Page 15 of Firestorm

The St. Bernard bounded past them.

“Whoa, hold up there, Samson.” James warned the dog when he almost clipped his leg. “Samson really belongs to Sidney, but he’s become the team’s mascot. Everybody here loves him.”

The trail was just wide enough for them to walk side by side.

“Do you think they’ll find us here?”

James looked her way. She was exhausted and scared and trusting him to save her brother. “Not if I can help it, but they’ll definitely keep searching for us.” The disappointment on Sarah’s face was evident, but he couldn’t lie to her. “Despite Pamphili’s goons taking control of all news media, there are people around the area where they detonated the bomb who will question what happened. They can’t afford to let us live, and I’m sure the plan is to put the blame for everything on us.”

She focused on the trail ahead. “Do you believe we’re living in the last days as was spoken about in the Bible?”

James had talked in length with Blake about what was coming next. Before the explosion, the team had been closely following the events in Germany. He believed like many others that they were witnessing the antichrist’s rise to power. “I do,” he said quietly.

She clutched the equipment close to her chest and visibly shuddered. “I’ve read about it all my life. Guess I just never thought about it seriously.”

He’d been the same way. Once.

They reached the clearing leading into the camp. At first glance, the place appeared enormous, which was a good thing. But time had not been kind. They’d need to do some repairs.

Ben caught up with them. “There’s a large shed near the maintenance building at the far end of the camp. The owners used it to store gardening tools there. It should be big enough for all your equipment to fit.”

“Thanks, Ben.” James’ team gathered around him. “You heard the man. Let’s get set up. We have work to do.”

Once they reached the shed, James understood why Ben suggested it. It appeared to be the size of most people’s garage. The door was frozen closed from years of sitting empty, but Garrett Craig put his shoulder against it and shoved the door free.

The space contained mostly gardening tools, stored fuel, and potting soil. A generator in the corner would provide the source of electricity for the building. The rest of the camp had probably had electricity at one time. Hopefully, there were other generators around the compound to give power. Otherwise, they’d have to come up with an alternate source to power the place.

With a whole lot of effort, they were able to get the generator operational, but with the short fuel supply available, it was a temporary fix.

At the camp in Idaho, they’d used solar-powered battery packs to operate everything. The batteries would need to be recharged. Until then, the generator would have to do.

While his team worked hard on getting all their communications up and running, James called Dustin back.

“Hey, brother. Glad you all made it out safely.”

Just thinking about the mad rush they’d made to reach the mining camp made him queasy. If they’d waited a little while longer, none of them would have survived. James had chosen to keep the location of their new camp to himself during his conversations simply out of precaution. “We’re setting up communications now. Has anything changed there?”

“Not a thing. Since we arrived, no one’s gone in or out of the building. It’s strange.”

Jordyn caught his attention, and he went over to where she and Garret had gotten the screens and the internet operational. They were broadcasting news reports.

“I’ll call you when we’re on our way to you,” James said to Dustin before ending the call.

“They’re talking about the attack.” Jordyn turned up the audio as the newscaster praised the military. “Thanks to Daniel Pamphili’s quick actions, the enemy’s ploy was stopped. As you all know, Daniel Pamphili was recently appointed head of the newly created international police force involving all areas of police and intelligence. Pamphili appears to be taking on more leadership roles as Ambassador Kirkpatrick struggles with health issues. In addition to the director of the joint military and intelligence force, he is believed to be appointed as acting international president over the newly formed world government shortly.”

“That will certainly put him in the position to be the antichrist,” Garrett murmured without taking his eyes off the screen.

“We are expecting a brief statement from Pamphili at any moment.” Behind the reporter was a backdrop of the castle where the peace talks had been taking place. Numerous news representatives stood outside the castle awaiting some word on what happened.

While they waited, James pulled up a map of the location where Dustin believed Blake was being held. The building butted up against the Larraine Mountain Range. There would be no way his team would escape discovery long before they reached the site. He’d have to find a way to get them close enough to storm the building because there wasn’t any other choice. Blake was counting on him.

???

Everything about the raid of the building where they believed Blake was held was terrifying. How could they possibly hope to get her brother out of such a fortress?

James squeezed shoulder. “Hey, trust me. I’ll figure something out. I’ll need all my military personnel to assist, though.”

He’d ask her to trust him. Despite everything screaming through her head, she would. What else could she do?

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