Divine Artifact in a Scientific World

"FREEZE!" yelled the youngish-looking cop as he drew his sidearm and pointed it at Jack and Katie.

After his "training" during his first lottery simulation, with all the amped-up cops pointing guns at him and yelling, this new situation barely had his heart rate elevated.

He calmly raised his hands to shoulder height, then gently nudged Katie with his elbow.

She'd frozen when the cop yelled, "Freeze!"

She twitched when he nudged her, then jerked her hands up to mimic him.

When the cop first yelled and pulled his gun, Jack felt fear, surprise, and anxiety radiate from her over their connection, but within moments he felt her anxiety and fear subside in response to his continued calm.

"Officer," said Jack calmy. "Is there a reason why you are pointing a weapon at two unarmed civilians?"

"D-Don't move!" yelled the cop. "How did you get in here?"

"This is a yacht club," Jack said, rolling his eyes. There was a sign on the wall right next to the cop that said "Docks" and pointed down the hallway he and Katie were in.

"Holster your weapon!" commanded a stern voice.

That voice sounds familiar thought Jack.

Sure enough, a moment later, agent Franks entered the foyer and stopped behind and to one side of the young, twitchy cop.

The young cop spun at the sound of Agent Franks' voice, but before he could point his weapon at Agent Franks, the agent snapped out a hand and pushed the cop's arm up into the air.

"A-A-Agent Franks!" squeaked the cop.

"I said. Holder. Your. Weapon!" barked Agent Franks.

The cop jerked his arm back, then, like a broken marionette, struggled to put his pistol back into his holster.

As soon as the cop managed to holster his weapon, Agent Franks pointed at the front door and said, "Out! Go pick up trash in the parking lot or something. And send in that chain-smoking fatty. He's too lazy to point a weapon at unarmed civilians."

The young cop bowed his head and scurried out the door.

Jack dropped his hands and walked forward.

"Agent Franks. What an unpleasant surprise. Looking for more innocent teenagers to arrest? Maybe hoping for the opportunity to trash a mansion this time?"

He just couldn't help taking a verbal jab at the agent.

Agent Franks scrunched his face like he'd bitten into a lemon, then opened his mouth before closing it again.

At that moment, two men entered. One was Wendel Dushane, one of Jack's lawyers, and the other was someone Katie recognized, based on her emotional response.

"Mr. Waldron," said Wendel.

"Mrs. Blake," said the other man.

Jack nodded at Wendel, and Katie nodded at the other man.

Looking at Agent Franks, the man next to Wendel said, "Agent Franks. Did you have any questions for our clients?"

Agent Franks shook his head. "No, we already have a statement from Mr. Blake. We have no questions for your clients. They are free to go."

Then Agent Franks spun and stomped off down the hallway towards the ballroom.

After Agent Franks disappeared, Jack said, "Well, that was easy."

"It helps when you're innocent," said the man next to Wendel.

"Not really," said Jack. "The last time it took them entirely too long to reach that conclusion."

The man next to Wendel quirked an eyebrow at Jack's comment, then said, "Mr. Waldron, Mr. Blake asked me to convey to you his invitation for you to have lunch today with him and his daughter at their home."

Jack could feel Katie's surprise mixed with a touch of concern.

"Thank you. I accept Mr. Blake's invitation."

The man nodded, then said, "Mrs. Blake, if I could have a few moments of your time?"

She looked at Jack.

He nodded and said, "I'll get the car ready."

She smiled, then led the man back down the hallway towards the stairs.

To Wendel, Jack said, "Nothing like a few easy billable hours to brighten your day, right?"

Wendel smiled, "True. By the way, I have news on Madison's case and the matter with your house."

"Oh?"

"It turns out Agent Jackson was a very naughty boy. And much to everyone's surprise, he confessed his crimes to the DA earlier this week. Not only did he confess to trashing your house, he also confessed to attempted murder."

"Well! I knew there was something wrong with that man. What about Madison's case?"

"I was informed late yesterday that new evidence has come to light that strongly indicates malfeasance on the part of Cascade Marketing. Our earlier suspicion that they tried to frame Madison so they could avoid paying the bug bounty is most likely true."

"That's good to hear! When will she be released?" He tried to act like this was the first he was hearing about such good news.

"We'll be filing a request with the courts first thing Monday morning, so if all goes well, we can get her released late Monday or Tuesday morning."

"I'm sure she will be thrilled to learn that. But I think it's best we don't tell her until it's a done deal."

"Yes, I suspect you're right. Denise made the same suggestion. If there's nothing else?"

"No, thanks for showing up."

After Wendel left, Jack found that a cop was manning the valet kiosk.

"Bit of a demotion, don't you think?" asked Jack as he handed his valet ticket to the cop.

The cop jus shrugged. "I still get paid cop wages, and I'd much rather drive cars than do traffic patrol. Less risk."

"True," replied Jack.

The cop sauntered off at a very un-valet like pace.

Katie came out and stopped next to him.

"So... lunch with my dad," she said, sounding uncertain.

"Yup. Do you think it's just a 'get to know Katie's boyfriend' thing, or something else?"

"Um, maybe? I hope that's all it is."

"It could be a job interview," he teased.

"Ha! That would be funny. If he knew about-"

She stopped, then tapped her temple while looking at him. He felt her open her mind gate.

"Are you going to tell him about the lottery? I'm certain he'll keep it a secret if you ask. And it will alleviate any lingering concerns he might have that you can take care of me."

"Maybe. We'll see."

"So, what are we going to do until lunchtime?" she asked out loud while closing her mind gate.

They discussed what to do before lunch and settled on stopping by his suite to pick up a change of clothes before taking her home. Then he could stay with her in her room until it was time for lunch.