Chapter 120
9:45 AM CST Day four of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - City Center, Lobby Coffee Shop
We left Mark to deal with the insurance matter. Luke, John, Thomas, Veronica and I went to the elevator. I started talking but Veronica held her finger up to her mouth and said, “Shh.” We then got on the elevator and no one said anything. We only had one floor to go down so it seemed that the elevator popped open almost as soon as we got on it. As we walked off the elevator Veronica said, “The reason I asked you to not say anything, is that the room we are in and the hallway are bugged big time. They must have done it in a hurry for it was obvious to anyone with a trained eye.”
“Well you know your business. You proved that in Israel with our jet.”
We moved over to what appeared to be a coffee shop to the right of the check in desk. I took in the surroundings as we walked. There was a military and police presence everywhere. Only one of the front doors was being used. The others were locked. There was both a metal detector and one of those luggage machines that were used in airports. There was even a chemical detector. Off to the right of that was a curtained off area, which I assumed may be for strip-searching. The military walked around with M16s in firing position, which meant they were in their hands; not strapped to their shoulders. It looked like a third world country to me, and that was scary.
I looked over to Veronica and said, “All this security for me?”
“No Jack. It is for all the dignitaries coming here and the President. In addition, many of the people coming for The Waldger Group’s meeting are already here and will be attending your Sermon tonight. It’s to keep them safe, not you.”
“Hmm,” I said, “and here I thought it was just for me.” I felt left out.
“You’re on a roll today,” Veronica said.
We walked up to the host at the restaurant and Veronica took charge. “Table for six please,” she said to the hostess, “and I want the one over there against the wall if that’s okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the hostess said, as she grabbed six menus, and said, “Follow me, please.”
As we sat looking at the menus, I could feel the stares from all around the restaurant. I guessed the sunglasses trick was not working. I looked over at Veronica and asked, “Where did Gabriel go?”
“He had to leave,” she said. “He just wanted to make sure you knew he was around.”
Luke, John, and Thomas, almost at the same time, said, “I didn’t see anyone called Gabriel in the meeting. What are you talking about?”
“The messengers; remember I talked about them in my interview in New York,” I answered.
“So what you are telling us Jack,” Thomas said. “Is that you can see him and we cannot?”
“That’s right, Thomas. You are correct.”
“That’s spooky,” Luke said.
I smiled and said, “Maybe someday soon you too will see him Luke, for I am sure you will. So where are we with the planning and how much longer is this meeting going to last with the city?”
“Shouldn’t be much longer Jack,” John said. “They are just going over details. This is a first for them. A lot of what needed to be covered, Luke, the Reverend, and I had already discussed with them earlier in the week. I think you are in there only because they are curious about you. After the insurance thing, I think they may want to hire you.”
This was great, same old story, feast or famine. A few weeks ago, I could not find a job. Now everyone wanted to hire me, I thought. “Glad the meeting is almost over. I really dislike long meetings,” I said aloud.
We all looked up and saw Mark coming over to the table. He took his seat. We exchanged our pleasantries as the server came over. You could see she was very nervous and I knew she wanted to say something. I saw her nametag and said, “Hi Debbie, let me introduce myself. I am Jack South and these are my friends.”
I held out my hand to her and she blushed, shook my hand, and said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. South,” then followed up with, “May I take your orders?”
We all ordered some rolls, coffee, and various juices. Then Mark said, “How was Israel, Jack?”
“It is a beautiful country, if you like desert, rocks, caves, and the local hospitality.”
“I know. I had to track down the President to get him to intervene. I guess the Attorney General had a hard on for you. Uh, excuse me Veronica, he said blushing.”
“It’s okay, Mark. I have heard a whole lot worse. It doesn’t bother me.”
“So are you ready for tonight?” Thomas asked.
“I suppose I should ask you if you are ready. You are the one handling the logistics of everything. All I am doing is talking.”
“I meant for your sermon,” Thomas said.
“Yes it is Thomas, very ready. And later today I would like to meet with you personally to go over it and get your opinion.”
“Sure, I’d be happy to, Jack.”
The server came back over with the coffee and drinks. She was smiling and still blushing all at the same time. I was sure that after she left here today she would tell the story, repeatedly, of how I talked to her and shook her hand. This was one soul we would get, I thought as I smiled.
“Jack,” John said. “I wanted to let you know that we are ready with everything as we discussed, including the slow motion cameras. I still don’t know what they are for.”
“Just keep the cameras on me John. You will eventually know what they are for. And let me add, I won’t say anything more about it.”
“Okay,” John said. “Also, we have scanned the graphics you sent down, and I have one of my engineers that will split the screen when you talk about them.”
“Thanks, John. Did you figure out what they were?”
“No I did not. Looks like Mayan carvings of some sort.”
“They are the handwriting of God. They are what the Israelis wanted from me. They knew I had them and they kept the originals. We just have copies.”
“Can you read them?”
“I did not know I could until they were shown to me under unusual circumstances. Then my brain clicked in, and yes, I could read them.”
“What are they Jack?” Thomas asked.
“They were part of my sermon tonight, but I’m still not sure. I may not use them until my next sermon. It’s still up in the air.”
John then said, “Luke has set up the internet feed in over one-hundred languages for broadcast. We will stream directly to their servers and the delay should only be about fifteen to twenty seconds. This way people who do not have access to TV in their area, for some countries are trying to block it, will be able to participate. We will also have the broadcast available afterwards for people to see. We will keep it up there for a week or so, or keep it up until there are no more hits. They can also log in from mobile smartphones and get the stream from Bearnewsupdate.com. So, I think we have it pretty well covered.” He paused, before continuing to speak, “As I said before, once you start Jack, there will be no commercials. There may be commentary at times, though, sort of like a golf match.”
John paused again to take a sip of juice, then continued. “Just so you all know, I am using my co-anchors, Mary Ann Sinclair and Geraldo Vasquez for this one. They came in this afternoon and we will be having a rehearsal in about an hour or so. Anything I need to know in particular, Jack that you may be doing, like blowing something up, making fire come from the sky, or anything like that?”
“No John,” I said, “but to tell you the truth, I really don’t know what is going to happen,” although I knew full well that Gabriel had said someone was going to try to assassinate me tonight. It seemed strange, but it did not bother me, even if it should. Was my faith growing?