Heaven Bent Read Online Free PDF

could just run away?
    Not very good, apparently. High white walls blocked the view on all sides, so I couldn't see if a decent escape route existed. Then there was the matter of divine retribution, of course. If this was God's posse, chances were good they could do more to me than talk sternly and point.
    So I was stuck--but determined not to show it. Shoulders back, I put on my charming smile and walked through the circle of bigwigs like I was on my way to pick up an Oscar.
    "Right here?" I gestured at the octagonal pedestal, which was three feet high. A set of two marble steps on either side provided access. "You want me to--"
    " Ascend ," snapped the redhead.
    I cleared my throat and grinned. "Right. Got it." Then, I walked up one of the sets of steps and stood on the pedestal. "Done and done."
    Arms at my sides, I turned a slow circle, looking down at the twelve bigwigs. I'd handled their kind before; maybe I could do it again.
    Maybe I'd get through this okay. After all, killing the helicopter pilot had been an accident. And what happened with A.E. was so long ago...
    "Final judgment has been rendered, Mr. Lincoln!" This time, a scrawny old guy with wispy white hair spoke up. "And the verdict is..."
    "About that," I said. "Don't I get my day in court or some--"
    " Guilty! " The old guy leaped from his bench and shook a bony finger at me. "You have been condemned to eternal damnation !"
    "Okay now, hold on." I put my hands together in the shape of a "T." "Time out for just a second."
    "You are going straight to hell!" shouted the old guy.
    "Immediately!" added the redhead.
    Suddenly, metal bars shot up from the floor all around me. The pedestal started to turn counterclockwise.
    "Please!" I said. "Let me just explain!"
    " Burn in the fiery furnace for all eternity!" said the guy with the dark fringe of hair.
    " Suffer at the hands of Satan and his wicked minions !" said the redhead.
    And then, as my heart raced and I clawed at the bars, the pedestal started to descend.

    *****
    Â 
    Chapter 3

    I was going to Hell.
    The pedestal I stood on turned counterclockwise and slowly descended through the floor of the terrace. I clawed at the metal bars that had sprung up around it, trapping me. Intense heat surged from below, as if I were dropping into an oven.
    I howled at the white-robed men and women seated around me. "Let me out of here! Please don't do this!"
    None of them said a word or batted an eyelash. Apparently, they'd been dead serious about their final judgment on my soul.
    I wish I could say I took it like a man. It's not like I didn't expect this outcome after the life I'd led. Honestly, I'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since I'd woken up in Heaven.
    But that didn't mean I had to like it.
    "Please! I'm begging you!" My heart jackhammered in my chest as the pedestal lowered. "Give me another chance! Please give me another chance!"
    Finally, someone said something--but it wasn't what I wanted to hear. "You had more than your share of chances in life." It was the middle-aged redhead with the pile of hair up top. "Save your begging for the Lord of Hell."
    By the time the floor was at chest level, I was in full-on panic mode. I was shaking like crazy, sweating all over, blubbering like an idiot. "Please no! I'm sorry! Sorry for everything!" So much for the famous Stag Lincoln cool. "Don't do this!"
    "Don't blame us," said the tubby guy with the fringe of black hair. "You have brought this fate upon yourself!"
    The scrawny old-timer with the wispy white hair joined in. "Even now, do you repent? Truly repent?"
    "I repent! I truly repent!" I rattled the bars as my cage continued to sink and the heat from below climbed. "I swear I repent!"
    Suddenly, the pedestal stopped moving.
    At that point, the floor was up to my chin...and that was with me standing on tiptoe. I was roasting from the heat, soaked with sweat and feeling light-headed.
    "So you petition us for a reprieve?" said the old-timer. "You appeal to