Facing The FutureBy Jerry B. Jenkins Tim LaHayeTyndale House Publishers, Inc.Copyright © 1998 Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHayeAll right reserved.ISBN: 0-8423-2196-9Chapter One What's Gone On BeforeJudd Thompson Jr. and the other three kidsliving in his house had been involved in theadventure of a lifetime. But it wasn't somethingthey would have chosen. They had been horrifyingly left alone a fewweeks before when their families disappearedin the global vanishings-or, in the case ofRyan Daley, when his parents had beenkilled in accidents related to the disappearances. Judd was the oldest at sixteen, the onlyone who could drive. His father, mother, andyounger brother and sister had disappearedin the middle of the night. Vicki Byrne, fourteen, had lost her parentsand her little sister, who had vanished rightout of their trailer home. Her brother, whohad moved to Michigan, had also disappeared. Lionel Washington, thirteen, had lost hisparents, an older sister, and two younger siblings.His uncle, Andr�� Dupree, had been leftbehind too, but his recent murder had led tothe situation in which the four now foundthemselves. They had stumbled onto each other anda young pastor at a local church. The olderthree of the four had been church kids andknew immediately that the disappearancesmeant only one thing: What they had heardabout in church, what their parents hadwarned them about for years, had come true.Jesus Christ had returned to snatch away hischurch, his true believers, in the twinkling ofan eye. All over the world, millions had disappearedright out of their clothes, leavingbehind everything but flesh and blood andbone. Ryan, twelve, had had little idea what hadhappened. All he knew was that he was suddenlyan orphan. His father had died in aplane crash when the pilot had disappeared.His mother was killed in a gas-main explosionduring the chaos that followed the vanishings. Ryan had been the last of the four to seethe truth and the last to make the decision tobelieve in Christ, to trust him for forgivenessof sin and to assure himself that he would goto be with God when he died. Vicki's trailer had burned to the ground.Lionel's home had been invaded and takenover by his uncle's "friends." Ryan was afraidto stay alone in his own house, especiallyafter it had been burglarized. So, the fournew Christians had settled into Judd Thompson'shuge home in the Chicago suburb ofMount Prospect, Illinois. They attended NewHope Village Church and sat under theteaching of Bruce Barnes. While dealing withtheir grief and fear over the loss of their families,they were also striving to learn as muchas they could about what had happened andwhat was to come. Bruce Barnes had been that rare full-timeChristian worker, on the pastoral staff, whohimself had been left behind. He had lost hiswife and small children to the vanishings. Heknew immediately that he had never been atrue believer and quickly turned his life overto God. In his grief and remorse he becamean outspoken witness for Christ, telling everyonewho would listen that they needed tocome to God. He also taught that the Rapture (Christ'ssnatching away of the church) was not thebeginning of the seven-year tribulation theBible predicted, where the earth and itsinhabitants would suffer tremendous devastationand loss. No, he said, prophecy indicated that a great leader would arise, theAntichrist, the great enemy of God. Hewould make a pact with Israel, and the daythat was signed would signal the beginningof the seven years. The kids left behind were fascinated bywhat Bruce taught, and they wanted to be onthe lookout for the Antichrist. He was, Brucesaid, a great deceiver who would appear to bean attractive and articulate peacemaker andwould fool many. They didn't want to befooled. They wanted to stand and fight. Andthey wanted others to come to Christ too. But in the meantime, just surviving hadbecome a chore. Lionel's uncle Andr�� hadappeared to have committed suicide afterrealizing he had been left behind. But whenLionel went to identify the body, it wasn'tAndr��'s! LeRoy Banks, leader of the small band thathad taken over Lionel's house, had murderedan enemy and forced Andr�� to make itappear the body was his own. Andr�� firstcalled Lionel's answering machine and left along, rambling, pitiful message about how hewas going to do away with himself. Then thedeed was done in Andr��'s apartment, and thevictim-about Andr��'s size-wore Andr��'sclothes and jewelry and carried his identification. When the body turned out to be someoneelse, Lionel and his new friends set about tryingto find Andr��. But when LeRoy found outthat Lionel had discovered the truth aboutthe fake suicide, he was afraid Lionel orAndr�� would reveal the truth to the police.He sent Andr�� into hiding, putting him inthe apartment of another friend, CorneliusGrey. Lionel made Cornelius Grey's sister, Talia,take him there to see his uncle. When LeRoyfound out, he was sure they were conspiringto expose his murder to the police. Just afterTalia and then Lionel had left Andr��, LeRoycharged into Cornelius Grey's apartment,shot Andr��, and set the place afire. Judd, who had been nearby waiting forLionel, raced into the burning building andhelped Lionel drag his uncle out. But it wastoo late. LeRoy had murdered yet again.Now Lionel was in danger from LeRoy, whowould have to keep killing to be sure no onewas alive who knew what he had done. Judd enlisted the aid of Chicago police sergeantTom Fogarty and came up with a planto lure in LeRoy and his friend, Cornelius("Connie") Grey. Sergeant Fogarty set up aphony legal office in Chicago, and VickiByrne called Cornelius to tell him that insurance money might be due him because of thefire in his apartment. The plan was to call LeRoy from Ryan'shouse, just in case he grew suspicious andtried to trace the call. Ryan, Lionel, and Juddsat quietly while Vicki dialed. She threw ona very adult-sounding voice. Cornelius Greyanswered the phone. "Mr. Grey, this is Maria Diablo from thelaw offices of Thomas Fogarty in Chicago.Mr. Fogarty is representing the insurancecompany handling the settlements in thedestruction by fire of your apartment buildinglast week." "Yeah, what do we get?" "Well, sir, I'm not at liberty to discuss theamount over the phone, but I can tell you itis substantial. Unfortunately, the payoutmust go to the payer of the rent over the lastseveral months, and our records indicate thatit has not been you." "No, the rent's been paid lately by a friendof mine, helpin' me out. Name is LeRoyBanks." "Would I be able to speak to him?" "Sure!" Judd and the others heard Cornelius Greyquickly fill in LeRoy on their huge stroke ofluck. "Let me have that phone," LeRoy said,clearly doubtful. "Who is this?" he demanded. Vicki went through the same routine withhim, in its entirety, just the way Judd hadscripted it. Rather than let LeRoy build on hisdoubts, she made the prize a little harder toget. "Of course, sir, we would not be able toissue a check of this magnitude unless youwere able to prove to us that you are thesame LeRoy Banks who has been paying therent on Cornelius Grey's apartment." "Oh, I'll be able to prove it all right. Whattime did you say Mr. Fogarty could see me?" * * *On the way back to Judd's house, Lioneland Ryan congratulated Judd for his ideaand Vicki for her performance. When theyarrived, Judd prepared to call SergeantFogarty to fill him in on how things hadgone. Not only did he want to tell Fogartywhen to expect to see LeRoy Banks and CorneliusGrey, but he also wanted to beg to bethere himself to see the big arrest. It was onlyfair that Vicki be allowed there too, but hecouldn't imagine the Chicago Police Departmentallowing civilians close to what couldbecome a dangerous situation. Still, he would ask. He wanted above anythingto see the look on LeRoy's face whenhe found out he was not getting a check butrather getting arrested for murder. WhenJudd reached for the phone, however, it rang. "Are you watching channel nine?" BruceBarnes asked Judd. "No, we're in the middle of-" "Turn on nine," Bruce insisted. "I've got ahunch the guy they're interviewing could bethe one we're supposed to watch out for." "You mean the Antichrist?" Judd asked,grabbing the remote control. He wanted totell Bruce the story of the sting, but thatwould have to wait until he talked to Fogarty. He thanked Bruce and turned on the television,watching in fascination. "You'd bettercall the sergeant," Vicki suggested. "Yeah!" he said, turning down the volumeand dialing the number. Fogarty was ecstatic, and he wasn't closedto the idea of Judd and Vicki being therewhen it all happened. "We have a one-waymirror at the back where my backups will be.That's where they'll come from to surprisethese two when I give the signal. I think ifyou two agree to stay there until it's all over,you could have a great view and stay safe. It'dbe too risky to have your young friend there,and we don't want the murder victim'snephew in the neighborhood at all that day,just in case." "But Vicki and I can come, really?" "Sure. Just be sure you're an hour early andpark far away." Judd couldn't wait. As he hung up helooked at his watch and decided he and Vickiwould have to leave within the hour to bedowntown in time to be in place. He turnedup the TV and watched more of the interviewwith the man Bruce now suspected could bethe Antichrist. Boy, would he and Bruce have a lot to talkabout the next time they got together!(Continues...)Excerpted from Facing The Futureby Jerry B. Jenkins Tim LaHaye Copyright © 1998 by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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