Read Online Desecration: Antichrist Takes The Throne by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins - Free Book Online Page B

knows?”
    “They would see what happens when you oppose Carpathia,” Chloe said. “I don’t see what it was all about. Everybody here is speechless.”
    Rayford tried to dismiss an intruding thought but couldn’t. “Chloe, are you envious?”
    “Of Hattie?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Of course I am. More than I can say.”
    He paused. “Kenny okay?”
    “Sleeping.” She paused. “Dad, am I a scoundrel?”
    “Nah. I know how you feel. At least I think I do. But most people see you as a hero, hon.”
    “That’s not the point. That’s not why I’m envious.”
    “What then?”
    “She was there, Dad! Front lines. Doing the job.”
    “You’re-”
    “I know. Just put me out there next time, will ya?”
    “We’ll see. You heard from Buck?”
    “Can’t raise him,” she said.
    “Me neither. I imagine he and Chaim are treading carefully.”
    “I just wish he’d check in, Dad.”
----
    Buck waited at the Garden Tomb until the crowd was gone. He no longer cared how suspicious he looked. He scanned the horizon and worried how he would explain himself if he lost track of Chaim. Buck forgot what he had been trying to prove or elicit by leaving him. He was still frustrated with Chaim, of course, but what should he expect from an old man who had endured so much? Chaim had hardly sought this assignment.
    Buck moseyed among the olive trees, drawing glances from guards. He recalled his first meeting with Dr. Rosenzweig. He had known of him years before that. It wasn’t common to become friends with story subjects, especially Newsmakers of the Year, but it was fair to say the two had been close.
    The afternoon sun was hot. The garden was still a beautiful spot, untouched by the earthquake. An armed guard, so still he could have been a mannequin, stood by the entrance to the tomb. “May I?” Buck said. But the guard did not even look at him. “If I’m just a minute?” he tried again. Zero response.
    Buck shook his head and ducked inside as if to say, “If you’re going to stop me, stop me.”
    Still the guard did not move. Buck found himself in the surprising coolness of the sepulchre. The slanting light from the entrance cast a thin beam where Christ’s burial cloth would have been left. Buck wondered why Carpathia and his people had left this place untouched.
    He looked up quickly when Chaim shuffled in. Buck wanted to say something, to apologize, anything. But the man was weeping softly, and Buck didn’t want to intrude. Chaim knelt at the slab of rock where the light shone, buried his face in his hands, and sobbed. Buck leaned against the far wall. He bowed his head, and a lump invaded his throat. Could it be that Chaim would claim here the final vestige of courage to follow through on his assignment? He looked so small and frail in the oversized robe. He seemed so overcome that he could hardly bear up under his grief.
    Buck heard a sigh from outside, then the creak of leather, the crunch of footsteps. The entrance filled, the silhouette of the guard nearly blotting out the light.
    “Just give us another minute, please,” Buck said. But the guard remained.
    “If you don’t mind, we’ll leave in just a moment. Sir? Do you speak English? Excuse me …”
    The guard whispered, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said.”
    Chaim straightened and whirled to look at Buck, squinting at him in the low light.
    “You,” Buck said to the guard. “You’re-you’re a-”
    But the guard spoke again. “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”’
    “‘So they shall put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.’”
    “Thank you, Lord!” Chaim rasped. Buck stared.