Digitalis (39 page)

A somber expression stole into Yitshak’s face. “I ask your forgiveness for the pain that all this has brought upon you. No doubt you feel my daughter has betrayed you.”

Colton looked away. Hating the way this man read his soul like an open manual. Yes … yes, Piper had betrayed him. Cut the heart right out of him, not trusting him, hiding secrets, keeping him at arm’s length and a lifetime from the truth.

“Deep betrayal can cause us to close our hearts to our own experiences of forgiveness.” Yitshak came a step closer.

Colton nudged him back. “Stay out from in front of the window.” But really, it was the proximity of the man’s soul-probing gaze that upended his frayed nerves.

“I see in you, Colton, the light of Yeshua Himself.”

Wiping a hand over his face, Colton tried to fix his attention on the street. The desert. Anything but this old man.

“You are a believer in Yeshua, nachon?”

“Yes,” Colton said between ground teeth. Not because he wanted to deny Christ, but because he felt like he’d just handed this guy an RPG to take down the defenses that had barricaded Colton’s heart.

“Do we not all have the guilt and blood of
Yeshua
on our hands? There is no greater betrayal, yet we have his unconditional love.” Yitshak let out a breathy laugh.

“Quiet,” Colton said, knowing full well the man wasn’t loud—yet the words screamed through his thick skull.

“There.” Yitshak pointed toward the east. “Not far from that turn in the road is Abraham’s Well.” His eyes glittered. “You know it, nachon?”

The change in subject startled Colton. But at least Rosenblum had left off the lecture. “No.”

“When Jacob, son of Isaac, came to the well, he saw his kinswoman, Rachel.” He smiled. “You know the story, nachon? He worked for seven years only to be tricked—”

“Look, we should be—”

“Jacob’s firstborn son by his beloved Rachel was Joseph. The treasured and favored son.”

“His brothers sold him.”

“Yes, sold.” Yitshak nodded as his gaze rested on something out in the window, his eyes seemingly lost. “To Bedouins. A slave in Egypt. Countless years he spent not as the son of the promised one—Israel—but as a slave to pharaoh.”

“Sometimes life sucks.”

“Isn’t fair.” Yitshak all but glowed. “When presented with a moment of reconciliation, what did Joseph say to the very brothers who preferred cold silver to the loving warmth of their own brother?”

Dawg, he’d stepped right into it, hadn’t he?

“ ‘And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.’ “ Yitshak tilted his head. “Did not Joseph, of all men who have been wronged, have the greatest reason to hate and become embittered?”

“Look,” Colton said, his voice and heart tangled amid Rosenblum’s words … the
truth
of those words. “I know you—”

“Yeshua seeks to use you for His purposes. Are you a man that you would dictate to God how He would accomplish His purposes?”

How dare this man! “I’ve prayed night and day for God to lead me, guide me, to make me stronger and prepare me. Yet, I am tormented with memories, suffer debilitating flashbacks, and now—now my father is killed. And you’re going to stand there and tell me it’s God’s will? Why should I pray? It hasn’t done me much good.”

Yitshak drew back, his brow again knotted. “What? You think praying is supposed to make life easier? If the great I Am answers your prayers, it is not to make life easier, but to prepare you to handle more!

The words silenced him.

“My Lily loves you.” Rosenblum’s chest puffed out. Though Colton wasn’t sure, he thought a healthy rosiness filled the old man’s cheeks. “You love her as well. I see it, rooted deep, which is why the secrets she kept from you hurt all the more.” He clamped a hand on Colton’s shoulder and squeezed. “Forgiveness is for our own good.”

“Heads up.” Legend’s voice came from the front of the house. “We got movement.”

S
o far, the man had followed his lead without question. If he could just get him in the building … “Almost there.” He let them in and guided the man they called Frogman to the lower level. Hustling down stairs, he said, “Frogman—so, you were a Navy SEAL once.”

Their feet thudded against the steel steps.

“I wonder at your team. An interesting arrangement of men and experience.” Just one more floor. So close … Frogman hadn’t spoken yet. No doubt this diversion had the man sweating his decision to come with Azzan.

“Your silence tells me everything.” They reached the lower level, the basement, and he walked swiftly toward a steel door. He reached for the knob.

“Don’t move.” Frogman’s terse order slammed Azzan’s hopes to the ground.

Azzan turned around. Found a gun trained on him. His hopes plummeted. Even with the weapon holstered at his ankle, he wouldn’t have time to grab it before Frogman fired. He did not want to have to kill this man, but they could not play these games much longer.

“I’m not seeing a vehicle,” Max said, as he held his stance.

“Just beyond the door will explain everything.”

“You got me alone.” Max tilted his head. Strong shoulder muscles. Arms. Biceps. Pectorals. The finger resting on the trigger. All these told Azzan the man was prepared to cut him down. “They won’t stick around if I don’t show up.”

“Exactly.”

A layer of confidence sheared off the man’s posture.

Azzan pointed to a small vent in the ceiling. “On my command, that vent will release a deadly toxin.” There could be no other way. “All I ask is that you let me enter this room. It will explain everything.”

As Colton shoved Baba into the corner, he took a rigid defensive posture, peering out the window into the night.

Piper hurried to her father and huddled with him. Not only for the comfort of her father’s touch, but also for the strength she drew from being near Colton. Even when he wasn’t speaking to her. She’d overheard little of what Baba had said to him, their voices whispered and low out of necessity because of their situation.

“Two in my sights,” Colton hissed to the other men, who also relayed information. In total, they’d tallied close to a dozen.

Colton glanced at her. His gaze sharpened. “Get back!” He thrust a hand back toward the middle of the house. “Go. Now!”

Scrambling to draw her father with her, Piper hurried around the curtain. She’d no sooner rounded the soft corner than the first crack of gunfire rang out.

“Taking fire!” Legend groused.

“Down, down, down!” the Kid rushed them and shoved them to the dirty floor. “Stay down or you’ll get hit.” On his belly, he crawled to the far corner, where he slid up against the wall and brought his weapon back up.

Crack! Thwat!

Her father wrapped his hands around hers. “We should pray, nachon?”

With a furtive glance back to the curtained area, she nodded. Wet her lips. “Yes.” For Colton. For all of them. “How did they find us?”

“Yeshua, we seek Your protection over these men, over our bodies and minds. Guide their bullets to the targets of those who oppose us and seek to wipe out Your people.”

Scooting a bit to the right gave her a better view of the … curtain. No matter how she repositioned herself, she could not see Colton. Verify he was okay. Unhurt.

One … two … three holes in the dingy fabric. It swayed under the forced movement.

“Ammo! I need ammo,” Midas called as he motioned to a sack

that lay a few feet from them.

Baba patted her hands. “Stay. I’ll get it to him.”

Oof!

The sound came from Colton. Piper scurried the six feet to the curtain. Squinted through the dust-filled haze. Squatting, Colton made hand signals toward the far wall. “Go,” he bit out the word. “No, back. Back!”

Colton dove toward the wall.

What … what was he doing? She glanced to the others. The combined efforts of the seven men devoured the room in a deafening cacophony of bullets and shouts. But … Colton. It didn’t make sense. Who was he talking to?

She scrambled toward him.

Thwat!

A trail of fire lit across her arm. An unseen force swung her around. She spiraled to the ground.

“
Emelie!
Emelie, you okay?” Colton dragged her to the wall and propped her against the plaster. “Where are you hit?” His hands patted her down, but not … not aligned with her body, off-center by a fraction. “Emelie, talk to me.” Eyes narrowed, lips taut, he had jerky movements.

Emelie? Why was he calling her that?

He looked over her. At the wall above her head. She peered up. Nothing but the peeling plaster that covered the cinder blocks. Yet his gaze seemed to roam as if sighting targets.

“Colton?”

He glanced down. But instead of the clear, focused eyes, they were distant, as if not seeing her. Was this … was
this
what Max was talking about? Her courage leapt into her throat when he seemed to dodge something, swaying back and forth. She pulled herself up—until their eyes met. “Colton.” Tentatively, she reached out to touch him—

Pain jolted down her arm. She didn’t care. She had to reach him, deep down, and pull him out of this. “Colton, are you okay?” Piper cupped his face.

Colton blinked. Again. Several times. He shook his head, and his drawn brows loosened. He looked around. At her. “Piper.” The way he said her name, the huskiness, the emotion weighted with disbelief. Then, his expression fell.

“A–are you okay?” She smoothed a hand along his jaw. “You …” What could she say? Already she saw the humiliation clouding his face. “You looked lost.”

His gaze bounced around her—and finally fastened onto her arm. “You’re shot.”

Huh? “I am?” She checked her arm, surprised at the blood trailing down it. “I—I don’t think so. Just grazed, maybe.” She shrugged, forcing a smile as she peered up at him. “Are you okay?”

He scowled. “I’m fine.” He crouched in front of her. “Stay down.” With that, he returned to his position, aimed out the window, and fired.

The repetitive whack of the weapons drowned her thundering heart. Colton was not fine. He’d been haunted by the past, his mind possessed by atrocities that laid claim to his faculties. She ached for him. Knew that if the others found out, Colton would be humiliated. But what… what if he got “lost” again… during a pivotal moment?

“With one word, your girlfriend dies.”

Azzan stilled. Raiyah. Would the team of men really kill an innocent girl? Did he really care? His thoughts roamed her features, her smile, her eyes large as dates ….

“Just let me open the door.”

“Why?”

“We cannot stop al-Jafari without what’s in there. “Azzan shrugged. “And truly, what choice do you have? I won’t go back without what I’ve come for.”

Frogman stared him down. Gave a curt nod.

Though he wanted to smile, he feared it would be taken wrong. As a sneer. He accessed the security panel, entered his code, then pressed his thumb against it. The door whooshed back, sliding into the wall and disappearing from view.

Azzan stepped across the twelve-inch threshold, noting the stale swirl of air that met him. He turned just as Frogman entered.