It was late when Pa drove his Lexus near the curb in front of the Federal Building in Albany, NY, and put it in park. When he turned off the ignition, he smiled at Staci and gestured toward the building with his hand. “Here we are,” he said. “I got you here safe and soundly.”
“And I thank you so much, Pa,” Staci replied, smiling at him. She paused as she looked out the window. “I hope Darren is still in his office. I don’t know where he lives and…and, well, I suppose we could go back to my apartment on West Ave if we had to and wait until morning, but…but let me go in and see if he’s here. If he isn’t, I’ll come right back out.”
“I’m coming in there with you,” he told her. “In fact, I think you should stay here and I’ll go in to get this Director of the ATD for you. I think he might even agree to come out here to meet with you. Judging from what you’ve told me about him, he seems like someone who wouldn’t want you to place yourself into a jam that you won’t be able to get yourself out of.”
“I’m not in any trouble.”
“Those Justice agents weren’t very nice to you, now, were they?”
She shook her head. “No, but --”
“So wait here and I’ll be right back.”
She sat back and nodded. “Okay.”
“Are you sure? ‘Cause I really want to find you still sitting in the Lexus, waiting for ole Pa to return with the Director.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Promise?”
She gave him a reassuring smile. “I promise.”
He nodded his head. “Good. Good…Then, you just stay put and I’ll be right back.”
Moore left the Lexus and went inside the Federal Building. Stacy sat back and waited. As she did, she put her Bible in her lap and began to read in the Psalms. A few moments later, there was a knock on her window that startled her. She took a deep breath and then smiled as she turned to look out the window. She fully expected to see Moore and Fuller…but her smile disappeared when she discovered two agents instead.
One of them showed her his badge. He was from Justice. “Ma’am, step out of the car please.”
She didn’t want any trouble. She opened the door and began to step out, but before she could do so on her own, both men reached for her and pulled her out. They put her against the car, placed her in handcuffs and then escorted her into the Federal Building. Moments later when Moore and Fuller came out of the building, they were both concerned when they didn’t find Staci in the Lexus waiting for them.
McLaughlin and Dunham arrived at the Sculpture Garden Lenox had told them about with no reason to trust him. They parked away from other vehicles and hesitantly climbed out of the car as they searched their surroundings for any sign of a trap. The Sculpture Garden was a collection of 19th and 20th century paintings and sculptures in a striking cylindrical museum with adjoining outdoor garden. The out door garden was open to the public from sunrise to sunset.
It wasn’t very crowded when they began to walk into the garden. With no other options open for them, they headed for the rear of the garden, not really certain what they were looking for.
“Why are we here?” Dunham asked.
McLaughlin shrugged. “Gotta look for something, don’t we?”
“Like what?”
“Well…Lenox said he was supposed to come over here instead of us. Might as well see what there is to see here as long as we traded places with him.”
Dunham looked at the sculptors around him. At any other time, he would have been interested in them, but all he could think of was one thing. He shook his head in frustration. “This is hopeless, along with everything else,” he said softly. “I don’t even know how I got into this.”
McLaughlin stopped and turned to look at him. “You got into this because you were looking for hope.”
“Do you really think we’re going to find it now? Look around! There’s no hope here inside a garden of rock sculptures! We’re fugitives. Our only hope now lies in a quick death, but I don’t think that’s going to happen either because when they catch us, they‘re gonna torture us for killing the President!”
McLaughlin didn’t say a word. He just looked at Dunham…or rather he looked at something behind Dunham.
From behind Dunham, a man said, “‘Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 1’”
Slowly, Dunham turned around, but he had already recognized the voice of the man who just quoted scripture. When he saw President Walter J. Ballou standing there in the presence of several marines, his mouth dropped open in complete surprise.
“What’s wrong, son?” President Ballou asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Dunham swallowed. “But, sir…Mr. President…you-you’re supposed to be dead.”
“Am I?”
“Well…I mean, I’m glad you’re not, but --”
“Son, I’d love to stay and chat, but we’d best get a move on. We were waiting for that smart mouth Lenox to come back, but since we got the two of you, I have to assume that the plans we carefully made has been altered a bit.” He grinned at McLaughlin. “I have to say I’m not surprised you finally caught up with me. I was beginning to think you were lost. You still up to serving your country?”
“I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States of America,” McLaughlin told him firmly.
Without thinking, Dunham repeated the same phrase.
Ballou just nodded, regarding the two men before him. Then, he said, “Uh huh. Well…guess what? I serve at the pleasure of Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords and King of kings. Can you say the same?”
“Yes, sir, I can,” McLaughlin told him without hesitation.
“Can you serve Him over your President?”
There was a pause. Finally, he nodded. “I can.”
President Ballou turned to Dunham. “What about you, son?”
Dunham nodded. “Yes. I can say the same. I serve the Risen Savior.” He couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face. “He has reaffirmed my heart today and filled me with new hope.”
Ballou grinned back. “Good. Then let’s go and see what kind of damage we can inflict upon the Antichrist and his regime.”
Dunham and McLaughlin exchanged looks and neither one of them could stop from grinning. The hope they were looking for was revealed to them in a way they had not expected. They followed the group of marines and the President and began a new work in the fight of gathering the souls of men for Jesus Christ.
1 - Hebrews 6:16 - 20
Next on The Gatherers For Christ!
Episode #8 - The Deception (Part 1)
The population of a town vanishes.
Is it the Rapture all over again...
Or something far more sinsister at work?
Coming soon!
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