If you were to take a dead demon, and put a thin wedge underneath a scale, you could rip that wedge upwards and all of the nearby scales would be stripped off. That's what I did with one of the dead bodies and then I got to try it against a live body."

"The one with the retired military angel inside."

"Exactly. The de-scalers are actually sharpened bone wedges that I had to attach to the top of the angel's head. If the angel is in some sort of wrestling match with a demon, all she has to do is slip a wedge under a scale and then flip her head back. Scales would go flying. I was thinking of some martial arts moves that could be used. Once you've stripped some scales off the body, talons can shred a demon's body."

"The test went well then?"

"Yes. Very well. The military angel thanked me for my help and said that he'd recommend that I be given a full time position in the angel body assembly line. I'd be working on the new super angel bodies first."

"And you'd like that?"

"He said that I would have to field test every one of them. They'd set up some fake demon and devil bodies for me to attack."

"And you'd like that?"

"Sure. What's not to like?"

"It's mindless work on an assembly line, Bean!"

"It's better than being an angel that fluffs up feathers and vacuums out dandruff."

"When you were working on the new prototype angel body, did you ever wonder if their changes to the body would actually work?"

"No. I was just happy to learn how to graft the bones."

"Visualize those changes now. Use your military knowledge. Think critically. Will they work against a demon that is essentially an armoured tank minus the weapons?"

...

"You wouldn't want to be putting your head anywhere near a demon's hands and arms," Bean started. "The de-scalar would be very dangerous to use."

"And?"

"It's hard for an angel to change directions quickly. Diving at high speed with the bone scythe could mean getting the scythe stuck in the demon's thick body if he flinched just a fraction."

"Even I could see that weakness."

"What are you trying to say, Winnie?"

"I know something that I'm not supposed to know."

### # # # # # # # #

"Mrs. Lee."

"General. What did Yolanda's husband say?"

"I've been able to determine that your daughter is safe, Mrs. Lee. You won't have to worry about a reward or a blackmail demand."

"May I kiss you, General?"

"Ma'am, I don't know anything about your daughter's health or her location. One of my technicians is attempting to set up communications into the area where we believe she may be."

"Scandinavia, probably."

"I couldn't say, Ma'am. My technician says that we should have news about her within forty-eight hours."

"I'm serious about the kiss, General."

"My wife would object, Ma'am."

### # # # # # # # #

"What do you know that you're not supposed to know, Winnie?"

"I know what killed me."

"What killed you?"

"A demon from Hell. Arthur took me to where I could see what demons and devils look like and I saw a demon with the exact same body as what killed me. It was a very strong and heavy demon. It would have used its weight to crush me. When you attacked it with your knife, its scales would have blocked any move that you tried. It probably killed you too."

"You saw the full attack on us?"

"No. I saw a demon that had that type of body. There could be many demons with that body."

"Why would a demon attack us?"

"I don't know, Bean. I do know that it's against Heaven and Hell's truce treaty."

"How do you know that?"

"The treaty is included in the Heavenly Protocols."

"The heavenly what?"

"The list of all of the rules that Heaven has that angels are supposed to follow. Three hundred and seventy-nine volumes of them. Hell is not allowed to use their demons to tempt children under the age of fifteen to sin. They certainly aren't allowed to kill them either. I was underage and the demon deliberately killed me."

"Deliberately?"

"He landed directly on top of me, Bean. That wasn't an accident."

"Do you think Heaven knows?"

"I'll find out tomorrow. I have a meeting with Amy Louisa. Do you remember what Cowboy looks like, Bean?"

"Yes."

"Where is he now?"

"In prison."

"I watched Cowboy today. Stu came to visit him. His trial is starting tomorrow. Stu doesn't know if he can get him off. My mom is still unconscious. My brother Reese is missing. You are presumed guilty of kidnapping or murder. You'll be arrested if you are ever found by a policeman. But that's not likely to happen because both of us are dead. You've lost your chance to marry Cowboy and make little babies. I've lost the chance to even find a boyfriend let alone have a family of my own. All of this because a demon broke the law and crushed my body."

"I don't know what to say, Winnie. We can't do anything."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. There's one good thing that came out of this, Bean."

"What?"

"Do you remember how you were always afraid that when you died that you'd be punished for all of the people you killed?"

"How'd you know that?"

"I snooped in your heavenly file."

...

"Don't look at me like that! That's what I do, Bean. I snoop. You were always worried, Bean. You thought that you were a terrible person. But you weren't then and you aren't now. Amy Louisa had a big argument with a devil from Hell and she won. You are officially allowed to stay in Heaven."

"Amy Louisa fought for me?"

"Yes. You don't ever have to worry about that ever again. You'll come to Heaven."

"I'm already in Heaven."

"I meant to say that you'll come to Heaven if you ever die again."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 20

Tuesday, April 27th. Arthur flew with Winnie to the Public Relations complex next to the open air concert hall in West Downtown Heaven. Amy Louisa had an office on the top floor of the complex. The sign on her office door indicated that she was the _Third Associate Director of the Department of Personnel Satisfaction for the Bureau of Heaven/Hell Inter-Afterlivian Affairs_. The length of her title probably precluded the door from showing her name. It wasn't disclosed on her desk either, which Winnie was soon facing all by herself – Arthur having left to wait for her downstairs in the building's lobby.

The office and the furnishings were typical for Earth in the 1950s. Amy Louisa had a two-pedestal desk of some form of blonde wood or perhaps artificially stiffened cardboard. Her chair had a low backrest and two arm rests. The low backrest was a necessity in Heaven as angels had wings, which you know about. What you don't know about is that when those wings are tucked in tight to the body, it's impossible to sit in an armchair. Amy Louisa was sitting in her chair with her wings dangling behind the backrest. The chair Winnie was sitting in was the traditional government chair that accompanies every government office the world over. Minimal padding; metal arms and legs with fake wood covering the arms. Winnie saw how Amy Louisa had draped her wings over the backrest and she did the same.

"If you're wondering about the furniture, Heaven doesn't have any manufacturing capability," Amy Louisa opened the conversation. "We obtain all of our furniture and other manufactured goods from Earth. We keep our SAs busy year round."

"SAs?"

"Shopping angels. Mortals see them all the time going in and out of distress sales, garage sales, and second hand stores but don't realize that the contents of their overflowing pickups are intended for Heaven. We're on a tight budget; we can't afford to buy new furniture."

Winnie didn't know what to say. Heaven was dependent on Earth's castoffs for its furniture? Really?

"Have you chosen the family that you want to live with? Did you decide to stay Canadian? I know of a Saskatoon mother who will be giving birth within the next twenty-four hours. She's aboriginal and you'll have two brothers and three sisters. Her husband works on a farm growing peanuts. I can have you in Saskatoon within the hour. You'll live there until you're twenty years old and you'll leave the family to go to university. You'll become a nurse, probably."

"I have another idea."

"Not a nurse?"

"Not even close."

"No interruptions," Amy Louisa said to nobody in particular and a moist scented mist began to fill the office. "I moisturize my feathers every morning at about this time. Heaven's air is terribly dry. Hope you don't mind."

Winnie felt dizzy for a few seconds but that went away quickly.

"Now, what's this about another idea? You have to go back to Earth. You can't stay here."

_Like I would want to?_

### # # # # # # # #

Stu spent the day in Courtroom B – the room where Cowboy would go on trial. Today was reserved for jury selection. Prospective jurors were selected by random chance from a list of Toronto's citizens. A total of sixty were ordered to attend and these filled up all of the benches and chairs in the room. When called to sit in the witness chair, they would have the opportunity to try to decline the duty if they wanted to do that. The judge would rule. (She excluded only one citizen – a single mom with an infant baby.)

If the judge ordered the juror to fulfill his duty, the prosecution and defense lawyers would take turns at asking questions intended to give insight into how the juror would approach her duty. As the day proceeded, it was clear that the prosecution was asking questions that were intended to identify _tough on crime_ individuals and/or individuals who believed in science, such as fingerprints. Stu had his own goals that would guide him in his comments, but he wouldn't ask questions because that would reveal his overall strategy. No point in giving the prosecution advance warning.

Each lawyer could reject twenty prospective jurors. With sixty in attendance, that would mean that twenty jurors could be placed in the jury without either lawyer being able to prevent that. Stu used all of his objections to eliminate jurors that.... well, nobody actually knew what Stu was doing because he never asked any questions. Seven of the chosen jurors were women. That left five who were men and at least three of them were likely to consider forensic evidence like fingerprints to be conclusive. How much of an impact they would have in the jury room when they met to decide on a guilty or not guilty plea was unknown.

Later that evening, back at his office with Wolf, Stu confided that he had been relatively successful in choosing jurors who believed in the work ethic. People should do their job properly. There's no excuse for lazy or sloppy work.

### # # # # # # # #

Reese and Annika were back at the Brisbane Entertainment Center that was featuring a Shrek marathon that evening. Partway through the first show, Annika complained that she could feel a headache coming on and could they leave now, please?

Back at the hotel, Annika had a quick shower and re-appeared in her long nightgown. Reese helped her climb under the sheets in the bed closest to the bathroom and she curled up in a tight ball and pulled the top cover over her head. A muffled voice snuck out through an air hole.

"If I get this headache, don't touch my head. Don't turn on a light either."

Reese showered and climbed into the bed closest to the window. Noticing some light coming through a gap in the drapes, he twiddled with them to eliminate that light. Back into bed. There was light coming from the hallway, so he took the bath towels and placed them on the floor and squeezed them against the bottom of the door. The room was now absolutely pitch black. Reese used his pinky ring light to lock the hallway door securely so that no hotel staff could enter the room with a passkey and then padded back to his bed. He listened to Annika breathing steadily and eventually fell asleep.

The exact time that something removed the bedcover on top of Annika's head is unknown. She herself did not notice this. She felt no change in the bed when something climbed into bed with her but left her cocoon of bed covers still intact. She did feel the little spiders that were crawling across her face but she didn't react to them. She didn't know that those spiders were actually fingers that were lightly touching her in a soothing manner. She didn't feel the shift in weight as the something changed position so that its fingers were now pressed firmly against her cheek. She didn't hear the something as it talked to her, the words not being audible in this room but they were clear in her brain.

_You are in a deep sleep._

_..._

_You will hear nothing that can wake you._

_..._

_The boy sleeping in the bed next to you is evil._

_..._

_He will continue to spread his evil unless you stop him._

_..._

_Only you can stop him._

_..._

_I'm going to remove the bed sheets now. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_You can sit up in bed now. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_You can stand now. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_Turn and face the bed. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_Bend over and put your hand under the mattress. You will find a knife there. Take out the knife and hold it in your right hand. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_Use your pinky ring light to walk over to the boy's bed. He's facing the window. Stand as close as you can to him without touching the bed. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_You have already used a gun to bring justice to two evil people. Now you will use this knife. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_Shine your pinky ring light on his throat. You will not awake. You will not push my hand away from your face._

...

_Take the knife and stab this evil boy in his throat until he's not breathing. After you've killed him, you will awake and you will not have any headaches ever again. Tell the police that he kidnapped you and you were trying to escape. You stole the knife from a restaurant when he was in the washroom._

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 21

Savannah Sparrow was a no-nonsense, experienced judge in Toronto's courtrooms. You know how some people have physical characteristics that are completely suited to their surname? Judge Sparrow was one of those. She was tiny, with brown hair laced with white, and with a prominent pointed beak, otherwise referred to as a nose. She was so tiny that she needed a booster seat to bring her head above the judge's desk. Of course, nobody referred to it as a booster seat, but that's what it was.

If the judge looked like a sparrow, she didn't act like one. In one famous incident, she was hearing a case that involved a defense attorney who was well know for his long preambles and his even longer discourses on the legal merits of a case. At one point in a very hot afternoon, Judge Sparrow turned to her bailiff and said, "Wake me if he ever says anything pertaining to this case. Or anything intelligent for that matter." She then put her head down on her desk and pretended to sleep. At least people in the courtroom thought she was pretending. The attorney abruptly ended his monologue but the judge kept the courtroom waiting for a full five minutes. Nobody dared to say anything. Judge Sparrow could strip the bark off a tree with one well-aimed rebuke.

The prosecutor for Cowboy's case was a former professional wrestler who became tired of beating opponents with his fists and feet. He always played _the good guy_ in the wrestling fiction stories that he was part of in the ring, but found them unfulfilling as he aged. He decided to take a law degree from an online law school, which printed their degrees in stacks of five hundred at a time. In spite of some gaping holes in his knowledge of the law, he earned grudging respect from members of the Toronto bar due to his unerring knack at finding weaknesses in a defendant's testimony and then breaking out the truth with brute force. The fact that he weighed 300 pounds and he liked to loom over the witnesses with his 6 foot 8 inches body had more to do with his success than his knowledge of the bar. He was a bully, pure and simple. His name was... wait for it... Benjamin Candlestick also known as Big Ben. Not all people resemble their surnames. However, Mr. Candlestick did resemble London's imposing Big Ben tower.

The charges were read - two counts of first-degree murder meaning that Cowboy had planned the murders ahead of time. Then, Candlestick went into great detail about the two victims and how their lives had been snuffed out. And what wonderful lives those two would have had. The contributions to society they would have made; the recognitions they would have received. Both of these wonderful people had their lives cut short by this fiendish, drunken, whoring ex-sheriff.

Now this characterization of Cowboy's history in law enforcement certainly caught the attention of the jury. Naturally, Stu knew what was coming and had warned Cowboy what he would hear during the trial. Cowboy had nodded his head wisely and had responded taciturnly, "Well, smack my ass and call me a donkey." It was then that Stu changed his mind about Cowboy wearing his civilized suit and brought him his cowboy duds to wear including his Stetson.

Stu responded to the charges with a brief statement. "My client is innocent of all charges. My learned friend has been spouting fiction because he has no real case against this honourable, brave man."

The lines had been drawn. Cowboy's character was about to be assassinated.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 22

Speaking of assassination, let's return to Brisbane where Annika should be watching Reese's blood arcing out of his neck. Or not.

We had left Annika standing by Reese's bed with a knife in her hand and ready to stab. The instructions coming into her brain were overwhelmingly compelling, as my readers will have realized. You'll also have realized that the compelling instruction that was being transmitted directly into the brain had come from an afterlivian presence, a presence that had struck twice before by its own admission.

Without knowing how, or why, Annika found herself standing, wide-awake, next to Reese's bed. Annika had her pinky ring light shining on the spot in Reese's neck where the knife would do the most damage. She looked at the knife in her right hand and dropped it. It landed soundlessly on the carpet. Reese slept on, blissfully unaware.

_Pick up the knife, Annika. Stab the evil boy._

There was no instruction telling Annika to not push his hand away from her face. In preparing Annika to make the fatal knife thrust, the demon had been forced to take his hands away from her face. His message was still getting through, but not in the same intensity.

Annika was clearly awake. She was standing with her eyes open, one hand rubbing a sore spot on her neck, the other hand shaking from finding herself looking down at a circle of light that was getting more painful by the second. Had she walked here in a dream? Was she going to climb into bed with Reese? What was happening to her head?

_Don't pick up the knife, Annika. Reese is your friend._

_Pick up the knife, Annika. Stab the evil boy. He was going to make you pregnant._

_Don't pick up the knife, Annika. Reese would never do that. He likes you. You know he does because he has been trying to keep you safe._

_Pick up the knife, Annika. Kill him. He's the boy who helped convict your father. He's responsible for your father's death._

_Reese didn't convict your father, Annika. Your father was a member of a criminal family that murdered people who had discovered what they were doing._

_Kinkin. Pick up the knife. Your father wants you to kill him. Remember what he said to you when you saw him in the courthouse. He told you that he had been framed. Criminals that he had put in jail had bribed some court people and he was going to prison because of that. He told you about the two brats. I've already killed the girl. Now you have to kill the boy._

_Annika, Reese likes you. You like him. You have kissed. Trust your instincts. The knife is by your foot. Lift your foot and kick the knife under the bed._

_Annakinkin, this is your father speaking. You know it's me because I'm using your nickname. Who else would know that? Kill the boy. He lied in that trial._

_Reese was in that courtroom, Annika, but he never spoke. He's not guilty of anything. Lift your foot and kick the knife under the bed._

Annika picked her foot up and kicked the knife under the bed. Her head exploded in pain. She gulped, ran into the bathroom, locked the door and bent over the toilet.

Locked doors and solid walls may stop mortals but not immortals. The demon got there before the shoulder angel and wrapped Annika up in a tight embrace. He was touching her with his entire body, not just a hand. The shoulder angel could do nothing as the demon shredded her nightgown and saw the clothes that were hidden below. He began shredding those too.

_Did you really believe that a pair of jeans, a sweater, and a swimsuit would stop me, Annika?_

Annika began to scream, partly from the light but mostly from the demon trying to lift her into the air and take her away. Annika was hanging on to the toilet bowl seat but that grip would not last long.

_Let's take a bath, Annika. The family that bathes together, stays together._

Reese was banging at the bathroom door.

"Now would be a good time," the shoulder angel said to the walls of the bathroom.

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 23

It's still Wednesday, April 28 and the court is in recess for lunch. Hank is mind-messaging with Stu.

_William has the satellite network up and running now, Stu. It took twelve days – way more than he expected._

_Any chance of getting Annika into this trial? I need to focus attention away from Cowboy and onto her. Even raising a doubt would be enough._

_Reese has taken himself off line and the jumbo with him. He could be anywhere._

_The trial has started. We're almost out of time._

_You shouldn't count on her appearing in Toronto._

_I need to think._

...

_Any ideas, Stu?_

_The prosecutor is a beast. I'll have to disarm him._

_..._

Speaking of beasts...

### # # # # # # # #

"Did you feel that tingle?" Winnie asked Bean. They were in Toronto Park and they'd have a short walk to the Morgan crime scene after they passed a steep cliff.

"I didn't feel anything"

"I felt it in my head. It was definitely weird."

"As weird as that smell?"

Both put their noses into the air and sniffed.

"Smells nasty," Bean said.

"Yuh."

With their faces looking up, both had about a two second warning as the demon launched himself off the cliff face. It was 10:14 am, Saturday April 17. I repeat. April 17. **At the beginning of this chapter it was April 28**.

When he had planned his attack, the demon had pictured himself landing squarely on the body of the Winnie girl who had been in his trial. Her brother was supposed to be with her, at least that was what he had been told. He was also told that predicting the future was a difficult task. The unexpected introduction of a tall skinny girl didn't cause him to hesitate at all.

### # # # # # # # #

_Narrator: I should give you some background information now. We'll return to Toronto Park shortly. Judge Foster Lewis arrived in Hell in early June, 2086. He received the minimum torture pit sentence that Hell could impose – two years. At the end of those two years, he was promoted to the position of Torture Pit supervisor. He retained his soul body while proving his ability and eagerness to torture his former friends and acquaintances from the torture pits. He showed no compassion for them whatsoever._

_Judge Lewis was even more successful at torture tasks as a shoulder demon. His supervisors made the appropriate comments in his SIN file and watched as he advanced up the ranks from a light gray shoulder demon all the way up to an ink black shoulder demon. This involved twelve promotions and twelve gradations in steadily darkening colours._

_The still unnamed black shoulder demon was promoted to the position of Level 1 Apprentice Demon in January 2089. He was allowed to choose his body from various animal parts and made a wise decision as you all now know. His supervisor assigned him his name: Djdg. This was pronounced as "de judge." He wasn't the first judge to find himself in Hell – not by any stretch of the imagination. He was the first judge though who was determined to get revenge on the mortals who had put him in Hell. His favorite saying? "Here comes de judge, here comes de judge," which was not original but it certainly was catchy._

_Unlike angels who lose their mortal memories when they enter the afterlife, souls who are sent to Hell do not. It's part of their torture. All the time that they are in the torture pits, they're remembering all of the things that they did that earned them their sentence. Most souls will learn to afterlive with that and if they are plucked out of their torture pit sentence and promoted (most are not), they strive to be the worst possible demons and devils they can be. Currying favour with immediate superiors is quickly learned in the torture pits. Djdg chose a slightly different path. He pitched his plan for revenge to a full-fledged devil that Djdg happened to meet while both were spectating at "The Music of Britney Spears sing-along torture pit." (The souls in the pit had to do the singing; the demons and devils watching got to express their appreciation which meant that the souls in the pit were covered with sewer outfall which unluckily for them happened to be flammable. Spectators were encouraged to pull a soul out of the pit, light it, and then throw it back into the pit where it would ignite other souls. Note to prospective occupants of Hell's torture pits. All torture pits have seating for spectators who are encouraged to get involved. This is part of Hell's evening recreational programs. This devil that Djdg happened to meet was the devil with the Wilizy file open on his desk. His name was Blbbr. He tweaked Djdg's revenge plan and sent him off to Earth with sufficient demonic powers to get the job done._

_Now, back to Toronto Park._

### # # # # # # # #

Djdg landed right where he had aimed, but Winnie wasn't there. _Love_ , he swore under his breath. He looked around for the skinny one and she wasn't there either. Then he looked up and saw the face of an angel plummeting out of the skies at him, her wings folded back in a tactic to increase her speed. He made himself into what was effectively a chainmail covered boulder and waited for her to bounce of him. That bounce would probably stun her and that would give him the opportunity to grab her and rip her wings off. After that, he could dismember her at ease.

Instead of a bounce, he felt a searing pain in his back and an additional weight where there shouldn't have been an additional weight. He looked over his shoulder and saw the angel with the brows of her wings stuck into his back. She was struggling to pull herself free. He tried to reach her head with his left hand, but she dodged it. Then, he tried the right hand, but she dodged that too. Meanwhile she was pushing with her own hands and flapping her wings to break free. Djdg stood up, looked over his shoulder, and began to run backwards towards the cliff face, which would be a crushing end for the angel. He wasn't expecting to see another angel flying at him at full speed but at ground level. She was much smaller and her hands were thrust in front of her in a praying motion. His body shuddered as her hands struck him at groin level and then continued all the way up his body to his neck. Scales scattered in every direction. Djdg looked down and saw bloody flesh and he covered himself up with his arms to protect his vital organs. Meanwhile, the small angel was attacking the angel stuck in his back, which didn't make sense until he felt the weight of the skinny angel fall off him. He turned and ran into the trees.

In the olden times, when battles between angels and demons occurred on a semi-frequent basis on Earth, a demon with this kind of body was invulnerable so long as he could stay in safe zones like forests. An angel could not dive through the trees, nor could he fly at speed in and out of the trees. Hand to hand combat would end badly for the angel.

Djdg took stock of his injuries. The strip of raw flesh over his belly and chest was not fatal if he could avoid another attack like the first. The pain in his back was jarring but he still had mobility of his arms and shoulders. He could fight if he had to. But really, all he had to do was stay in the cover of the woods until night fell. Darkness would provide healing; darkness would also allow him to escape. He had to escape. Death along with a return to the Sorting Station was not an option. Even though his death would not be real death, Blbbr had made it clear what would happen if Djdg's plan did not succeed. "Should you be caught or killed, Hell will disavow any knowledge of your actions." This warning was taken directly from _Mission Impossible_ , which was a popular re-run show in Hell mostly because of the music. The story endings needed some work, as in the bad guys never won in the TV series. Djdg hunkered down for nightfall to arrive.

A searing pain in his back and the sight of scales flying into the air helped him to remember the small angel and her praying hands. She had flown through the trees at ground level and had once again de-scaled him, this time from butt to neck. He saw the blood coating her hands as she hovered over his head. She had some sort of weapon in her hands. He watched her as she flew in small circles over his head and just out of reach. The speed of her circles was greater than the speed of his head turns. He lost sight of her at one point, and the scales on the back of his head disappeared. Another time she flew straight for his eyes, which he covered in time, but that had been a feint. More scales on his chest disappeared. The blood started to seep out faster.

Hunkering down on the ground wasn't going to work. Djdg tried standing with his back against a tree, his hands ready to grab. The angel disappeared into the sky only to reappear with no warning at ground level and strip the scales from the back of his legs. The scales at the back of his arms disappeared next. He decided to move around in the trees, dodging her attacks. She attacked from above and descaled most of his head. When he looked up, she went after his lower body. When he looked down, a talon took out an eye, then the other eye. Now blind, he was helpless as the small angel sheep-dogged him back into the clearing where the larger angel was waiting. She grabbed his head in her talons, pushed the extremely sharp talon tips through the bones of his skull and lifted him into the air. As she soared higher and higher, Djdg found it harder and harder to breathe. The angel that was Bean began to spin in place, with Djdg's body flying in increasingly faster circles.

"Now would be a good time," somebody said.

Bean released the flying demonic body into the vacuum of space where the lack of oxygen caused immediate mortal death.

### # # # # # # # #

Back in Brisbane, Reese had been woken from a sound sleep by Annika's scream. The bedroom was still mostly in darkness with a faint light showing at the bottom of the bathroom door. Reese made it there in four strides, grabbed the doorknob, and turned it. Annika was kneeling on the floor, her hands gripping the edge of the toilet bowl's seat, and her head hovering over the bowl. Her long white nightgown was smeared with vomit from when she hadn't quite made it to the bowl in time. The rest of her nightly attire was safely in place underneath the nightgown.

If my readers are confused by the sudden repair of Annika's clothes, the explanation is simple. When Bean spun Djdg into the vacuum of space on April 17, Djdg ceased to exist as of that date. That meant that he wasn't alive on April 28. The assault in the bathroom? It didn't happen. The migraine did happen.

Reese stepped to the toilet, crouched down next to her, and started rubbing her back.

_[Narrator interlude: In my personal experience no man has ever knelt down beside me to rub my back when I have been "indisposed." The normal male reaction to female indisposition is for him to run outside and check whether the irrigation system for the lawn is working properly. Reese is obviously not a normal male.]_

Annika paused in her hymn to the god-like bowl and looked at the man rubbing her back. Reese couldn't help himself and recoiled at what he saw. Her colours were horribly black with blood red streaks slashing in broad strokes from one side of her face to the other. He had never seen colours this bad before. Annika groaned and continued on to the second verse of her hymn. When she was able to look up again at Reese, her colours were white with some yellows and small spots of black.

"The light," Annika groaned. "Turn the light off, Reese. It's killing me."

Reese took her words literally. He turned the light off, exited, and shut the door. It took only a few seconds to tighten his brain plug. _Doc, I'm in Australia. Annika's dying._

### # # # # # # # #

Bean spiraled down in large circles to where Winnie and Amy Louisa were hovering high in the sky but still well above the altitude where mortal eyes might see them.

"Are you OK?" Winnie asked Bean.

"All that spinning made me dizzy. Will he explode or something?" This question was directed at Amy Louisa.

"No, the trajectory of his dead mortal body is towards the sun. Judge Lewis' demonic soul will gradually fall into an orbit around the sun. Eventually, the demonic soul will starve from lack of darkness."

"That makes him dead, dead, and dead," Winnie said. "What about our agreement?"

"Bean was right. We need to rethink the new body."

"Forget the bone scythe altogether. It's too hard to aim," Bean suggested. "The extra power in the body was good. Also, the new sharp talons. I had no trouble pulling him into the stratosphere while holding firmly onto him."

"The new de-scaler?"

"That was Winnie's suggestion."

"The de-scaler is much easier to aim at high speed if it's in an angel's hands," Winnie reported. "I put the two de-scalers together to create a broader path of damage, but they'll work with both hands working independently."

"Did you have enough training time on the new body, Winnie?"

"It was plenty, but I've been flying since I was about seven years old. What about Bean's team approach?"

"She was right. Having a small angel teamed up with a big angel gives the team a chance to operate in different and unfriendly environments. I'll report your findings to the prototype team."

"What about my plan? Did it work?"

"When you went back in time and prevented Djdg from killing you, you changed the future, but in a minimal way. Your mother will recover. Your brother has already come out of hiding. He's all right. There will be some questions from Hell about Djdg's death, but we can handle those. You're going to get what you wanted."

"And you were able to enforce one of your treaty's major rules. Will that help you with Hell?"

"I'll make sure Blbbr knows why we sent Djdg on a one way ride into the sun. We have halocratic evidence if he raises a stink."

"What about Cowboy?" Bean asked.

"His future lies in the hands of his lawyer. You can never tell with jury trials."

"And us? We kept our end of the deal."

"You will both be returned to Earth and your future will play out as though nothing had happened. Your explanation for your disappearance will be as follows: When the two of you sensed some danger in Toronto Park, Bean jumped into Winnie's sling and the two of you flew off. The sling had been damaged by the solar flare and Winnie couldn't control it. You crash landed safely but you were far from any population centers. Your communications weren't working. You had to walk out."

"When do we go home?"

"Now."

There were two little pops in the air and then Amy Louisa was flying by herself. _Silly me. I forgot to mention that they won't remember anything about their last twelve days in Heaven. The part of Winnie's plan that she tried to hide from me won't work._

Have I already mentioned to my readers that Heaven is all-knowing?

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 24

It's still Wednesday and the Toronto courtroom is filling up again after the lunch recess. All of the preliminary matters had been concluded that morning. Judge Sparrow had instructed the jury on the importance of being objective and fair. Both lawyers had made opening statements. It was now time for the prosecution to make its case.

Since my readers already know what the prosecution is going to claim, I'll just give you the highlights.

Stan Knight, the police force's forensic expert, testified that both of the victims died from bullets that came from one of Cowboy's guns. He then went on to describe the tests that had been done and how these findings were impossible to refute.

Stu's cross-examination was succinct.

"Can you say without any doubt whatsoever that my client shot the guns that killed the two men?"

"No, I can't."

"What would you need to be able to prove that my client shot those guns?"

"I would need fingerprints on the murder weapon that matched the finger prints of your client."

"Do you have those?"

"No. We found no fingerprints on the murder weapon. This is common. Criminals normally wipe their fingerprints off."

"So, your evidence is essentially worthless because you have nothing linking my client to the firing of those guns."

The prosecutor jumped into action. You may visualize him jumping over the ropes to come to the assistance of his tag team wrestling partner. "I wouldn't say _worthless_. He is the owner of the gun after all."

"Mr. Prosecutor, is that your briefcase on the floor by your left foot?"

"Yes."

"At lunch time, somebody stole a sandwich from the cafeteria. Police are investigating and expect to make an arrest soon. Mr. Prosecutor, would you open your brief case please?"

"This is ridiculous."

"Judge?"

"I'm curious to see where this is going. Open the briefcase, Mr. Candlestick."

He did.

"Is that a sandwich inside?"

"Yes."

"Is it a cafeteria sandwich?"

"Yes."

"Judge, I would like to make a citizen's arrest. That briefcase holds a stolen object. Mr. Candlestick owns that briefcase. Obviously, he stole the sandwich."

"Judge, that's ridiculous. There's no evidence to support such an accusation. Somebody else stole the sandwich and snuck it into my briefcase. Can we get back to the case now?"

"I point out to the jury that the prosecutor agrees with me that ownership of something that has been used in a crime is not sufficient to prove guilt in committing that crime. The defense thanks you for your help, Mr. Prosecutor. May I have my sandwich back now? I have the receipt right here."

### # # # # # # # #

The prosecution had moved on to describing the two crime scenes. Detective Tubb had testified to how and when the graves had been found and what was in them. The collapsible shovel had featured prominently in the account as had Cowboy's acquisition of two such shovels and the presence of only one such shovel in his apartment. It was Stu's opportunity to cross-examine now.

"As I understand it, my client willingly told you where he had acquired the shovel that you found in his apartment. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"If my client had used that shovel to bury some bodies that he had murdered, wouldn't revealing that be rather stupid?"

"Criminals make mistakes all the time."

"So you had already concluded without any real evidence that my client was a criminal."

"Not at that time. But my suspicions were raised."

"So you went to the camping store and determined that my client had been given two such shovels."

"Yes. And only one of them was in his apartment."

"Did you ask him where his second shovel was?"

"No."

"Why was that?"

"In criminal cases such as this, possession of a common object like this cannot prove conclusively that the criminal had used that object in the commission of the crime. We consider it _soft evidence_."

"It would reinforce your suspicions."

"Exactly."

"So, you consider such evidence as worthwhile, even though it's not conclusive."

"Yes."

"Let's see how worthwhile it is. Did you ask the camping store how many shovels of that make, model and colour they had sold in the last... say year?"

"No."

"Would knowing the number of similar shovels that had been sold have given you a sense of how likely it would be to find such a shovel in a place where a body had been buried?"

"We didn't need that information."

"Did you visit any other camping stores to determine how many shovels they had sold that were of this make model and colour?"

"No. I was only concerned in establishing that the accused owned one."

"Would you like to take a guess on how many of these shovels have been sold in Toronto in the last year?"

"Detectives don't guess."

"Four camping stores sell this brand. A total of 868 such shovels were sold in Toronto in the last year. Judge, my assistant is distributing Defense Exhibit #1. These are affidavits that document the number of sales at 868."

"Detective Tubb, this means that the shovel you found in that grave site has a 1 in 868 chances of belonging to my client. That works out to be far less than a 1 percent probability. That's how accurate this evidence is. Tell me Detective Tubb, did you think of asking the camping store for information on the people who had purchased those shovels. The store manager said you didn't. Judge, my assistant is circulating his signed statement to this effect. This is Defense Exhibit #2. You didn't ask him, did you Detective Tubb?"

"No."

"Why not? Any one of those purchasers could have been the murderer. Wouldn't you want to know that information so that you could broaden your search for the killer?"

"We had our suspect already."

"Based on that shovel, there are 867 other suspects who could be murderers. Can you tell me with certainty that none of those shovel owners knew the men who had been murdered. Would finding such a link between another shovel owner and the men who were murdered have been useful to you? Would that have pointed you towards other suspects besides my client?"

...

"Detective Tubb?" the judge prodded.

"Yes, I would have looked at such a person."

### # # # # # # # #

_Reese. Is it OK to come in?_

_Yah. It's unlocked, Mathias. Don't turn on the light._

_Kashmira is with me._

_S'alright. Come in, but don't make any noise._

_..._

_Doc asked me to tell you that he couldn't come because he has to testify at Cowboy's trial. You said something to him about Annika having a migraine?_

_A very bad one. She's innocent, you know._

_You'll have to sort things out with the family yourself, Reese. I'm only here to help you with Annika's migraine._

_You know, Reese, some women..._

_It's not that, Kashmira. Annika and her mom ruled that out. Her mom was going to try and arrange an appointment with a migraine specialist._

_Doc says that she shouldn't fly. The change in altitude could make things worse._

_I can't image it being worse, Mathias. She was lying on the bathroom floor crying and hurling at the same time. I only managed to get her onto the bed half an hour ago. She's sleeping but wakes up, moans and then goes back to sleep._

Kashmira noticed a smell and followed it to the bathroom. She went in, turned the light on, and began washing the floor. She began a conversation with Reese from there.

_How long was she throwing up?_

_Too long. She was empty and still heaving._

_Reese, she needs proper medical care. Mathias and I shouldn't be playing doctor._

_When I was buying for the family, the good hotels often had first aid people on staff. Or they knew how to get help from the community. I can go downstairs and ask._

_Both of you should do that. Leave me alone with Annika. Her nightgown needs washing. A sponge bath wouldn't hurt either. Reese you need to change clothes too._

_She just got to sleep, Kashmira._

_I'll sing to her. That should keep her sleeping. She may appreciate feeling clean. The bathroom is clean now. Reese, you can change in here. Put your dirty clothes in the bathtub and then leave us alone. Don't the two of you dare come back into the room without checking with me first._

_..._

_Why were you wearing a swimsuit, sweater, and jeans under your nightgown, Annika?_

### # # # # # # # #

Back to the trial.

The prosecutor called Helena's butcher to the stand. Tubb had told his lieutenant and the prosecutor that the butcher's testimony would bury Cowboy. They might not have motive, but they would have character defects in abundance thanks to the butcher's evidence. The three of them made an impressive trio: a butcher, a Baker, and a Candlestick. Plus they had a Tubb. Rub-a-dub dub.

_[I bet you didn't see that coming.]_

\----

Helena's butcher is now on the stand.

"The sheriff frequented a whore house in Helena, you say?"

"Just about every night."

"Did he pay?"

"I saw him paying for drinks but not for the whores."

"And he let the whore house operate openly."

"Yes. Everybody knew what it was. The whores doubled as strippers and then took their clients upstairs."

"Nobody in town said anything?"

"I believe they were too scared of the sheriff to do anything."

"Why would that be?"

"One of the town whores set up business in a ranch outside of town and married the rancher. The sheriff would visit her there."

"The rancher didn't say anything about that?"

"He wasn't there. The sheriff had thrown him in jail. He had his own private whore house until the rancher was let out of jail and came back to his ranch."

"What happened then?"

"Sheriff shot him dead. Nobody would stand up to the sheriff. He could whip any man in town."

"Whip as in use a whip to beat them?"

"No. He beat them with his fists. He seemed to take a lot of pleasure in that."

"Back to the murder of the rancher. Where'd the shots go that killed him?"

"Straight through his forehead."

"That's interesting. Did you know that the men the sheriff is accused of killing here in Toronto were shot through the forehead too?"

"No, I didn't know that. Doesn't surprise me though. He was a very good shot. Had him a sniper rifle and knew how to use it."

"Was Helena a peaceful town?"

"Yes, but that's because the entire city was scared of him. He openly solicited bribes, you know. He had a big feed trough with a sign saying _Place bribes here_."

"Was everybody in the Sheriff's Department involved in bribery?"

"Mostly him. He had a bunch of youngsters that he used. Called them his deputies. One time, they came into the saloon and started shooting it up."

"So he gave them guns with live bullets. How young were these deputies."

"They were twelve years old maybe."

"Anything else that bothered you about the sheriff?"

"A woman in town murdered some old hermits. He knew it too. He never charged her with anything. The whole town knew what she had done."

"But they were too scared to act."

"Yah. He looks nice and pleasant, but get him riled up and you better start hiding."

"The town couldn't do anything?"

"No. Some nearby sheriffs came through Helena. We thought that they were going to investigate him and charge him with murder. The sheriff must have known that his days were numbered because he disappeared at that time. I guess he came to Toronto so that he'd be safe from prosecution."

"Your witness, Counsellor."

"I have no questions of this witness, Judge. I do reserve the right to cross examine him later."

"Prosecution rests, your honour."

"It being late in the day, we'll adjourn. Defense will present its case tomorrow morning."

"Any chance of a delay, Judge? One of our witnesses is out of town and needs medical care."

"No delays, Counsellor."

### # # # # # # # #

A couple of hours later: _TO ALL WILIZY. Yolanda has her eyes open but she's very disoriented. Doc says that she's not in any condition right now to hear about Winnie and Bean. Updates to follow when we have something definitive to say._

### # # # # # # # #

Detective Louie Tubb and Lieutenant Thomas Baker were celebrating in advance in a local bar.

"Nice touch to hold back my notes from Helena to the last minute, Thomas. The defense lawyer didn't even try to cross-examine. No way he can travel down to Helena and get back in time for tomorrow."

"The judge saw through the sick witness excuse for postponing the trial. Waste of time trying. Your witness is solid, right Louie?"

"I found him the first night I arrived. The sheriff had caught him raising sheep in his ranch and threatened to expose him. Apparently, it's illegal to raise sheep or even eat them in Montana. They guy had to give up his ranch and start butchering instead. He doesn't like the sheriff very much."

"Did you talk to any other witnesses?"

"Didn't have to. The whorehouse is right in the middle of town; it has strippers who take men upstairs. They also double as waitresses and walk around almost naked."

"The sheriff had quite the racket going, didn't he?"

### # # # # # # # #

It's Wednesday at 10 pm. Madhuri Lee opened her door to a sharp rat-a-tat knock and found General Jock MacLatchie standing there. He had two companions with him.

"General, would you like to come in?"

"We have no time, Mrs. Lee. Your daughter is in Brisbane Australia and she is safe. She was not kidnapped; she left willingly with somebody she knew. She did try to send a note to you but that didn't work for some reason."

Jock had to pause because Mrs. Lee was raining kisses on his hands. You can imagine a cement statue standing in front of an open door and that will be pretty close to what General MacLatchie looked like. Why the hands? Because that's all Madhuri could reach from her wheel chair. Jock gently rescued his hands and put them behind his back while remaining rigidly at attention.

"It's not all good, Mrs. Lee. Annika has become very ill with an extreme migraine headache. We are..."

"She has had these before," Madhuri interrupted. "They go away if she stays in the dark."

"This one is not going away, Mrs. Lee. Our people have managed to sedate her, so she is not feeling pain, but it's clear the migraine is still there. The hotel where Annika is staying had a medical researcher named Bachinski staying overnight. This doctor has looked at her but only superficially. She works for a private clinic in Melbourne that is well known for cutting edge technology. Before she can do anything, she will need to examine your daughter closely and for that, she needs your permission. We cannot fly Annika to Melbourne; the change in altitude could be dangerous for her. Dr. Bachinski has contacted her clinic and has instructed an assistant to bring some emergency equipment to Brisbane in case she is able to help. She will need you there."

"I..."

"Mrs. Lee, I know people who have a new type of airplane that can fly you to Australia. This lady with me is Marie and she will accompany you to make sure that you yourself do not become overly stressed on what will be a long trip. Don't be concerned if you get drowsy on the flight; long trips tend to do that to people. The lieutenant here will take care of the piloting. You can call him Lucas. If you wish to pack a few things, we'll get you on your way."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 25

It's Thursday morning and we're in the Toronto courtroom. Stu has just asked the owner of Fuzzy's Pub a question about the whores in his establishment. The town's justice of the peace, mortuary owner, and mayor are also on the stand.

"You're telling me that I shouldn't call them whores?"

"How'd you like it if I called you an _ambulance chaser_?"

"I'd consider it an insult."

"So would the young businesswomen who work in my bar."

"And in the bedrooms above your bar."

"That too. They aren't whores. They are businesswomen who are working very hard to earn enough money to leave a town that holds no future for them. A larger center will give them a future."

"As a call girl?"

"No. Once they leave Helena, they leave that part of their life behind. They'll be living in a big enough place where they can find a husband if they wish, or they can find a job that is fulfilling if they wish that."

"In the meantime, you're their pimp. You take part of their income."

"I pay them for waitressing and for stripping. I charge them rent on the room they use because they need to learn how businesses operate. If they're going to be successful as young businesswomen, they have to know about expenses and income. When they leave, I give them their rent money back as a cash gift that will help them get started in their new career."

"Can you prove any of that?"

"Ask Patty. She's sitting outside waiting to be called."

"I plan to. Do the town people tolerate this?"

"They do more than tolerate; they help. Most of the town will be in Fuzzy's six to ten times a month. The town women will applaud a stripper and slide her a tip. They don't mind if she takes a man upstairs because that man will not be a husband of any woman in town. Nor will he be underage. Nor will he be drunk at the time. There's not much in town for young bachelors to do. My businesswomen provide them with an outlet that doesn't involve hitting on the town wives. There are never any complaints to the sheriff about that. All women can walk the street at night without fear of being accosted or assaulted. In part, that's because of my business women and in part because of Cowboy."

"I heard he was in the bar a lot."

"If there was going to be trouble, it would start in the bar."

"Did he drink a lot?"

"No."

"The court heard yesterday that he went upstairs but didn't pay."

"He didn't go upstairs unless a patron became rowdy. He never visited with any of my entertainment employees."

"We heard that one of your former employees set up shop, so to speak, in a ranch out of town. The sheriff visited her frequently."

"You'll have to ask her about that. She's outside waiting."

"In your capacity as justice of the peace, did you have occasion to see a corpse that died at the hands of the sheriff and his deputy."

"I did."

"You didn't bring charges against either of them. Why not?"

"Because they were defending a citizen. The man they killed had tried to kill his wife. He was armed. The sheriff warned him to drop his weapon. He charged the sheriff and the deputy with his gun blazing. They acted in self defense."

"Sez who?"

"Sez the person they were protecting."

"He was killed by two bullets through his forehead, I understand."

"No. The bullets went into his chest. Nobody in Montana would try to stop a charging gun shooting man with a headshot. You'd aim for the largest body mass. The chest. Whoever told you that isn't from Montana, or else he's lying.

"The sheriff had town youngsters acting as deputies?"

"Yup. Part of their training as military cadets. We didn't actually need them but a nearby military camp asked us to help educate them. We had several groups of them go through."

"Did they ever shoot up a saloon?"

"No. We only have one bar in town and I'm in it every night. Some youngsters came in once with the Sheriff and the deputy to deal with a motorcycle gang. The youngsters fired their weapons safely to get the bikers' attention and to show them that they were surrounded."

"Did the sheriff offer to take bribes?"

"That's part of our Christmas festival when we collect money for town improvements, like hiring medical personnel. The sheriff's department acts as judges for the contests and competitions. It's just a way to ask for donations."

"Your witness, Mr. Prosecutor."

Big Ben, the prosecutor, took up station in front of the witness chair. Fuzzy was not a small man, but he was sitting down. Big Ben was towering over him. Part of the intimidation tactic.

Stu stood up and spoke before Big Ben sounded. "Your honour, a courtesy for the witness?" Before the judge could respond, Stu strode across the courtroom with a pink umbrella in hand and gave it to Fuzzy. "You'll need this if he starts spraying." Fuzzy opened the umbrella and held it over his head.

"Your honour! I object!"

Turns out that there's no law against having an open umbrella in the courtroom.

### # # # # # # # #

_Yolanda is sitting up. We're trying some soup. She's not talking yet. Granny says that there's too many of us in the room. Melissa and Granny will keep us posted._

_What's happening in Brisbane?_

_Annika's mom has arrived._

_That was fast._

_Marie put her to sleep and Lucas took the plane into warp drive. The time zone differences will mask what he did. She won't notice how quickly they got there._

_What about that private clinic?_

_Mathias saw the clinic name on the packages of equipment arriving from Melbourne. He had heard about them. They have a series of scholarships for people in his school looking to go into medical research. This Doctor Bachinski is high up on the staff list according to their web page._

_Any word on if she can do anything for Annika?_

_She's examining her now. Madhuri is with Annika._

_How'd Madhuri greet Reese?_

_She gave him a hug and said she was glad to see him again._

_Marie must have put a lot of ooomph into the sleep spell._

_I don't think Madhuri has any idea of what is waiting for Annika back in Toronto._

_Is Reese still claiming she didn't commit two murders?_

_Reese isn't saying anything to anybody._

_What's happening in the trial?_

_Stu has called his second witness to the stand._

### # # # # # # # #

"Patty, I understand that you were operating a house of ill repute outside of town and the Sheriff visited you frequently. Did he pay you for the sex, or did he just take what he wanted?"

"I was operating a ranch with no hope of success is what I was doing. There was no house of ill repute. It was a dead-end decrepit old ranch. I had left Fuzzy's behind me and had married this rancher guy. Afterwards, I found out he liked to beat women half to death. The sheriff sent him to prison for doing that to me. The sheriff came out every now and then to see how I was doing. Brought some supplies with him in case I was running short; helped with some chores. I fed him. Him and his dog. If that's considered sex, then yes I had sex with him."

"You've left your ranch life behind now?"

"My husband was let out of prison and the sheriff was told that he was on his way to see me. My husband blamed me for getting caught beating me. Sheriff came out with his deputy and protected me. My loving husband burst into my bedroom in the middle of the night and shotgunned my bed. If it hadn't been for the sheriff, I'd be dead."

"Did the sheriff and his deputy snipe him from the dark? I understand that they were excellent marksmen."

"Sheriff warned him that he was there. He told him to put the gun down. My idiot of a husband Zeke decided to shoot and run at the same time. He wasn't smart enough to walk and talk at the same time. Sheriff and his deputy killed him before he could kill them."

"Bullets through the forehead, I understand."

"You obviously don't live in the west. You don't try a head shot at a charging man. You go for the chest. Anybody tell you different, they're an easterner, or they're lying. Sometimes they're both."

"You don't live near Helena any longer?"

"Sheriff knew somebody in Butte who could help me get into a school for nurses. I'm one year into the program and I have a boyfriend. Fuzzy gave me my rent money back and that's how I'm paying for the school. Plus I saved a lot from my work in the bar. Fuzzy is keeping an eye on my ranch for me. When I'm finished with my training, I'm coming back to Helena to be the town nurse. My boy friend wants to work the ranch. He knows what I used to do."

"Your witness, Counsellor."

As Big Ben approached with his clapper ready to swing, Patty pulled three spray bottles out of her purse and put them on the closest flat surface she could reach. That flat surface was the judge's desk. Judge Sparrow picked up a bottle and read the label. "Antiperspirant?"

"In case he reeks on me," Patty pointed at the approaching prosecutor with her chin. "I've heard about him."

"Your honour! I object!"

Turns out that there's no law against having three antiperspirant bottles in the courtroom.

### # # # # # # # #

The news in Brisbane must have been good because the doctor's assistant bustled off to scout out locations for a temporary operating room. Short pudgy fellow with red hair. Dr. Bachinski herself was quite tall, oval face, and her brown hair pulled back into a bun. She had a nice smile and was warm and friendly to everybody. Touchy-feely type of person.

The hotel offered to give the doctor space in one of their large meeting rooms. The assistant bustled around getting the boxes from Melbourne into the room. As part of that, he had a big sign fastened to the door: _Operating room. Do not enter without being decontaminated first._

Madhuri was worried about what would happen with all the bright lights of the operating room. Would that cause her pain? Dr. Bachinski assured her that Annika would be totally unconscious. All the indications from her examination suggested that a small brain tumor was causing the migraines. The first thing that she'd do in the converted operating room would be to scan for that tumour. If she found one, she'd have to see how big it was and whether it had spread to know how to deal with it. If it were small, she had equipment that would remove the tumor without leaving a scar but that equipment was very hush-hush and she couldn't say anything more. If all went well, the operation would be over in three to five hours.

While they waited for the operating room to be ready, Dr. Bachinski tried to keep Madhuri from worrying by chit chatting with her. How did she like Toronto? Was it hard getting around in her wheelchair? How was she injured? How much of her body was injured. Things like that.

Annika remained unconscious while four husky hotel men took her away on a stretcher. They came back shortly afterwards and removed the bed that she had been sleeping in. That bed would serve as the operating room table. Mathias and Kashmira offered to keep Madhuri company and they left the hotel for the Indian restaurant that Reese recommended.

### # # # # # # # #

"Mrs. Saunders, I understand that you killed and mutilated the bodies of three men."

"I did, but not in that order."

"What order then?"

"I knocked them out with the butt of Sheriff's pistol, mutilated them, and then they died."

"You stole the sheriff's pistol?"

"No, he gave it to me."

"He knew what you were planning to do?"

"He watched me mutilate the first one."

"And he didn't arrest you when you got back to Helena?"

"No. His deputy put me together with a friend who could help me recover."

"You were feeling guilty about your three murders?"

"No. I've never felt guilty about that. If I were put in that situation again, I'd mutilate them again."

"In what situation did you find yourself?"

...

Mrs. Saunders spoke at some length, looking hard at the seven women in the jury box as she did.

"Justice is swift in Montana," she added when she had finished her graphic account. "Those same three men had kidnapped and raped another woman before. They bragged to me about that. She died. They got what they deserved. I killed them humanely. I made sure that they didn't suffer. They were unconscious when I relieved them of what they had used to attack me."

"Sounds like what you would do when you had to put down an animal."

"They were lower than animals. Animals don't do what those men did to me."

"Your witness."

Big Ben rose and started lumbering towards the witness stand. Mrs. Saunders put a hand down her right boot and pulled it out carrying a big honking knife. She put the knife on the flat surface closest to her. That would be the judge's desk.

"I should warn you," she warned. "It's only been seven months since those men ruined my life. I still wake up screaming in the middle of the night. With one exception, I can't tolerate any man touching me. My husband has left me because he doesn't understand why I won't have sex with him."

"One exception?"

"I hugged the sheriff every time he came to visit after he rescued me. He saved my life and by letting me get immediate justice, he saved my sanity. He doesn't visit me any more because he left town. Sherriff, I need my hug."

Cowboy obliged.

"You on the other hand...." Mrs. Saunders turned to the prosecutor who had stopped mid-lumber. "I heard how you bully witnesses. You come anywhere near me and I'll be grabbing that knife."

"Your honour! I object!"

Turns out that there's no law about having a big honking knife in the courtroom so long as it's sitting on the judge's desk.

With seven women in the jury box still wiping their eyes, the prosecutor wisely decided to return to his desk. "I have no questions for this witness."

"We'll break for lunch."

### # # # # # # # #

"Did you want anything to eat?" Marie had gone looking for Reese and found him sitting on the sand of a beach near the hotel. "We have hours yet to wait."

"I know."

"Do you have a favorite restaurant?"

"I'm not hungry, Marie."

"You're not doing yourself any good sitting here, Reese. Why don't we go back to your hotel room? You can sit on a comfortable bed at least."

"OK."

...

"Your dad asked me to talk with you privately."

"Yeah. I figured that was why you wanted me to come back to the hotel."

"He would be here himself except he needed to be with your mom. She's awake, you know."

"Yeah, I heard. Does she know what I've done?"

"No."

"Probably best."

"Your dad wants me to tell you that he admires you for sticking up for what you believe is right."

"He does?"

"Yes. You should consider yourself hugged and rewarded with two hearty male thumps on your back to make you feel appreciated. I don't do thumping hugs."

"Does he agree with me that Annika is innocent?"

"No, he doesn't. He can't get past the TiTr scene of her killing those two people. It's definitely her, Reese."

"Does everybody in the family hate me?"

"Why would they?"

"Because Cowboy is on trial and Stu would use Annika to prove he was innocent, but he can't cause I snuck her out of Toronto so I'm putting Cowboy in danger of going to jail."

"So you decided to have her disappear until after the trial. You were hiding her from Stu."

"Yes. Stu will prove Cowboy is innocent; he always wins his court cases."

"When he wins, do you believe that it will be safe for Annika to reappear?"

"Yes."

"But she'd still be a murderer. What were you planning to do about that?"

"She wasn't a murderer. She couldn't be. Not with her colours. At least that's what I thought when I snuck her out of Toronto."

"That's what you thought? Do you think differently now?"

"Yeah, I do. She was hiding her true colours. She murdered those two men exactly like the TiTr scenes show."

"How did she hide her true colours?"

"I don't know. I didn't believe people could do that."

"What are her true colours?"

"Deep black with slashes of bloody red."

"You actually saw them?"

"Yes."

"Where? When?"

"In the bathroom. She was throwing up in the toilet bowl and I went in to help her. I guess I caught her by surprise because when she raised her head, I saw the bad colours. Then, she turned back to the bowl. The next time she looked up, they were gone. She had hid them again. I don't know if she realizes that she revealed herself to me or not."

"Can you show me where she was when you saw the bad colours?"

...

"Here"

"And she was kneeling facing the bowl. Like this?"

"Yes."

Marie took a deep breath through her nose. "This floor has been washed recently."

"Kashmira washed the bathroom. There was vomit all over."

"Is there any other place in the hotel room where she might have had her real colours showing?"

"No. Not that I know."

"Step out of the bathroom for a bit, would you Reese?"

...

"Whoa. I thought you were an alligator lady."

The big black panther ignored him. It put its nose against the floor and sniffed everything. Then, it stepped into the tub and out again. Out into the hallway it went, sniffing as it went. A pause by the closet door was accompanied by a semi growl. Reese opened the door and watched the panther smell the floor and then stand up on its hind legs and smell the walls. The space where Annika's bed had been was next. That didn't take long. The panther sneezed a couple of times. Dust bunnies.

The space by the window was next. There was enough space for the panther to walk beside the bed. Reese lost sight of its body when it crouched down on the floor, but he could hear it sniffing.

"Reese," an upright Marie asked. "Where did this knife come from?"

"I have no idea. I didn't know it was there."

"Reese, everybody has a very distinctive smell to a panther. This bed smells of you. The area around the other bed smells of Annika. The bathroom smelled only of cleaner. This knife has two smells. Annika's and somebody else's. Not yours. Did anybody else come into this room recently?"

"Nobody that I know of. We were gone a lot of the time though."

"Cleaning staff?"

"No. We chose the option to clean our own room and re-use the towels. Much cheaper that way."

"You dad is proud of you once again, Reese."

"Somebody else touched that knife?"

"Yes. Before Annika touched it. Her smell is stronger."

"Can you tell who?"

"No. But I can tell what."

"I don't understand."

"Here's all you need to know, Reese. You were right. Annika did not murder those two people!"

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 26

"You have heard the prosecutor defame my client's character. You were asked to believe the testimony of a single witness. In the first part of my defense, I have taken all the slurs and insults that my client had to listen to and I have shown you that they are false. You have heard three witnesses speak highly of Helena's former sheriff. They talk about him being a good man to the point where I saw tears in some of your eyes. But, I have yet to address the two murder charges that the prosecutor has lodged against him. I will do that now. Frankly, the more I see this prosecutor at work, the more I like dogs....... and dogs lick their own genitals."

The judge's gavel got a thorough workout and Stu was reprimanded. That reprimand might have had more of an impact on the jury if Judge Sparrow hadn't erupted with a huge guffaw after the genital comment.

"The defense calls Detective Tubb to the stand."

...

"As I understand it, you were the only person assigned to this case. You chose which witnesses to question, which leads to follow, and which leads not to follow. Is that correct?"

"I was under the supervision of Lieutenant Baker."

"But he left you plenty of room to run your own investigation. Because you're an experienced, competent detective, right?"

"Yes."

"So I guess it must have come as quite a surprise to you that your one witness who attested to the character of my client was so grossly incorrect on everything he said."

"I wouldn't say grossly incorrect. People's opinions often vary."

"So, how many people in Helena did you interview about my client's integrity? Was it only the one person?"

"Yes. I found his testimony compelling."

"You'd be the only one in this courtroom with that opinion. Tell me, Detective. How many other witnesses in Helena do you think that you'd have had to interview to find out what the citizens of Helena actually thought of their former sheriff?"

"Detectives don't speculate."

"But detectives are supposed to be thorough seeing as how they hold the life of a suspect in their hands. I will answer my own question for you. Since everybody in Helena knows everybody's business, you would have had to interview only one more citizen to find out that Mr. Butcher's testimony was completely inaccurate."

"Objection: Speculation. Assumes evidence not introduced. Defensive counsel is testifying for his client."

"Sustained. Move on, Counsellor."

"Let's look at Harry Morgan. Sterling character? Hard worker? A neighbour that anybody would want?"

"Yes, that was the information that I discovered about him."

"How many people did you interview?"

"Must have been more than twenty."

"Let me rephrase the question. How many people did you interview who told you something other than _I don't know this man_ , or words to that effect."

"I'd have to consult my notes."

"I have consulted your notes for you. The only person you interviewed who provided any information at all was Mr. Morgan's employer. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that sounds correct."

"So, let me make sure I have this right. You interviewed one witness in Helena who proved to be totally inaccurate in his opinions. You interviewed one person in Toronto about Mr. Morgan. Based on that one person, you were able to rule Mr. Morgan out as a suspect, I take it."

"He was never a suspect. He was a victim. I wasn't trying to accuse him of anything. I just wanted to determine if the defendant had any motive to murder him, seeing as how his gun had killed him."

"Did you find any motive?"

"No."

"Wow. I'm surprised. You have accused my client of murder and you have absolutely no idea why he might have murdered him. Don't you need a motive to bring an accused person to trial?"

"No. Your client had opportunity and means. These are sufficient."

"Had Mr. Morgan lived a long time in Toronto?"

"His records with his employer only went back three years."

"And you couldn't find any evidence of his employment or residency before that?"

"No. As I have said. He was not a suspect."

"How did you identify him?"

"His copter driving license and health care number were in his wallet."

"Did you notice the date on which those were issued?"

"No."

"I noticed that both of them were issued on the very same day, February 14, 2086. Judge, my assistant is passing around the necessary verified copies of my findings. These are Defense Exhibit #3. Does that single date surprise you?"

"No. He might have moved into town on that date."

"Did you attempt to find out where he had been living before?"

"No. As I have said, Mr. Morgan was not a suspect."

"Did you happen to think that getting more background on Mr. Morgan might reveal why he might have been murdered. Wouldn't that have been useful in narrowing your search for the killer?"

"All I had was the information in his wallet. I went with what I had available."

"But you had more information on Mr. Morgan. You must have seen it when you looked over his body."

"His clothes gave no clue about the man other than he shopped at discount stores."

"His fingers, Detective. You had his fingers. Did you take Mr. Morgan's fingerprints, Detective?"

"No."

"Had he been dead for too long for fingerprints to be taken?"

"No."

"Is the process too long, too time consuming, or too expensive?"

"No."

"You didn't think that they'd be useful?"

"Objection. Defense is putting words into the witness' mouth."

"I'll rephrase. Did you think that the fingerprints would not be useful and is that why you didn't order them?"

"Yes."

"Not because you were too lazy?"

"No."

"Not because you had already decided that my client was guilty."

"No."

"Why then?"

"Those fingerprints weren't going to help the case."

"That judgment was based on your professional judgment which in turn is based on years of a sterling career?"

"Yes."

"Your honour. My assistant is passing out documents that show that we contracted a reputable detective agency to collect fingerprints from Mr. Morgan's apartment. We then had a reputable lab process those fingerprints. The detective agency used a contact person within the Hamilton Police Force to search police databases for a match. They found a match. Everything we did was legal and the appropriate legal documents are attached to the affidavits. These documents are Defense Exhibit #4."

"Proceed, Counsellor."

"Judge, the reason that Detective Tubb couldn't find any evidence of Mr. Morgan's early life is because Mr. Morgan didn't exist previous to his arrival in Toronto. The man known as Harry Morgan was released from the Hamilton jail three years ago. He was given the identity of Harry Morgan and instructed to find a job and rent an apartment in Toronto. They gave him money to do so. His probation officer required him to present himself in Hamilton once a month and bring his pay stubs with him. Hamilton's probation office thought he'd have a better chance of re-starting his civilian life in Toronto because he was too well known in Hamilton. Mr. Harry Morgan is actually Mr. Harry Schnozzer. He was released from his twenty-year sentence five years early. He was serving time because he likes teenagers. He likes them a lot. He is a known pedophile. Detective Tubb could have found that out in ten minutes if he had simply taken fingerprints."

"Well slap my face with two pieces of bread and call me a nose sandwich," Cowboy reacted.

### # # # # # # # #

Not speaking of sandwiches, Melissa was in deep conversation with Mac who had come to Toronto with the kiddies. She had thought they might cheer Yolanda up after somebody, who wouldn't be Mac, had told her the news of Bean and Winnie disappearance. Melissa was the designated victim. The men all pleaded appointments with their bravery enhancement counsellors.

"How is Yolanda taking it?" Mac asked.

"Really well. I don't know if I'd be able to hear that Will, Izzy, or MayaLou were missing and probably dead."

"I didn't say too much about that probably dead business. Didn't have to. Yolanda said that they'd probably show up soon. It was almost as if she were trying to reassure me because I was having difficulty talking with her."

"I don't believe I could have done it," Mac admitted.

"She just smiled and started asking questions about what she had missed. I told her about Reese and Annika and what Marie had said about that creature from a different phase crossing into our astral plane and getting caught inside Annika. Marie told the Wilizy executive that the thing's smell was not of this world. She said that Annika would not have been able to control it. Apparently, Voodoo history is full of incidents where beings from one astral phase crosses accidentally into another. As soon as she can get near Annika, Marie will put a Voodoo shield on her to prevent it from coming back."

"So Reese was right about Annika not killing those people."

"Yeah. Her body did, but she didn't."

"No defense lawyer could have made that claim and won."

"So Reese really did save her from a trial that would have sent her to prison. What a guy!"

...

"There's something I have to tell you, Mac. You can't tell anybody else. Yolanda may not be as healthy as she appears. Healthy in the head, that is."

"Why do you say that?"

"She told me that the reason that she knows Winnie and Bean will return safely is because she saw it in a dream. She said that she dreamed that she went back in time to see your ancestor who did all the writing. Do you remember telling us about him?"

"Yeah. David J. Wighton. Author of numerous books but never sold a one. I did a little genealogical research on him but didn't find much."

"At one point, some of us were wondering if we were fictional characters in his books, remember? "

"Yeah. One of his books was eerily similar to some operation we had just finished. Granny pinched us to convince us that we were real people. We decided it was only a coincidence. So Yolanda heard about this novelist ancestor of mine?"

"I guess. In Yolanda's dream, she decides that your ancestor is writing a book about us and is planning to kill off Winnie. That's why Winnie had disappeared. As a prelude to being killed off. "

"That's crazy," Mac responded.

"The bit about the author writing about us, or the author killing Winnie off."

"Both."

"You gotta remember, Mac, that this is a dream of a person who is unconscious in grief about her daughter going missing. She wouldn't have been thinking logically."

"That true. So what happened in Yolanda's dream?"

"She found your ancestor. He was living in a big house overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A place called East Sooke in British Columbia. She went right up to his front door and rang the bell. His wife answered and told her that her husband was in his office writing and she should go down the ramp to the left and knock on the door. So she did. And she saw this old guy in front of a computer writing. He looked up and motioned her in."

"Keep going."

"So, Yolanda goes in and stands in front of him and says, _My name is Yolanda Wiltz and I've travelled back in time to save my daughter."_

"Did he call the looney bin people to come and take her away?"

"No. I'm going to tell you the exact conversation that she said she had with him. It's difficult to forget."

...

_Mrs. Wiltz, you look exactly like I thought you would, which makes sense I guess because I created you from my imagination_. _From what year did you time travel?_

_2089._

_That's the year of the book I'm writing now. You've found out that Winnie and Bean have disappeared and can't be found. You're in a deep sleep right now._

_I don't feel that I'm in a deep sleep._

_Trust me, you are. You'll be unconscious for close to two weeks._

_What will happen to Winnie?_

_I haven't decided. The plot is getting a little weird. I have to think about what Winnie is going to do._

_So she's alive right now?_

_Yes._

_Don't kill her off, please. She's a good kid._

_I know she is. I imagined her._

_But I gave birth to her. I've raised her. She's my youngest. Leave her alone. Or else!_

_Are you threatening me?_

_I know where you live. I know how to enter this house invisibly. I have a sling and I know how to use it. Remember what happened to the bikers in that bar? Remember what the Wilizy always say: The Aboriginal Nation protects its own. We fight to the death. ..._

_We don't run away. I know the adage. I created it. I'd like to keep Winnie in the adventures. She comes up with great ideas. How about I write some more and see how the plot develops?_

_I'll stay here and watch to make sure you don't kill her off._

_If you're going to stay, why don't you make yourself useful and do some editing. I haven't published the book before this one yet. It needs some work._

_What's it about?_

_It's the one where Cowboy goes looking for the two missing twins. Read the book and tell me if I've written anything that's inaccurate._

_We just had that adventure._

_I know. It's my fourteenth book. I'll give you credit for your editing in the book's front pages. I'll put in – "With editing assistance from Yolanda Wiltz."_

_People are going to think you're weird._

_That ship sailed a long time ago. I'll credit your assistance in this book too._

_What's the title?_

_I haven't decided. Something about halos probably._

...

"So, that's why Yolanda was unconscious for so long? She was away editing the book that your ancestor is writing, which includes the conversation that you and I are having right now. Do you expect me to believe that these very words are being typed into a computer as I say them?"

"Just before you say them, I'd think."

"Were her eyes rolling around in her head while she was telling you this? Did you hear eerie music in the background?"

"Make fun of this all you want, Mac. Yolanda is convinced that Winnie and Bean are safe and are going to contact us soon."

Back to the Table of Contents

# Chapter 27

The snickering about Cowboy's nose sandwich had quieted down and Stu was ready to resume his cross-examination of Detective Tubb.

"Let's learn a little more about Mr. Harry Morgan, shall we Detective?"

"Hamilton is supposed to inform us when they send pedophiles to Toronto."

"So it's their fault that you didn't search Mr. Morgan's apartment properly?"

"I searched properly. I found everything there was to find."

"Did you turn on his big screen?"

"Big screen?"

"Yeah. That black thing that was hanging on the wall and which had the bot sticking out of the input slot."

"Bot?"

"The electronic device that people use that can hold a lot of images. Let's take a look at what Mr. Morgan considers entertainment. Your Honour, may we have a five minute recess while my assistant sets up a big screen?"

"Granted. Bailiff, nobody leaves the courtroom."

...

"Members of the jury, my assistant has scrolled through these images at very high speed to protect the privacy of the young girls and boys who were shown there. I can tell you that these images were taken from websites that are not located in Toronto. Does everybody have a sense of what those images were doing?"

"Let the record show that the court saw hundreds of images of young people having sex. They appeared to be underage. Is that correct, Counsellor?"

"Impossible to verify conclusively, Your Honour. But, by all appearances, yes. This next set of images is of a girl that is definitely underage. My assistant will show these images slowly because you'll see that she is fully clothed."

...

"Who is this girl, Counsellor?"

"Scroll the images again please Wolf. Judge, may I introduce Annika Lee. She is a resident in Mr. Morgan's apartment building. You can see that he took pictures of her coming out of school, walking on sidewalks, and shopping. We have long shots and we have close-ups. If you had turned on Morgan's big screen, Detective, you would have found these images. Would that have changed your opinion that Mr. Morgan was a normal citizen who went to work at a copter wash?"

...

"Detective, you are obligated to answer the question."

"Yes, the images would have changed my opinion of him."

"Let's move on. Wolf, show them picture set #2."

...

"Young male teenager. Same environment. Entering school, leaving school, and walking on a sidewalk. Who is he, Counsellor?"

"Judge, may I introduce Carlos Escondido, the first murder victim. Carlos disappeared from the Toronto area on his fifteenth birthday. These shots can be verified therefore as being taken when he was underage. You can see that Mr. Morgan had a very unhealthy interest in this young man. Detective Tubb, do you confirm that the boy in these pictures was the first murder victim?"

"Yes."

"Do you agree that these pictures link a known pedophile to a young boy who ended up being murdered?"

"Yes."

"Seeing this evidence that the Defense has collected for you to consider, evidence that you would have found had you searched Mr. Morgan's apartment properly, would you say that Mr. Morgan would be the prime suspect in Mr. Escondido's death?"

"Yes. But he's not the prime suspect in his own murder. This evidence that you've found actually makes our case against your client even stronger. Your client, a former lawman, found out about Mr. Morgan and his background, and especially of his interest in young Miss Lee. Your client knew Miss Lee and was protective of her to the point where he had found where Escondido lived, and afterwards warned him off. If he found out later about these pictures, it is entirely possible that he might take the law into his own hands. You've just revealed your client's motive, Counsellor."

### # # # # # # # #

Arthur and Amy Louisa were relaxing in the operating room in Brisbane, killing time in their mortal form - Dr. Bachinski and her red-haired pudgy assistant. The still unconscious Annika was back in her hotel room and in her former bed. Reese and Madhuri were there waiting anxiously for her to awake. Amy Louisa had told them that she had found a small tumor in the limbic system of Annika's brain. This is the part of the brain that controls memory. She had removed the tumour successfully without having to open up Annika's skull. There was no pain involved and Annika would not experience any pain when she awoke. She might however experience some memory loss.

The bit about the memory loss? That was for certain. The whole point of Dr. Bachinski's operation on the fictional tumor was to scrub any memory that Annika might have about Djdg controlling her, the two murders that she had committed while under its control, and the migraine headaches. That had taken Amy Louisa about ten minutes. The rest of the time she and Arthur were, as I said, killing time until she could go up to the hotel room and wake Annika up. There were some debate about what they could do while the were waiting to wake her up. Fortunately, Arthur had used the excuse of needing some fake medical equipment boxes for the fake operation to stock up on junk food. Amy Louisa was on her second packet of potato chips and Arthur was hitting the salt with pretzels and peanuts. He was reclining right now on the operating room floor tossing peanuts into his mouth while blindfolded. The absence of any stray peanuts on the floor suggested that he had practiced this particular skill extensively.

"You'll send my share of this junk food to my aerie, right Arthur? The last shipment went to my office and I had to do some quick explaining."

Apparently at least one halo'd angel broke the rules about eating junk food in Heaven.

"I was using a new courier. Everything I smuggle in from now on will go to personal aeries. Joe-Joe had problems as well."

Make that two halo'd angels who broke the rules.

"Speaking of Joe-Joe, what's his assessment of the trial?" Arthur asked.

"The Wilizy's lawyer may have made a mistake," Amy Louisa said. "The prosecution now has a better chance to win the case. They have discovered motive now."

"That doesn't sound like a smart move."

"He's a lawyer. Sometimes lawyers talk too much."

"So we're stuck here until there's absolutely no chance that Annika will have to appear in a courtroom."

"I'm stuck here. You aren't."

Arthur removed the blindfold, checked for errant peanuts, and found none. "OK, I'm heading up. My part of this operation is now officially over, right?"

"Almost. Was this your first involvement with the Wilizy?"

"No. I was part of the group that was guarding Yolanda when she was pregnant and alone."

"I remember now. That was before we knew about them."

"She had just a standard guardian angel contingent. A guardian angel in charge and me as her shoulder angel. On probation."

"Is that the time that you got a shoulder demon drunk and he ended up being demoted back to Hell?"

"Yeah. He was driving Yolanda suicidal because of what she had given birth to. He wouldn't let up and the standard dreams I sent her had no effect, especially with her husband away fighting the biker gangs."

"Was that your second or third time that you were demoted?"

"Second time. Bertram was the guardian angel in charge. He didn't like my disrespect for heavenly order."

"Sounds like Bertram."

"Did you know that Bertram has memorized the entire three hundred and seventy-nine volumes of the Heavenly Protocols?"

"I didn't know that. How'd you bring Annika out of her trance when Djdg was pressuring her to kill Reese?"

"I stuck a pin into her neck. The pain woke her up."

"I didn't know that pins were approved equipment for shoulder angels."

"They aren't. My voice in her head wasn't working. I came prepared."

"So you broke the rules again."

"Guilty as charged. Can I interest you in another packet of mortal food substances that happen to be banned in Heaven?"

"Peanuts, please. Bribing a heavenly official is punishable by a demotion of one grade. What is the grade below a shoulder angel?"

"Back to the orientation room. Are you serious?"

"Relax. I've already completed your performance review. You saved your mortal from committing a crime under challenging circumstances. End of story. You are promoted to the position of guardian angel. You are authorized to wear a single halo. Consider it as a training halo. Don't get too attached."

"Do I get a new supervisor?"

"You're in Bertram's cadre and he will remain your supervisor. But, as a halo'd angel, you can't be demoted out of the guardian angel ranks for minor infractions. Incidentally, I'd prefer it if you didn't wear your halo in public. There's enough concern in Heaven about the lack of heavenly standards as it is."

"I think I'll wear it with my pink flip-flops."

"That should work."

### # # # # # # # #

"Court is back in session," the bailiff said.

"Your honour. Now that the defense has established that his client had motive for killing Mr. Morgan, are we into closing arguments now?" The prosecutor was making sure that the jury remembered Stu's slip up.

"Counsellor?"

"Only a few more things, Judge. My assistant will be circulating legal documents as I speak. These will reveal the depth of Detective Tubb's incompetence. May we have him back on the stand please?"

While Detective Tubb was being reminded that he was still under oath, Wolf was dropping a large heavy cardboard box onto the defense table. It landed with a thunk.

"Detective Tubb, do you agree that Mr. Morgan was a convicted pedophile with a long history of criminal activities against youth?"

"Against youths in Hamilton. Not in Toronto."

"Very well. Judge, the first binder my assistant is distributing is a list of all of the children that he was found guilty of abusing. This is Defense Exhibit #5. Judge, just flip through the pages to get a sense of the numbers of abused children."

...

"This second binder has a list with the names all of the parents of the children that he abused. Defense Exhibit #6, your honour. Again, the point I'm making is how many parents are in this list."

...

"Defense Exhibit #7 has a subset of the second binder. It shows the names and Toronto addresses of eleven families who had moved to Toronto after their child had been abused by Mr. Morgan in Hamilton. You will note Judge that this is a significant number of parents. Hamilton is very close to Toronto and it would not be unusual for the family of an abused child to relocate to a different city so that the child and the family could start fresh."

"Is that your supposition, Counsellor?"

"No, your honour. I have proof. Defense Exhibits 8 through to 19 are transcripts of interviews that my staff had with these eleven parents. We have highlighted in green where the parent or parents indicated that they had moved to get away from the consequences of Mr. Morgan's assaults."

"I'll look at these later. What else is in these binders, Counsellor?"

"My staff asked these parents a hypothetical question. How angry would they be if they found that the man who had abused their child was living in the same city as their child, and was free to roam the city streets? They were given a ten-point scale to respond to. You'll find their responses highlighted in red."

"Boil it down, Counsellor. I see where you're going with this."

"Defense exhibit #20 is a one page summary of the level of anger that parents would have had if they had known that Mr. Morgan was roaming free in Toronto."

"The average was 8.3 on a scale of 10," the judge expressed surprise. "Did you inform them that Mr. Morgan had been roaming free in Toronto?"

"No, your honour. We did not feel it was our job to start interviewing other suspects in the Morgan murder. That job would have fallen to Detective Tubbs if he had been doing his job. Every one of those eleven sets of parents is a legitimate suspect. Each had ample motive to want Mr. Morgan dead. Each had opportunity since they were living in Toronto."

"But they had no means," the prosecutor interrupted. "The gun that killed Mr. Morgan was locked in the defendant's apartment."

"I'll address that next, Your Honour. Would you and the prosecutor like some time to go through these exhibits. Your Honour, I would ask that in your instructions to the jury, you mention that the defense exhibits have been fully documented and that they reveal that there are eleven additional legitimate suspects for the crime my client has been accused of."

"I'll do that but only if you prove they had the means to kill Mr. Morgan. Means, motive, and opportunity, Counsellor. "

### # # # # # # # #

"You are William Bedard."

"Yes, but people call me Doc."

"Because you are actually a doctor?"

"Yes, I received my training in Calgary."

"And have continued to practice?"

"Not as much as I used to before my retirement, but yes."

"What is your relationship to the girl that we are going to meet?"

"I suppose you could say that she is my great-granddaughter but not by blood line."

"How old is she?"

"She is approaching her ninth birthday."

"Have you had experience in teaching young people, Doc?"

"Yes. I've tutored a lot of my family. We used home schooling courses and then I helped them understand what they had read."

"So in addition to the knowledge about youngsters that you have acquired as a doctor, you also have had personal experience with instructing them."

"Yes."

"Given this experience, would you say that the girl we'll be meeting is a genius at learning?"

"No, she is not. Early in her schooling, she struggled but I think that was because she had faced very stressful times as a young child. She began to find her footing when she was in grade 2 and is now meeting expectations. I would characterize her as an average student."

"Is she extremely good with her hands? Building things? Arts and crafts? Hobbies like that?"

"No, not particularly. She gets restless if she has to sit for long periods. She's a very active young girl."

"What would you say was her main strength as an individual?"

"I'll give you three. Bravery, daring, and resourcefulness."

"Have you prepared her for the test she will face?"

"No. I don't know what that test will be."

"But you chose her to be here today."

"I did because she won't be intimidated by having to perform in this courtroom. As I said, she is brave."

...

"Judge, this is the woman who has given the young girl some instruction. How long did you work with her?"

"Less than half an hour."

"Is she ready?"

"Yes, I believe so. However, I don't think it would be fair for her to be in a full courtroom like this. She would have some privacy when she was on the job, so to speak."

"Bailiff, clear the court with the exception of the jury, the prosecutor, and the defense."

"Wolf, would you bring the witness in."

### # # # # # # # #

"EmmaGee, do you know what this is?"

"It's a door knob."

"Is it locked or unlocked."

EmmaGee tried to turn the handle. "It's unlocked."

"Can you lock it?"

"Yes."

...

"Let's check. Is the door knob locked?"

EmmaGee tried to turn the handle. "Yes."

"If this door knob were in my door, and if it were locked, how would I get in?"

"You'd use your key."

"What if I had lost my key? Could I still get in?"

"Sure."

"Could you show me how?"

...

"That was as easy as sliding off a greased turkey buzzard," Cowboy said.

Cowboy wasn't the only one who was expressing surprise but he was the only one who knew how to grease turkey buzzards.

"Thank you, EmmaGee. You've done very well and can go back to your mom now."

EmmaGee walked very sedately, like an adult would, for the first ten steps and then burst into a run, bounced off the closed courtroom door, opened it, and burst through. A faint _I did it_ , could be heard before the courtroom door closed again.

...

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Stu began. "That doorknob is the doorknob from my client's apartment room door. Defense Exhibit 21 certifies that a member of this court's security staff removed that doorknob during lunch today. You saw a nine year old girl use an easy to find set of lockpicks to unlock that door. You've heard how she had received less than thirty minutes of instruction in using those picks. A nine year old girl with lock picks could have broken into my client's apartment, taken that gun out, killed Mr. Morgan, wiped the gun clean of fingerprints, and replace it in my client's apartment. If a nine year old girl could do this, an adult certainly could too."

Stu waited for his comments to sink in before continuing.

"Members of the jury: My client has been charged with two murders, that of Mr. Escondido and Mr. Morgan. It's not my job to find the person or persons who killed those two men. That's the job of Detective Tubb who has shown himself to be remarkably inept in performing any detecting work. My job as a defense lawyer is to present you with reasonable doubt that my client was the one to kill both of them. As to Mr. Escondido's murder, you've already heard Detective Tubb say under oath that Mr. Morgan would have been the prime suspect had he uncovered Mr. Morgan's pedophiliac background. On that statement alone, the first murder charge again my client should be withdrawn. Judge?"

"I will cover that in my instructions to the jury, Counsellor."

"As to the second murder charge, again my job is to present you with reasonable doubt that my client murdered Mr. Morgan. I have identified eleven other adults who had the means, the opportunity and the motive to kill Mr. Morgan. Judge, the defense rests."

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# Chapter 28

My readers won't be surprised to learn that Amy Louisa was in Annika's room when Annika stirred, stretched, and then opened her eyes.

"Mom," she mumbled as she looked around the room. "Where am I?"

"Brisbane," Madhuri answered.

"Why am I here?"

"You can expect her to have some holes in her memory," Amy Louisa explained. "She hasn't lost any knowledge or skills, just a few memories. She'll bounce back quickly."

"Mom, how come you're standing? Where's your wheel chair? Who are you?" This last question was addressed to the lady in the white tunic.

"This is Amy Louisa and she's the doctor who took out the brain tumor that was giving you migraines. She also said that she could fix my back and I think she did. It was a miracle how quickly she did it. I can stand now. I can't walk much yet but she says that I will be able to walk and even run if I build up my muscles."

_[Restoring Madhuri's mobility had been one of the objectives of Amy Louisa's "Operation Jdge'ment."]_

Reese joined the group at the bedside. "I'm glad you're better now," he said.

"Who are you?" Annika asked.

Like Amy Louisa had said. Certain memories might be lost.

### # # # # # # # #

"Bean and Winnie made it safely to Toronto today," the male angel said.

"Any major problems?" the female angel asked.

"Bean had had wilderness training. Once they reached North Bay, they hitched a ride to Toronto and then they were able to communicate easily. It was a happy reunion."

"Yolanda was ecstatic?" she asked.

"Surprisingly calm about the whole experience," he answered. "Is that it for Operation Jdge'ment now?"

"Yes. Is your body prototype committee speaking to you?"

"Barely," he said. "First we take a year to form the committee, set goals, devise a plan and create the finished prototype. Then you tell us that the prototype has to be changed in twenty-four hours and we have to change the de-scaler to something that clearly wasn't going to work. Then you say that we should change it back again and take out the bone scythe. I couldn't tell them that you were running a test on Winnie and Bean. How long did they take to suggest improvements?"

"About six hours."

"To develop weapons that we had already developed."

"They took six hours," she chided. "Your people took a year."

"Halocratic hurdles," he groused.

"I know. Bean thought of the strategic improvements. She's very smart that way. She'd be a good fit with your people."

"We can easily fit a normal-sized angel into a small body for combat purposes," he said. "I'll build it into the training regimens next week. Who came up with the plan to go back in time to kill Djdg?"

"Winnie."

"Sure is lucky how that solar flare scrambled Winnie's SIN just at the right time. Truly amazing. Your thoughts about her and us?"

"I have my hands full with Arthur. I don't need another rebel, especially one who thinks outside the box and can read angel's minds when she's in her mortal body. We're not sure if she can do that from an angelic body yet."

"Blbbr had you scrambling there for a while."

"We've never had to face an attack that came directly from demonic ranks before. We need more operatives in Hell."

"Good luck with that," he said. "Did you notice who Djdg murdered first?"

"Yes. The Escondido kid. He turns fifteen and wham, he's killed and is sent to Hell. What's so special about him?"

"I checked his life and found no connection to either Judge Lewis or Dennis Lee. This wasn't part of Djdg's plan. It had to be something that Blbbr wanted."

"What sins did the kid have?" she asked.

"Selling chemicals to school children. Plus he was working on a plan to force schoolgirls into prostitution. Annika was a target until Cowboy spoke to him. The kid will make a name for himself in Hell."

"Somebody in Hell wanted him now, not later. Some patron will have him on an accelerated promotion plan."

"We'll see him soon enough, I guess. Are you finished being Amy Louisa?"

"Why? It's a nice name."

"I almost referred to you as Lillian in front of Bean."

"That could have been messy if she ever remembered it and mentioned it to Cowboy. He knows of me as Lillian. He'll remember me."

"You double dosed Bean and Winnie with the memory-wiper, right?"

"Yes. We can't have them remembering anything about Heaven. That could lead them to certain revelations."

"Like how many times Hell has gone after them and we've had to intercede," Joe-Joe reminded. "Yolanda's near suicide was the first."

"Then, Winnie was born way early." Lillian added

"And now, Winnie and Reese have been targeted."

"Hell has been persistent."

"So have you. You gave Dreamer her dream that would keep Cowboy alive," Joe-Joe said. "Then, you personally helped him with his investigation of Professor Richardson and told him about the medical training that Bean will take."

"Well, stick a saddle on me but go easy on the spurs."

"What?"

"That's a cowboy'ism."

"He has never said that."

"Not yet he hasn't," the fake-PR angel smirked.

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# Chapter 29: Epilog

It's two weeks after Winnie and Bean had walked out of the wilderness. Winnie was home in Montana for the first time. Everything was back to normal, with the exception of Yolanda who was walking around with a pad of paper and a pen, taking notes of what people were saying and doing. She said she was helping with a novel but wouldn't say how.

Winnie was in her bedroom, digging through her sock drawer for a missing orphan sock when she felt something that didn't belong there. She pulled it out and looked.

Some sort of note.

...

In her handwriting.

...

Nothing on the back. Just three words on the front.

...

_Remember the halocracy!_

_..._

Why would she have written herself this note? When did she write this note? She had never been in this room before this week. What's a halocracy? A crazy halo?

Winnie thought and thought, but nothing came. She put the note back in her sock drawer. Perhaps she'd remember tomorrow.

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# Books in the Wilizy series

As of November 2019, there were twenty novels in the Wilizy series. Check below to see if you've missed any.

**Book #1: I Got'cha**

If you think being a teenager in today's world is tough, try being one in 2081. In Alberta's It's Only Fair society, your brain-band will zap you just for chewing with your mouth open. One boy pried his brain-band off to see what living with emotions would be like. Being chased by the entire Alberta army was bad enough. It became worse when another 15 year old kid offered to help him escape.

**Book #2: The Get-Even Bird**

Will and Izzy are forced to flee from Zzyk's army. After months away from Alberta, they fly their sailing ship into B.C. thinking that they would be safe there. Bad mistake! Izzy is captured. All Will has to do to save her life is turn himself in for a free brain-band fitting appointment. That's what happens when you wear a Zorro costume to a dance.

**Book #3: Assassination Day**

A DPS technician offers to defect if the Wilizy will rescue his daughter from _The Citadel_ – some super smart military people who are friends with Zzyk. Izzy thinks that their new recruit is an assassin, but Yollie insists that he's a decent man. Can assassins be decent men? It will take a hair-raising experience to find out.

**Book #4: Hoist the Jolly Lucas**

It's bad enough that Zzyk pins the blame for two assassinations on Izzy and launches a full out assault on their home compound. But then, another enemy takes advantage of a security lapse to get revenge for a war that happened 20 years ago. The Wilizy are left reeling with two key members kidnapped and stashed where they can't be found, let alone rescued. For the family to survive, everybody must enter the battle. The story is as much about the past as it is about the present.

**Book #5: Teenage Mutant Ninja Torpedoes** (Yes, this is a Wilizy book.)

Mac disappears and doesn't want to be found. Will and Wolf use time-travel to search for her and discover secrets she wouldn't want them to know. The Alaskans attack when Will is finding out what happens to a submarine's air when it is lying helpless on the ocean floor. Between the Alaskans' impenetrable fortress and their bubblegum weapons, life is going to get a little sticky for the Wilizy.

**Book #6: Bob, the Invisible Dragon**

Raging hormones as well as Raging Gardeners play key roles when young Wilizy warriors are attacked and the Wilizy's scientific marvels offer no protection. The youngsters' future will rely on a different kind of warrior protecting them. Warning: events at the end of the story will move quickly. They certainly won't _drag on_.

**Book #7: Nary, Nary, Quite Contrary**

Theo and Lucas move to Toronto to live on their own. Both meet girls but neither is brave enough to introduce his new friend to the family. They wouldn't have the time anyway, what with villains trying to assassinate them and Voodoo royalty greeting them as though they were Voodoo gods. At the end of the story, Lucas receives a surprise Boxing Day gift that leaves him speechless.

**Book #8: Maddy's a Baddy**

Maddy had escaped from Big Momma only to find herself all alone in the cold and begging for food in Eastern Canada. While she's trying to return to her home in Seattle, the Wilizy have their own problems. Everybody in the family is intent on bringing the judge to justice for what he did to Lucas. It would have been so easy for them to rescue Maddy, but they didn't know anything about her.

**Book #9: Bite Me!**

Spurred on by Marie's desire to eat a meal with her former slave masters, the Wilizy plan to put Safe Haven ranches out of business. In the process, they encounter two foreign assassins intent on abducting Maddy. Theo and Nary become closer but a red-eyed chaperone does not approve. The Wilizy's war with Safe Haven starts with a bang but ends with a whimper.

**Book #10: Wheelchair Moccasins!**

A 13 year old girl pretends to turn to prostitution to gain her freedom from her crime boss father. In Wilizy family news, Winnie agrees not to meddle in Mathias' love life. No, the world isn't ending, so long as you don't have a green vegetable for your name. Best advice ever? If somebody wearing moccasins and sitting in a wheelchair offers to sing you to sleep... run!

**Book #11: Trial by Nick**

After the Scandinavians attack their home base, Winnie develops an idea for defeating Crown Prince Wilhelm that is a dramatic departure from their normal military battles. In their personal lives, the Toronto teenagers have to become schnobs to keep their basketball futures alive, Lucas and Lylah begin dating, and two of EmmaGee's personalities leave her body.

**Book #12. Tickled Pink**

A man uses his unlimited wealth and power to assault women without fear of legal consequences. If they object, he'll humiliate them publicly and ruin their lives. If they don't stand up to him, their lives as they knew them will be over. But how do you fight a man who is above the law? Here's how. The Raging Gardeners help the women while Winnie attacks him where he isn't looking.

**Book #13: Second Base**

Granny and Doc enjoy a spirited life in their new Australian house while Bean has to adjust to her mother joining her in the Wilizy cadet camp. She meets a charming man with country pumpkin witticisms whose entire life is dedicated to becoming a cold blooded killer. Meanwhile, Safe Haven's impenetrable offices aren't as safe as they thought they were.

**Book #14: Old Stone Face**

Bean moves to Toronto with her sheriff who takes a job as a private detective. Before long, he's trying to bring a mad scientist to justice - the same man that Winnie is after. With both the Wilizy and a countrified sheriff after the same man, you'd think he'd be easy to catch. Too bad there are no laws about a mad scientist killing twenty-one babies.

**Book #15: Remember the Halocracy**

Reese finds Annika - his first, and only, girl friend. For reasons that nobody fully understands, he sort of kidnaps her but she willingly accompanies him to the far side of globe. Reese figures out later that she could be trying to seduce him when in fact, she's actually going to try to kill him.

**Book #16: Coffee Can Kill Ya!**

Convincing Paula's brother to give her a proper share of her parents' estate had seemed so easy. Turned out that it wasn't so easy after all. In the Wilizy's defense, murdering extra-terrestrials that tried to kidnap a corpse created unique challenges. To their credit, the Wilizy dealt with those. But, how do you deal with something that you can't see and don't even know exists?

**Book #17: Nice Birthday Party, Governor.**

Plot twists abound as the Wilizy take on the Colorado government and the NORAD military simultaneously. Maddy quits the cadet corp to run a secret operation that ends in a one-on-one battle. Melissa breaks Reese out of jail and Cowboy shows his dramatic talents, which do not include stripping. Winnie directs two dramatic productions but only one of these involves wearing respectable clothes.

**Book #18: The Tale of the Scorpion's Tail.**

The Wilizy have to neutralize NORAD's nuclear missiles while defeating their air force without causing any casualties. A special weapon (guided bird poop) will be needed. Meanwhile, Heaven's guardian angels are under attack from within. The key to success? Rescuing a gerbil imprisoned in an escape-proof cage. Molly Moonblossom and Nympho Maniac play key roles. One of these characters is Winnie.

**Book #19: Brunhilda, the Steamroller.**

Billy Bump resurfaces and plans Maddy's death. Winnie accepts a secret mission but runs afoul of Yolanda, who is sure that she has a boyfriend. Yolanda's vision that Winnie will be attacked comes true. Demonic infiltrators into Heaven escape detection when the steamroller named Brunhilda prosecutes Arthur and finds him guilty. This time, he won't be going back to guardian angel school.

**Book #20: Lock Up Your Corn Starch!**

While Paula, Winnie and Arthur are on a perilous mission for Heaven, the Wilizy family is trying to rescue Charlie and Sheila from prison. Wilizy forces battle demented escaped convicts intent on slaughtering innocent victims to help a brown supremacist politician win an election. If you're intent on going to Hell when you die, be sure to read this book for a preview of what's waiting for you.

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# About the Author

David J. Wighton is a retired educator who enjoys writing youth novels when he's not on a basketball court coaching middle-school girls. The books in his Wilizy series peek at how people lived after the word's governments collapsed in the chaos that followed the catastrophic rise in ocean levels and the disappearance of the world's last deposits of oil.

Wighton's novels have strong teenage characters driving the plot and facing challenges that, in many respects, are no different from what teenagers face today. His novels are intended to entertain and readers will find adventure, romance, suspense, humour, a strong focus on family, plus a touch of whimsy. Wighton also writes to provoke a little thought about life in today's societies and what the future might bring. Teachers may find the series useful in the classroom and the novels are priced with that intent in mind.

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