Jessica understood. “Yes, alright,” she said in a nervous voice. “Alvin, I guess...”
“Yep,” Alvin said, looking down at the river with scared eyes. “Okay, let’s go for a swim,” he said, and then let out a loud cry. “Here I go!”
Mandy watched Alvin bravely step off the rock under his feet and jump into the river with horrified eyes. Before she could say a word, Jessica grabbed her arm and plowed into the river. Mandy expected her head to submerge beneath the icy, dark waters. To her shock and relief, her good foot struck hard rock on the bottom.
“Hey, this water isn’t deep. I’m up to my waist,” she cried out, but was quickly defeated by the raging current that swept her away.
“Hold on!” Alvin yelled, as he positioned his arms over the tree limb and shoved his legs forward. “We’re going for a ride!”
“Hold on!” Jessica cried out as the icy waters began to sweep her into the mouth of a viciously dark tunnel. She used every muscle to hold onto the tree limb, struggling to get into a secure position while ensuring Mandy was safe.
Jacob jumped into the river with his tree limb, felt his feet strike a very slippery hard-rock bottom, and then was quickly swept away by the current. Like Alvin, he positioned his body to get a safe grip on the log and prepared for a long ride, as the current thrust him into a dark, narrow tunnel.
“Hold on!” he yelled.
Mandy allowed her good leg to drop down and drag against the bottom of the river.
“It’s not very deep. I can feel the bottom. This might work,” she yelled, struggling to hold onto the tree limb while managing to keep the pen light aimed straight ahead at Alvin.
Jessica allowed her right leg to drop down. She felt a slippery rock floor that would not allow for any stable or secure footing. The bottom of the floor felt slimy, and the current was far too powerful. There was no way possible to stand up, even though the depth of the river was no more than four feet.
“Are you okay?” she called out to Mandy, as some river water splashed up into her face. The water was freezing and painful. Jessica wasn’t sure how long her body could take such punishment? What Jessica did know was that, if she let go of the tree limb, she would surely drown.
“I’m okay,” Mandy promised, holding onto the tree limb for dear life while attempting to kick her good leg forward. “I read once that when you’re in fast current, hold your legs forward.”
Jessica held on to the tree limb and watched the top of the rock tunnel fly by overhead. “I’m in a deep grave,” she whispered. “I’m in Jack’s grave being swept down into the mouth of misery.”
Tears fell from Jessica’s eyes, mingling with the icy river water that was splashing her face. Jessica closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to engulf her mind and heart. For a long time, she allowed the river to take her into a deep grave filled with tears. At the bottom of the grave, she saw herself standing next to her husband’s casket. She was holding a single red rose. She had no idea how long she was unaware of the others around her.
“Goodbye, Jack.” she whispered, as sparrows burst into a dark, gray, rainy sky. Then she began crying out. “Goodbye, my sweet husband.”
“Hey! I see light!” Alvin yelled, bringing Jessica back to the dark tunnel. “I see light up there.”
Mandy peered forward. “I see light, too! Jessica, light!”
Jessica opened her eyes to see a dim light far ahead and then dared to look back. A shadowy figure was riding the currents directly behind her, nearly touching her back.
“Jacob?”
“We’re coming to the opening!” Jacob yelled out. “When we’re out, everyone do what you have to do to get on the shore! We have one chance and a quarter of a mile! Make it count!”
“Oh, dear,” Mandy began to panic.
“Hold on. Here we go!” Alvin yelled as he reached the light. To his horror, the river took an immediate nosedive. Alvin was spit out of the tunnel and dropped a solid twenty feet before he struck water again. Only this time, the water was very deep. Alvin’s body was sucked under the water, as he entered a dark, watery abyss. He let go of the tree limb to fight his way to the surface. Just as his head broke the surface, Jessica and Mandy came flying out of the tunnel. Jacob quickly followed. The last thing Alvin remembered was Mandy landing on him, and then his world went dark.
An hour or so later, Alvin woke up on the riverbank, laying on the hard, snowy ground. Mandy was sitting to his right with her hand on his forehead. Jacob was sitting to his left, staring at Jessica, who was standing off in the distance speaking to Pastor Braston.
“What happened?” he moaned.
Mandy gave him a gentle smile. “We’re alive, that’s what happened. We nearly drowned, but we’re alive.”
Jacob looked down at Alvin, patted his friend’s shoulder, and then stood up.
“We have some walking to do when you’re ready,” he told Alvin, keeping is eyes on Jessica. Jessica had saved Alvin’s life. Would she ever tell the man? Would she ever tell Alvin how his foot became tangled in an underwater vine? Would she ever tell the man how she risked her own life to dive under the deep water to free his foot and then administer CPR? Jacob didn’t think so.
“Jessica is speaking to Pastor Braston right now. I think we’re going to have a new team member,” he told Alvin, as Jessica spoke to a man who was nervously agreeing to a dangerous plan.
“Yes, Mrs. Mayes, I will do as you ask,” Pastor Braston promised Jessica, preparing to leave the safety of his church office and enter a deadly fight filled with sharp pieces of broken glass that threatened to cut his life into shreds. “I will do as you ask.”
Jessica lifted her eyes and focused on poor Alvin. Where had the courage to save the man come from? Jessica wasn’t certain. All she knew was that a warm and powerful hand had helped her untangle the man’s foot, while another hand kept hold of her heart.
“Please, help me, Lord. I’m going to need strength,” she prayed, as a hard, cold snow began to fall from a sky that was no longer clear and blue. “The battle has just begun, and I’m so scared.”
Far away, President Green stepped into the Oval Office with General Garcia.
“Give me an update.” he demanded. General Garcia looked deeply into President Green’s eyes.
“Your son is on his own, Sir,” he said, leaving President Green in a desperate situation.
The battle was just beginning; a battle of good against evil. The battle for the very heart of humanity had begun. There would be only one winner. Jessica Mayes was quickly forcing people to choose sides.
Unfortunately, the battlefield was filling up to favor the enemy.
Book 3: War Begins
Chapter 1
Extraction
Tom Braston was trapped on a slippery, icy highway behind a green semi-truck that appeared angry and cruel. Because it was nighttime, the taillights on the trailer glowed with red, soulless eyes that made Tom feel very cold and uncertain.
“Roadblocks are everywhere,” he spoke into his cellphone, sitting in a white church van with the heat blasting in his face.
“Where are you?” Jessica asked Tom, as she sat around a warm campfire, located inside a small cave Jacob and Alvin had found. The cave was close to the river that spilled out of the tunnel. She had raced down that river like a mad woman, only this cave had no river and was horribly small, resembling nothing more than a little open mouth under the earth. Also, the cave was safe and well hidden.
Jacob had come across the cave more by accident, rather than skill. The satellites floating above the earth would have a difficult time locating the small cave, which was located at the bottom of a gorge.
“Pastor, Jacob has located a way out of this gorge but we're going to need time.” Jessica's voice echoed throughout the small cave, bouncing off of the rock walls.
“I'm in Missouri,” Tom told Jessica, as he grabbed a silver travel mug out of a cup holder and took a quick sip
of coffee. He felt scared, that any cop would see through his plan and recognize guilt. “Do I even look like a pastor?”
He glanced down at his thick brown coat and then raised his hand to touch the brown muffler cap covering his head.
“Pastor?” Jessica asked, keeping her eyes on the campfire. Mandy was fast asleep in front of the campfire, cuddled up against Alvin's back. Alvin, although pretending to be asleep, was laying on the ground fully awake and listing to every word Jessica was saying.
“I'm here, Mrs. Mayes,” Tom assured Jessica and quickly took another sip of coffee. “I'm trapped at a dead standstill behind a semi-truck.” Tom put the travel mug down and focused on the weather. “The snow is getting heavier by the minute. I'm afraid I might be forced to take the nearest exit and call it a night.”
“Yes, it's snowing very hard,” Jessica sighed, growing silent for a second, and then finally asked, “Do you have the supplies?”
“Yes,” Tom nodded his head even though she couldn’t see him. He looked into the rearview mirror, and spotted three gray suitcases sitting on the back seat of the van. The van had three rows of back seats, which were usually filled with happy churchgoers; people excited about worshiping God. Now, the van felt empty and strange, as if the atmosphere of worship had been turned into an atmosphere of despair and doom. “I've been through numerous roadblocks, Mrs. Mayes. No one has searched my van...so far.”
Jessica heard someone approaching the cave from the outside. She tensed and watched Alvin carefully turn his ears toward the outside world. Without raising his head, he assured Jessica in a calm voice, “It's Jacob. I can tell by the way he's walking.”
Jacob appeared a few seconds later, soaked with snow and cold to the bone. He spotted Jessica talking on the cellphone, one of the two specially designed cell phones that the Department of Defense had contracted from a brilliant Israeli company.
“Where is he?” he asked her.
“Near a town called Peltson,” Jessica told him.
Jacob nodded his head, dropped a load of firewood near the campfire, and began warming his hands. “Peltson is about thirty miles north of us,” he said in a tired voice. “We need to be extracted while it's dark.”
“It's ten minutes past midnight,” Alvin spoke in a low voice. “Mandy is in no shape to move right now, and neither am I.”
“None of us are,” Jacob agreed, and asked Jessica for the phone. Reluctantly, Jessica surrendered the phone, feeling as if she were severing a line that was connected to a man, a strange man, that somehow kept her connected to Jack Mayes.
“Pastor Braston?”
Tom heard Jacob enter the conversation. “Yes, this is Pastor Braston.”
“You're about thirty miles north of our location,” Jacob told Tom, getting right to the point. He was cold, hungry and in desperate need of sleep. “We need to set our extraction time for tomorrow night at seven, sharp.”
“Yes...I suppose that's possible,” Tom nodded his head, staring into the heavily falling snow. The windshield wipers raced back and forth across the windshield like two tired children crying to go home.
“I've spent the last three days scouting out the area,” Jacob continued. “The nearest town is four miles north of our location, give or take a few yards. The town is called—”
“I'm aware of the town,” Tom assured Jacob who spoke in a robotic tone instead of like a concerned human being. “Where do I meet you?”
“There is a river that runs through the town,” Jacob continued, staring into the camp fire. “The river ends up running through the town park, and then takes a hard bend and flows under a bridge. Cross that bridge, and follow the road for about a quarter of a mile. You will come to a four-way stop. By the time you stop at the stop sign, we'll be in the van.”
“I understand,” Tom told Jacob.
“The four-way stop is surrounded by woods. A local gas station, a hardware store, and some other stores line the roads, but they’re further away in each direction.” Jacob glanced at Jessica, saw the scared and beautiful woman staring at him, and then lowered his eyes back down to the fire. “Law enforcement conducts a shift change at seven, sharp. We'll have no less than twenty minutes to work with.”
“I understand.”
“When the extraction is complete, you are to stop at the local gas station. Purchase some gas and a few snacks, and then ask the gas station attendant for directions to Millville. Explain that you are going to be a guest speaker at the Millville First Baptist Church. Millville is twenty-three miles south of Peltson.”
“I would rather not lie,” Tom told Jacob in an uneasy voice.
A heavy weight landed on Jacob’s shoulders. He was talking to a man of the Lord. “Okay. Just tell the attendant you're off course and need directions to Millville, which isn't a lie, because we're going to be taking a drive right past that town.”
“Better.”
Jacob dared to raise his eyes and look at Jessica again. “Once we leave the gas station, you're going to drive out of Peltson using the south road. On that road is a deserted house. That's where we'll stop for the night and start making the needed changes.”
Tom wanted to question Jacob’s knowledge of the house. Jessica had informed Tom that Jacob was a government man, which led the pastor to assume the man had contacts that were assisting him.
“I will be where you need me to be.” Jessica had not revealed that Jacob was the son of President Edwin Green. She feared that Tom might change his mind about offering any help. Did Tom support the President, or was the man against him? Jessica wasn't certain. Of course, Tom could have easily informed Jessica that he supported President Green. “I didn't drive this far to back down now.”
“I know, Pastor, and I'm very thankful,” Jacob assured Tom and then closed his eyes. “Pastor, I have people that are helping me. We're going to drive back to Pennsylvania using every back road in this country to avoid every roadblock. But there is no guarantee that we'll make it safely back to your church—”
“The Lord's church, son,” Tom informed Jacob. “I'm simply a servant.”
Again, Jacob felt a heavy weight press down on his shoulders. “Yes, sir,” he nodded his head. “All I was implying is that I can't guarantee your safety. Do you understand the risk?”
“Yes, I do,” Tom answered, as the semi-truck eased forward a few inches in the snow and then stopped. “May I please speak to Mrs. Mayes?”
Jacob opened his eyes, looked at Jessica’s worried eyes, and then handed her back the phone. “We have enough wood to last until at least lunch,” he said, and pointed to a large pile of firewood Alvin had gathered. “I'm going to rest. Keep the fire going and wake me in four hours.”
Jessica took the phone, checked the time, and then watched Jacob lay down beside the fire, place his head on his arm, and then close his eyes. The poor man was exhausted.
“Pastor?”
“Mrs. Mayes,” Tom spoke, trying to sound supportive and encouraging, “I'm certain we have a battle ahead of us that, through prayer, we will win. I can't imagine how scared and frightened you must be, but I must ask—even insist—that once we end this call, you spend time in prayer.”
Jessica wanted to confess that the strength which had once fired her faith was slowly fading.
“Pastor, I'm not sure I can pray,” she answered in an honest voice. “I will try, though, and that is the truth. Right now, my mind is focused on my husband. Jack has not been gone for very long. I have not even had the proper amount of time to grieve, so my emotions are just…very complicated right now. I'm very sad and angry.” Jessica paused, and decided to steer away from the songs that were playing inside her broken heart. “I'm very grateful that you are close by, Pastor. You offered me comfort at my husband's funeral. Even now, your voice comforts me.”
Tom wasn't certain why Jessica found comfort in him? He was an old man and pastor, who felt tired and washed out.
“Mrs. Mayes, plea
se pray,” he insisted. “Find comfort in Jesus, not in me. I'm simply a man of the flesh, full of error. I'm a man who is not without sin. Jesus is the true Savior, Mrs. Mayes.”
“Jesus is Lord,” Jessica whispered as her heart broke. Oh, how she wanted to turn to Jesus. She wanted to cry out, scream, throw her tears at her Savior’s feet. Instead, she bowed her head in shame. “I can't pray, Pastor. Not now. I'm sorry.”
“In time,” Tom promised.
“Perhaps,” Jessica allowed, even though she doubted Tom's words held any truth. “Pastor, I need what battery is left on this phone.”
“I understand.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “Goodnight. I hope to see you tomorrow.” Jessica ended the call, stuffed the cell phone into her coat pocket, and then sat down on a large tree limb that Jacob and Alvin had dragged into the cave. “Tomorrow...”
“You okay?” Alvin asked, and carefully leaned up on his right elbow in a way that didn't disturb Mandy. “Do you want to talk?”
“You should be asleep. It's my watch,” Jessica told Alvin.
“I barely sleep,” Alvin confessed, as he gazed at the campfire and studied the burning wood. “Nightmares don't let a man sleep. Sometimes, I can barely tell the difference between being awake and being asleep.”
Jessica looked at Alvin. He was a brave, caring man, who was broken into a million little pieces. “I'm grateful you're here with me, Alvin. Mandy is, too.”
“I'm not here by choice,” Alvin confessed. He glanced up at Jessica and saw a tormented woman. Then he looked back at the fire. “Neither are you. The truth is, if it weren't for Jacob, we would have never met. Shoot, even if you would have seen me, what would you have done? I'm just a dangerous-looking black man. A no-good bum, right?”
“You make yourself that way,” Jessica told Alvin. “I try to see a person's heart, not their skin color.”
Green File Crime Thrillers Box Set Page 26
