Deceived (31 page)

Judd and Mr. Stein followed one of the Jewish leaders, Ethan Ben-Eliezar, to his home. The rabbi tried to convince his wife to join the exodus.

“Why do we need to leave?” the woman said.

“We have been warned by a man who speaks with great authority. He may be a prophet of God.”

“He's not a follower of Tsion Ben-Judah, is he?”

The rabbi glanced at Mr. Stein and Judd and took his wife by the arm. “We are only going to listen to what he has to say. It can't be any worse than what I just witnessed at the Temple Mount.”

Judd wanted to find Lionel and Sam, but Mr. Stein insisted they keep moving. “I hope they have gone ahead to Petra. We will find them after we leave Masada.”

Vicki shook as she slowly got out of the car with Mark and Manny. The three held up their hands and walked toward the stairs.

“Boss said he told you not to come here,” the man with the gun said. “You must want to die.”

“You didn't have to open the garage,” Manny said.

The man squinted and stepped back, making way. Manny led Mark and Vicki through a series of steel doors to a loft area. An old couch and several chairs had been thrown about the room. The wooden floor creaked when the three walked across it.

The man with the gun told them to sit. He glared at Manny. “Boss'll be down soon.”

While they waited, Manny told them more about how he had gotten involved with the gang, the regular payoffs to GC authorities, friends who had died, and how his mother had reacted to his gang involvement.

“I kept it a secret from her for a long time, but she finally found out. She had talked about me going to live with relatives, and I found a letter from an uncle in Georgia saying he would take me in, no questions.”

“Why didn't he?” Vicki said.

“That's when everybody disappeared. My mom was gone, and for all I know, my uncle too. I decided to move in here.”

“How did you know they'd open the garage when you called?” Mark said.

“I gave them the signal and hoped. There's somebody up all the time, waiting for anybody in trouble.” Manny rubbed his hands and looked at the floor. “I know you wanted to focus on getting Claudia out, but I figured this was our only shot to get away from the GC.”

“Do they let people come in here who aren't part of the gang?” Vicki said.

“I've only seen it happen a couple of times, and the people they brought here didn't make it out alive.”

Judd squeezed into the backseat of Rabbi Ben-Eliezar's car with Mr. Stein. As the rabbi drove, he described to his wife what had happened at the Temple Mount and the awful display of Nicolae Carpathia.

Mrs. Ben-Eliezar put a hand to her head and gasped.

Judd's phone rang and Chang talked quickly. “You'll just get the raw feed from the Knesset. I won't be able to explain who's talking or what's going on, okay?”

“Got it.”

The phone line crackled, and Judd heard groaning in the background. He had always had a good ear for voices, being able to identify people after only a few words on the phone.

Nicolae Carpathia said, “Forgive me for not standing.”

“I represent the one true God and his Son, Jesus, the Christ,” Dr. Rosenzweig said. “I prefer to stand.”

After a moment, Nicolae said, “All right.” The man seemed furious. “I am letting these people run off to the hills. When do the sores go away? I upheld my end of the bargain.”

“We had a bargain?” Dr. Rosenzweig said. Judd pictured him in his brown robe, standing up to the most powerful ruler in the world.

“Come, come! We are wasting time!” Carpathia sneered. “You said you would lift this spell if I—”

“That is not my recollection. I said that if you did
not
let them go, you would suffer yet a worse plague.”

“So I let them go. Now you—”

“It is not as if you had a choice.”

Something banged on the table and Carpathia screamed, “Are we here to play word games? I want the sores on my people healed! What do I have to do?”

“Make no attempt to stop Israeli Messianic believers from getting to Petra.”

Carpathia paused. Judd wondered how many of his top cabinet members were in the room, suffering from sores. “Have you not noticed? I am the only full-time employee of the Global Community not suffering from the plague!”

“And that only because you have not taken your own mark, though I daresay you worship yourself.”

Footsteps. Nicolae came close to the phone. “Our medical experts have determined there is no connection between the application of the mark of loyalty and—”

“Why does your bad breath not surprise me?”

Judd laughed.

“You do not dare to lift the curse for fear your fate will be the same as that of your two associates at the Wall.”

“If your medical experts know so much, how is it that they have been able to offer no relief?”

“What is going on?” Mr. Stein said.

Judd put a finger to his lips. “I'll tell you as soon as the meeting's over.”

Carpathia had just finished asking a question when Judd put the phone to his ear again. Dr. Rosenzweig said, “I am here to remind you that this script has already been written. I have read it. You lose.”

“If I am not god,” Carpathia said, “I challenge yours to slay me now. I spit in his face and call him a weakling. If I remain alive for ten more seconds, he, and you, are frauds.”

Judd shook his head. He wished God would take Nicolae up on his challenge.

“What kind of a God would he be if he felt compelled to act on your timetable?” Dr. Rosenzweig said, a smile in his voice.

Something happened in the background. Carpathia was talking with others in the room. Finally, Nicolae said, “My people are pleading for respite. I recognize that I am forced to concede something.”

“And that would be?”

“That … I … must … submit to you in this. I am prepared to do what I have to do to enable a lifting of the plague.”

Dr. Rosenzweig spoke slowly and firmly. “You are under the authority of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, maker of heaven and earth. You will allow this exodus, and when I am satisfied that the people under my charge are safe, I will pray God will lift the affliction.”

“How long?” Nicolae said.

“This is a huge undertaking. Six hours should be telling. But should you attempt to lay a hand on one of the chosen, the second judgment will rain down.”

“Understood,” Carpathia said quickly.

There was movement in the room, and Judd assumed Buck and Dr. Rosenzweig were leaving. Before Judd turned off the phone, Carpathia growled, “Your days are numbered.”

Judd put the phone down, his hands shaking. He had seen Carpathia's evil display, but he had never heard his voice so close.

Judd told the others what he had heard and Rabbi Ben-Eliezar asked how he had access to such a meeting. Without giving away anyone's identity, Judd explained that the Tribulation Force had contacts throughout the Global Community.

“It is our desire to convince as many people as possible of the true identity of Nicolae Carpathia,” Mr. Stein said, “and the identity of Carpathia's heavenly foe.”

“Who is that?” Mrs. Ben-Eliezar said.

Vicki watched the seconds tick by on a digital clock. Finally, a door opened and a heavyset man with a mustache walked into the loft.

Manny stood and the man waved at him to remain seated. “Hector, I'm sorry—”

“You must not have understood me on the phone. Did you bring the GC or just these two?”

“Please let me explain.”

Hector looked out a window behind Vicki. A pink strip of light shone on the horizon. “I'll give you until I can see the sun peek over those buildings, which won't be long.”

Vicki glanced at Mark, who had his eyes closed. She hoped the kids in Wisconsin were still praying.

29

JUDD
listened as Mr. Stein explained from both the Old and New Testaments what he believed about Nicolae Carpathia. Mrs. Ben-Eliezar listened with interest as the rabbi drove silently. When he had talked for many miles, Mr. Stein switched the conversation to Mrs. Ben-Eliezar and asked about her family.

“We have two grown boys. One is in Haifa, the other in Tel Aviv. Things have been very hard, but they come to see us as often as they can. We had a girl. …” The woman glanced at her husband.

Mr. Stein sat forward. “What happened to her?”

Mrs. Ben-Eliezar clutched a tissue, as if she knew she was going to need it. “She went to America a few years ago to study. Anyway, she passed away.”

“Was she part of the disappearances?”

“We should not talk of this,” the rabbi said.

Mrs. Ben-Eliezar turned, tears in her eyes, and nodded.

“Let me guess,” Mr. Stein said. “At the university, she met some religious fanatics. Maybe had one for a roommate. And they convinced her to turn her back on her beliefs. It broke your heart.”

The woman hung on every word, wiping away tears. She looked at her husband. “Did you tell him?”

“I've heard this story before,” Mr. Stein said. “My own daughter, Chaya, was also taken in by the message your daughter—”

“Meira was my daughter's name,” Mrs. Ben-Eliezar interrupted.

“—yes, Meira. She no doubt tried to convince you that the Messiah had already come.”

“She wrote letters, called, even made a special trip home from school. We were all heartbroken.”

“When Chaya talked to my wife and me, I was so upset that I turned my back on her.” Mr. Stein's lip quivered. “I considered her already dead, told my wife that she was to no longer speak Chaya's name in our home.”

Judd noticed the rabbi had gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Did your daughter disappear?” Mrs. Ben-Eliezar said.

Mr. Stein told Chaya's story, how she had heard of Messiah after the vanishings and had convinced her mother that Jesus had come back for his own. “Chaya died during the great earthquake.”

“I'm sorry,” Mrs. Ben-Eliezar said. “Meira went back to the States and only a short while later came the worldwide disappearances. We received word from the school that her things were found in her dorm room, but she was gone.” The woman put her head in her hands and her shoulders shook. “I have heard all the theories. Do you have an explanation?”

Mr. Stein put a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, I know exactly what happened to your daughter, and I have good news.”

“You do?”

“I believe you and your husband can see her again.”