“Remember her?” Matthew exploded. “Listen. She was nearly my girlfriend until we discovered her father worked for Bridges and she was a spy!”
“Bill kept her with him so she could identify the kids escaping and running for the train station,” Nancy continued. “They chased them all over Arlington Heights.”
“Did they catch anyone?” Matthew asked soberly.
“Not in Arlington Heights. The college kids proved to be quite elusive.” Nancy stopped and bit her lip. “The next day Jennifer guided Bill and the other thugs around Northwestern University, and . . . they picked them up.”
“And?” Matthew motioned with his hand. “What happened to them?”
“Jennifer Andrews knew, but no one told Bill,” Nancy said. “They simply disappeared.”
CHAPTER 67
EXPLOSIONS from the Montana volcano had perpetuated a blackness across the sky, but it had also distorted the weather, causing violent swings from unusual cold to hot temperatures. Hot summer weather bore down on Alice Masterson’s little cabin hidden in the woods near Prentice as the Peck family sat around the small living room and listened carefully. Nancy Marks described her journey—from being angry about the treatment Bill Marks received at the hands of Frank Bridges to the discovery that they could no longer passively stand by and allow the outrages to continue. The strain in her face added painful nuances to her story.
“You didn’t know Bill very well,” Mary told Graham, “but behind his silence was a man with conviction. When an idea gripped him, Bill wasn’t afraid to follow his heart.”
“You’re right,” Graham said. “I didn’t hear Bill say much, and he seemed more like a silent sentinel. I simply assumed Bridges had him in his pocket.”
“The mayor thought so, too,” Nancy said. “He figured a few yanks on the puppet strings would start Bill dancing like a marionette. Obviously, the mayor missed the truth by a million miles.”
“I don’t want to push,” Jackie said. “I know this experience will always be filled with extreme pain, but we were totally blown away when Bill shot Carson in the United Nations Building. Can you tell us anything more?” Jackie stopped and smiled compassionately. “If you’re comfortable doing so.”
“After those college students he picked up at Northwestern University disappeared, Bill became distraught,” Nancy said. “No one would tell him anything about what had happened, but several bodies surfaced in Lake Michigan. When the stories were suppressed, that gave him an important clue. Bill realized the issues had become life-and-death. He couldn’t remain passive. One afternoon he sat in on one of the mayor’s holographic conversations with Borden Camber Carson, or Hassan Rashid as nearly everyone calls him today. That conversation pushed Bill over the edge.”
“I understand,” Graham said.
“For the first time, Bill realized Frank Bridges wasn’t simply seeking some high national office like the presidency. He realized Carson had complete control of the mayor, and murder was no problem. Bridges would do anything this megalomaniac from the Middle East told him. That night Bill came home completely distraught. He realized someone had to stop these homicidal maniacs. Bill knew he had to break Carson’s grip on the international avalanche the man was starting, or the world would face disaster.”
“Amazing,” Graham said. “We had no idea Bill had such insights.” He looked around the room at his children. Even little Jeff sat like a statue, absorbing every word. “That’s when he decided to shoot Carson?”
“No,” Nancy said. “We secretly joined an underground group of people who were angry over the deterioration of the country and the violence in the streets. Everyone was confused, and we banded together to seek clarity. I believe it was the encouragement of the men in that group that caused Bill to realize he might have to sacrifice his life to stop Carson.”
“A religious group?” Matt asked.
“No.” Nancy shook her head. “Just everyday upset citizens. But Bill’s respect for you, Graham, kept growing all the time behind the scenes.”
“Me?”
“Bill recognized that you couldn’t be manipulated by Bridges. He could see that you escaped to avoid falling under the control of this oil tyrant who had slipped in under the mayor’s door, and he figured that you knew Carson’s plans to make himself into an international dictator. When Carson set up his speech at the United Nations, Bill fully understood why both Carson and Bridges kept chasing you.”
“Wait.” Graham held up his hand. “What you’ve just said is extremely important to me. Look, Nancy, I’m a nobody, a cog in the machine. Why in the world would these men of power and money keep chasing me and our family for months?”
“You really don’t get it, Graham?” Nancy asked.
“No. We’ve been hiding out more than a year. I expected by now that Bridges would have called off the dogs and given up on catching me.”
“Bill realized they can’t stop! Whether they fully recognize it or not, you scare them,” Nancy said.
Graham laughed. “Come on!”
“Listen to me.” Nancy’s voice intensified. “Everyone Carson deals with ends up bowing to him and falling under his control . . . except you. While he can’t completely define it, you’re the man he can’t dominate or master. Carson knows you stand outside the net in which he’s captured everyone else. Bill realized that once Carson discovered your independence, you were forever a threat to his plans.”
Graham stared at Nancy, unable to find the words to express his consternation.
“Look,” Nancy said, “you’re a modest man with independent ideas. Carson wants a world of slaves who bow every time they hear the word ‘Chief.’ As long as there is one person out there he can’t control, Mr. Supreme Commander is threatened. Looking into your eyes, Carson saw an independent set of values and that you had a mind of your own. These thugs have to catch you, Graham, because you will forever be a threat to Carson’s capacity to rule the world!”
Silence fell over the room. Mary walked over and put her arms around her father. “And you didn’t mention that my dad also had the ability to find his way to God and take his family with him. He also knows what is eternally true.”
“For Carson,” Nancy said, “that’s the worst!”
CHAPTER 68
GRAHAM THOUGHT about Nancy Marks’s observations for several days. Walking slowly in front of Alice’s cabin, Graham pondered Nancy’s assertions. Apparently, her husband, Bill, realized many things that Graham had totally missed. She was right; Bridges had buckled under to Rashid, but Graham hadn’t. As a result, this so-called chief wanted him dead. What a fool this man was! He might be pulling half the world around on a string like a yo-yo, but Rashid actually teetered on a tightrope stretched across an expanse the size of the Grand Canyon. If he was afraid of someone like Graham Peck, one of these days, the man would fall, headfirst.
“Graham!” Jackie called from the back porch. “Hurry in here. Alice Masterson is on the phone.”
“Sure.” Graham walked back to the house.
“She sounds terrified.” Jackie handed him the telephone. “Find out what’s happening.”
“Alice, you okay?”
“No!” Alice said. “Hell’s broken loose. The town of Rhinelander is being twisted inside out.”
“What’s happened?”
“Apparently an electronic surveillance device in Chicago took a picture of Matt in my car with two women that must have been your daughter and another woman from the jail. It took them a while to run the data down, but once they identified the license was from Wisconsin, they were on to me.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m hiding at a friend’s house. Remember the man in the overalls that came to our meetings?”
“Sure.”
“I’m at his place, but I can’t stay here long. Apparently, some head honcho in Chicago activated the Restored Church people in Rhinelander and they are in a townwide hunt to find me.”
“Alice, come out
here.”
“That’s why I’m calling. Many people around here know about my place in Prentice. You need to get out of there immediately. These Restored Church people have gone berserk. Remember those two men you confronted by the side of the church some weeks ago?”
“Sure.”
“Well, they beat to death one of the men in my study group an hour ago. I’m not sure if I will get out of this scrape alive.”
“Alice, we’re coming in for you.”
“No,” Alice said firmly. “You must take your things and run before they figure out I could be hiding at my cabin, or that you might be there. They will eventually drive out there to check it out. Leave my car hidden somewhere in the trees. I’ll find it later . . . if I’m alive. Get out now!”
“You’re our friend,” Graham agonized. “We can’t simply . . .”
“Yes, you can, and you must. God has a special plan for your life. I realized that the first day I met you. You can’t jeopardize that plan for me or anyone else. God’s got His eye on you; now, you and your family go! God bless you, Graham. Good-bye, my friend. The Lord is with you.” Alice hung up.
Graham stared at the silent telephone in astonishment, holding it in front of him as if he expected Alice’s voice to continue rolling out.
“If you wish to make another call,” the distant voice of some operator said. “Please hang up the phone and try again.”
Graham slowly placed the telephone back in the cradle.
“What’s happened?” Jackie said.
“Apparently we’re going to have to run again.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.” Graham looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“I do!” Adah Honi said from the doorway. “I’ve been expecting something of this order to happen ever since we came from Chicago.”
Matt walked in from his bedroom. “I overheard the conversation,” he said. “Sounds like we’re in trouble again.”
Mary bounced out of the small room where she and Nancy were staying. “You can hear everything said in this house. Nancy and I couldn’t avoid overhearing what’s going on out here. We want in on the decisions.”
“Sure,” Graham said and plopped down in an old chair at the table. “It’s simple. We have a limited amount of time before Bridges’ boys show up at our front gate.”
“It is the hour for us to return to Israel,” Adah said firmly. “The only safe place for the Peck family is with us where Frank Bridges’ long arms can’t reach.”
“You’re kidding,” Jackie said.
“Not at all.” Adah smiled. “If there is anybody in the world who knows how important it is to have the right hiding place when evil men are chasing you, it is the children of Holocaust survivors. We must get on an airplane and fly to Israel.”
Graham scrutinized Adah’s face. Not only was she not joking, she was probably right.
“I was looking at a map,” Matthew said. “And it’s only a hundred miles to Michigan and a short dash across the Upper Peninsula to Sault Sainte Marie, and we’re in Canada.”
“Canada?” Graham blinked.
“Sure, Dad. All we would need to do is drive to the Toronto airport, and that’s less than a day’s drive. No one would expect us to take such an international route. We could immediately catch a plane to Tel Aviv.”
Adah smiled. “Your son is a very capable young man. I think he is right.”
“There is only one problem,” Graham said slowly. “Since Bridges’ people identified Alice’s car, we can guess they are on Mary’s trail. We don’t know for sure that the mark on her and Nancy’s foreheads was neutralized. It’s an assumption we’ve made, but we can’t be certain.”
Mary and Nancy looked at each other with speculation in their eyes. “Could they trace us across Canada?” Mary asked.
“I don’t know,” Graham said. “But it’s a better risk than waiting here in Wisconsin where they already attacked and burned our last house to the ground.” Graham thought for a minute. “They haven’t located those checking accounts I set up before we first left Arlington Heights. Would there be ATMs in Israel?”
Adah nodded. “Sure. What’s good here will work there.”
Graham rubbed his temples. “Alice wouldn’t mislead us. I think we need to get out of here in thirty minutes. Can we do it?”
“Sure, Dad,” little Jeff said. “We can run like rabbits.”
Graham looked around the room at each family member. “When I first heard of the biblical notion of the Tribulation, I had no idea we would be faced with these constant and difficult problems!” He shrugged. “Are we all in? Does everybody agree that we should go?” Graham looked around the circle. Each of the six persons firmly nodded their approval.
“Okay, bunnies! It’s time to hop. Let’s be on the road in thirty minutes!”
CHAPTER 69
IN ORDER TO AVOID the growing chaos in Rhinelander, the Peck family caravan went north to Fifield before turning through Chequamegon National Forest and on to Eagle River. While crossing over into Michigan, they noticed that the sky remained dark and overcast with the smell of stale smoke lingering in the air. On the other side of the state line, Graham flipped on the car radio to pick up a weather report.
“At this time,” the announcer said, “police units from as far away as Merrill and Wausau have been dispatched to Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Fierce rioting has broken out across the entire town, and a number of people have already been killed.”
Jackie grabbed Graham’s arm. “Listen! It’s even worse than Alice told us.”
“Apparently a hotbed of reactionary militants have been identified as hiding in Rhinelander. Local citizens are protecting themselves and their homes,” the announcer continued. “Shootings are occurring across the town. National Guard units have also been sent in to restore order. Please stay tuned. We will be reporting conditions as we receive them.”
“I pray our friends have survived,” Jackie said. “God help them!”
Graham glanced in the rearview mirror. Driving with Mary and Nancy Marks, Adah was staying a safe distance behind him while Matt brought up the rear. “I certainly pray for Alice,” he said.
Jackie looked over the seat at George and Jeff in the rear. They appeared engrossed in the books they were reading. She leaned next to Graham’s ear. “What do you really think about the marks on Mary’s and Nancy’s foreheads? Are they safe?”
Graham ran his hand nervously through his hair. “I think it’s possible that the second swab application affected the computers while they were escaping from Chicago, but with time it’s possible some computer expert has sorted out the varying signals,” he said in a quiet, low voice. “It’s highly conceivable that Bridges’ agents may still be after them.”
Jackie bit her lip. “I pray we can get into Canada before the Highway Patrol or some National Guard unit heads us off.”
“I’m guessing we’ve got between seventy and a hundred miles before we get to Sault Sainte Marie. Let’s hope and pray.”
Jackie took his hand resting on the seat. “Let’s silently ask God to protect us while we drive.” She settled back against the seat and closed her eyes. Jackie’s lips moved noiselessly while they sped down the highway.
For both Graham and Jackie, the miles dragged by, but their caravan didn’t slow down or hesitate. Graham kept his eyes on the road and stayed exactly at the speed limit to avoid giving anyone an excuse to stop them. Just as they had fled from Illinois into Wisconsin months ago, now their family was fleeing the United States. Of course, Eldad Rafaeli had been with them then, and now he was buried in an obscure grave near their burned-down summer home in Tomahawk. The memory remained painful. So much had occurred with the violent incident and chases in Rhinelander, as well as Mary’s attempt to run away turning into capture that it almost made Graham’s head spin.
“Look!” George leaned over the seat and pointed. “That sign says we’re about to leave the United Stat
es.”
“Good job,” Graham told his son. “You spotted the warning sign that we’re almost to Sault Sainte Marie.”
Suddenly Graham heard the unmistakable thump-thump of helicopter rotor. He glanced up and discovered a military helicopter flying directly above them. Jerking his hand free from Jackie’s grip, he grabbed the steering wheel tightly.
“What is it?” Jackie asked.
“A helicopter is flying over us,” Graham said. “We don’t have time to waste.” Quickly rolling down the window, he stuck his arm out and motioned for Adah and Matt to follow him in the bizarre turn he was about to make. “Hang on!” He jerked their car to the right.
Graham hit the gas and bumped onto the shoulder, illegally passing everyone in front of him. A quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed Adah and Matt were following close behind.
Drivers to his left stared in disbelief as Graham passed, but he only drove faster.
“Watch out, Graham!” Jackie warned. “If someone pulled over . . .”
“We’d be in a disastrous wreck,” Graham finished the sentence for her. “I’m not going to let one of Bridges’ helicopters stop us this close to the border.” He blared the car’s horn as they came to the end of the stretch pouring cars into the entrance to Canada. The car directly in front of him screeched to a halt, and Graham shot past and back onto the highway ahead of the vehicle. Without slowing down, he aimed for the Canadian gateway while he waved his arm up and down out the window. Graham could hear the helicopter getting louder, and he knew it was landing. At the last possible moment, he came to a screeching halt in front of an officer.
“What’s going on here?” the Canadian border agent held up his hand and asked harshly while unfastening the gun on his hip.
“We’re American political refugees!” Graham shouted out the window. “That chopper setting down is following us, and they mean business. We’re being chased.”
The Canadian agent looked up at the helicopter roaring louder as it came nearer the grass. Men with MP5 submachine guns and AK-47 rifles were poised to leap out. “Over there!” He pointed to a side road. “You people pull into that chute! You’re now on Canadian soil. Those people can’t touch you unless they want a full-scale war with us!”
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