Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) Read Online Free PDF

bouncing off a spinning mirror ball irritated Marina. Only the stage was brightly lit.
    The setting was familiar to her. She had performed as an erotic dancer on a few occasions during assignments. Men liked to brag about their accomplishments to half-naked girls, often saying things they deeply regretted later. Marina was very good at making men feel regret.
    No girl was dancing at the moment, and the club was quiet. Only a few men were sitting around with drinks in front of them. It was still early in the day.
    Marina asked around until she found the manager. He was a white man with a big beer gut. His blond hair was so long it touched his belly. He was wearing a jean jacket and black leather pants.
    "Can I help you?" he said. His breath smelled like cigarettes.
    "Yes." She smiled. "We're with the FBI." She took out her wallet and flashed a badge.
    He stiffened. "I run a clean operation here. No sex or drugs on the premises. The girls pay their taxes."
    "I'm sure. We're actually interested in your surveillance system. I noticed a camera outside with a good view of the street. We'd like to see the recording. We're particularly interested in the time around when the angels appeared."
    "Oh." He relaxed. "I guess that's OK. Come on."
    The manager led the team to a small room behind the bar. It was an office which also served as a security control room. Loose paperwork covered a battered metal desk. There were also some pornographic magazines and a half-full bottle of whiskey. The security system was on a shelf on the other side of the room. Marina immediately grasped the simple controls.
    "You can leave us now," she said to the manager.
    "But..."
    "I told you to leave."
    He furrowed his brow. "Don't you need like a search warrant or something?"
    "We're special agents with the FBI, and you're a scummy strip club owner. You really want to make an issue of this?"
    He frowned and left the office. The door slammed behind him.
    "When I was a real FBI agent," Hanley said, "I never stepped on people's constitutional rights like that."
    "How nice for you," Marina said.
    She played with the controls of the surveillance system until she found the right recording. The video showed an off-angle shot of the Columbus and Broadway intersection. Clumps of people were standing on the corners, waiting to cross the street. Long lines of cars were stopped at the traffic light. It was a typical busy day in San Francisco.
    The pedestrians suddenly appeared dizzy. Some stumbled, and one actually fell to the pavement.
    "Look at that!" Hanley said.
    A white light illuminated the entire scene. The angels weren't in the camera frame, but they were clearly over the intersection. All the traffic immediately stopped, and everybody looked up. One car crashed into the back of another.
    Marina continued to watch the video, but not much else of interest happened. The angels flew for about two and a half minutes. After the light faded away, the citizens continued to stare at the sky.
    She watched the video several times without gaining any more insight. If there was some trick, she wasn't seeing it, or the camera hadn't captured it.
    "Are you seeing any clues?"
    "No, ma'am," Hanley said.
    Katie shook her head.
    The surveillance system had a built-in DVD writer. Marina printed a copy of the video and popped it out.
    "Let's go," she said.
    They left the strip club. She discovered to her horror the crowd outside had gotten even worse. She could feel her blood pressure rising, but she couldn't leave yet. She had to talk to at least one witness.
    It didn't take long to find somebody holding court in front of a circle of reporters and curiosity seekers. The witness had gray hair which was dirty and tangled. He was wearing a thread-bare Army jacket and green pants. Marina could see his toes through holes in his shoes. She pushed her way to the front of the mob until she caught a whiff of his body odor.
    "I felt the blessings of Heaven upon me," he said in a somber tone.