Read Online Deceived by Jerry B. Jenkins - Free Book Online

color had come back to his face. “You hang on until we can get you some help.”
    Pete smiled. Someone in the back folded a uniform and passed it forward. Vicki placed it under Pete’s head, and the big man closed his eyes.
    Colin hung up and shook his head. “Jim has no idea how the GC found out about us. He’s been trying to get in touch with Natalie, but he can’t reach her at her apartment, the jail, or by e-mail.”
    â€œYou don’t think … ,” Vicki said.
    Colin kicked the dashboard with a foot. “I knew she should have gotten out of there.”
    â€œWe have to go back for her,” Vicki said.
    â€œWe have to get out of here first,” Mark said.
    Colin remained silent. “We’ll go back and help her, right?”
    When no one responded, Vicki slumped onto the floor. She felt helpless, useless.
    â€œMaybe Natalie ran,” Shelly said. “She’s smart. Maybe she’s on her way to Wisconsin right now.”
    Vicki closed her eyes and prayed that Shelly was right. But something inside her said she wasn’t.

    Natalie sat on the bunk in her cell, her head in her hands. By now she was sure they had found the e-mails she had sent from Deputy Commander Henderson’s computer as well as from Peacekeeper Vesario’s machine. Her prayer was that Vicki and the others had gotten away safely.
    Natalie leaned against the concrete wall. She had longed to be away from the Global Community, on the outside with Vicki and the others, but she believed God could use her best inside. She had felt a sense of mission, working against the GC, and now her mission was complete.
    Natalie regretted not being able to talk to Vicki about her story. She had imagined them sitting on a couch in front of a fire with mugs of hot chocolate steaming in their hands. Vicki would first fill in all the missing places of her story, and then she would listen to Natalie’s.
    But that wouldn’t happen now. Natalie would never have the chance to tell Vicki about the woman who had taught her Sunday school class, who had prayed for Natalie and her family. After the disappearances, Natalie had rushed to the woman’s house. When there was no answer at the door, she went inside. The woman’s prayer journal was open on the kitchen table, and Natalie found her name. She also found Christian books and literature that she shoved into a garbage bag and dragged home.
    Natalie smiled as she thought about how hungry she was for information in those days. She nearly inhaled the books and stayed up all hours of the night reading her Bible and asking God to show her his plan.
    â€œThank you, God, for using me to help others,” she prayed softly.
    Natalie suddenly sat up straight, realizing that someone else needed to hear the message. She banged on her cell and yelled for the guard.

8
    VICKI and the others in the van raced through the back roads of Iowa, knowing their chances of escaping the GC dragnet were slim if they didn’t get help.
    Colin dialed Jim Dekker’s phone and reached him at the satellite operations center. “They’ve gotten a request to track us,” Colin told the kids a few minutes later.
    â€œThen Jim can help us,” Vicki said.
    Colin shook his head. “An operator is trying to track us now. Jim doesn’t think he can help without revealing himself.”
    â€œWhat about the girl who wrote us, Kelly Bradshaw?” Vicki said. “Maybe she has a place we can hide.”
    Vicki dialed the Wisconsin safe house and Darrion answered. “No time to talk. We need to get in touch with Kelly Bradshaw.”
    â€œI just got an e-mail from her about an hour ago,” Darrion said.
    â€œDid she leave a number?”
    Darrion pulled up the message and gave Vicki a phone number. “She wants you guys to call her no matter what happens.”
    Vicki immediately dialed Kelly. The girl was overjoyed to hear they had gotten their