Deceived (33 page)

Lionel marveled at the Hummer's electronic navigation system. He had used global positioning devices before— his mom and dad had both had one—but this one included a computer screen with 3-D images of what was ahead and behind them on the road, their speed, distance to their destination, and a projected arrival time.

“Will that thing tell us if the GC are going to attack?” Lionel smirked.

Westin touched a button on the screen. “Watch this.”

A number flashed at the top indicating the current temperature. The readout also included wind velocity, barometric pressure, and humidity. As the statistics flashed on the screen, the 3-D image tilted skyward, revealing a gridded outline of the sky. “I've got it on ten miles right now, but you can set it for twenty, fifty, a hundred, or more.”

“What's it do?” Sam said.

“Lets you know about aircraft activity,” Westin said. “Some use it to avoid radar detection from choppers. It could also be used in a military situation. These rigs are usually decked out with lots of gizmos people never use.”

“Can you set it to look back at the Mount of Olives?” Lionel said.

Westin touched the screen a few more times and the grid enlarged. He pointed to the left side of the screen. “I could put in the coordinates, but this is basically the location of Jerusalem—here. The Mount of Olives is about here.”

“What are all those dots to the right?” Sam said.

Lionel leaned closer and smiled. “Operation Eagle!”

Judd told Mr. Stein what Chang had said about Carpathia's plans. As he described the situation, Judd saw fear on the faces of Rabbi Ben-Eliezar and his wife.

“I think we should continue to Masada,” Mr. Stein said. “The prophet God has sent told us to—”

“Your prophet told you to go toward Petra,” Rabbi Ben-Eliezar said. “Only people like us should go to Masada, right?”

Mr. Stein rubbed his forehead. “True. But I feel called to Masada to help unbelievers in any way I can.”

“Is that what we are to you?” Mrs. Ben-Eliezar said.

Mr. Stein leaned close. “I don't mean to offend you with my words about the Messiah. You have a knowledge of God and a zeal for him.” He looked at Rabbi Ben-Eliezar. “You risked your life because you love God's house and didn't want to see it defiled. But God is asking you not just to be zealous for him, but to know his Son. He sent Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for sins so that—”

“Enough,” the rabbi said. “I know your position.”

“Please do not harden your heart,” Mr. Stein said. “God has given you an opportunity to know him fully, through Jesus.”

The line of vehicles stretched for miles toward Masada. Judd phoned Chang again but his line was busy. He wondered what new plans Chang might uncover that could help believers in the coming days.

Judd sat back and prayed that Lionel and Sam would find a way to the safety of Petra—if Petra truly was safe. Would God's protection extend to all believers, or was it only for those who were Jewish?

Judd watched the terrain change as they drove closer to Masada. He thought of others in the Young Trib Force and prayed for their safety. When he thought of Vicki, he felt a strange ache. He believed his time spent in Israel and the Middle East was something only God could orchestrate, but he longed for home, to see his friends, and especially Vicki. So much had happened since he had last seen her. Maybe he wouldn't make it back to the States at all. Perhaps the next few days would decide that.

Still, Judd held out hope that he would return one day soon and put his troubles with Vicki behind him. Judd laid his head against the door and closed his eyes. Though there was much to fear, he knew the best and safest place to be was where God wanted him.

“I'm yours, God,” Judd prayed. “I'll do whatever you want.”

Vicki listened as Manny told Anita how the Global Community had caught him and what had happened in jail. When he described his conversation with Zeke, Anita looked away.

“I've heard of jailhouse conversions, but I never thought you'd be one of them,” Anita said.

“Me either. But I've wanted to find you and tell you since it happened. You have to listen.”

Vicki turned as Hector approached Manny. “No bugs in the car. Your story checks out. Our guy close to the GC says they're still looking for you. Go.”

Vicki and Mark stood. Manny looked at them, then at Hector. “I'd like your permission to stay.”

“Why?”

Manny took a breath. “I could leave here right now and do lots of good things with my life. I could tell other people I meet what has happened to me and what a change I've experienced, and maybe it would help them. But I've been thinking that I was given this gift so I could give it to the people I care about most.”

Hector smiled. “You want to be a preacher to the gangs? You think you'll get brownie points in heaven?”

Manny looked at Vicki and Mark again. “I know how much these people did for me, and they didn't even know me. How much more should I care about the only family I have left? How could I live with myself if I kept life from you? The stinging locusts, the earthquake, everything we've seen the last few years has a purpose, and it's to get our attention. Let me stay and tell you.”

“Keep your religion,” Hector said. “It would spoil our business.”

Manny walked closer. “If you harden your heart against God, you will never know true freedom.”

Hector shook his head. “Freedom? The only freedom I need is from nuts like you. Stay if you want, but you'll obey orders like before.” He walked out of the room.

Mark put a hand on Manny's shoulder. “This is suicide. If you don't get out—”

“I know,” Manny interrupted. “I think this is where I'm supposed to be.”

Vicki looked at Mark. She knew Manny had made up his mind. “If you need help, you know how to reach us. We'll do all we can. Take this.” She handed her watch to Manny and showed him how to work The Cube, a hightech, 3-D demonstration of the gospel.

Manny looked at Vicki and Mark through tears. “What would I have done? Where would I be today, if you had not helped me?”

“Be faithful with the message,” Vicki said. “God put you here for a reason.”

“But what about Claudia?” Manny said.

Vicki shook her head. “Stay. We'll sort that out.”

“Vicki's right,” Mark said. “This may be your only chance to talk with your sister and the others.”

Manny gave specific directions to Claudia's hotel and retrieved their cell phone. Manny led them to the garage and Vicki waved as they pulled away.

Vicki sighed. “What now?”

“We have two options,” Mark said. “Head back to Wisconsin or go after her.”

“We haven't come this far to turn back,” Vicki said.

Colin Dial answered when Vicki called the Wisconsin safe house. “Darrion sent your message, and Claudia said she was still at the hotel. Room 223. What's going on down there?”

Vicki quickly explained how they had eluded the GC and that Manny had chosen to stay with the gang. As she talked, Vicki kept an eye out for any GC squad cars. Mark spotted one coming the other way and calmly kept driving. The officers seemed not to notice them.

A few minutes later, Mark pulled into a parking lot a block from the hotel. He got the phone number from a sign on the side of the building advertising weekly rates and told the desk worker he was looking for a safe place to have a family reunion.

After a few minutes he hung up. “She said there hasn't been any GC activity there that she knows of, so our reunion looks like a go.”

Vicki shook her head. “You know I don't like it when you lie to people.”

“Sorry. I thought it would help to know if—”

Vicki held up a hand and looked at her watch. They had plenty of time to find Claudia and leave.

Mark unbuckled and opened the door.

“You're not going without me,” Vicki said.

“They'll recognize your face.”

Vicki pulled out a hat Manny had given her and pushed her hair underneath. She put on bright red lipstick and a pair of sunglasses. “Let's go.”

Mark shook his head. “Okay, but follow my lead.”

Mark and Vicki stole through an alley and around a concrete barrier to the street. They crossed a half block from the hotel and worked their way back, keeping a close watch for any GC vehicles. The hotel rose six stories and Vicki kept an eye on the windows for anyone watching.

Several people sat in the lobby eating breakfast when Vicki and Mark walked inside. Vicki's heart beat faster as they approached the front desk. She saw a surveillance camera in the corner so she picked up a newspaper and pretended to read while Mark approached a woman clicking at a computer screen.

“I called a few minutes ago about a family reunion,” Mark said.

“Yes?” the woman said, not looking up.

“Would it be possible for my sister and me to look at one of your rooms?”

“How many in your party?”

“We'd probably be renting a whole floor.”

The woman looked up. “Most rooms have two double beds. A few have king-size with whirlpool baths.”

“And meeting rooms?” Mark said. “How many will those hold?”

“Up to two hundred,” the woman said. “You'll have to make food arrangements outside. We don't provide that.”

“Of course,” Mark said. He studied a layout of the building as the woman grabbed a key. “Could we see something close to the pool? I think that's on the second floor, isn't it?”

The woman nodded. “Yes, if you'll let me see some identification, you can go right up.”

Mark dug out the fake ID Colin Dial had helped him create and handed it to her.

She wrote down the information and gave him a card. “Room 264 is down the hall and around the corner from the pool, but that's the closest I could find that's clean. Take the elevator across the hall or the stairs down there.”

“Great,” Mark said. “We'll be right back.”

Vicki followed Mark to the stairs. He paused and held the door slightly open.

“What?” Vicki said.

“I want to make sure that woman's not calling anybody.”

He finally closed the door and they ran to the second floor and opened the door quietly. A soda machine hummed around the corner. Room 201 was directly across the hall.

“You ready?” Mark said.

“Yeah, let's go.”

31

VICKI
followed Mark into the hallway, and a wave of chlorine assaulted her senses. Before her sister, Jeanni, had been born, Vicki's family spent a couple of weekends every year at what her dad called “a fancy hotel.” Vicki spent hours at the pool with her older brother, Eddie, ate at nearby restaurants, and once she remembered getting room service.

The door to the pool opened and Vicki heard splashing. She missed the laughs and giggles of kids around a pool, of kids in general. An older woman carried a bucket of ice inside and closed the door.