CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BUCK helped Chloe into the Range Rover, but before he could get around to the driver's side, he was accosted by Verna Zee.

“Verna! I didn't see you! I'm glad you made it.”

“I made it all right, Cameron. I also recognized Tsion Ben-Judah!”

Buck fought to keep from covering her mouth with his hand. “I'm sorry?”

“He's going to be in deep trouble when the Global Community peacekeeping forces find out where he is. Don't you know he's wanted all over the world? And that your passport and ID were found on one of his accomplices? Buck, you're in as much trouble as he is. Steve Plank has been trying to get ahold of you, and I'm tired of pretending I have no idea what you're up to.”

“Verna, we're going to have to go somewhere and talk about this.”

“I can't keep your secret forever, Buck. I'm not going down with you. That was a pretty impressive meeting, and it's obvious everybody loved that Barnes guy. But do all these people believe that Nicolae Carpathia is the Antichrist?”

“I can't speak for everyone.”

“But how about you, Buck? You report directly to the man. Are you going to write a story in one of his own magazines that says that?”

“I already have, Verna.”

“Yeah, but you've always represented it as a neutral report of what some believe. This is your church! These are your people! You buy into all this stuff.”

“Can we go somewhere and talk about this or not?” Buck said.

“I think we'd better. Anyway, I want to interview Tsion Ben-Judah. You can't blame me for going for the scoop of a lifetime.”

Buck bit his tongue to keep from saying she wasn't enough of a writer to do justice to a story like Ben-Judah anyway. “Let me get back to you tomorrow,” he said. “And then we can—”

“Tomorrow? Today, Buck. Let's meet at the office this afternoon.”

“This afternoon is not good. I'm coming back here for the viewing at four.”

“Then how about six-thirty?”

“Why does it have to be today?” Buck asked.

“It doesn't. I could just tell Steve Plank or Carpathia himself or anybody I want exactly what I've seen today.”

“Verna, I took a huge risk in helping you out the other night and letting you stay at Loretta's home.”

“You sure did. And you may regret it for the rest of your life.”

“So none of what you heard here today made any impact on you?”

“Yes, it did. It made me wonder why I went soft on you all of a sudden. You people are wacko, Buck. I'm gonna need some compelling reason to keep quiet about you.”

That sounded like extortion, but Buck also realized that Verna had apparently stayed for the entire service that morning. Something had to be working on her. Buck wanted to find out how she could relegate the prophecies of Revelation and what had happened in the world in the last twenty months or so to mere coincidence. “All right,” he said. “Six-thirty at the office.”

Rayford and the other elders had agreed there would be no more formality at the viewing. No prayer, no message, no eulogies, no nothing. Just a procession of people filing past the coffin and paying their last respects. Someone had suggested opening the fellowship hall for refreshments, but Rayford, having been tipped off by Buck, decided against it. A ribbon was draped across the stairway, from wall to wall, to keep everyone from going downstairs. A sign indicated the viewing would last from 4 to 6 P.M.

At about five, while a crowd of hundreds slowly moved past the casket in a line that stretched out the front door, through the parking lot, and down the street, Buck wheeled into Loretta's parking spot with the Range Rover full of people.

“Chloe, I promise this is the last time I take advantage of your ailment and use you as a decoy.”

“A decoy for what? Do you think Carpathia is here and is going to grab you or Tsion?”

Buck chuckled. Rayford had been in the sanctuary since just before four. Now, Buck, Chloe, Amanda, Tsion, and Loretta emerged from the Range Rover. Amanda got on one side of Chloe and Loretta on the other. They helped her up the back steps as Buck opened the door. Buck peeked at the parishioners waiting in line to get into the church. Nearly all ignored his little group. Those who idly watched them seemed to be concentrating on the pretty young newlywed, her ankle cast, her sling, and her cane.

As the three women made their way to the office, planning to view the body when the crowd dissipated, Buck and Tsion slipped away. When Buck entered the office about twenty minutes later, Chloe asked, “Where's Tsion?”

“He's around,” Buck said.

Rayford stood near Bruce's coffin, shaking hands with mourners. Donny Moore approached. “I'm sorry to bother you with a question right here,” Donny said, “but would you know where I could find Mr. Williams? He ordered some stuff from me, and I've got it for him.”

Rayford directed him to the office.

As Donny and dozens of others filed past, Rayford wondered how long Hattie Durham would be with her mother in Denver. Carpathia had scheduled a meeting with Pontifex Maximus Peter Mathews, who had recently been named Supreme Pontiff of Enigma Babylon One World Faith, a conglomeration of all the religions in the world. Carpathia wanted Rayford back to New Babylon by the Thursday after next to fly the Condor 216 to Rome. There he was to pick up Mathews and bring him to New Babylon. Carpathia had made noises about headquartering Mathews and One World Faith in New Babylon, along with almost every other internaional organization.

Rayford found himself numb, shaking hand after hand. He tried not to look at Bruce's body. He busied himself remembering what else he'd heard Carpathia saying through that ingenious reverse intercom bugging device the late Earl Halliday had installed in the Condor. Most interesting to Rayford was Carpathia's insistence on taking over leadership of several of the groups and committees that had been headed by his old friend and financial angel Jonathan Stonagal. Buck had told Rayford and the rest of the Tribulation Force that he was in the room when Carpathia murdered Stonagal and then brainwashed everyone else to believe they'd just witnessed a suicide. With Carpathia now angling his way into the leadership of international relations committees, commissions on international harmony, and, most important, secret financial cooperatives, his motives for that murder became clear.

Rayford let his mind wander to the good old days, when all he had to do was show up at O'Hare on time, fly his routes, and come home. Of course, he was not a believer then. Not the kind of husband and father he should have been. The good old days really hadn't been so good at all.

He couldn't complain about excitement in his life. While he despised Carpathia and hated to be in a position of actual service to the man, he had long since decided to be obedient to God. If this was where God wanted him, it was where he would serve. He just hoped Hattie Durham might come back through Chicago before he had to leave. Somehow, he and Amanda and Chloe and Buck had to pull her away from Nicolae Carpathia. It had been encouraging to him, in a perverse way, that she had found her own reasons to distance herself from Nicolae. But Carpathia might not be so easily dumped, considering that she was carrying his child and he was so jealous of his public image.

Buck was busy with Donny Moore, learning the incredible features of the new computers, when he heard Loretta on the phone.

“Yes, Verna,” she was saying, “he's busy with someone right now, but I'll tell him you said Steve Plank called.”

Buck excused himself from Donny for a second and mouthed to Loretta, “If she's at the office, ask her if my checks are there.”

Buck had been away from both the New York and Chicago offices on paydays for several weeks and was pleased to see Loretta nodding after she had asked Verna about the checks. One thing he had seen in Bruce's printouts, and which had been corroborated by Tsion, was that he needed to start investing in gold. Cash would soon be meaningless. He had to start stockpiling some sort of financial resource because, even in the best-case scenario, even if Verna became a believer and protected him from Carpathia, he couldn't maintain this ruse for long. That relationship would end. His income would dry up. He would not be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast anyway, and the new world order Carpathia was so proud of could virtually starve him out.

By a quarter to six, the sanctuary was nearly empty. Rayford headed back to the office. He shut the door behind him. “We can have our moment alone with Bruce's body in a few minutes,” he said.

The Tribulation Force, plus Loretta and minus Tsion, sat somberly. “So, that's what Donny Moore brought you?” Rayford said, nodding at the stack of laptops.

“Yep. One for each of us. I asked Loretta if she wanted one too.”

Loretta waved him off, smiling. “I wouldn't know what to do with it. I probably couldn't even open it.”

“Where's Tsion?” Rayford said. “I really think we ought to keep him with us for a while and—”

“Tsion is safe,” Buck said, looking carefully at Rayford.

“Uh-huh.”

“What does that mean?” Loretta asked. “Where is he?”

Rayford sat in a chair on wheels and rolled it close to Loretta. “Ma'am, there are some things we are not going to tell you, for your own good.”

“Well,” she said, “what would you say if I told you I didn't appreciate that very much?”

“I can understand, Loretta—”

“I'm not so sure you can, Captain Steele. I've had things kept from me all my life just because I was a polite, southern lady.”

“A southern belle is more like it,” Rayford said.

“Now you're patronizin' me, and I don't appreciate that either.”

Rayford was taken aback. “I'm sorry, Loretta, I meant no offense.”

“Well, it offends me to have secrets kept from me.”

Rayford leaned forward. “I'm quite serious about doing this for your own good. The fact is, someday, and I mean someday very soon, very high-placed officials may try to force you to tell them where Tsion is.”

“And you think if I know where he is, I'll crack.”

“If you don't know where he is, you can't crack and don't even have to worry about it.”

Loretta pursed her lips and shook her head. “I know y'all are livin' dangerous lives. I feel like I've risked a lot just by puttin' you up. Now I'm only your landlady, is that it?”

“Loretta, you're one of the dearest people in the world to us, that's who you are. We wouldn't do anything to hurt you. That's why, even though I know it offends you—and that's the last thing I want to do—I'm not going to let you intimidate me into telling you where Tsion is. You'll be able to communicate with him by phone, and we can communicate with him by computer. Someday you may thank us for withholding this from you.”

Amanda interrupted. “Rayford, are you and Buck saying that Tsion is where I think he is?”

Rayford nodded.

“Is that necessary already?” Chloe asked.

“I'm afraid so. I wish I could say how long it will be for the rest of us.”

Loretta, clearly peeved, stood and paced, her arms folded across her chest. “Captain Steele, sir, could you tell me one thing? Could you tell me that you're not keepin' this from me because you think I'd blab it all over?”

Rayford stood. “Loretta, come here.”

She stopped and stared at him.

“Come on now,” he said. “Come right over here and let me hug you. I'm young enough to be your son, so don't be taking this as condescending.”

Loretta seemed to be refusing to smile, but she did slowly approach Rayford. He embraced her. “Ma'am, I've known you long enough to know that you don't tell secrets. The fact is, the people who might ask you about Tsion Ben-Judah's whereabouts wouldn't hesitate to use a lie detector or even truth serum if they thought you knew. If they could somehow force you to give him up against your will, it could really hurt the cause of Christ.”

She hugged him. “All right then,” she said. “I still think I'm a tougher bird than you people seem to think, but all right. If I didn't think you were doin' this with my best interests in mind, misguided as y'all are, I'd throw you out of my boardinghouse.”

That made everybody smile. Everybody except Loretta.

There was a knock at the door. “Excuse me, sir,” the funeral director said to Rayford. “The sanctuary is empty.”

Buck was last in line as the five of them filed into the sanctuary and stood by Bruce's coffin. At first Buck felt guilty. He was strangely unmoved. He realized he had expended his emotion during the memorial service. He knew so well that Bruce was no longer there that he largely felt nothing by simply noting that his friend was, indeed, dead.

And yet he was able to use these moments, standing there with the people closest to him in the world, to think about how dramatically and specifically God had acted in his behalf even just within the last several hours. If there was one thing he had learned from Bruce, it was that the Christian life was a series of new beginnings. What had God done for him lately? What hadn't he done for him? Buck only wished he would feel the same compulsion to renew his commitment to the service of Christ when God didn't seem so close.

Twenty minutes later, Buck and Chloe pulled into the parking lot of Global Community Weekly. Only Verna's car was in the lot.

To Buck, it seemed Verna looked both surprised and disappointed to see Chloe hobbling in with him. Chloe must have noticed too. “Am I not welcome here?” she said.

“Of course,” Verna said. “If Buck needs someone to hold his hand.”

“Why would I need someone to hold my hand?”

They sat in a small conference room with Verna at the head of the table. She leaned back in her seat and steepled her fingers. “Buck, we both know I hold all the cards now, don't we?”

“What happened to the new Verna?” Buck asked.

“There was no new Verna,” she said. “Just a slightly mellower version of the old Verna.”

Chloe leaned forward. “Then nothing we've said, nothing you and I have talked about, nothing you've seen or heard or experienced at Loretta's house or at the church has meant anything to you whatsoever?”

“Well, I have to admit I appreciate the new car. It is better than the one I had. Of course, that was only fair, and the least Buck could do for me after ruining mine.”

“So,” Chloe said, “your moments of vulnerability, your admitting that you had been jealous of Buck, and your realization that you had been inappropriate in how you talked with him, that was all, what, made up?”

Verna stood. She put her hands on her hips and stared down at Buck and Chloe. “I'm really surprised at how petty this conversation has begun. We're not talking about office politics here. We're not talking about personality conflicts. The fact is, Buck, you're not loyal to your employer. It's not just a matter of worrying, because it isn't journalism the way it's supposed to be. I've got a problem with that myself. I even told Chloe that, didn't I, Chloe?”

“You did.”

“Carpathia has bought up all the news outlets, I know that,” Verna continued. “None of us old-fashioned journalists enjoy the prospect of covering news our owner is making. We don't like being expected to put his spin on everything. But, Buck, you're a wolf in sheep's clothing. You're a spy. You're the enemy. You not only don't like the man, you also think he's the Antichrist himself.”

“Why don't you sit down, Verna?” Chloe said. “We all know the little negotiation hints from the books that teach you how to look out for number one. I can't speak for Buck, but your trying to tower over me doesn't intimidate me.”

“I'll sit down, but only because I want to.”

“So, what's your game?” Chloe said. “Are you about to engage in extortion?”

“Speaking of that,” Buck said, “I'll thank you for my checks for the last several weeks.”

“I haven't touched them. They're in your top drawer. And no, I'm not a blackmailer. It just seems to me your life depends on who knows or doesn't know that you're harboring Tsion Ben-Judah.”

“That's something you think you know?”

“I saw him in church this morning!”

“At least you thought you did,” Chloe said.

Buck flinched and looked at her. So did Verna. For the first time, Buck saw a flicker of uncertainty on Verna's face.

“You're telling me I didn't see Tsion Ben-Judah in church this morning?”

“It certainly sounds unlikely,” Chloe said. “Wouldn't you say?”

“Not really. I know Buck was in Israel and that his papers were found with a Ben-Judah sympathizer.”

“And so you saw Buck in church with Ben-Judah?”

“I didn't say that. I said I saw Ben-Judah. He was sitting with that woman who put me up the other night, Loretta.”

“So Loretta's dating Tsion Ben-Judah, is that what you're saying?”

“You know what I'm saying, Chloe. Ben-Judah even spoke in that service. If that wasn't him, I'm no journalist.”

“No comment,” Buck said.

“I resent that!”

Chloe kept the pressure on. “You were sitting somewhere where we couldn't see you—”

“I was in the balcony, if you must know.”

“And from the balcony you could see a man sitting in the back with Loretta?”

“I didn't say that. I meant I could tell he was sitting with her. They both spoke and it sounded like it was coming from the same area.”

“So Ben-Judah escapes from Israel, apparently with Buck's help. Buck is brilliant enough to leave his official papers with some enemy of the state. When Buck gets Ben-Judah safely into North America; he brings him out in public at his own church, and then Ben-Judah stands and speaks in front of hundreds of people. This is your thought?”

Verna was sputtering. “Well, he, well, if that wasn't Ben-Judah, who was it?”

“This is your story, Verna.”

“Loretta will tell me. I got the impression she liked me. I'm sure I saw him walking out the back with her. A small, kind of stocky Israeli?”

“And you could tell from behind who he was?”

“I'm gonna call Loretta right now.” She reached for a phone. “I don't suppose you'd give me her phone number.”

Buck wondered if that was a good idea. They had not prepped Loretta. But after the incident in the office with Rayford earlier, he believed Loretta could handle Verna Zee. “Sure,” Buck said, scribbling the number.

Verna hit the speaker button and dialed.

“Loretta's phone, Rayford Steele speaking.”

Apparently, Verna had not expected that. “Oh, uh, yes. Loretta please.”

“May I ask—”

“Verna Zee.”

When Loretta came on, she was her typical, charming self. “Verna, dear! How are you? I heard you were at the service today, but I missed you. Did you find it as moving as I did?”

“We'll have to talk about that sometime, Loretta. I just wanted to—”

“I can't think of a better time than now, sweetheart. Would you like to meet someplace, come over, what?”

Verna looked irritated. “No, ma'am, not now. Sometime, maybe. I just wanted to ask you a question. Who was that man with you in church this morning?”

“That man?”

“Yes! You were with a Middle Eastern man. He spoke briefly. Who was he?”

“Is this on the record?”

“No! I'm just asking.”

“Well I'm just telling you that that's a personal, impertinent question.”

“So you're not going to tell me?”

“I don't believe it's any of your business.”

“What if I told you that Buck and Chloe said you'd tell me?”

“First off, I'd probably say you were a liar. But that would be impolite and more impertinent than the question you asked.”

“Just tell me if that was Rabbi Tsion Ben-Judah of Israel!”

“It sounds like you've already named him. What do you need my input for?”

“So, it was him?”

“You said it. I didn't.”

“But was it?”

“You want the honest truth, Verna? That man is my secret lover. I keep him under the bed.”

“What? What? So, come on—”

“Verna, if you'd like to talk about how moved you were by our memorial service this morning, I'd love to chat with you some more. Do you?”

Verna hung uppn Loretta. “All right, so you've all gotten together and decided not to tell the truth. I don't think I'll have much trouble convincing Steve Plank or even Nicolae Carpathia that it appears you're harboring Tsion Ben-Judah.”

Chloe looked at Buck. “You think Buck would do something so royally stupid it would not only get him fired, but it would also get him killed? And you're going to use the threat of this news to the Global Community higher-ups in exchange for what?”

Verna stalked out of the room. Buck looked at Chloe, winked, and shook his head. “You're priceless,” he said.

Verna rushed back in and slapped Buck's checks on the table. “You know your time is short, Buck.”

“Truth to tell,” Buck said, “I believe all of our time is short.”

Verna sat down resignedly. “You really believe this stuff, don't you?”

Buck tried to change the tone. He spoke sympathetically. “Verna, you've talked with Loretta and Amanda and Chloe and me. We've all shared our stories. You heard Rayford's story this morning. If we're all wacko, then we're all wacko. But were you not in the least impressed with some of the things that Bruce Barnes garnered from the Bible? Things that are coming true right now?”

Verna, at last, was silent for a moment. Finally she spoke. “It was kind of strange. Kind of impressive. But isn't it just like Nostradamus? Can't these prophecies be read into? Can't they mean anything you want them to mean?”

“I don't know how you could believe that,” Chloe said. “You're smarter than that. Bruce said that if the treaty between the United Nations and Israel was the covenant referred to in the Bible, it would usher in the seven-year tribulation period. First there would be the seven Seal Judgments. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would be the horse of peace—for eighteen months—the horse of war, the horse of plague and famine, and the horse of death.”

“That's all symbolic, isn't it?” Verna said.

“Of course it is,” Chloe said. “I haven't seen any horsemen. But I have seen a year and a half of peace. I have seen World War III break out. I've seen it result in plagues and famine with more to come. I've seen lots of people die, and more will. What will it take to convince you? You can't see the fifth Seal Judgment, the martyred saints under the altar in heaven. But did you hear what Rayford said Bruce believes is coming next?”

“An earthquake, yes, I know.”

“Will that convince you?”

Verna turned in her chair and stared out the window. “I suppose that would be pretty hard to argue with.”

“I have some advice for you,” Chloe said. “If that earthquake is as devastating as the Bible makes it sound, you may not have time to change your mind about all of this before your time is up.”

Verna stood and walked slowly to the door. Holding it open, she said softly, “I still don't like the idea of Buck's pretending to Carpathia to be something he's not.”

Buck and Chloe followed her out toward the front door. “Our private lives, our beliefs, are none of our employer's business,” Buck said. “For instance, if I knew you were a lesbian, I wouldn't feel it necessary to tell your superiors.”

Verna whirled to face him. “Who told you that? What business is that of yours? You tell anybody that and I'll—”

Buck raised both hands. “Verna, your personal life is confidential with me. You don't have to worry that I'll ever say anything to anybody about that.”

“There's nothing to tell!”

“My point exactly.”

Buck held the door open for Chloe. In the parking lot, Verna said, “So we're agreed?”

“Agreed?” Buck said.

“That neither of us is going to say anything about the other's personal life?”

Buck shrugged. “Sounds fair to me.”

The funeral director was on the phone with Rayford. “So,” he was saying, “with the backlog of deaths, the scarcity of grave sites, and so forth, we're estimating interment no sooner than three weeks, possibly as late as five weeks. We store the bodies at no charge to you, as this is a matter of public health.”

“I understand. If you could simply inform us once the burial has occurred, we'd appreciate it. We will not have a service, and no one will attend.”

Loretta sat at the dining room table next to Rayford. “That seems so sad,” she said. “Are you sure not even one of us should go?”

“I've never been much for graveside services,” Rayford said. “And I don't think anything more needs to be said over Bruce's body.”

“That's true,” she said. “It's not like that's him. He's not going to feel lonely or neglected.”

Rayford nodded and pulled a sheet from a stack of Bruce's papers. “Loretta, I think Bruce would have wanted you to see this.”

“What is it?”

“It's from his personal journal. A few private thoughts about you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“I mean, are you sure he'd want me to see it?”

“I can go only by my own feelings,” he said. “If I had written something like this, I would want you to see it, especially after I was gone.”

Loretta, her fingers shaking, pulled the sheet to where she could read it with her bifocals. She was soon overcome. “Thank you, Rayford,” she managed through her tears. “Thank you for letting me see that.”

“Buck! I had no idea Verna was a lesbian!” Chloe said.

“You had no idea? Neither did I!”

“You're kidding!”

“I'm not. You think that little revelation was of God too?”

“I'd sooner think it was a wild coincidence, but you never know. That tidbit may have saved your life.”

“You may have saved my life, Chloe. You were brilliant in there.”

“Just sticking up for my man. She rattled the wrong cage.”