The Demon Deception

by Mark Harritt

  Lazarus swallowed his coffee, “I don’t hate anybody. That’s a destructive emotion. I know there are people that the world is much better off without. Such as sociopaths. I remove them from the world. No hate involved. Plus, we’re in tight spaces here, and a smile is the grease that allows society to function.”

  Lilith shook her head, “I disagree. I think manners are the grease that allows society to function.”

  Lazarus spread his hands in a conciliatory manner, “I’ll bow to your expertise, since you’re the one who is desperately trying to destroy polite society. I assume that you’ve studied it diligently to crack its weaknesses.”

  “Why, thank you, sir.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Darcy stared at them, shook her head in dismay, and turned back around look out the window.

  Lilith curled into Lazarus, and put her head on his shoulder. It was going to be a very long trip to Tucson.

  ----------------------------------------------------

  Chapter Ten – Coffee at the 7/11

  They arrived in Tucson around noon. Sam was still in the driver’s seat, and he took the off ramp to get onto Valencia. They drove west on Valencia, past Interstate 19 overpass, until the beige houses turned into industrial buildings and salvage yards. Lazarus pointed out a Seven-Eleven. Sam pulled into the parking lot, and parked the van.

  Lilith looked at Lazarus, “Why are you parking here?”

  “I want to go take a look at the building before we drive up to it.”

  “Reconnaissance?”

  “Of course.”

  “Expecting someone?”

  “Always.”

  Sam turned and spoke, “You think Mephistopheles will have his agents here?”

  Lazarus concurred, “Last chance for them to mess with us. Plus, the really good stuff is going to be there. If they want to put us away, this is the time to grab us.” He leaned over to Sam and put his hand on Sam’s shoulder, “And, no matter how good your contact and your OPSEC is, it’s kind of hard to keep things like missiles hidden from the government.”

  Sam spread his hands, his expression optimistic, “I don’t know, my guy’s pretty good.”

  Lazarus smiled at Sam’s confidence, “We already had one site compromised. We still don’t know who that was. If your guy was compromised by another group, odds are pretty good he was already compromised by the ATF. You don’t move that kind of serious hardware without raising some eyebrows.”

  “Mephistopheles? You mean, like the cat from the Broadway play?” Darcy was clearly out of her depth on the demon thing. The lack of a classical education in Lazarus’ opinion. A little time in a Catholic high school would have done the trick. Lilith’s leg bumped his. Suddenly, thoughts of Lilith in Catholic school put a distinct image in his mind.

  Lazarus shook his head, pressing that image way down, as far as it could possibly go, “No, and that’s Mr. Mephistopheles. The Mephistopheles I’m talking about is the original. He works for the same boss that she,” Lazarus pointed towards Lilith, “works for.”

  “Boss?”

  “Yeah, you remember our conversation from the other night?”

  Darcy took a second, and her expression turned from confusion into one of skepticism. “What, Satan again.”

  Sam, Lilith, and Lazarus all began doing their rendition of jazz hands, all talking at the same time.

  “Don’t say his name.”

  “Ah, bad form, don’t say that name here.”

  Even Lilith tried to shush her, “Look, honey, you don’t want to say his name. Among the high profile people here, it invites unwanted attention.”

  “I thought you work for him?”

  “I do, but I don’t like the attention any more than Eli or Sam does. If the boss gets involved, he can be very unpleasant. While I like a little bondage, my boss gets very enthusiastic about it, to the point where I may, or may not survive the encounter.”

  “And you continue to work for him?” Darcy sounded like she was about to recommend a battered women’s shelter to Lilith.

  Lazarus spoke, “At this point, she has no choice. After, oh, three to four thousand years of reaving souls for the Great Deceiver, it’s not like she can put together a resume and suddenly find a passion for real estate.”

  The skepticism was still apparent on Darcy’s face.

  Lazarus slid open the back passenger door of the van, “Anyway, I’m going to go do a sneak and peak, and see what’s there. You guys can stay here, and I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  Lazarus got out of the van, and stretched. He was stiff from the ride. He had spent too many days traveling. He tried to shake it off, but it wasn’t going to happen in the few minutes he had. He began walking, hoping that the stiffness would ease. He turned south from Valencia, walking on the side walk. It was a warm day for late October, a typical day for southern Arizona. He wished he could take off his jacket, but that would have been a problem with his pistol. Plus, he liked the protection of the Kevlar and chain mail. He never knew when someone was going to try to stick a knife into him. Or shoot him.

  Another few minutes and he was almost at the cache site. Then he saw the dark blue, government sedan sitting in an alley. He slowed down, and stopped. Evidently, they saw him as well. The passenger door swung open, and Agent Johnston stood up. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, and had a cup of coffee from what Lazarus thought might be the same Seven-Eleven that the van was parked at. Lazarus stood there and watched them, wondering what was next. Another agent, one of the ones from Saint Louis, opened the driver’s door, and stood up. They both looked over at Lazarus. Agent Johnston took a drink of his coffee, and shut his door.

  He nodded at Lazarus, as if to say, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” Johnston turned and walked towards the cache site, a warehouse. The other agent closed the sedan door, turned and headed into the warehouse after Johnston. Lazarus turned around and walked back to the Seven-Eleven.

  The van doors were open when he got back. Sam was standing next to the van on the passenger side, leaning in to talk to Darcy. Darcy was sitting in the back seat, turned towards Sam, giggling at something he had just said. Lilith was sitting in the front seat, one foot on the pavement, and one leg cocked with her foot on the frame of the door. She was drinking a coke. He walked up, and their faces turned to him.

  “Well?” Sam asked.

  “I was right. Agent Johnston is there.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He nodded at me, drank his coffee, and walked inside the warehouse.”

  “Do you want to go in and get the rest of the munitions?”

  “I think we have to.”

  “Why?” Lilith asked.

  Lazarus explained, “They know we’re here. If they know about the missiles, they know about the explosives, the weapons and ammunition. We’re going to have to deal with this sometime. I’m thinking that if we go into that warehouse, we can deal with it now, get it over with, and not have to worry about it when we’re facing other dimensional monsters that are trying to suck our faces off.”

  “Suck our faces off?” Lilith asked.

  “Isn’t that what other dimensional monsters do?”

  “Ah, yuck.”

  Darcy sat, not saying anything, but she crossed her arms across her chest, the non-verbal communication screaming at Lazarus.

  Sam spoke, “yeah boss, not thinking that’s a good description.”

  Lazarus shrugged, “Okay, no more H.P. Lovecraft allusions.”

  Sam nodded, “Probably a good idea, Eli.”

  “So, it’s up to you guys. What do you want to do? They know we’re here. I’m thinking that we go in, because if we don’t, they’re going to follow us. They may even call in the local police to apprehend us. The last thing we need is a nation-wide A.P.B on us and our van. That could complicate our situation, and keep us from getting to Bisbee tomorrow.”

  Sam looked at Lilith and Darcy. Darcy kept her arms crossed, and shrugged. Lili
th sighed, then nodded, “Sure, I guess so.” She took a drink from the coke, “I hate dealing with Mephistopheles. He’s so bitchy. He takes everything personally.”

  Lazarus spoke, “Well, I hate dealing with Agent Johnston. He’s too damn serious.”

  “Well, he is an ATF agent,” Sam pointed out. “I’m thinking anybody that deals with illegal weapons, explosives, and terrorists probably has a tendency to be pretty serious about it.”

  “He might not be so serious about that kind of thing.”

  “What do you mean?” Sam asked.

  “Well, he’s been turned by Mephistopheles. What kind of trouble would an AFT agent get into that could allow demonic possession?”

  Sam thought about it, “Well, other than the regular stuff like murder, sex, and power? I don’t know, maybe corruption of some type?”

  Lazarus nodded, “I’m thinking he probably did more than violate a citizen’s right to carry a handgun. I don’t know what it might be, but there have been a lot of things happening on the terrorism front these days.”

  “You think he’s a dirty ATF agent?”

  “Maybe, not that it really matters,” he turned to Lilith, “Does it, Lilith?”

  She shook her head, “No, not really. If he gets in our way, we deal with him. Then your problem of what kind of corrupt he is, disappears.”

  “All right, let’s mount up, and head over to the warehouse.”

  Sam walked back over to the driver’s seat, and hopped in. Lazarus walked to the back seat. Darcy looked at him, and slid over. Lilith turned in her seat, and closed the passenger door. Lazarus climbed in, and pulled the door shut.

  “Everybody ready?” Sam asked.

  “How many people can we expect?” Lilith asked.

  “They had eight in Saint Louis, so at least that many. Maybe a few more.”

  Sam started the engine, and they pulled out of the parking lot. It was a very short ride. In five minutes, Sam was pulling up in front of the warehouse door. Nothing happened.

  “Honk the horn,” Lazarus told him.

  Sam honked the horn. Nothing happened for a few minutes. Sam honked again. A side door opened and a face looked out. The door shut, a minute passed, then they heard a motor start, and the door to the warehouse began rumbling up.

  “Into the lion’s den we go,” Lazarus said.

  Lilith glanced back, a smile on her face, “He was such a sweet man. I really liked him.”

  Darcy stared at Lilith, “Really? Now you know Daniel as well?”

  “How do you know about Daniel? I thought you didn’t know anything about the bible?” Lazarus asked.

  “Art appreciation. In college.”

  “Ah, Rubens.”

  Sam spoke up, “Well, hopefully, we’ll walk out just like Daniel did.”

  The door rose, and when it was high enough, Sam pulled forward into the warehouse. The door began rumbling down as the van pulled past it. The warehouse was filled with pallets of building supplies, stacked endlessly. In the middle of an open area, they could see six large, green plastic cases with aluminum strips at the juncture of the top and bottom where the two sides met. There were large butter fly clip latches on the edge of the cases, and yellow lettering.

  “Damn, we’re going to have to move a few things around in the back to get all of that in,” Sam said.

  Lazarus pondered the possible combinations. Nothing that he thought of could accommodate all the weapons and munitions in the back plus the large cases he saw on the floor of the warehouse. Of course, the fact that Agent Johnston was sitting on one of the cases could complicate loading the missile launchers into the back of the van as well. The other agent from the sedan was standing just to the right of the cases.

  Sam drove the van forward, and stopped about ten feet away from Agent Johnston. The van doors opened, and everybody stepped out. Sam stepped away from the side of the van, to give a wider angle on targets, and for maneuver room. Lilith walked around to the front of the van, and leaned back against it. Lazarus walked forward, opposite the front passenger door. Darcy climbed out behind him, and stayed next to the van.

  Lazarus raised a hand, and waved at Agent Johnston, “Long time no see. What’s it been, about five days, now?”

  Agent Johnston stood up, “You’ve been a very busy man, Lazarus.” Johnston took a drink of coffee, savoring what was, in his mind, a substantial victory.

  “Well, I try to stay busy. I feel that a man who stays busy, stays young at heart.”

  “Keeps your mind off of the future?” Johnston asked.

  “No, not really. Maybe it’s more about the work that I do.”

  “I didn’t know you worked, Lazarus.”

  Lazarus smiled, “Well, I don’t really consider it work. It’s more of a calling with me.”

  Lilith rolled her eyes, “Please, boys, can we get past the machismo and get on with whatever’s going to happen here?”

  Agent Johnston looked at her, “Who are you?”

  Lilith smiled. She shifted, just enough to make Johnston check out her considerable assets. The other agent was less circumspect. He was openly staring at Lilith. She giggled at the attention.

  “I’m going to have to talk to your boss. I’m amazed that Mephistopheles hasn’t mentioned his competition.”

  “Competition? I thought Lazarus was his competition.”

  Lilith pushed off from the van and stood straight. She walked over to Agent Johnston, reached out, and straightened his tie, “Yes, his competition. And no, silly, Eli isn’t his competition. Eli’s just trying to kill him. That’s not really competition. I, however, work for the same boss that Mephistopheles does. We’re both in marketing and sales. But,” she leaned forward into him, and looked deeply into his eyes, “I’m so much more fun to work for.”

  Johnston leaned back, his composure compromised by Lilith’s directness and physical closeness. Lilith did that to men, making men want her and despise her control over them at the same time.

  “Look lady, I don’t have time for this. I’m placing all of you under arrest for smuggling and trading illegal weapons and munitions.”

  Lilith smiled a sweet, demure smile, “You and what army, Agent Johnston?”

  Johnston was mesmerized. He had trouble taking his eyes off of hers, but he was still able to turn his head slightly, and yell out, “Come on out, guys.”

  Four more agents from Saint Louis stepped out from behind their cover. They all had M4 carbines held at the low ready. Lazarus heard something above, and looked up. There were three more agents on catwalks above them, two from Saint Louis, one of them the woman agent. The height gave them good angles to shoot if Lazarus and company gave any indication they were going to put up a fight.

  “I see you brought some extra help, Agent Johnston.”

  Agent Johnston nodded, “yes, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to help us in Saint Louis. He had another case he was working on. I was able to pull him over when I told my bosses about this sting.”

  “Well, technically, it’s only a sting if we didn’t know you were going to be here. And, if you were undercover and we were giving you money for the weapons. We’ve known for a while that you were going to intercept one of our shipments. Since you didn’t hit us on the last one, I kind of figured that you would probably hit us on this one. So, not really a sting.”

  “Technically true,” Agent Johnston admitted. Lilith was standing close enough to make Agent Johnston nervous, “but it has no bearing on what’s going to happen next.”

  Lilith leaned forward, “I suppose you mean the part where you shoot us all for trying to resist arrest.”

  Lazarus heard Darcy gasp behind him, as she realized the gravity of the situation.

  “Now Darcy,” Lazarus said.

  A split second later, multiple clicks were heard as magazines disengaged from their firearms. The M4 magazines from the ground crew hit first, followed closely by the three magazines from the crew on the catwalks. The three magazines hit the gr
ound with such force that they split and bullets cascaded and rolled across the floor. The magazines from Agent Johnston’s Glock and the other agent hit the floor with heavy clicks.

  Lazarus heard a heavy clatter on the floor next to him, and looked down to see the magazine from his Springfield XD on the ground. From the reactions of Sam and Lilith, they had just experienced the same thing.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” Lazarus said.

  Rage overtook Agent Johnston. He had been fooled once by Lazarus, and he was pissed that it was happening again. The rage took control, and he couldn’t stop what happened next. His countenance grew gaunt, greasy lanks of hair appeared, stretched over a bald head. His skin was wrinkled, and mottled. His hands became skeletal, his fingernails talons. A miasma of rot and fetid flesh grew strong. His teeth cracked and became jagged, almost serrated. His shoes shredded as the claws on his feet ripped through the leather. His posture changed, and his body bent forward, with his arms long enough to touch the floor.

  “Damn, ghouls, I hate ghouls,” Lazarus sprang into action. He reached into the van and pulled out Faith and Mercy, “Head’s up, Sam!” He flung Faith over the van. It tumbled through the air, and Sam followed it with his eyes. At the last minute, he reached out a hand, and the hilt of the sword landed in his palm.

  “Jesus, Eli!” Sam exclaimed.

  The ATF team dropped their humanity like cheap suits. They howled as they charged forward. The ghouls on the crosswalks dropped over the sides, not worried at the impact at the bottom of the forty foot drop.

  The first one to find out that Lazarus and his team weren’t going to go quietly was Agent Johnston. Lilith had stepped back as soon as she saw the magazine of her Glock go sliding across the floor. Now she was backed up against the van. Agent Johnston didn’t see the hellfire glimmer in her eyes. His arms flung wide and he leaped forward to maul Lilith. Hellfire erupted, limning her brow. She batted Johnston’s talons aside and fire surrounded her hands as she slammed her fist into his chest. His ribs shattered like toothpicks. Already dead, he howled as he tried to rend her. Hellfire flared, consuming his body. Ash filled the air as hellfire destroyed him.