Aiden glanced around to make sure no one was close. “I can’t talk long. There are eyes everywhere.” He remembered Janine. “I’m worried about my wife. I want her safe. Is there any way you can help her?”
The man didn’t respond, but the next voice on the line shocked him to his core.
“Aiden, this is Emily Pearson.”
“Emily?” That was impossible. “They told us you were dead. That you’d killed yourself.”
“I know, but it was a lie.”
The members of Strike Force might not believe him, but after hearing that Emily was part of the team, he sure trusted them.
“I’d like to speak more with you, but I have to make some calls to keep my cover intact.”
“You can contact us at this number anytime. In the meantime, we’ll work on reaching out to Janine. Thanks for the tip about the compounds. Keep pushing that as a possibility,” Emily told him.
“I will. As soon as I can, I’ll call back. Do you know what happened to General Jackson?” he asked, wondering if they knew what Pamphili had done.
“No. We’ve heard there’s a new general in charge.”
“Pamphili is using Jackson as an example of what will happen if anyone betrays the cause. I’m sure he had him killed. Probably in front of his men to make sure the message was clear. It’s strange that no one seems to think anything about Pamphili using violence to take down his opponents. It’s freaky—almost as if he has put them in a trance. Even some who claim to be Christians are jumping onboard.”
“If Pamphili is the antichrist like we all believe, then Satan will give him powers. That might include brainwashing people,” the man he’d spoken to earlier commented.
Aiden pivoted at a noise behind him. No one was there. Still, he needed to end the call. “Gotta go. I’ll be in touch soon. Please reach out to Janine. I’ll send you her number. She’s all alone and terrified.” He ended the call and typed Janine’s number in a message, then turned the burner off.
“Please let them help her,” he whispered and then grabbed his personal phone and called the woman who was always in his thoughts.
Chapter Eight
“Emily, since you know Janine, I’d like for you to make first contact,” James told the former NSA agent.
“I’d be happy to. I’m worried about her.”
“Keep your guard up. Call me when you’ve spoken to her.”
While Emily reached out to Janine, James headed for the control center created for members of the team who were going to be in charge of setting up safe houses around the world. A daunting task that would need to happen quickly.
James stepped into the room where a dozen members of Strike Force were working the contacts list that he had put together. “How are we doing so far?” he asked after he had everyone’s attention.
Most were running on little sleep. Working long hours and living under constant fear of being discovered. They were called upon to do multiple tasks. Yet no one had complained. The risks were high. The future uncertain.
“We’ve set up five safe houses in the US and one in the English countryside,” Sidney told him. “Moshe’s andAthalia’s family are safe there.”
Sidney had stepped up to be the overseer of the project when James wasn’t available. “That’s great. Unfortunately, we need more.” James told the group what they’d learned from Aiden Mills.
The relocation team, as they’d dubbed themselves, were set up in groups of two and were assigned portions of the US and world maps. James had recruited Sarah to work with him along with Moshe and Athalia on setting up international safe houses.
James slid in beside Sarah who was on the phone.
Once she ended her call, she turned to him and smiled. “How are you holding up?”
Though faced with unimaginable circumstances, she made him smile. “I’m okay. Sounds like you’ve all been busy.”
She broke into a little laugh. “We are. Thanks to Moshe and Athalia, we have a contact in Israel. He’s agreed to help us set up a safe house there. That man has some interesting information to share.” She told him about the man who was Moshe’s friend. Ari Cooperman worked for the government. He’d told them about the activity taking place since the failed attack by Russia and some of its allies. The downed planes were everywhere. Bodies of burned pilots and other attack vehicles were being buried in mass graves because there were so many.
“Ari said there have been secret talks taking place with some of the top rabbis in the country. Those talks involved high level members of Pamphili’s newly formed cabinet.” Sarah paused for a breath. “Something’s up.”
James agreed, and he had a feeling he knew what it was. If this was the predicted discussion regarding the rebuilding of the temple, then they were getting closer to the rapture than ever before. Time was winding down for them. The urgency of what they were doing continued to grow with each new event that indicated the end-time events spoken of in Revelation were at the door.