Lucifer's Daughter

By Frederick Downs

Sequel to The Gates of Hades
Lucifer convinces Susan Anders, daughter of the deceased leader of the World Order Church, to help him open the Gates of Hades. First she must recover the two relics known as Lucifer’s Pillow and the Prophet’s Stone. To assure success, Lucifer’s evil young daughter will indwell Susan with her supernatural powers. Soon Angelette is in total control with her own agenda!

Nathan Sampson is investigating a related case to determine if a double suicide was really murder. When a few key clues are placed in his path, he is soon on the trail of Susan and her unholy comrades. What Nathan doesn’t know is that his actions are really being directed by God’s angel, Jude!

When the lives of Brigham Smith and Connie Bolivar are threatened, they inform Nathan of the satanic powers involved in his investigation. Now working together, they soon discover that supernatural powers are also helping them. Follow the action and suspense that will lead them all back to the Gates of Hades beneath a Syrian monastery! Then join them in the final showdown at Angel Falls, deep in the jungles of Venezuela!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frederick Downs
• Release date: Sep 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301447107

Book preview

Preface

A Thought

When you hear the name Satan, what do you envision in your mind? Is it a vision of a red demon with a forked tail? Or is it a vision of a beautiful heavenly creature known as an angel? The popular opinion is that of a scary monster. The Biblical fact is that he is of the order of angels called cherubim. His real name is Lucifer, and he was once the highest of all angelic creatures. That’s right, even higher than the archangel Michael.

The Ryrie NIV Study Bible has a most interesting section titled A Synopsis of Bible Doctrine. It lists 12 major Bible doctrines. As you might expect, the doctrines of Scriptures, God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit head the list. But the next three are little known, seldom preached, and grossly misunderstood. They are the doctrines of Angels, Satan, and Demons. These are the closet doctrines of Christianity. I’ve always wondered why they don’t get the pulpit time and press that the other doctrines do. My conclusion is the average person, Christian or not, just doesn’t want to know the biblical truths of these subjects. They find the doctrines of Man, Sin, Salvation, Church, and Future Things much more interesting. So they just forget about Angels, Satan, and Demons.

The sad truth that most biblical professionals choose to ignore is this: You can’t have one without the other. All twelve doctrines are intricately connected to each other. So let’s just spend a few moments on these three. Here are the biblical facts in a nutshell:

Angels – Their existence is taught in 34 books of the Bible. The word angel occurs 275 times. They were created before the creation of the world. They are Spirit Beings that do not die but cannot reproduce after their own kind. They possess great power, intellect, emotion, and will. They are well organized into seven known classes. Their mission or ministries are to Christ, to believers, to nations, and to unbelievers. The number of angels is innumerable.

Satan – Possesses all the above characteristics. In addition, he is a murderer, a liar, a confirmed sinner, an accuser, and an adversary. God does place limitations on him. He is not omniscient or infinite, and he can be resisted by the Christian. Satan wanted to be the possessor of heaven and earth. His sin is called pride. He was cast out of his original position in Heaven and forced to dwell among men. His work involves using various people to attempt to thwart the work of Christ. He continues to deceive the nations and will one day gather them to the battle of Armageddon. He binds the minds and hearts of unbelievers as he uses them to oppose God’s work. Much of his evil work is directed against the Christians, to include employing demons to attempt to defeat them.

Demons – Possess all the above characteristics since they too are angels that banded together with Satan. Many are confined already, but some are loose to do Satan’s work. Demons can inflict disease, possess men and animals, disseminate false doctrine, and oppose spiritual growth of God’s children. A Christian cannot be possessed by a demon since he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. However, a believer can be the target of demonic activity to such an extent that he may give the appearance of demon possession. Eventually all demons will be cast with Satan into the lake of fire. But during the interim, God sometimes uses demons in the carrying out of His purposes.

Let me attempt to summarize these three doctrines. Lucifer, the angel closest to God, decided he wanted to become God and rule not just Earth, but Heaven also. Lucifer wanted the glory that belonged to God alone. When God heard the boasts of Lucifer and saw that wickedness and violence had become his master, He evicted him in disgrace from Heaven. Evidently, a large percentage of the angels were banished along with Lucifer. Then, when God created Adam and Eve, Lucifer was there to take his revenge on God. Man was deceived and tempted by Lucifer. With this act, sin entered into human existence. From then until now, the battle for the souls of man has continued between God and Lucifer.

So, even though angels were created by God to serve Him, God chose to give them great power, intellect, will, and emotions. In other words, angels have the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, godly and ungodly. They are much more like us than we care to realize. Maybe Lucifer’s sin of pride wasn’t any worse than those committed by us every day. And if that is the case, why such a great punishment for him and the other fallen angels? Maybe God had other motives for sending Lucifer to Earth. Could it be that God is using Lucifer for beneficial purposes in the life of the Christian? Remember what the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I find it very hard to fathom God’s greatest angel, Lucifer, could willingly become the most evil creature on Earth. Instead, I strongly believe God’s hand is still pulling the strings on His ruler of this world, His god of this age, His prince of the power of the air.

Using this as a premise, I have fashioned a story about Lucifer and his struggle to regain access to Heaven. It is also the story of Lucifer’s struggle to release his fallen angels from inside the Gates of Hades. To do this, he must recruit the help of evil men and women. And to prevent this, God sends one of His own, Jude, down to Earth to match wits with Lucifer.

Many of the human characters are the same as those found in my novel, The Gates of Hades. To refresh your memory, the following is a short summation of that story:

The World Order Church had a plan for world domination. But first, they must obtain two hidden religious relics. When the relic known as Lucifer’s Pillow was stolen from a Syrian monastery, two Harper Oil employees were sent to investigate. The geologist, Brigham Smith, and the physician, Connie Bolivar, soon found themselves in a deadly race to uncover the relic known as the Prophet’s Stone. The clues took them from Jerusalem to Greece to England to France to Patmos Island to Egypt. During the course of 8 days, Dr. Bolivar was kidnapped and rescued, a pandemic of Bubonic Plague was prevented, a war between Syria and Israel was averted, the ancient relics were safely returned, the World Order Church leadership was destroyed, vast reserves of natural gas were discovered, and Brigham and Connie fell in love. Lucifer was not successful in releasing his fallen angels from inside the Gates of Hades. And the vast wealth in diamonds belonging to the leader of the World Order Church was now in the hands of Brigham, Connie and their three oil worker friends. Together, they decided to use the money to cure sickness and hunger around the world. Once again, God used the spoils of war to advance His kingdom.

In this new story, Lucifer recruits Susan Anders, the beautiful daughter of the now deceased leader of the World Order Church. She wants to destroy all those responsible for her father’s death and for the theft of her fortune in diamonds. At the same time, she works to recover the three ancient relics needed to restore world power to her father’s cult church. Lucifer will be at her side all the way.

The angel, Jude, is sent to recruit an insurance investigator working a related case with Harper Oil. When a few key clues are placed in his path, Nathan Sampson is soon on the trial of Susan Anders and her unholy comrades.

The trail will lead first to the mountains of northern New Mexico. Next will be a crisis at the Gates of Hades in the cave beneath a Syrian monastery. Then to the oil rich country of Venezuela where Brigham Smith and his new bride, Connie, are working. The final showdown with all the players will occur there, at Angel Falls, deep in the jungles of Venezuela.

Are you still hungry now that you’ve seen the menu? Well, pull up a chair and turn the page.

Fred Downs

4 September 2006

Labor Day

— Chapter 1 —

Father, you have a very important guest, smiled Angelette, the beautiful young daughter of Lucifer.

Yes, I’ve been expecting a visit from one of my old friends. Who did He send this time? asked Lucifer as he admired himself in the mirror. Maybe it was time to get a new body. This one was starting to show its age a little. What do you think, Angelette? Do I need a make over? I’m starting to feel a little weary in this body.

Nonsense, father! You look great just as you are, she laughed. Besides, it is I that needs a make over. You have been promising me a mature woman’s body for fifty years now. And I know exactly who I want to look like.

Patience, my child, patience. Your time will come soon enough, he laughed pulling her to him. Giving her a kiss on each cheek, he said, Now be a dutiful daughter and show our guest into my study. Tell what’s his name that I will join him shortly.

Yes, father. And his name is Jude. And he is quite handsome, she laughed running from the room.

Lucifer paced the floor in deep thought. This visit had to concern the recent fiasco with the World Order Church and that explosion at the Gates of Hades. What kind of new punishment will He inflict upon me now? Whatever it is, I can’t let it interfere with my new scheme to recruit Susan Shaker and her murderous lover. They do make a fine team and just might succeed where her father failed. Glancing at the time, he saw that 10 minutes had passed. He smiled at the thought of keeping God’s messenger waiting. After all, God had been keeping him waiting for thousands of years now. Lucifer turned and walked slowly through the halls of his beautiful mansion toward his personal study.

The angel, Jude, had spent the time looking at the titles of the books that lined the walls of the massive room. There were thousands of volumes written in dozens of languages. One section was reserved just for Bibles. And in a glassed case was a massive original Guttenberg Bible. Jude was admiring this work of art when Lucifer came silently into the room.

Another one of my failed attempts to destroy Christianity, laughed Lucifer.

I don’t understand, sir, said Jude extending his hand in greeting.

I was working with a young priest at the time named Martin Luther. I had high hopes of destroying the Catholic Church with his help. And it might have worked if that other German hadn’t invented the printing press. Between the two, they gave birth to the Protestant movement. Did you know that I’m responsible for that word? smiled Lucifer.

You are responsible for the word ‘Protestant’? How is that, sir?

It was my idea to call Luther’s movement the Protestation movement. And soon the Catholics had started calling Luther’s followers ‘Protestants’. I was trying to start trouble with the name, and it backfired on me. The same thing happened in Antioch when I invented the name Christian. Now that was a cursed name for several hundred years! exclaimed Lucifer.

And now it is a blessed name. Praise God! smiled Jude.

And how is the Father these days? Give him my greetings when you return, joked Lucifer.

Sir, you should not joke about such matters, exclaimed Jude.

Quite right, Jude. Please accept my apology. Now, what is it you wish to discuss today?

Recent demonic activity at the Christian monastery in Paneas, Syria. A Father Saul prayed for relief from demonic attack. Also, one of the monks there died during the course of a recent robbery. It seems that Lucifer’s Pillow was stolen from the Vault of Secrets. And during the short time it was missing, a Plague broke out in Paneas and Damascus. It was apparently caused by demon possessed rodents. Also, an international incident occurred between Syrian and Israel that could have resulted in a full scale war between the Jews and Muslims, explained Jude.

And the Father thinks all this is my doing? Well, I would like to take credit for it, but as you know, I’m forbidden to interfere in such matters. Of course, I have made no secret of my concerns for the fallen angels that He forces to live behind the Gates of Hades. I don’t understand why He keeps them locked up for such an insignificant crime.

Sir, I’m told that you ordered the fallen angels to cohabit with women of the earth.

Well, yes, I did! But it was to produce a superior race of humans. I wanted to eliminate the wickedness of those people! I wanted to make amends for that little incident in the garden with Adam and Eve.

Father God did not agree. Most of the fallen angels were exiled to Hades and all their offsprings died in the great flood.

And that was much too harsh a punishment for the human race. Things are much worse today than back then. My plan was better! exclaimed Lucifer in anger.

I think we are getting off the subject, sir. My orders are to deliver a warning to you to cease and desist any future actions to secure the release of the fallen angels. This will occur at a future time designated by the Father. If you disobey, then the Father will take harsh action against you, warned Jude.

Lucifer stared in anger at Jude. He wanted to scream but remained silent. Once again he had been defeated and disgraced by God. He wished once again that God would finally destroy him and put him out of his misery. Why! Why! Why does He let this go on like this? Why can’t He forgive and forget? Why doesn’t He let me come back to Heaven where I belong?

And one more thing, sir. I am to report to you that the incident in question had several outstanding outcomes. The first of these is that the cult church known as World Order is no longer a threat to the true faith. Also, a new charity called Save the World Foundation has arisen. Much of the funding will come from the newly discovered gas fields near the Paneas monastery. Praise God! smiled Jude.

Yes indeed. Praise God! smiled Lucifer in return. Now, please join me for a nice meal. I want to hear how my old friends Michael and Gabriel are doing.

— Chapter 2 —

Susan, it’s so good to see you again, smiled Beth as the two women embraced. Please sit down and tell me how everything is going. I’ve been so worried about you.

Susan Anders had been absent from her position at Harper Oil for several months now. That time was spent burying her father and working with lawyers to clear his name from the alleged crimes committed by the World Order church. And now that her father’s estate was about to be settled, she had returned to Asheville for the reading of the will of her previous employer, Malcolm Harper. I still can’t believe Mr. Harper could take his own life. And it’s such a tragedy about your boss, Mr. James, dying from the same cause. I feel so guilty. I should have seen that the poor man was suicidal! Susan exclaimed as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

Don’t cry, my dear. Just between you and me, the old man had been ready to go for a long time. You were the only thing keeping him alive. It’s just a freak accident that my boss happened to drink from the same pitcher of juice that contained the lethal dose of drugs. Some people are even hinting Mr. Harper intended for both of them to die together. Something about that Code Red project they were working in Syria, whispered Beth.

Why, that is ridiculous! The two of them were like brothers. I’ve never seen two men who enjoyed each other’s company as much as Mr. Harper and Mr. James, cried Susan with a shocked look on her face.

Well, just the same, Mr. James’ wife is stirring that pot. She has even convinced our insurance people to hire an investigator to check out certain aspects of this case. I’m sure he will want to question you also. A Mr. Nathan Sampson has already questioned me several times, explained Beth.

I’m only here for the reading of Mr. Harper’s will and to clean out my office. But you have my cell phone if the investigator wishes to talk to me, smiled Susan.

They continued chatting for about ten more minutes. When Beth’s phone rang, Susan excused herself and went to her old office to clean out her desk. Once there, she assembled several file boxes and began to fill one with her personal things. When she was assured that this wing of the building was absence of other employees, she quickly removed a key from her purse and used it to open the door to Mr. Harper’s private quarters.

She glanced briefly at the large bed where the old man spent much of his final years. Of course, she had spent considerable time in that bed herself. The old man never tired of fondling her breasts and touching other parts of her anatomy. But that was as far as it ever went since his heart was too weak for real sex. Not that she would have ever consented anyway. She only took the position at the request of her father. In effect, her real job was to spy on Harper Oil for the World Order Church. And the old man would tell her all his secrets anytime she crawled in his bed. Just the day before his death, he had revealed to her that the final location of the Prophet’s Stone was Patmos Island. She, in turn, had relayed that information to her father in Jerusalem.

But the next day, her world fell apart. Word reached her that her father had been brutally murdered in his headquarters’ apartment. And, in a fit of rage, she turned her anger on Harper Oil. Just before leaving to fly to Jerusalem, she prepared the morning juice and cookies for the old man. Then she took several bottles of the powerful heart medication that she administered to her boss four times a day. She emptied the contents of all the bottles into the pitcher of juice and stirred it up for a full minute. She carefully cleaned the empty bottles of her fingerprints. Then she quietly entered the old man’s bedroom and placed the bottles in the night stand by the bed. Mr. Harper was sleeping soundly with a wide grin on his face when she left. She knew the medication was tasteless and would not be detected by the old man. Many times she had even added the correct dose to his glass of juice.

Before departing, she had called Beth to serve the juice and cookies for her. It was only later that she learned that Mr. Anthony James had made the fatal mistake of taking Beth’s place. They had often shared juice together during their morning meetings. But she wasn’t sorry because she considered both men equally responsible for her father’s death. It was Mr. James who had hired Zachary Ramage, the murderer of her father.

Susan walked over to Mr. Harper’s large desk in a corner of the bedroom. Reaching inside the top drawer, she pushed a hidden button. Immediately a large panel of the wall behind the desk slid open, revealing a metal vault. Having memorized the combination from the numerous times she assisted the old man in opening it, she turned the dial to the right, then left, then right again. Turning the handle, the balanced metal door easily swung open. Everything was just as she remembered. No one had yet disturbed the contents. On a back shelf, she picked up the leather case and opened it. Yes, the ancient manuscript was still there. And no other person living knew of its existence. Now, this one would replace the one stolen from her father by Zachary Ramage. She quickly closed the safe, making sure to clean away any of her fingerprints from the dial, the desk and the door. Locking the office, she placed the leather case in the bottom of her second storage box. Then she covered it over with the remainder of her personal things.

Susan then took the two boxes down to her car and locked them in the trunk. Then she returned to the legal offices for her appointment. She thanked them for keeping her on the payroll for the last two months. Then, she was given a severance check for six month’s wages. And to her shock, Mr. Harper had been most generous to her in his last will and testament. He had left her a one time settlement of $250,000 and an annual stipend of $50,000 a year for the next 10 years. The treasurer remarked that Mr. Harper loved her like the daughter he never had. Oh, if they only knew, thought Susan as she said her goodbyes to the staff of Harper Oil.

— Chapter 3 —

Nathan Sampson waited patiently in the office of the police detective in charge of the case involving the recent deaths of Malcolm Harper and Anthony James. While he sipped the strong black coffee from a paper cup, he pondered the status of his life to date. Fifteen years ago, just out of college, his future looked real promising. Accepted at the Central Intelligence Agency, he soon was trained as a field agent with a growing knowledge of the Arabic language. He later served at posts in Syria, Kuwait, and Egypt with short stints of duty in Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It was in Afghanistan that he was seriously wounded in a firefight with rebel forces. He had spent over a year recovering in a military hospital back stateside. Then another year flying a desk at Langley. He was repeatedly turned down for transfer back to the field, back to the work he was good at and loved. He hated the make-do work at the headquarters and his performance appraisal reflected it. Then, after several heated discussions with his immediate supervisor, he submitted his resignation to the agency. They offered him a transfer to another desk job across town, but he declined.

Having quit the agency after 15 years, he accepted work with a private contractor who trained foreign armies in the art of espionage. The pay was good, but the locations were lousy. Places like Nigeria, Oman, and Kazakhstan. It was in Kazakhstan that he had met the beautiful Sonja. He had fallen hard for Sonja and even asked her to be his bride. Not long after that, he was informed that Sonja was a Russian spy using him to gain information for her side. He was ordered to start passing her false information, but he refused to play the game. Another job down the drain.

And now, for the last year, he had been employed by Harley Towns Investigative Services in Washington, D.C. Harley was a retired CIA agent with excellent contacts stateside and overseas. He mostly did work for government agencies unless the fee was exceptionally good. This was one of those types. Nathan got the assignment because Harley knew he liked field work. Also, Harley owed Nathan a few favors from an assignment they worked together for the agency down in the Panama Canal Zone.

The last three weeks on the case had been mostly interviews with family members and Harper Oil employees. He had a wealth of data but still not a clue as to why these two men had died. Everything still pointed to suicide for Harper and accidental poisoning for James. But Mrs. James refused to buy that theory. She was convinced foul play was involved, and the Code Red project involving Syria had something to do with their deaths. And since she was paying the bills, that was going to be his next area of interest. But first, he needed the forensic test results from the local police.

Sorry to keep you waiting, Nathan, smiled Detective Frank Hunt as he sat down at his desk.

So, what’s the verdict on all the tests? asked Nathan.

Very little from what we already knew. The autopsy reports prove both men died from an overdose of Harper’s heart medication. Their deaths came very quickly after consuming the drug. The heart muscle shut down within a minute and both men lost consciousness. Neither had time to call for help, not that it would have saved their lives, explained Frank.

Any evidence at all of foul play?

One curious factor that we don’t have an answer for yet. The bottles of medicine found in the night stand were free of any fingerprints. Whoever put the drug in the juice either wore gloves or wiped the prints away afterwards. There were some surgical gloves in the trash can, but it can’t be determined who wore them.

That is strange. Why would Harper try to cover up his prints? asked Nathan.

Good question. We have to consider that maybe Mr. James added the drugs. He certainly had opportunity. The juice was prepared earlier by the nurse and left in her office. Then Mr. James picked it up and took it to Mr. Harper. There is a half case of unopened bottles in the nurse’s medicine cabinet. He could have added the drugs there before taking the juice to the bedroom. And he could have placed the empty bottles in the night stand any time after that, reasoned Frank.

What about the nurse, Susan Anders? Could she have a possible motive? She could have added the drug herself. Have you considered that possibility?

Yes, but we can’t find a motive. As you know, her father was killed the day before. She was en route to that location long before these deaths occurred. I have personally taken her phone deposition. She admits that Mr. Harper had complete access to her medicine cabinet. And for that matter, so did Mr. James. Any of the headquarters employees could have entered the nurse’s office after she left that morning and before Mr. James arrived. Mrs. Anders confirms that she called Beth, James’ secretary, and asked her to serve Harper that morning.

What about the empty bottles in the night stand? asked Nathan.

She claimed that she kept his medicine in that drawer. It was not unusual to have several empty bottles there as well as a full one. She even blames herself for this careless practice. She reasoned that Mr. Harper must have been storing up a large supply of the drug for just such a purpose as this, explained Frank.

But why would he allow his closest friend and business associate to also consume the drug? asked Nathan.

You do know that Harper Oil had entered into bankruptcy. They lost billions in an oil speculation deal over in Asia. Perhaps Harper blamed James for that financial disaster, suggested Frank.

I don’t buy that. Both men were wealthy beyond anything you and I can even imagine. They worked for the sheer pleasure of making more money. Even if the corporation went belly up, each man would still be a billionaire.

So, we’re back where we started. Harper was a sick man with little or no quality of life. I think he methodically planned his own death. Then somehow Mr. James mistakenly self administered the same poison into his body, reasoned Frank.

Just the same, I still want to interview Susan Anders. Is she still coming to see you this morning?

That’s the plan. She has been at Harper Oil to out process and for the reading of Harper’s will, said Frank as he picked up the phone and punched a few numbers. Frank Hunt here. Has Susan Anders arrived yet? Okay. Tell her I’ll be right down. Looking at Nathan, he said, You want in on this?

I would prefer to observe behind the mirror and then talk to her after you finish.

Fine with me. Let’s do it, smiled Frank.

— Chapter 4 —

Nathan watched as Frank questioned the nurse named Susan Anders. He had been trained by the CIA to observe rapid eye movement and hand gestures during interrogations of soldiers and terrorists. This young lady was smooth as silk. He didn’t detect one suspicious movement during the 30 minute session, not even when Frank told her I wanted to speak to her also. She just smiled and indicated her consent.

Well, you’re next, smiled Frank as he entered the observation room. I think I’ll stick around and observe from this side. She’s quite a looker, isn’t she? he joked.

Not like any of the nurses I’ve ever dealt with, and I’ve had my share of nurses over the years, said Nathan as he exited the room.

Mrs. Anders, my name is Nathan Sampson. I have been hired to conduct an independent investigation into the unfortunate deaths of Malcolm Harper and Anthony James. Do you mind if I record our conversation?

Not at all, Mr. Sampson. I will cooperate in any way that I can. But as I’m sure you know already, I was not there when it happened.

Yes, and my deepest regrets for your personal loss. Are you aware of any conflict between the two men that could have provoked this tragedy?

No, they were like brothers. Always joking and arguing about the business. But they both cared deeply about each other. They had been associates and friends for over 30 years. Mr. James ran the business end, but he always kept Mr. Harper informed. They jointly made the big decisions.

Did Mr. Harper ever speak to you about taking his own life, even in a joking manner?

Mr. Harper had an extremely weak heart. His doctors knew he could go anytime. But that wonderful old man loved life and the excitement of striking it rich he used to say to me. No, suicide was not on his agenda to my knowledge.

"Did he ever confide in you about