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warning stipulated that no one could vouch for the authenticity of the
information, given that many reports of the dead could not be corroborated for
days.
Buck entered Chloe's name and was not surprised to find her in the  no known
whereabouts category. He found himself, Loretta, and even Donny Moore and his
wife in the same category. He updated each entry, but he chose not to include
his private phone number. Anyone needing that already had it. He entered
Tsion's name. No one seemed to know where he was either.
Buck tapped in  Rayford Steele, Captain, Global Community Senior
Administration. He held his breath until he saw:  Confirmed alive; Global
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Community temporary headquarters, New Babylon, Iraq.
Buck let his head fall back and breathed a quivering sigh.  Thank you, God,
he whispered.
He straightened and checked the rearview mirror. Several cars were behind him,
and he was fourth in line. It would be several more minutes. He entered
 Amanda White
Steele.
The computer ground on for a while and then noted with an asterisk,  Check
domestic airlines, Pan-Continental, international.
He entered that.  Subject confirmed on Boston to New Babylon nonstop, reported
crashed and submerged in Tigris River, no survivors.
Poor Rayford! Buck thought. Buck had never gotten to know Amanda as well as
he'd wanted to, but he knew her to be a sweet person and a true gift to
Rayford.
Now he wanted all the more to reach his father-in-law.
Buck checked on Chaim Rosenzweig, who was confirmed alive and en route from
Israel to New Babylon. Good, he thought. He listed his own father and brother,
and they came up unaccounted for. No news, he decided, was good news for now.
He entered Hattie Durham's name. The name was not recognized. Hattie can't be
her real name. What is Hattie short for? Hilda? Hildegard? What else starts
with an H?
Harriet? That sounds as old as Hattie. It worked. He was again directed to the
airlines, this time for a domestic flight. He found Hattie confirmed on a
nonstop flight from Boston to Denver.  No report of arrival.
So, Buck thought, if Amanda made her flight, she's gone. If Hattie made her
flight, she could be gone. If Mrs. Cavenaugh was right, and she saw Chloe run
from
Loretta's house, Chloe might still be alive.
Buck could not get his mind around the possibility that Chloe could be dead.
He wouldn't allow himself to consider it until he had no other alternatives.
 I have to admit, Mac, a lot of it was just plain logic, Rayford said.
 Pastor
Billings had been raptured. But he'd made that video first, and on it he
talked about everything that had just happened, what we were going through,
and what we were probably thinking about. He had me pegged. He knew I'd be
scared, he knew I'd be grieving, he knew I'd be desperate and searching. And
he showed from the Bible the prophecies that told of this. He reminded me I'd
probably heard about it somewhere along the line. He even told of things to
watch out for. Best of all, he answered my biggest question: Did I still have
a chance?
 I didn't know a lot of people had questions about that very thing. Was the
Rapture the end? If you missed out because you didn't believe, were you lost
forever? I had never thought about it, but supposedly lots of preachers
believed you couldn't become a believer after the Rapture. They used that to
scare people into making their decisions in advance. I wish I'd heard that
before because I might have believed.
Mac looked sharply at Rayford.  No you wouldn't. If you were going to believe
before, you would have believed your wife.
 Probably. But I sure couldn't argue now. What other explanation was there? I
was
ready. I wanted to tell God that if there was one more chance, if the Rapture
had been his last attempt to get my attention, it had worked.
 So then, what? You had to do something? Say something? Talk to a pastor,
what?
 On the tape, Billings walked through what he called the Bible's plan of
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salvation.
That was a strange term to me. I'd heard it at some time or another, but not
in our first church. And at New Hope I wasn't listening. I was sure listening
now.
 So, what's the plan?
 It's simple and straightforward, Mac. Rayford outlined from memory the
basics about man's sin separating him from God and God's desire to welcome him
back.
 Everybody's a sinner, Rayford said.  I wasn't open to that before. But with
everything my wife said coming true, I saw myself for what I was. There were
worse people. A lot of people would say I was better than most, but next to
God I
felt worthless.
 That's one thing I don't have any problem with, Ray. You won't find me
claiming to be anything but a scoundrel. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]