The young woman’s words struck home in Megan’s heart with the force of a multiton steel vault slamming shut.
“I’ve never been much of one for God and churches,” Jenny said. “After everything I’ve seen and been through, I really didn’t think He cared much for me.” Tears slid down her face and her lip trembled. “But I’ve seen you and Joey. Both of you are good people. For some reason I was with him last night. If I’d been with someone else, maybe I would have been one of the traffic fatalities that occurred when everyone disappeared. Maybe I would never have read that book. I don’t know.”
“God does love you, Jenny,” Megan said, fresh tears stinging her eyes. “God loves all his children.”
“Do you really believe that?” Challenge rang like naked steel in Jenny’s voice. “Or are you just saying it?”
“I believe it,” Megan said, and she was surprised at the strength of the conviction in her voice.
“Do you realize the difference you made in Gerry’s life?” Jenny asked. “You held onto him long enough that he didn’t die painfully, long enough that God had time to take him in an eye blink.”
In that instant, Megan did see that. Some of the anger she felt at God lessened, and even a small part of the pain that she felt over the loss of Chris eased.
“More than that,” Jenny said in a hoarse voice, “you got to see Gerry disappear. Do you know how many people are reporting disappearances on the television who didn’t see their family or friends or anyone else disappear?”
“No.” Megan reached across the table, drawn by the young woman’s pain, and smoothed her hair from her face. Twenty-three years old; so alone and so scared. What has happened to you? “No, I don’t.”
“Hundreds, Mrs. Gander,” Jenny said. “Probably thousands. But you saw the disappearance. There was no alien ray beam. No weapon. Nothing. Gerry just—left. You were shown what happened to Chris. If you hadn’t been called in last night, if Gerry hadn’t ended up on that building and you hadn’t gone up after him, you wouldn’t have seen anything. You would have woken this morning to find Chris vanished and his crumpled clothes left behind in his bed. You wouldn’t have had the answer you have now. Don’t you see?”
“I do,” Megan said, tasting the salt of her own tears on her lips. “I do see. I also see that God put you here with me to help me.”
Jenny was silent. More tears ran down her face. “I wish I could believe that, because I am so scared right now.”
“You can believe it,” Megan said. “What other reason could there be for you to go out on a non-date with a teenaged boy and his fake ID last night?”
Jenny shook her head. “I don’t know. But God—God has never been part of my life.”
Megan smoothed the young woman’s hair from her face, unable to stop herself, wanting so badly to take her fears and pain away. “God has always been part of your life, Jenny. Whatever you’ve been through, God helped you survive it to get to this moment. To be with Joey. To read that book Bill left that I have never seemed to find the time to get to.” She took a shuddering breath. “To help me believe. And I will help you to believe. I promise.”
Unable to sit in her chair anymore, Megan got up and walked around the table. She put her arms around Jenny and held her tight, then was surprised at how fiercely the young woman held her back.
The doorbell rang.
Breaking the embrace after a final squeeze, Megan walked to the front door. After last night, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find a group of MPs or Boyd Fletcher on her front porch.
Instead, Melinda Dawson stood there. Melinda was one of the kids that Megan counseled on a regular basis. Tall and gangly, with punkcut, brilliant red hair and Goth-style clothing, not quite fitting in with the base kids, Melinda was prone to violent displays that unnerved her mother, a single parent who worked at the base commissary.
“Mrs. Gander,” Melinda said hesitantly. Then she burst into tears. “My mom is gone! I found her clothes in her bed! She was gone! Just like all the other missing people!” Her voice shattered and she stepped toward Megan with her arms outstretched. “I don’t know what to do! Nobody can help me find her!”
Wrapping her arms around the young girl, Megan held her tightly. “It’s okay, Melinda. We’ll figure out what to do. I promise. We’ll figure out what to do.”
“I didn’t know where else to go!” Melinda said.
“You came here, Melinda. That was the right thing to do.” Glancing up from the girl, Megan looked out into the street in front of her house. She saw other kids then, all of them clients of hers. All of them were coming to her.
If Jenny had not helped her see the truth of what had happened, Megan knew she would have been overwhelmed by the arrival of the kids. Instead, she was ready, and she knew then the task that the Lord had put before her.
29
Turkish-Syrian Border
40 Klicks South of Sanliurfa, Turkey
Local Time 1526 Hours
When he topped the small ridge in the Hummer he’d requisitioned from the motor pool, Goose saw that one of the news teams had beaten him to the site and were even now setting up their satellite relay equipment on the big truck carrying the OneWorld Communications logo.
The dirty-brown stream occupied the ragged center of the small depression. Almost thirty feet across and no more than four feet deep, the slow-moving stream snaked through the depression in gentle undulations between the moderately steep sides. In several places, animal runs and bare areas showing high foot and vehicle traffic had scoured the rough riverbank. A few
