us. The scene looked like a postcard; everything I imagine the perfect beach to be. Jared picked a spot and unfolded a blanket. He sat with his elbows resting on his knees as he looked out toward the ocean.
“It’s almost like being back in Little Corn.”
“Almost.”
Jared peered up at me. “Sit with me.”
I fidgeted, knowing I was about to play into my childish insecurities. “They were attractive.”
“Who?”
“The girls behind the desk.”
Jared laughed once, and then crawled onto his knees. He leaned toward me and placed his hands on each side of my belly. “Nina, there has always been something about you that I couldn’t shake. Even when I didn’t want to love you, I was drawn to you. I couldn’t think of anything else. Now you’re my wife, and you are carrying our child. There is nothing more beautiful than that. When you’re sweaty and exhausted holding Bean, then that will be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. When I see tears fall from your eyes when we send Bean off to the first day of kindergarten…
He nuzzled his nose into my belly, and then wrapped his arms around my middle. “You always say the right thing,” I whispered, touching his ears.
He looked up at me. “If the impossible happened, and something more beautiful existed, I wouldn’t notice. You have my constant, undivided attention. You always have.”
I smiled. “Only because I pay you.”
Jared’s white, wide grin was a contrast against the tan tone of his face. “Not any more. When you marry your boss, you can pay yourself.”
I playfully nudged him in the ribs, still he hugged me to him. Resting on the blanket, we watched the sun slowly melt into oranges and purples until it sizzled against the ocean. I wondered if the sky looked the same on the other side of the world. If once we arrived in Jerusalem, if we would see the sun again until the baby was born.
I relaxed back against the blanket, looking up at the sky. The stars were visible on the eastern half of the sky, but they were still burned out by the sun in the West. Jared grabbed my arm, and I froze.
“What is it?”
Jared smiled and pulled out his Glock. “You almost laid on my sidearm.”
“You brought your gun? Worried the grains of sand would shell?” I smiled.
“When the others start shelling, it’s impossible to know who’s a threat and who’s not. That’s why we can’t get to the Sepulchre fast enough as far as I’m concerned. I almost wonder if they didn’t blow the Beemer on purpose. If they knew our plan — and I’m sure they did — if they didn’t kill you in the process, they thought it would keep us from leaving. Bex has a harder time sensing them, so I know with my…distraction, it could be dangerous.”
I nodded. “It’s not fair that with everything else we’re dealing with, your senses are overwhelmed, too.” I frowned. “Now that I think about it, none of this is very fair.”
“Considering the circumstances, I think it’s clear we have some fans up there. We have Eli and Samuel vying for us. That’s a huge advantage in and of itself.”
“It doesn’t feel like it,” I grumbled.
My cell phone rang. It was Beth again. I closed my eyes tight while Jared took the phone and pushed the silence button. He buried it into the tote I had carried with me to the beach and then pulled me against his chest.
“You can tell her goodbye before we leave. She’ll only feel this way for a few days and then you can comfort her. She’ll probably tackle you and forget all about it.”
“No, she won’t.”
Jared took in a deep breath and wrapped his arms tighter around me. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I know. I know you are. It’s just that I feel I’m hurting her intentionally. It’s not fair that she is the only close friend that isn’t in the loop.”
“Do you really want to expose her to all of this? More importantly, do you think she can handle it?”
I shook my head. “No. I know you’re right. I don’t want to tell her, I just feel like a jerk. ‘Jerk’ doesn’t even cover it. I’m a bad friend — a bad person.”
“She’ll be able to close her eyes every night not wondering what’s with her in the dark, Nina. I’d say you’re being kind.”
“Maybe. Can you imagine her reaction when she finds out we’re leaving for Israel in a few days? She’s going to freak out. I don’t even know how to explain it to her.”
“Then don’t. It’s not a necessity to tell her we’re going to Jerusalem. Just say the West Coast or something.”
I pressed my lips together in a hard line. “I’m tired of lying to her, Jared.”
“I know.”
The stars had crowded out the last colors left behind by the setting sun, and the ocean was as black as the sky above. I might have been chilly at night by the water a few months before, but being wrapped in Jared’s arms coupled with my own elevated temperature, the sun might as well have been bearing down on my skin.
The wind rolling off the water blew my hair into Jared’s face, and he turned his head, blowing the strands from his mouth.
I smiled, but my amusement quickly faded. “Speaking of Jerusalem….”
“Yes?”
“If they know we’re going, won’t they try to stop us? If it gets worse than a car bomb we’re going to be busy. What if they wire the plane?” I laughed once without humor. “What if they shoot us down?”
“That is a possibility. But we’re prepared.”
Dread settled over me. We were vulnerable on the plane, and it was a ten-hour flight.
“We’ll land, get you and the book to the Sepulchre, and wait it out underground until you deliver.”
“You make it sound simple, but you forget demons will do everything they can to stop us.”
“We just have to get you there. It’s smooth sailing after that.”
“You hope.”
The skin around Jared’s eyes tightened. “I’m going to stop by the warehouse before we leave. Talk to Eli.”
“I thought he said to come to him when we only had one question to ask?”
Jared kept his eyes on the ocean. “I don’t think the question is ours to ask.”
Chapter Thirteen
The Road Home
We revisited that spot on the beach many times over the next two days. Jared sat with me and watched the waves roll onto the sand, and the water carry distant ship slowly across the horizon. We discussed our upcoming trip to Jerusalem, but Jared kept most of the details to himself. He didn’t want to worry me with the truth of what he saw coming. Although I was much stronger than I used to be, that didn’t change the fact that I was carrying our child.
The only sound was the wind and the intermittent waves sizzling against the sand, but my mind was crowded and loud. Sometimes I would close my eyes tight and try to push out the hundreds of frightening thoughts in my head, but then I would see Sasha. No matter how tight Jared wrapped his eyes around me, or how hard I tried to pretend we were in Little Corn, thoughts of demons, and Sasha, and bombs plagued me.
My cell phone rang several times. Beth’s phone number dominated the call log, and my voicemail, with her frantic pleas. Sasha hadn’t come to work, and it was clear she was also missing. Before long, other people began to call. Even Cynthia, although I assumed it was just to keep up pretenses for the police. As far as they knew, she was
