Heaven Bent Read Online Free PDF Page A

the path, with me a step behind her.
    Suddenly, we were face to face with a tall white gate. Lillian stood in front of it with her hands clasped behind her back and waited.
    After a moment, the gate swung silently inward.
    "Reminds me of my place back home." I looked around, half-expecting a security camera--a metaphorical one, at least. "Not so many dogs though...not yet, anyway."
    She turned with a finger raised to her lips, shushing me. Then, she straightened her white blazer and marched through the gate.
    For a moment, I looked back, wondering if I ought to get the Hell out of there. I didn't like where this was heading, not a bit. But then I figured, where was I going to hide? This was Heaven, right? I was on God's turf now.
    Not too many places I could hide to get away from the Big Kahuna.
    So I took a deep breath and followed Lillian.
    Inside the gate, I found myself standing at the edge of a rooftop terrace. It looked like something out of Mount Olympus in a Greek gods movie--all marble pillars and statues and divans. Glittering bowls of fruit and decanters of wine occupied marble tables; lutes and flutes and musical instruments leaned against tables and couches. Pools of crystal blue water bubbled and steamed at each of the four corners of the terrace.
    In the middle, twelve men and women sat on benches in a circle around a marble pedestal. They all wore flowing white robes trimmed with elegant gold scrollwork.
    All twelve of them looked in our direction at once.
    " Now I'm not worried," I whispered to Lillian. "This is just like going to a studio boss's mansion. What's next? We haggle over backend points for my next picture?"
    She just flashed me a disapproving look. My own kid wasn't buying my material. So who the hell was I performing for, anyway?
    "Stag Lincoln!" said one of the women--middle-aged but still in reasonably good shape, with red hair piled on top of her head. "Come before us." Her voice was stern as a schoolmarm on steroids.
    Lillian bobbed her head and slid her eyes toward the group. "Go, Dad."
    I hesitated. "But what am I supposed to--"
    Lillian's eyes flared. "Just go ." She grabbed my elbow and pushed me forward. But she also whispered this along the way: "And good luck ."
    I stumbled forward a step, then caught myself and straightened my sweater. Whatever was in store for me, it was time to reinstitute the Stag Lincoln coolness. I'd dealt with bigwigs before; it was always best to come at them with a kind of aloof self-assuredness. Like "I don't need you, I could care less what you do, but what the Hell, maybe we can still do business if the mood strikes me." Not quite arrogant, not quite asshole, but not even the faintest whiff of neediness or desperation.
    And did I mention you have to ladle on the charm?
    "Hello there." I donned my smoothest smile as I strolled confidently up to the twelve robed wonders. "Pleased to meet you."
    No one seemed particularly charmed, I noticed. Not that I would let that change my approach.
    "Ascend." The stern redhead pointed at the pedestal in the middle of the group. "Prepare for judgment."
    I stopped just outside the circle and frowned. "Could I just ask what exactly you mean by--"
    " Final judgment." This time, one of the men was doing the talking. He was short and round, with a fringe of dark hair from ear to ear around the back of his head. "On your eternal soul , Mr. Lincoln."
    "Ahh." I nodded and glanced back at Lillian. So that's what she'd meant when she'd mentioned a 'verdict.' "All right then."
    A bitter chill shot through my body (soul? metaphor?). Everything looked so normal , so earthly --but here we were, talking about my soul .
    And let me tell you, that was a conversation I wasn't in any hurry to have.
    "Is there a chance we could do this later?" I rubbed the back of my neck and winced. "I've got a splitting headache, and..."
    " Ascend ." The redhead pointed more forcefully at the pedestal.
    I sighed and looked around. What were the chances I