Deceived (34 page)

“Her room is right up there,” Mark whispered. “Play it cool when we go by. Don't stare.”

They walked confidently down the hall. 215. 217. 219. Vicki slowed a little and listened for a television, someone talking, perhaps a GC radio. They passed 221. Mark squeezed by a laundry cart ahead, and Vicki paused as she passed 223. A maid across the hall loaded wet towels into a basket. Covers and sheets lay strewn on the floor.

A door opened suddenly behind her and Vicki nearly screamed.

“Excuse me,” a man said loudly.

Vicki stopped, took a breath, and turned. She expected a Peacekeeper or Morale Monitor, but instead saw a man in his undershirt, his hair neatly combed back and parted in the middle, hands on hips. “I called down to the front desk twenty minutes ago and asked about an ironing board!”

The maid walked into the hallway. “Very sorry, sir,” she said in broken English. “I … get now.” The woman hurried to the elevator as Vicki followed Mark to 264. He had the door open when she got there.

“It's going to take that cleaning woman a few minutes to get back,” Vicki whispered. “Let's go into the room that's being cleaned.”

Vicki led the way back down the hall and slipped into room 224. Mark closed the door behind him and watched the hallway through the tiny hole in the door. “Call her.”

Vicki scanned the directions and figured out how to dial the room directly. As she was about to punch in the final number Mark put up a hand. “Hang on, somebody's coming.”

“Is it Claudia?”

“Only if she's six feet tall and has a mustache. Okay, he's going into that guy's room. Go ahead.”

Vicki dialed 2-2-3 and heard a faint ringing through the door. Someone answered on the second ring.

“Claudia?” Vicki said.

“Who is this?” a girl said.

“Claudia, if this is you, please—”

“Vicki? I hope you're not anywhere near here.”

“Why? What's wrong?”

“A GC cruiser just pulled up in front of the hotel. I think somebody saw my picture and identified me. Are you outside?”

“We're close,” Vicki said.

“We? You shouldn't have risked bringing anybody else. But I'm glad you're here.”

“We need to get you out,” Vicki said. “What's the best way?”

“The back of the hotel! I'll take the stairs and meet you there.”

A knock outside. “Housekeeping!”

“Cleaning woman's back with the ironing board,” Mark whispered.

“Wait a minute,” Claudia said. “Are you guys in the hotel?”

The door slammed across the hall. “Go toward the back and we'll meet you,” Vicki said. She hung up as the maid put her key card in the door.

Mark opened it and the woman jumped back. “Sorry,” he said, holding up both hands.

Vicki and Mark scooted past her as the door to room 223 opened. Vicki glanced at a tall, blonde girl and recognized Claudia from her picture on TV. Vicki stared at the girl's forehead where she expected to see the mark of the believer.

Nothing.

“I told you they'd come!” Claudia yelled into a radio. “Where are you guys? There's two of them! One male, one female!”

“Run!” Mark yelled, shoving the heavy laundry cart to block the hallway.

“You'll wind up just like Bishop, with your head in a basket!” Claudia shouted. She tried to get around the cart as Mark and Vicki sped down the hall. “They're heading away from the pool on the second floor. Somebody watch the exits!”

Vicki turned the corner with Mark not far behind. Claudia cursed and screamed at the maid. “Get this out of my way!”

Footsteps pounded up the back staircase as Vicki put the key card into the door of room 264. Mark ducked in behind her and closed it quickly. The two struggled for breath and listened as someone ran past, wheezing and groaning.

“Where are they?” Claudia demanded. “You're moving so slow!”

“They didn't come out the southeast stairs!” a young man said. “And take it easy, you don't have sores all over—”

“Quit making excuses!” Claudia sighed and moved down the hall. “I told those guys to give me another hour!” She clicked her radio and gave the name of the hotel. “We have two Judah-ites cornered and need some help!”

Vicki closed her eyes and whispered, “The whole thing was a setup. That commander guy on TV set the trap and Claudia lured us here.”

“We have to find a way out,” Mark said. He rushed to the window and peeked through the curtains. “No GC cars out front. Sounds like they thought we weren't coming, so we might have a chance if we hurry.”

Vicki slipped out of the room behind Mark, whispering a prayer. “Please, God, protect us.”

A room at the end of the hall was open and Mark ran for it. Vicki ducked inside and realized it was the second floor maid's station. Mark closed the door quietly and Vicki looked around. Cleaning supplies, sheets, blankets, and towels were stored neatly on shelves. In the corner, two carts, fully stocked.

“Maybe they have a laundry chute,” Vicki said.

They searched but couldn't find one. “Must be someplace else in the building.”

“What about a fire escape?” Vicki said. “A building this size has to have one.”

Mark checked on the back of the door for directions in case of a fire. “It only shows stairs.”

Vicki opened a locker and found a maid's dress. She held it up and looked at Mark. “You think you could fit on the bottom of one of those carts?”

Mark pulled away towels and supplies from the bottom and tried to squeeze onto it, but his legs stuck out.

“We'd better just make a run for it,” Vicki said. “The longer we wait—”

Footsteps in the hall. Wheels squeaking. Vicki looked for a place to hide but it was too late. The door opened and a black woman backed in, pulling her cart. She hummed a familiar tune.

Before they could run, the woman turned and was so startled that she fell back, a hand on her chest.

The woman had the mark of the true believer!

“Land sakes, you two just about scared me to death,” she said with a thick Southern accent. She looked them over and smiled when she saw their marks. “So you're what all the commotion is about.”

Mark started to explain, but the woman put her hand in the air as someone ran down the hall. “GC officers are checking each room,” she whispered. “What did you two do?”

A radio squawked. “Check 264! Front desk says they have a key to that room.”

Vicki trembled as she whispered, “We thought we were helping another believer but the GC tricked us.”

“Mm mm mm,” the black woman said. “Looks like it's time for me to take out the trash.” She pointed to two huge garbage cans with rollers on the bottom.

Mark nodded and helped Vicki inside one. He climbed in the other, and the woman piled wet towels and trash on top of them. “Can you still breathe?” she said.

“We're fine,” Mark whispered.

The woman hummed the tune again, stopping long enough to say, “My job's the same as the Lord's in a way. I take the trash out and make sure it gets put in the right place. He takes our trash and puts it on the cross where Jesus can take care of it. Simple as that. Hmm hmm hmm hmm …”

The woman wheeled the two trash cans down the corridor. Vicki heard the splash of the pool and the hum of the soda machine as they rolled along.

Someone yelled, “Florence! There are two teenagers running around here. If you see them, holler.”

“All right, then,” Florence said at the top of her lungs, “I will!”

The wheels squeaked as Florence pushed and pulled the trash cans. “I sure hope those kids haven't done anything to get the Global Community upset. That would be just awful.”

Vicki smiled. Moments before she had felt there was no way out of the hotel. Now she felt cared for and safe.

A service elevator opened and Florence pushed them inside. “Look at that itty-bitty little camera up there in the corner, watching everything I do. I tell you, if I was trying to get away, I'd stay right where I was in case somebody's watching.”

Vicki noticed a strong smell when they made it outside. She peeked over the edge and saw a huge, green garbage container at the edge of the building. Florence wheeled the two containers close, turned them on their sides, out of sight, and sighed. “Now I hope you two won't come round here very often, 'cause you nearly gave old Florence a heart attack.”

“How will we ever repay you?” Vicki said, her voice muffled by the trash and wet towels.

“Honey, you can repay me by getting out of here in one piece and staying away from all these people who want to chop your head off. I'll go back inside while you two climb out of there and get over the fence. Directly I'll come back for my trash cans and hopefully nobody'll know the difference.”

“Wait,” Vicki said. “That song you were humming. What's it called?”

Florence laughed. “Everybody knows ‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.' Learned it from Momma when I was little. Wish I'd have listened to her when she tried to tell me about God, but I expect I'll be seeing her again one of these days.” Florence hummed the old hymn as she walked back into the hotel.

Vicki and Mark crawled out, climbed to the top of the bin above, and hopped over the fence. They crouched low, walking between newly planted pine trees that shielded them from view of the building and the street. Two blocks away from the hotel, they cut across the street and made their way back to the car.

Vicki's heart pounded as they neared the parking lot. Mark held up a hand and told Vicki to wait in the alley. When they were sure no GC squad cars were nearby, Mark casually walked to the car, started it, and returned.

Mark drove away from the hotel, using side streets until they found their bearings and headed north. Vicki called the safe house in Wisconsin and Shelly answered.

“It was all a hoax, Shel. You should have seen Claudia's face when we came out of that room. She hated us.”

“You tried,” Shelly said. “And you're safe. That's what's important.”

Vicki asked Shelly and the kids to pray that Anita and other gang members would believe the truth.

“We've been praying for you guys nonstop,” Shelly said. “Charlie even prayed that God would send an angel to show you the way back.”

Vicki smiled. “Tell Charlie God answered his prayer with a woman named Florence.”

After she hung up, Vicki thought of Claudia. When the girl had first written, Vicki sensed something was wrong. Claudia's bosses had probably written her notes.

Vicki remembered the questions she had asked herself after the first e-mail.
How do I know the right thing to do when the choices aren't clear? How do I follow my heart when my heart doesn't know what to do?

“Why do you think Claudia didn't have the mark of Carpathia?” Vicki said to Mark.

“They probably thought it would give her away if we had a face to face with her. That also explains why she didn't have sores.”

Vicki sighed and vowed never again to dismiss her feelings about such things. As Mark drove north, Vicki quietly hummed and thought of Florence.

32

DARRION
Stahley breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Vicki was okay. The kids focused their prayer effort on Manny, his sister, and the gang members.

In addition to her work on the kids' Web site, Darrion kept an eye on what was going on in Israel. She hadn't heard anything from Judd and Lionel and hoped they would call. Global Community Network News reported the strange sickness affecting people all over the world, but they didn't connect the sores with the mark of Carpathia.

One commentator speaking about the scene at the temple said the actions of the potentate showed his true leadership abilities. “You saw in the Holy of Holies the perfect use of force when it was needed. Anyone who disregards a direct order from this man deserves death.”

A woman nodded in agreement. “But the skill and diplomacy of Potentate Carpathia is also evident. You saw his humility. Even though the temple is now his ‘house,' as he called it, he stooped to negotiate with this Micah, the monklike character in the robe.”

“And we receive word now that His Excellency the potentate guarantees healing from the affliction of sores by 2100 hours Carpathian Time.”

Darrion tuned out the news and studied the kids' Web site. More people were writing than ever before, and Darrion felt privileged to attach information to each e-mail about how to become a believer. Some people wrote heart-wrenching notes asking how to get rid of the sores that had broken out all over their bodies. Darrion knew these people had taken the mark of Carpathia.

The phone rang and Darrion picked up.

It was Judd. “We're headed to Masada, but I have a situation here,” he said. “I lost contact with Lionel. If you hear from him, tell him where I'm going and have him call me.”

Darrion made sure she had the right phone number for Judd. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I just got a call from Chang in New Babylon. They're having trouble reaching the guy who's setting up all the computer stuff in Petra, David Hassid.”

“What could have happened?” Darrion said.

“Chang says Mr. Hassid was alone and there may have been some GC Peacekeepers left in the area. Have everyone pray he'll be okay and that the equipment won't fall into the wrong hands.”

As Darrion wrote down the information, Judd asked about Vicki. Darrion told him what had happened in Des Plaines.

“When she gets back, have her call me too,” Judd said.