The Demon Conspiracy (30 page)

“This is an original recipe?”

“Oh, yes,” said Angie from across the room.
“He’s been working on it for the last month in the basement. It’s
like he had this brainstorm.”

In an instant Nabors went from hardcore
executive to friendly rich guy who saw a way to get richer. He
called his secretary on the intercom.

“Coryn.” A moment later she entered the
room.

“Yes, Mr. Nabors?”

“We’ll be staying a little late today,
Coryn. Get the new product contracts.”

“Yes, sir.” Coryn left the
room a bit dazed. Travis wondered why.
The
bosses never stayed late before
, I
thought to him.
Never.
She returned with a large
notebook and a laptop computer.

“It’s not smart business for me to tell you
this, Chris,” said Nabors. “But you’re right. That is the best
drink I’ve ever tasted, and it’s not even cold! I’ll make you an
offer right now for your recipe. How does one-hundred-thousand
dollars up front sound? And that’s just the beginning. Our standard
contract guarantees that you’ll make money on every single bottle
we sell of your Majik Juice. Between profit on every bottle, profit
sharing and stock options I think we can make you rich beyond your
wildest dreams! How about it?”

“How about
one million
dollars up
front,” said Chris, firmly. “Or I go down the street. I have a
five-thirty appointment with Mr. Clark Creedon at Northern Virginia
Bottlers.”

Nabors looked flustered. “A million? That’s
a lot of money, Chris.” He looked at his fellows with worried
eyes.

He’s faking it!
I sent Travis the mental message and
smiled.
He thinks Chris should have asked
for ten times that much!

Travis almost said something to Chris, but
in the end lost his nerve. These men were way too important for him
to interrupt.

Chris looked at Angie, then back at Nabors.
He went through his suitcase and took out a legal sized notebook,
professionally bound. He reached under his shirt and removed the
small black cylinder he’d used in the basement. He gave Nabors the
notebook and the cylinder.

“This contains the exact recipe for each
product,” said Chris, pointing to the notebook. “And this is the
secret ingredient. Make sure you touch it only once for each
bottle. I don’t think it’ll ever run out. And I can arrange for you
to purchase all the ingredients at a significant discount. The
Reverend Beth Ann Foster at the Peoples Way Church now grows
everything you’ll need. They’re in southern California, you
know.”

Nabors smiled back at him. “I saw her in the
news the other day. Her church is taking California by storm. You
drive a hard bargain, Mr. McCormick. I’ll have Coryn draw up a
standard contract immediately.” They shook hands. Nabors studied
the bottle. “Majik Juice, that’s a clever name, with the spelling
and all. Where did you come up with a name like that for a fruit
drink?”

“This is far more than just another fruit
drink,” said Chris. “I think you’ll find it to be the answer to
many prayers worldwide.”

“Well it’s certainly going to answer my
prayers!” said Nabors, laughing. “Just the other night I was
praying for more money. And here you are. You and your Majik
Juice.”

“
Your
Majik Juice,” corrected Chris.
“Show me where to sign.”

24

JON DISAPPEARS

KELLY

The McCormicks were overnight millionaires
because Chris had invented a fruit drink that was made of, among
other things, human hair and mashed up cockroaches. I wanted to
mention it every time I heard Angie phone another friend to tell
them about the family’s new fortune, but I always held back. What
if she thought I was out of line and decided to send me back to
social services? Heck, even if she believed me, and that was a BIG
if, it would only ruin her good mood. For the first time in days
she was really happy. I shrugged. Sometimes you need to look beyond
the cockroaches.

“Chris acted strange ever since he came out
of that cave,” said Angie to one of her friends. “But now I see
why. He had this great idea and he knew it would work. He’s
amazing! It’s a side of him I never knew about. We’re going to
remodel the entire house, and we’re finally going to convert the
basement into an apartment and rent it out. I can’t wait to go
shopping! I won’t have to worry about credit limits because all the
cards are paid off!”

Angie was thrilled about the money and being
able to spend it. I was too, because part of the spending meant new
clothes and more nice things for all of us. I might even make a
serious effort to keep my room clean now. Chris had gotten a fair
deal with City Bottling and pretty much set up our family with
income for life. But since his “product making” hoopla was over,
Chris didn’t seem to care anymore. He stayed out of the basement
and had completely given up teaching. He just sat in the den and
watched soap operas and talk shows on TV all day.

Angie pretended not to notice the way he
was, but I knew better. I’d gone into her mind and picked up enough
lingering worries about Chris to know she cared very much about how
he was acting now. On the other hand, they had so much money, and
thinking of new ways to spend it made it difficult to stay in a
worrying frame of mind. When Angie came up with a new project idea,
she’d go into the den and ask Chris about it. His response was
usually a nod or a grunt, but that was good enough for Angie. She’d
run off and make a list, leaving Chris to flip channels until he
found another show.

I heard it all while I sat on the living
room sofa and tried to read a book for school. Though I had the
ability to scan the minds of many people at once and now knew I
could even control them, I still had difficulty focusing on a book
when more exciting things were going on around me. I listened to
Angie instead of staying involved with the chapter. Even more
distracting, Travis came downstairs wearing his winter coat. He
stood at the front door like he was looking for someone.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“The Dunlops are pickin’ me up. We’re goin’
to an ice hockey game at the arena.”

“Good idea with the jacket. I hear it’s
freezing in there.”

“Well, duh. Why do you
think they call it
ice
hockey?”

I ignored his sudden attitude. “I thought
you were grounded.”

“Angie let me off.”

I shrugged again and tried to read some
more. Jon came downstairs, still wearing the same T-shirt he’d had
on for days, but he‘d changed into blue jeans. He cleared his
throat to get everybody’s attention. “I have an announcement to
make and I would like all of you to hear it.”

“What’s it about?” asked Travis.

“I will explain when everyone is here.”

It took a few minutes for me to find Angie,
and Chris just growled and refused to leave the den, but soon the
four of us were gathered at the front door. Jon smiled big and
seemed very excited as his gaze went from Angie to me to Travis. I
got hopeful just thinking about what he might have to say. Did he
have a new magic trick to show off? His announcement came as a
complete shock.

“I will not be here for Thanksgiving dinner.
Tomorrow we have school for half a day and then I leave for New
York City where I will become the greatest magician who ever
lived.”

“New York City?” said Travis. “Will you be
back for Christmas?”

“I will not be coming back. I have much work
to do. I must work hard and fast.”

“Not comin’ back? Ever?”

“Not ever.”

I certainly didn’t like
the sound of that. Even if Jon was different since the cave, he was
still Jon and he’d gotten a lot nicer lately. “You have to come
back! What about us? You can’t leave us
forever
! What about Brandon? You and
Brandon are gonna make movies, remember? You’re gonna be a
stuntman! And what’s Maria supposed to do? You two are in love. You
can’t just leave everybody!”

“
Everybody
is not my concern. I have
much work to do. I must work hard and fast.”

Angie looked at Jon, clearly amazed at his
boldness. She shook her head. “When did you decide this, young man?
Have you spoken with Chris about leaving? Are you just going to run
off?”

“Chris knows. I am not going to run. I am
going to walk.”

“You’re going to walk all the way to New
York from here? And what are you going to do when you get there?
Where will you sleep?”

“I have a place to sleep.”

“Have you been talking to somebody on the
internet? Do you realize how dangerous that is?”

“He sold his computer, Angie,” I
reminded.

“Oh. Well, the answer is
still no. You’re
not
going. Don’t even ask again.”

“I did not ask. I am going. I must work hard
and fast.”

“You’re just like your father! Every other
sentence out of your mouth is ‘I must work hard and fast!’ Don’t
you get tired of saying that?”

I cringed. Angie had
called Chris Jon’s
father
. I expected Jon might
explode, but to my surprise, he didn’t say a thing. Maybe he hadn’t
noticed.

Angie continued. “Jon Robert Bishop, you are
not going any place over the break. We’re having our first official
Thanksgiving dinner together as a family. It’s something I’ve
wanted to be able to do to my whole life. If you try to go, I’ll
call the police and have you picked up as a runaway. How could you
just leave Kelly and Travis like that? Besides, how are you going
to walk to New York and get back here by Monday? Did you forget
about school?”

“I am done with school. I will not be coming
back. I will be the greatest magician in the world and I will start
my tour in New York City.”

“Your
tour
?” Angie was incredulous. “Who
do you think you are? David Copperfield? He’s the greatest magician
in the world and it took him years and years to reach that level.
You don’t just go out and do shows!

“Listen to me, Jon. You’re a high-school boy
with big dreams, really good talent and no opportunities. You have
no money and no contacts. If you really want to set up some shows,
Chris and I can work it out. We have extra money now. But you have
to start locally and you have to finish high school. I know you’re
good at magic, I saw you levitate at school the other day. But you
have to take it one step at a time. And you are not quitting school
for this. Nobody will pay to see just two or three tricks!”

“They will pay to
see
me
. I am the
greatest. And money is not a problem.” Jon turned his palms down
and turned them back. In each hand were two stacks of twenty-dollar
bills, still in the wrappers. My eyes bulged. Angie jumped
back.

“Did you steal that?” I asked. Jon
half-smiled back at me, but remained secretive.

Jon gave Angie the cash. “Money is no
object. I am leaving tomorrow after school. Do not try to stop
me.”

“I
will
stop you!”

Jon smiled and went into the den. Angie
followed him. “I mean it, Jon! Wait till I tell your father about
this!”

I held my breath, again
waiting for Jon’s response about the
father
comment. But he offered no
reaction. Talk about focused. Jon was so intent on going to New
York he didn’t seem to care about anything else.

A moment later a car honked outside and
Mathew Dunlop appeared at the front door. Travis let him in. “Come
on in, Mathew.”

Mathew was dressed impeccably as always,
wearing khaki slacks with a green sweater. He seemed to be in a
hurry. “Hey, Ms. Angie. Hey, Kelly. Come on, Travis, we have to go.
Game time is in thirty minutes.”

“Okay,” said Travis. “I’ll be right there. I
gotta say goodbye to my brother. He’s goin’ to New York tomorrow to
be the world’s greatest magician.” I would have corrected his
grammar, but Travis was on the verge of tears. He didn’t want to
see Jon leave anymore than I did.

“Really? That’s cool. What kind of tricks
can he do?”

“I’ll tell you in the car.” Travis went into
the den to find Jon. I peeked around the corner to see what he was
going to say to him. To my surprise, he hugged Jon and returned to
the foyer.

“Thanks for taking him to the game, Mathew,”
said Angie. “We’ll get you guys together to spend the night real
soon, okay?”

“Okay, Ms. Angie. Thanks for letting him
go!” Mathew and Travis sprinted out the door as Angie waved to the
Dunlops. I hung my head. I understood why Jon had to go to New
York. But when he said he wasn’t coming back, well, that hurt. Was
there any way to change his mind?

JON

On the half-day before Thanksgiving Jon
placed all his books in his locker at school and walked through the
hallways alone. The building was nearly empty, even most of the
teachers had already gone home. As Jon rounded a corner, somebody
slammed into him so hard it nearly knocked him down. He caught his
balance and found himself flanked by Spider Dedmon and a wary
Robbie Leach. Kurt Lazarus stood in front of him, still wearing a
cast on his right hand. His nose had an odd-looking dent in it
where Jon had broken it weeks before. Kurt leaned down into Jon’s
face.

“Well, if it isn’t Jon Bishop.” Kurt looked
around to be sure no teachers were nearby. He put his cast hand on
Jon’s shoulder and leaned close like he had something important to
say. He practically whispered into Jon’s ear. “Let me tell you a
little secret, Jon-boy. Your grandmother’s not here to protect you
this time. Do you know what that means?”