The Secret Code by Paul Meier

Author:Paul Meier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter eighteen

THE VOICES SOUNDED FAR AWAY, disconnected, like people calling from the far end of a dark cave. Jimmy knew they were talking about something bad, but the only thing he could hear clearly was Judy’s instruction echoing through his mind.

“Watch for the red van,” she had said. “Make sure we are protected from the rear.”

Jimmy turned again and again, staring behind the car. Numbers danced in front of his eyes like a hypnotic charm. PO 636 701 . . . PO 636 701 . . . PO 636 701 . . . Again and again the tag numbers flashed across his mind like urgent injunctions demanding his total attention. He stared at the last two cars in the caravan. No sign of PO 636 701. No road signs to Ramallah.

The faraway cacophony of voices intruded, deflecting Jimmy’s resolutely fixed attention. Their anxiety distracted him. Jimmy felt their fears more than he grasped the words. Their apprehension slowly pulled Jimmy away from the task Judy had given him.

“I’m terrified,” an anonymous women in the front seat said. “I think splitting up the group was dangerous.”

“How will we get back together?” the man next to Jimmy fretted. “If we don’t find Keith, we’re doomed.”

“We’ve got to rendezvous in Jericho,” the driver answered. “I just hope the Americans know what they are doing.”

“Judy seems like such a nice person,” the young woman said. “God help her if she falls into the hands of the authorities.”

The mention of Judy’s name jerked Jimmy up short with the force of a leash corralling a dog. Pain reverberated through his body like an electric shock. He could no longer concentrate on the license tag. He had to listen.

“But where will we meet up with them?” the man next to Jimmy persisted.

“I don’t really know,” the driver answered.

“Oh, God help us,” the woman in the front seat lamented.

“Judy?” Jimmy moaned more than spoke. “Gone?”

“It’s okay, son.” The man next to him patted him on the hand. “Don’t worry.”

But fear rolled in like a blizzard. Jimmy couldn’t pay attention. Nothing focused. He felt as if he were being slung back and forth in a violent thrashing. Images popped in his mind and then whizzed away like the headlights of cars speeding past in the night. Road signs leaped out and formed patterns that shaped and reshaped themselves into hexagons and other geometric shapes before dissolving into a kaleidoscope of colors.

Jimmy closed his eyes tightly to force the myriad of whirling forms to disappear in the blackness. He squinted as hard as possible, trying to squeeze the distractions from his mind. Like a blackboard being slowly erased, the compulsive urges dissolved.

“Where is Judy?” Jimmy asked with his eyes closed.

“On the other road,” a male voice answered from the front seat. “The first three cars turned west.”

“Why?” Jimmy persisted.

“The army appeared to be tailing them,” the man next to Jimmy answered. “Don’t worry. I am sure they are all right.” His strained tone of voice contradicted the reassuring words.

The image of a red warning light appeared before Jimmy’s eyes.

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