Frantic (25 page)

Nada told her about the prison. “It was actually pretty disappointing. Dan started ranting and raving about God and they took him away.”

Kweesa shook her head. “I've heard those people can act crazy. After all Nicolae Carpathia has done, to say he is anything but God is insanity, right?”

Judd bit his lip. “When the GC found out about Dan, did they go through his apartment?”

Kweesa nodded. “I think they searched it.”

“Anything turn up?” Judd said.

“Not that I heard,” Kweesa said. “Why?”

“Just a hunch,” Judd said. “I figure a guy like that probably wouldn't work alone. Is his apartment still empty?”

“I'm not sure,” Kweesa said. She went into another room to find a directory of GC personnel.

“What are you doing?” Nada whispered.

“Just covering the bases,” Judd said. “I want to make sure we don't miss any clues.”

Kweesa returned, flipping through the directory. “Here it is. He lived in this building, only three floors below me.”

Vicki froze. They were so close to leaving and now this.

“Let's get out of here,” Conrad said.

Pete shook his head. “They'll nab us for sure. Better play it cool.”

The kids split up and sat in different booths in the diner. Pete hid in the office and let Roger answer the GC's questions. Instead of refueling, the van parked so it blocked the front door.

This doesn't look good,
Vicki thought.

Locusts swarmed around the van. A man in white protective gear got out of the driver's side and carefully stepped inside the station.

Vicki sat at the last booth, her back to the door. The man squeezed through the door without letting any locusts in.

“What can I do for you?” Roger said from behind the counter.

The man spoke through a speaker inside the helmet. “Are there any GC Peacekeepers here?”

“Looks like you're the only one, pal,” Roger said. “You and whoever's in that van out front.”

“I'm alone,” the man said. “I'm looking for somebody.”

“Okay,” Roger said. “Can't say I know everybody around here. Who are you looking for?”

“Followers of Tsion Ben-Judah,” the Peacekeeper said. “I'm looking for believers in Jesus Christ.”

Judd said good-bye to Nada and Kweesa and took the stairs three floors down. Dan's apartment was at the end of a hallway. He approached carefully, trying not to make noise.

Judd found the apartment and stood outside. Even if someone new lived there now, Dan might have left a clue about Kasim the GC had overlooked. A couple dressed in GC uniforms opened a door behind him.

The man looked at Judd. “Can I help you?”

“Somebody told me this was the place where Dan Nieters lived,” Judd said.

“It was,” the man said. “You a friend?”

“Don't know the guy,” Judd said, “just heard he was one of those religious fanatics.”

“Yeah,” the man said, “a shame too. Dan was a hard worker. He could have done a lot of good if he hadn't been brainwashed.”

“Does anybody live here now?” Judd said.

“Haven't assigned it yet.” The man squinted at Judd. “How did you get in here?”

Judd cleared his throat. “I dropped off a friend upstairs. Just thought I'd stop and see where the crazy guy lived.”

Judd was glad when the man and his wife turned to leave.
I'd better get out of here fast.
The woman glanced at him and Judd turned back to Dan's apartment. What he saw took his breath away. The peephole in the apartment was dark. When Judd turned, it was light again.

Someone's in Dan's apartment!
Judd thought.

Vicki gasped. She glanced back just as the Peacekeeper unlatched his helmet. Oxygen hissed as it escaped the airtight suit.

“You're looking for those crazy people who think God's behind all that's happening?” Roger said.

The man nodded and took off his helmet. On his forehead was the mark of the true believer.

“I don't believe it!” Roger said. “You're one of us.”

The man smiled. Pete came out from the office and called the others. The man in the white suit shook hands and hugged everyone. “I sure am glad to see some of my own kind.”

“You don't know how glad we are to see you,” Pete said, introducing himself. “We've been hiding out since those two Peacekeepers got stung.”

“So you're the one who was driving the truck?” the man said.

“You bet,” Pete said, putting an arm around Vicki. “Me and my little accomplice, Vicki.”

The man smiled at Vicki and put out a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Vicki. I'm Chris Traickin.”

23

YOU'R
the former senator!” Vicki said. “We tried to warn you about the GC, but we got stuck here.”

“I heard on the news that you escaped,” Pete said. “How did you do it?”

Chris Traickin shook his head. “Everybody talks about the Global Community having the best and brightest, but I don't see it. Two Peacekeepers were transferring me and I knocked them both out. I changed into this outfit and took the van.”

“How did you know to come here?” Conrad said.

“I heard the GC talking about a group of Ben-Judah followers in this area,” Traickin said. “I listened to the radio and followed their signals. Finding you guys was just blind luck.”

Conrad checked out the GC suit. “What happened to your friends in Baltimore?”

Traickin pursed his lips. “We were headed for a meeting. I stopped at my apartment and heard a phone message from someone saying I'd better get out of there.”

“That was Mark!” Shelly said. “He's back in Illinois at the school—”

Conrad interrupted. “If you knew the GC was going to crack down, how did you get caught?”

“I rushed to the meeting to warn my friends,” Traickin said. “Before I could get everybody out, the GC showed up in full force.”

Traickin explained that the GC had separated him from the others when they recognized who he was. “They took me to a different jail to question me.”

“What are you going to do now?” Pete said.

Traickin frowned. “Hadn't really planned anything more than finding some other believers and trying to stay away from the GC. I guess I'm on their most-wanted list now.”

Conrad muttered something. While Pete and Roger talked more with Traickin, Vicki pulled Conrad aside. “What's the matter with you? Why are you being so cold?”

Conrad leaned close to Vicki and whispered, “Something's not right with this guy.”

“Are you kidding?” Vicki said. “He's a hero.”

“I don't know,” Conrad said. “The way he got away from the GC, the fact that he has one of their vans and they haven't found him, the way he said luck brought him to us. How did he know Pete drove the truck?”

“He probably heard it on the radio,” Vicki said. She couldn't believe Conrad was so suspicious of their new friend. “What about the mark on his forehead?”

Conrad shook his head. “I don't know.”

Vicki rolled her eyes. “I don't believe this. If he's not one of us, why hasn't he been stung by a locust?”

“How long you think he's had that suit on?” Conrad said.

Vicki walked away. Conrad called after her but she joined the others.

“It's settled,” Pete said.

“What's settled?” Vicki said.

Pete put his arm around Traickin. “We're taking our friend back with us to Illinois.”

Judd met with Lionel and Sam when he returned to Pavel's apartment. They hadn't heard from Mr. Rudja about Pavel's condition.

Lionel shook his head when Judd told him about the mysterious person in Dan's apartment. “You're lucky you got out of there without being arrested.”

“You think it was GC?” Judd said.

“Who else?” Lionel said. “They've probably planted somebody to watch the place.”

Sam cleared his throat. “I know we're waiting on news from Pavel, but do you have any idea when we're leaving?”

Judd looked at Lionel.

“We've been talking,” Lionel said. “I don't think it's good for Sam to go back to Israel. I want to take him to the schoolhouse.”

“That's a long way from home,” Judd said to Sam.

“When I became a believer in Christ, my home changed,” Sam said. “It's been wonderful being with other believers. I've studied and learned a lot from Lionel since we've been here. But the longer we stay, the more anxious I am to leave New Babylon.”

“Me too,” Lionel said. “I don't know what that means for you and Nada.”

Judd put his head in his hands. He knew he had to make a decision soon. Would he start a new life with Nada or return to the States?

Before he could speak, the phone rang. It was Mr. Rudja at the hospital.

“How is he?” Judd said.

Pavel's father could hardly speak. At last he whispered, “My son is finally free of pain. He is with his mother now. And he is with God.”