Chapter 11
The Learning Curve
Jezzz spotted Joe sitting at a table in the restaurant, waved to him, and noticed his oblivious stare as if lost in deep thought. She thought it was more like serious depression. As they approached, he looked up without smiling. Jezzz slid into his corner booth beside him, then reached over and picked up his drink.
"Scotch and water, how Un-European," she commented while trying to lighten Joe up a little.
Jezzz noticed Joe staring at her, then shaking his head as if to snap out of a trance. He replied almost apologetically, "You look a lot like my wife. Are you a Nephilim too?"
"Of course, what kind of a question is that? Aren't you?" she asked, not expecting the answer.
"Of course not! My wife was. I lost her only two months ago. She and two of my kids were killed in a car accident on their way to join me at our cottage at Lands End. You know Britain, Lands End, the country with all the English in it," he replied in his own American accent while acting altogether like he was dissin' her, but she just let it go.
Young Herod interrupted, "Why did they send a human to do such an important job? I noticed you aren't quite seven feet, but some of us aren't, either. I never suspected we would use a human. I should have with a name like Joe."
"I used to be called Pontius. My wife's idea. Just trying not to attract too much attention. I decided two months ago that it just wasn't important anymore. I'm normally not a courier. I'm a door-to-door shoe salesman. I hope I haven't disappointed you two."
There was as terrible sadness about Joe that was almost like taking a depressant. The sadness reminded Young Herod of another ancient book, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The robot was always so depressed. He thought its name was Marvin.
"You could do worse than Joe," he replied without thinking.
"You're going to say Marvin, right?" he replied despondently while fingering the rim of his drink glass.
"How did you know that? Are you psychic or something?" asked Young Herod, startled by his accuracy.
"No, it's been suggested before. It's because of my supposed lack of joy, happiness, and other close, kindred ways. Like the robot from that book by that British author. My dad used to read it to me when I was a kid. Gives you a sense of my age, doesn't it? I was 60 when I married Sinte. She was only 20 at the time. The last five years have been wonderful. We had kids just like fireworks, pop, pop, pop, no twins, if it matters. She was my salvation, and I worshiped her."
"You must have loved her very much," replied Jezzz as she reached out and patted his hand. He jerked it back instinctively, and then put it back again, almost begging for another pat.
She did and held his hand while he talked. She was trying to figure out what made him tick. She wanted to figure out just what would make him divulge the contact in Italy. She guessed that he wanted to die, and that's why he took this mission. Something else was missing, but she didn't get it yet, then she did.
"You said, 'pop, pop, pop.' You had three children?" she asked while having hit it right on the head. "Are you trying to take care of the one you have left? Is that why you took this kamikaze job? Is this what this is all about?"
He looked at her strangely, thinking, "How could she have put it together so easily?"
He answered, "Why else? A shoe salesman can't give a kid anything. I wanted to leave a legacy. Ten million is a big legacy, a million for each point person I deliver the CDs to. She would never want for anything in her life. My little Pansy would never be without." He started tearing up and pulled his wallet out at the same time with his hands shaking.
Young Herod sensed that Jezzz was making an important connection. He watched her carefully and suspected that it was even more than that. She was looking for a way under this guy's armor. He saw Jezzz's face light up in recognition and got a wink from her. She was being handed pictures of Pansy when she saw the picture of his wife. She was pleased and surprised. They could have been sisters.
Young Herod had to ask, "Joe, why so much money? With Jerusalem so intent on taking care of everyone, your little girl wouldn't go without. Why not just a million?"
Joe smiled, "Had you ever thought that you may be right? Had you ever thought that I might want to spend a little of it with her?"
"Joe," replied Young Herod. "You're talking treason. You're saying this wasn't your idea? Is someone forcing you to do all the deliveries?"
"Bingo, Young Herod. I know my talk is treason, but I'm dead anyway. So who cares? I'd settle on a million and some tickets to Brazil. Enough to hide from you all."
"You would!" exclaimed Young Herod excitedly while thinking way ahead of himself.
"My choice was simple. Do the deliveries and Pansy lives, I die, and she gets all of the ten million. Don't do the deliveries, then Pansy and I both die, and they get to keep their ten million. How's that for the deal of the century?" he replied angrily.
Young Herod moved even faster while sensing the moment but kept watching Jezzz. Her face was turned into the corner of the booth, like she was looking at something on the cushion. He noticed she was sweating profusely. The side of her face, from what he could see, was flushed red for some reason.
"What if you could get a couple million and take off with her? Would you do it?" he asked cheerfully.
"I told you that I'd love to spend it with her. I'm thinking about doing just part of the job and bailing. I know they'd catch me. I'd need someone to take my place to give me time to get far enough away. Why would anyone do something like that? That won't ever happen, not in a million years. Who would do it, you? You'd end up dead in a matter of days. They have a picture and portfolio of me at each connection. They aren't stupid, you know."
"Let Young Herod do it. Let him do it for me, Joe," Jezzz replied softly. "Take our sweet Pansy. Ask Jezzz. She knows of a safe place in Canada. There are some Nephilims who don't want to hurt people. I was that way, wasn't I, Joe?"
Joe trembled all over. Jezzz looked exactly like his wife in his picture in the article about their accident. Jezzz had already read some of the details of the article. Young Herod's eyes bulged in surprise. Joe reached out and touched her face tenderly, then buried his face into her shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably while heaving with pain and agony.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't driving. I know how much you hated to drive. I made you. I'm sorry. I love you so much. I'll take her away, love. I'll take her away. Anywhere, somewhere, so they won't ever find us."
The bar was practically empty. The only other person was the bartender who was used to sadness and the stories behind them. Young Herod got up and walked to the counter. "My friend's wife just died. I'm sorry. If we're bothering you, we'll leave," he said apologetically.
"No mister. I understand. I lost my wife a-year-and-three-days ago. I've been through it. You just never mind," he replied sadly while he thought of his own loss.
Joe sat up and straightened his tie, then dried off his face with a napkin. Jezzz changed back as she pretended to get a dropped spoon. As she came up, she noticed that Joe wasn't the same man as before.
He remarked with a smile, "Thank you for doing that. I never got a chance to tell her that. It's been pushed down into me so deep that I wanted to explode. Thank you. I don't know how you did it, but it meant the world to me." He reached out and hugged her lightly, this time without the tears.
He continued, "Can you do that too? If you can, you just may be able to pull this off. Don't do the whole thing, just get through the first two or three deliveries and get out of town. If this place in Canada is safe, I'd like to have the details."
Young Herod said seriously, "I want to know all the contacts’ names. Doing three visits won't get me that."
"No, but they all know the others. They're a close-knit group. My wife worked for the one in England. She was his administrative assistant. I have my flight tickets already booked. England is third on the list. Sinte said that the old goat kept bragging about all his secret
Nephilim information stored in his safe. Wouldn't surprise me if he had a list of the others. If you can make it to England, I'd have time to get Pansy out. I'd also have enough money to stay deep under the rest of our lives. I have to admit, they know how much I hate cold weather, and they'd never suspect Canada. It would be the last place they'd look. You're right, Nephilims don't have to be bad. Sinte was a Saint. She was a believer too. Can you imagine that?"
"What!" replied Young Herod and Jezzz, together. "A believer! Is that possible? I never would have thought that was possible," finished Jezzz.
"Sure, she gave her life to Jesus when our first born came. We even worked with some local missions and witnessed about the Lord, and we took a South American missionary trip for a month. Her boss thought we were on a cruise. We had a wonderful time. Thousands came to Jesus because of our witness."
"This changes things, Jezzz. This means that we really aren't doomed to this darkness. It's more than being good. We really can be righteous, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes," replied each one of them in sequence.
"Where's the safe?" asked Young Herod excitedly as he got back to business.
"The wall safe is near the first filing cabinet on the right that faces his desk. I have no idea how to get into it, but that's where it is. The old man who runs the place is an eccentric. He's scared to death of being robbed. He has the place rigged with all sorts of surveillance equipment."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Jezzz?" asked Young Herod.
"Yes," replied Jezzz as they remembered something they both learned from the Nephilim CD.
"Let me look at your passport," said Young Herod. He frowned once he saw it saying, "Do you have anything more recent? I've got to practice doing that morphing stuff."
"No, and I agree the passport picture is too old. Wait, there's a Jerusalem Wal-Mart across the street," replied Jezzz. "It's got a Jerusalem MOTO Photo."
"Do you need any money, cash, or anything?" asked Young Herod.
"No, just that address in Canada. I'll be taking a cruise ship back across. They'll be looking out for me at the airports when I don't show up for the fourth drop. It's in Russia. It will take them a week or so to put it all together."
"Will they change anything if you don't show?" asked Young Herod.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what all this stuff is about. I don't think I want to. I do know these guys have been in the same position for the last 100 years. They are some of the oldest Nephilims in existence. Judas is the youngest, like you two, and the most reckless, according to what my wife has said. They'll blame him for it if they can. Yes, if they figure out it was another Nephilim, they'll blow some big whistles. If they just thought it was me, they probably won't."
"Here's the information on Canada. I have my fiancée waiting for me. I'll see you there. I plan to be there within the next two weeks, right, Young Herod?"
"You bet, with bells on!" he said while they all shook hands.
"I'll go get that picture and drop it off at the front desk, later," replied Joe. When Joe walked away from them, he did a high skip of joy and clapped his hands excitedly.
Young Herod turned to Jezzz, "You scared the socks off me. That was fantastic! We have to split up. I'll go make the deliveries, and you try to track down the girls. Wait a minute. What about Alex Tabor's wife, Abigail? Isn't she still alive? She'd know where the girls are. You can find her, and I can be done with my trip in three days.”
"I can hold off Judas. I just won't call but once while you're out. I'll be waiting for you," she smiled, and then kissed him tenderly on his cheek.
"When I get back, if you want to go to Canada, you can. I probably can handle it from there. Those girls can't be that far away. Who knows, they may be just down the street from here for all we know."
"Just three days," he replied again.
"Okay, three days," she replied while crossing her fingers hopefully. "Let's go practice some of these new tricks.
††††††