Deceived (8 page)

Mark pulled out, the tires spinning in the gravel. A boy behind Vicki said, “I want to thank you guys for helping us get out of there, but next time I'd like to order a bus.”

A few laughed nervously. Colin said, “Keep it down. We're not out of this yet.”

“That guy is running toward us!” someone yelled from the back of the van.

Vicki glanced in a side mirror and saw the deputy commander waving his hands, yelling at the guards, and pointing toward the van.

“What do you want me to do?” Mark said, taking his foot from the gas pedal.

“The guards have their guns out!” a girl yelled.

“Step on it!” Colin yelled. “Everybody get down!”

As the van sped toward the front gate, a shot shattered the back window. Kids screamed and Colin told them to stay calm.

“What if they shoot at the gas tank and make it explode?” Shelly screamed.

“That only happens in the movies,” Mark said.

The guards at the front scrambled to action, activating a large gate that slowly blocked the entrance.

“Pete, we need some help!” Mark yelled into the radio.

“I'm on my way.”

The guards flew inside the guardhouse as the van careened around the closing gate, sending sparks flying. When Mark turned onto the main road, Vicki felt the van tip slightly, and she thought they were going over. Mark swerved and the van righted itself.

“GC cruisers are following us!” someone shouted.

“Okay, here comes Pete,” Mark said, slowing.

“What are you doing?” Colin yelled. “Keep going.”

Mark stopped the van as Pete's truck neared the entrance. Vicki craned her neck and saw the two guards in front raise their rifles and fire at the truck, then run away. Pete's trailer slid sideways, crashing into the guardhouse and blocking the entrance. The trailer tipped but didn't turn over. GC cruisers raced after them.

Mark put the van in reverse and zoomed toward Pete. The man had a huge gash over one eye and a bruise was forming on his forehead, but he had managed to limp to the middle of the road. Vicki threw open the van door when Mark slowed enough for Pete to climb inside.

Pop-pop-pop went the rifle fire as Vicki slammed the door. Two of the side windows shattered as Mark floored the accelerator and sped away.

“Stay down!” Colin said.

“I don't know where this road comes out,” Mark yelled. “We came in the other way.”

“Keep going,” Pete gasped. “When you come to the next road, turn right.”

“Are you all right?” Vicki said.

Pete was on the floor, wedged between a seat and the door. He was holding his right arm and for a moment let go. A dark, red stain covered his shirtsleeve.

“He's bleeding!” Vicki gasped.

One of the kids ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt and tied it around Pete's arm. The man looked pale and was having a hard time catching his breath.

“Will they be able to trace your truck?” Colin said.

Pete shook his head. “It's under a different name.”

“What happened back there?” Shelly yelled.

“I knew that phone call wasn't a good sign,” Colin said. “Somebody finally figured out we're not who we said we are.”

“You could have fooled us, sir,” a boy in the back of the van said.

Colin smiled. He dialed Jim Dekker in Illinois to update him and see if he knew how the GC had discovered them.

Vicki leaned over and put a hand on Pete's forehead. He was breathing easier now, and some of the color had come back to his face. “You hang on until we can get you some help.”

Pete smiled. Someone in the back folded a uniform and passed it forward. Vicki placed it under Pete's head, and the big man closed his eyes.

Colin hung up and shook his head. “Jim has no idea how the GC found out about us. He's been trying to get in touch with Natalie, but he can't reach her at her apartment, the jail, or by e-mail.”

“You don't think … ,” Vicki said.

Colin kicked the dashboard with a foot. “I knew she should have gotten out of there.”

“We have to go back for her,” Vicki said.

“We have to get out of here first,” Mark said.

Colin remained silent. “We'll go back and help her, right?”

When no one responded, Vicki slumped onto the floor. She felt helpless, useless.

“Maybe Natalie ran,” Shelly said. “She's smart. Maybe she's on her way to Wisconsin right now.”

Vicki closed her eyes and prayed that Shelly was right. But something inside her said she wasn't.

Natalie sat on the bunk in her cell, her head in her hands. By now she was sure they had found the e-mails she had sent from Deputy Commander Henderson's computer as well as from Peacekeeper Vesario's machine. Her prayer was that Vicki and the others had gotten away safely.

Natalie leaned against the concrete wall. She had longed to be away from the Global Community, on the outside with Vicki and the others, but she believed God could use her best inside. She had felt a sense of mission, working against the GC, and now her mission was complete.

Natalie regretted not being able to talk to Vicki about her story. She had imagined them sitting on a couch in front of a fire with mugs of hot chocolate steaming in their hands. Vicki would first fill in all the missing places of her story, and then she would listen to Natalie's.

But that wouldn't happen now. Natalie would never have the chance to tell Vicki about the woman who had taught her Sunday school class, who had prayed for Natalie and her family. After the disappearances, Natalie had rushed to the woman's house. When there was no answer at the door, she went inside. The woman's prayer journal was open on the kitchen table, and Natalie found her name. She also found Christian books and literature that she shoved into a garbage bag and dragged home.

Natalie smiled as she thought about how hungry she was for information in those days. She nearly inhaled the books and stayed up all hours of the night reading her Bible and asking God to show her his plan.

“Thank you, God, for using me to help others,” she prayed softly.

Natalie suddenly sat up straight, realizing that someone else needed to hear the message. She banged on her cell and yelled for the guard.

8

VICKI
and the others in the van raced through the back roads of Iowa, knowing their chances of escaping the GC dragnet were slim if they didn't get help.

Colin dialed Jim Dekker's phone and reached him at the satellite operations center. “They've gotten a request to track us,” Colin told the kids a few minutes later.

“Then Jim can help us,” Vicki said.

Colin shook his head. “An operator is trying to track us now. Jim doesn't think he can help without revealing himself.”

“What about the girl who wrote us, Kelly Bradshaw?” Vicki said. “Maybe she has a place we can hide.”

Vicki dialed the Wisconsin safe house and Darrion answered. “No time to talk. We need to get in touch with Kelly Bradshaw.”

“I just got an e-mail from her about an hour ago,” Darrion said.

“Did she leave a number?”

Darrion pulled up the message and gave Vicki a phone number. “She wants you guys to call her no matter what happens.”

Vicki immediately dialed Kelly. The girl was overjoyed to hear they had gotten their friends out safely. Vicki explained the situation and told her they were coming near a more populated area.

Kelly covered the phone and spoke with someone else in the room.

“Tell her we don't have much time,” Mark said. “They'll probably have helicopters out soon.”

“Hide the van and we'll come get you,” Kelly said.

“Where could we hide a big van like this?”

“There!” Colin yelled.

Vicki saw a long, white building with what looked like several hundred garages. On top was a sign that said U-Store It.

Mark pulled into the parking lot, and Colin told everyone to stay down while he went inside. Vicki gave Kelly the address of the building, and Kelly said they would be there as soon as possible.

“What about Pete?” Shelly said. “We need to get him to a doctor.”

“I just need to rest,” Pete said. “I think the bleeding's stopped.”

Colin motioned for Mark to drive the van around back. He opened one of the large bay doors, and the van barely fit inside. As the others got out and stretched, Vicki covered Pete with some spare uniforms.

Several kids knelt in prayer in the darkened storage room, thanking God for delivering them from sure death at the hands of the GC. They all prayed for Pete and that they would be able to escape the oncoming GC manhunt.

“What did you tell the guy at the front desk?” Vicki asked Colin.

“I told him the truth. The GC is looking for some escapees from a reeducation facility not far from here and to keep his eyes open. I deputized him and told him to—”

Colin stopped as noise filled the storage facility. It grew so loud that the door shook.

“Helicopter,” Mark said.

Natalie waited in her cell, praying that her request would be granted. She had promised to tell the GC everything about herself if she could meet with her roommate. She imagined Deputy Commander Henderson mulling over the request, thinking of some way to salvage his career.

An hour passed before a guard handcuffed her and led her to an upstairs interrogation room. “Please, God,” she prayed, “I just want to tell Claudia the truth. I know she's been pro-Carpathia ever since we've been roommates, but I've never told her what I really believe. Give me the chance today.”

Claudia Zander was tall, blonde, and caught the eye of every male Morale Monitor in the building. Natalie had noticed a slight change in the girl's behavior in the past week. She seemed moody, and the two had talked late one night. Natalie had asked questions but didn't offer any information about her own beliefs.

Natalie heard a door close in the observation room behind her as Claudia walked in. No doubt Henderson and his crew were back there listening. She would give them an earful.

“Thanks for coming,” Natalie said.

“I couldn't believe it when I heard. They say you're a Judah-ite and you helped people escape.”

“I knew they'd ask you about me, and I wanted to make sure they don't suspect you.”

Claudia scooted back from the table. “You can't be serious. You're really working with the enemy?”

“Let me explain.” Natalie began at the disappearances and told Claudia how she had come to know the truth about God. When the kids in the Young Tribulation Force had gotten into trouble, she helped.

Natalie leaned forward and whispered, “I want you to know how to begin a relationship with God. All you have to do is pray and ask him to forgive—”

“Shut up!” Claudia looked at the mirror behind Natalie. “I want out of here. She's not telling me anything about the ones who escaped.”

Natalie wished she could touch the girl or give some gesture of kindness, but her hands were cuffed behind her. “At least look up the Young Trib Force Web site.”

Claudia shook her head and scowled. “You're crazy. I don't know how you could betray all of us like this, but you'll pay.”

A guard opened the door and Claudia ran out. Deputy Commander Henderson walked in, smiling. “We have your little group cornered in Iowa. It won't be long now. And since you're being charged with a crime against the Global Community, you're now a prisoner. You know what that means.”

Natalie stared at the man. “Sir, I want you to know I'm sorry I misled you. I've lied to you in order to make sure my friends stayed free. But I'm finally ready to tell the truth.”

Henderson pulled the chair around and straddled it. “I'm listening.”

“God loves you so much, he was willing to die for you. …”