Minnesota Undercover

Tim D. McConnaughy Jr.

Minnesota Undercover

by Tim D. McConnaughy Jr. Source cover and title page images - Pixabay.com and Pexels.com Copyright ©2021 Tim D. McConnaughy Jr. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author (or publisher), except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Disclaimer: Minnesota Undercover is a work of fiction. With the exception of well-known historical figures and events, all names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents contained in this story are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

International Standard Book Number 9781727251128 Unless noted otherwise, all scripture quotations found in this story have been taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

To my wife Reada, the love of my life, for putting up with my shenanigans. And to my daughter Hailey for cheering me on.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I want to give a huge thank you to God for His saving grace. All my worship goes to Him through my Lord Jesus Christ for being true peace, His rescuing me from coming judgment in Hell and His saving me from my sinfulness.

I also want to send appreciation to my cousin Danny for his assistance and my daughter Hailey for her skills and encouragement to complete this project. Finally, I thank my parents and my wife for their support as well.

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.

1:1

Genesis

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the Earth?

It is He who sits above the circle of the Earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the Earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

Isaiah 40:21-22, 28

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CHAPTER ONE

he airport was exceptionally busy tonight. People were running two and fro to catch a flight while some people were simply waiting to board their flights. I had been sitting on a chair in the airport terminal gate when I heard men yelling “Code Bravo! Code Bravo!” from the far end of the airport gatehouse.

Minutes later a man rushed by me yelling to another man just ahead of him.

“Grandma has landed, hoist the rose!” I heard him holler.

The man was tall with black bushy hair and a five o’clock shadow that appeared to cover the bottom portion of his face.

The man was wearing a midnight blue sweater, light gray pants and dark colored loafers.

The second man appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent and was much shorter and faster than the other man. His bronze colored hair was partially concealed but he was wearing a little brown fedora with a pink feather. He had on long lightly colored khaki pants and a rainbow vertically striped shirt which looked similar to a woman’s silk blouse. The men were clearly in a hurry to get somewhere. Then I noticed the shorter man had retrieved what looked to be a metal briefcase laying against the far wall next to the restrooms.

I began to wonder what was going on when things really turned strange.

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“It's raining, it's pouring the old man is snoring!” the bushy haired man began to sing. “We got our tickets, we got our tickets!” he said with an air of pride in his voice.

Suddenly the shorter colorfully dressed man abruptly stopped running, began to spin around 180 degrees and proceeded to do a back-flip in the middle of the room. Was I dreaming or was this some kind of new airport circus act? I couldn’t tell but as mysteriously as both men had appeared, they quickly vanished.

That’s about when I began feeling cold……and wet, really wet. Rain? Yep, that must be it—it was raining and I was outside in the cold wet rain. But where? I tried to say something but I couldn’t speak! Why couldn’t I speak? I wasn’t sure but what I was sure of was that the black pants I was wearing were now beginning to stick to my legs and the blue pullover I had on appeared to be glued to my back. I was drenched.

I felt something wrapped around my neck. It must have been the strap from the bag I was intending to carry on the plane.

That's it! I remembered I was at the airport! Perhaps things were going to start making sense again. My flight! I’m going to miss my flight! I tried to run but I couldn’t. I seemed to be stuck.

Then I heard what sounded like another man yelling.

“Keep going that way….” The voice trailed off for a moment……then it returned. “.…they’ll end up in Hell!”

That’s when I heard a lady’s voice nearby. She spoke with authority mixed with gentleness and sorrow.

“I'm sorry sir,” the lady said, “but this ticket won't get you to Heaven.”

She paused for a moment and wiped something from her eyes. Was she weeping?

“I am truly sorry.” she said with pain in her voice. I heard another man respond.

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“There’s no way we’re going to Hell, if Hell doesn’t exist!” he said sounding agitated.

I knew something about this situation wasn’t entirely making sense and then it hit me, it really must be a dream. I decided to yell to see if I was awake or not. I couldn’t make a sound.

Suddenly a surge of pain ran down my left arm. It felt like my arm was being ripped from its socket. The pain ebbed for a moment and then I felt the surge of pain again—this time it was stronger than before. It began to ricochet around my shoulder and back down my arm again. Then wham! My whole body felt like it had hit a concrete wall—and hard. I opened my eyes to see the leg of a chair next to my head. I seemed to be lying on the floor in a pool of water.

I moved my head right and saw water raining down from the ceiling. My face and clothes were wet and I saw a man standing over me.

“Get up man! We gotta get out of here!” A gruff male voice hollered. I opened my eyes to see a rather giant sized man standing over me. Had I fallen? One thing was certain. I was beginning to smell smoke.

My first thought was to ask if the man was related to Goliath but instead I was only able the muster the word, “huh?”.

He grabbed my right arm and violently pulled me to my feet.

“The building is on fire! We gotta go! Now!” The man boomed.

I figured I had fallen asleep on an airport chair. The strap from my bag must have hooked on the chair as I fell. I slowly rose to my feet, rubbing my shoulders as I began to follow after the man. He started running. For a large man, he was running faster than I expected. I did my best to keep up.

“What’s going on!?” I managed to yell.

People began crowding around us now.

“Not sure yet but the building's on fire!” he yelled back.

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“Someone said there might be a bomb!”

People were hollering and yelling everywhere. I heard a few folks toward the front of the crowd call out, “This way!”

The throng of people began to push me from all sides. I lost track of the man who had pulled me from my slumber. I pushed forward with the crowd and we began to press as a single mass between what appeared to be an open double-door way. The smell of smoke had intensified to a point it felt as if I could now taste it. I covered my nose. I figured we must be close to its source but didn’t care to find out how close. At that moment I just wanted out of the building! I soon got my wish. The mass of people pushed me out another set of exit doors into a crisp cold moonless night.

Thanksgiving would be here in a few days and I figured most people had probably been planning for the upcoming holiday and were hoping to spend time with their families. I noticed patches of snow on the sidewalk in front of me. I wondered if there were any hidden patches of ice on the sidewalk as the people scrambled from the airport terminal building. I saw streetlights lining the curb in front of me while people flooded all around like a swarm of scared honey bees around their threatened hive. Most of the people were just running while others were trying to simultaneously run and look down at their phones. I heard other people screaming and crying.

A lady in her mid-thirties came running past me as she returned to the entrance of the airport terminal.

She was crying and yelling, “My baby! My baby!”

It was truly a heartbreaking sight. Law enforcement officers and airport security rushed around her pulling her away from the entrance. More police officers, firefighters and paramedics personnel came running by, all with determination on their faces to help those in need. The whole sight was almost too much to take in, so I paused to say a quick prayer.

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Dear God, You are Almighty God who made the Heaven and Earth and all life upon it. You alone know all the needs of the people hurting in the midst of this tragic scene. Despite the pain and suffering, I cry out Lord for Your loving mercy to show Your healing comfort for those in need. Father God, I pray that you will provide Your wisdom and direction to the First Responders as they care for the hurting and injured and work to secure this place. Thank you God for who You are and what You are about to do.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

When I finished the prayer, I looked up to see a small but solid line of yellow taxicabs beginning to gather directly in front of me. The cabs were beginning to look like a row of selfilluminating yellow jelly beans under the line of streetlights.

People began frantically racing toward the taxis and many of the people began to hitch rides. A few charter buses were also parked across the street but I hurried to the nearest cab.

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CHAPTER TWO

opened the rear passenger door of the taxicab and got in. As I was about to sit down I realized a younger looking girl in her early twenties was occupying the back seat. She saw me and quickly shuffled to the far side of the vinyl bench seat. The taxi was dimly lit on the inside but it appeared the girl was wearing dark denim jeans with a brightly colored T-shirt. Her dusty blonde colored hair was medium in length and was resting gently on her shoulders.

“Where to!?” A rough sounding man demanded from the front seat. He must be the driver I concluded.

The man appeared to be in his mid-fifties and he was wearing a loose fitting colorful Hawaiian shirt. On his head he was wearing a dark colored military style boonie hat. And his hair was dark like the mustache growing just above his upper lip.

“Uh, I dunno, any hotel nearby?” I answered, filling completely uncertain.

I, like many of the other airport travelers had been abruptly rushed away from a scheduled flight to another location. I had tickets for a flight headed for Northern California so I certainly didn’t expect to be sitting in the back of a taxi leaving the airport.

“You gotta give me a name dude,” the man said sounding a little irritated.

At that moment another man, who was sitting in front of me, 6

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came to my rescue.

“I was staying at the Ritz. It’s nearby,” he answered.

“We gotta go now if we’re gonna make it.” The driver shot back with flare in his voice.

“Okay. The Ritz.” I said quickly.

The girl sitting next to me was silent the whole time our taxi pulled away from the airport. As we began to creep onto a connecting road to the interstate I wondered if she was feeling more or less uncomfortable now that someone else occupied the space next to her. I had been feeling uncomfortable the minute I got into the cab but it had nothing to do with her. It was simply because of the damp clothes I was wearing. They were still wet from the shower I had received back at the airport—thanks to the airport’s emergency sprinkler system. In fact, my pants and underwear were so wet they were now sticking to my bottom.

And even though my arms were still feeling the effects of falling off the airport chair and then being pulled to my feet by Goliath’s brother, I was thankful the four of us were still alive.

I clenched the only bag I had as it gently lay on my lap. The bag was much like my clothes—soggier than a wet cat after a bath. The bag contained a couple of books, pens, a phone charger, a flight itinerary, a Bible and some writing pads. As wet as the bag was on the outside I could only imagine what the contents must have looked like. I reluctantly opened it. The inside of the bag was completely dry! But how? Then I remembered it was made of a fine waterproof material. If only I had packed an extra pair of clothes in there!

I glanced over at the girl next to me again and noticed her head was facing out toward the window. She appeared to be deep in thought while she sat staring outside. I decided to ask her name but she didn’t respond. I figured she must be experiencing some trauma due to what had happened at the airport.

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It is interesting how people respond during spontaneous chaotic events. It’s hard to know exactly how one will behave until the event actually takes place. Back at the airport I remembered someone had mentioned something about a bomb.

The world had already seen six major terrorist attacks within the last three months. Islamic Jihad related attacks seemed to be increasing and people wanted peace—maybe now more than ever. I knew the Bible contained predictions about the increase of unrest and wars upon the Earth. This unrest and pestilence would continue to grow leading up to God’s final judgment before His ultimate victory over evil. In my mind if there had been a bomb at the Twin Cities airport it was another Islamic Jihad attack in a line of many still to come. I figured I’d eventually find out for sure but maybe not until we arrived at the hotel—if we arrived at all.

Then I remembered something. I wanted to call my wife to let her know I was okay and tell her I didn’t know when I would be coming home. I figured she had probably heard something about what was going on already and possibly knew more about what had happened thanks to the latest Facebook “news” feed.

The taxi we were in suddenly lurched forward and I momentarily lost focus on what I had intended to do. Then I remembered. I was about to call my wife but first needed to find my phone. Thankfully it was in my right front pants pocket. I dug deep into the soggy pocket and pulled it out. Immediately I noticed the cellular reception bars had been replaced with the words “No Service”. I figured the trouble was either related to what had just happened at the airport or my phone had stayed a little too long in my wet soggy pocket. I checked my phone again to be sure it was really on. The display showed 9:22 p.m. so the phone appeared to be working fine. And yet despite being at Minnesota’s largest area airport my phone showed there was no service available. Perhaps it was only my phone that was 8

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struggling to find a cell signal. I decided to find out.

“Does anyone else have cell phone service?” I said aloud as our cab driver pulled into a long line of traffic leaving the airport.

The gruff sounding cab driver was the first to respond.

“Uh, no… They’re saying the whole area is down. Both cities too…and probably others in the state.”

The gentleman seated in front of me seemed to agree.

“This had to be a major attack if both Minneapolis and St. Paul are out.” he added.

Our cab joined the other cars already entering the interstate.

It was as if we had become part of a funeral procession and the whole state had been invited. Once on the interstate we crept along for about a mile for what seemed like an hour and then I saw it as I looked out through the front window. Off in the nearby distance, smoke and flames were shooting up from a large building ahead. I turned my head back to glance out the cab’s rear window. I caught a glimpse of the airport we had just left. There were flames with black and gray smoke billowing from what appeared to be the airport’s main terminal. I saw police and news choppers darting around the moonless night sky. I quickly turned my head forward again toward the building we were approaching. This time I caught what looked like red and orange flames coming from the front.

Holy mackerel, I thought, is that Mall of America?

Just then I heard the man sitting in front of me speak up, “Can you believe that? Looks like they got another landmark.” he said.

At that moment emergency vehicles began to race around our taxicab with sirens wailing like we were under multiple tornado warnings in the middle of summer. It was rapidly becoming apparent that what was happening at the airport was truly bigger than any of us could imagine.

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As we drew closer to the mall, I heard the girl next to me let out a gasp under her breath and then she started softly weeping.

At that moment I noticed the cab driver had merged our car into the fast lane—except the lane wasn’t moving very fast.

Nevertheless, our car ever so slowly moved forward on the way to the Ritz hotel. Once we began to pass by the mall, I was able to get a better look at it in the dark night. There were flames and smoke pouring from an area just to the right of the mall’s main entrance. It looked like the entire parking structure to the right of the entrance was burning. Suddenly the line of cars in the right lane stopped moving. Our cab slowed even more, then I saw nothing but red tail lights ahead—like a cluster of red morning-glory fireworks on the 4th of July. Apparently we were stopping too.

My thoughts drifted from the tragic events we were currently witnessing to fond memories I had had while visiting Mall of America. I reflected back to the many times I was able to walk the multiple levels of the mall and watch as adults and kids alike rode the various amusement park rides housed within the mall.

Clearly this fire was no accident—and neither was the building itself. From the parking structure’s multiple levels of stacked concrete to the entire layout of the mall’s indoor amusement park. It had always amazed me how human beings were able to conceive and construct such beauty. The mall’s design alone had me pondering how people could even consider the possibility of it being constructed by random chance. I understood many people would consider it ridiculous of me to even suggest such a possibility—as they should. And yet when it comes to the creation of the Earth or the intricate design of a human life, many people choose to believe in that kind of randomness. These folks choose to believe that our body, even with its deeply complex interdependent working systems and 10

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many parts, (all more complex than a mall building or even a spacecraft), has been created from nothing but a random explosion.

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a fire truck as it whizzed passed us on the left—in the area reserved for emergencies only. Another truck rushed by and then another and another—all with sirens blaring. The firetrucks were quickly followed by an ambulance and then a couple of police cars. I looked across the median to see the traffic from the opposite direction at a complete stand-still. Then another moment of reality hit me. I may not be going home anytime soon.

The taxi continued to slowly inch along the interstate as we passed the burning parking structure of Mall of America. It was sobering and sad for me to see a favorite landmark like that with fire and smoke seemingly engulfing the mall itself. I could see a couple of helicopters circling above it while more emergency vehicles with flashing blue and red lights filled the parking lot around the mall entrance. It was a sight I wouldn't soon forget.

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CHAPTER THREE

o we know if there’s more in the country?” I asked, referring to attacks.

The cab driver quickly responded. “Good question but I wouldn't be surprised.” he said sounding a bit cynical.

He reached for a button on the dash and began turning the dial on the radio. We could only hear static as he searched for a station.

“Hmm, lots of static.” he said. “The stations don’t seem to be broadcasting.”

He turned the knob some more and then stopped turning it when he heard a faint voice speaking on one of the stations. An announcer could be heard speaking. “…...and it appears the airports are also under attack. We are now learning of some airports that are on fire. We are getting reports of explosions and fire at the San Francisco and LAX airports. We have also learned that First Responders are on scene at JFK, LaGuardia and Dulles Airport. In addition, eyewitness accounts have described hearing multiple explosions at the terminals there.”

The radio announcer continued, “Folks, this apparently has been an orchestrated attack not seen since the 2001 nine-eleven attacks. We are still learning exactly how many airports and which ones have been involved in the latest attacks. We will not know for sure who is responsible or to what extent the damage 12

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and casualties until we get further details. We have also just learned that the White House has gone into full lock-down mode but we do expect a statement from the President within the hour. We will bring you live coverage of the President's statement at that time. Until then keep it here for all the latest breaking news…..”

Our cab driver seemed frustrated with the news. He reached for the radio dial as if he was about to turn it off but instead he began searching for another station.

“You have got to be kidding me, we all know who is responsible for this!” he said with irritation in his voice. “Why can’t they just say it?”

“Is it possible the authorities know something we don’t?”

The man seated in front of me suggested. Then there was an awkward silence for what seemed like miles.

Although we were supposedly headed in the direction of the Ritz hotel, I had no idea where the hotel actually was. I decided to break the silence.

“I’m David by the way, David McGregor.” I said introducing myself.

“Great to meet you David,” responded the man who was sitting in front of me. “I’m Jacob Spielman but most people call me Jacob.”

He turned around in his seat to shake my hand and I noticed he was wearing a dark suit coat with matching slacks.

Jacob continued. “Like from the Bible, Jacob in the Bible.”

“Oh yeah,” I said understanding what he meant. I wondered if he had a Christian background.

“Do you have a Christian background?” I blurted out.

The tone of his voice seemed to deepen as if he had suddenly become a professional narrator of a live theater show.

“I know God…but I would consider myself more Jewish.”

More Jewish than what? I quickly wondered.

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I was about to ask him, when my thoughts where interrupted.

“I’m Johnny Lane your friendly neighborhood chauffeur.”

It was the cab driver.

“Been doin’ this job for fifteen years and it never gets old.

Never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll hear…...You boys been to the cities before?”

Jacob answered first as if he were still narrating something.

“I’m from Los Angeles...heading back to town...been working on a project here in Minneapolis with an old friend. It was good to get back here. I haven't seen him in years.”

Jacob paused long enough to let Johnny continue.

“And what about you David? What brings you to the cities?” he said.

I told him I was from Northern California and it was about seven years ago since I had been to Minnesota. At that time I attended college but this time I was blessed to return as a conference speaker for a Bible-based conference in Bloomington.

Jacob spoke up. “Oh yeah? What conference was that?”

I told him it was called Renewing the Mind: A Practical Reminder.

“And as the name suggests, I presented the Christians in attendance a practical guided reminder for how God calls Christians to renew the mind and hold each thought captive.

Much of the conference was based on Bible selections found in the Bible books of Romans chapter 12 and second Corinthians chapter 2 verses 4 and 5.” I said.

“I know someone back home who was planning to attend that conference.” Jacob added.

I noticed the girl sitting next to me was quietly sobbing and still staring out the window. Although I had no idea what we might do, I decided one of us should try to find out if we could help or comfort her.

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“Are you okay?” I asked with guarded hesitation.

She shrugged her shoulders slightly.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” I asked again.

This time she responded faintly between gentle sobs. “I dunno.”

“Where are you going to?” I pressed further.

“I’m not sure.” she said quietly.

Then suddenly as if she could no longer control her emotions her gentle sobs turned to full-blown tears.

“Is there something we can help you with miss?” asked Johnny. “You do still want to go to the Minnesotan motel, don’t you?”

Through her tears she nodded slightly.

I really was a stranger, I hadn’t heard of the Ritz hotel or the Minnesotan motel. Now a simple motel sounded nice even if it was only a motel and not a five-star hotel like the Ritz. At that moment an idea popped into my mind.

“Would you be willing to come to the Ritz with Jacob and I? Maybe we can try to help you figure things out there?” I gently suggested.

I caught what appeared to be only a slight nod. Even though the girl was still visibly distressed I noticed she was sobbing less. Jacob also assured me he would be glad to help should the need arise.

Now it didn’t seem to be the right time to ask anymore questions but I still wondered if this young lady had any family in the area. Had she been heading to or from the airport? And I still didn’t know her name.

This time Jacob interrupted my thoughts.

“So you’re a Christian?” he said directing the question at me.

I sensed some disappointment in his tone.

“Yes I am,” I answered. “Although I should clarify the word Christian because it means different things to different people.”

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“But before I answer that, you mentioned you were more Jewish. What does that mean?” I asked.

Jacob seemed hesitant to respond. “Um, that’s a good question….." he paused for a moment then continued. “I believe in the God from the Torah, but there are things in the Bible I have a difficult time believing.” he said.

“Like what?” I quickly responded.

Traffic had been steadily crawling on the interstate for some time now, but at least we were moving—even if it was only at a snail’s pace.

Jacob continued.

“Well, like the Messiah—Yeshua spoken of in the New Testament. I don’t believe He has come yet, despite what you probably believe.” he said. “The Jesus mentioned in the Bible also makes some outrageous claims about His deity which I just don’t see as possible. There are other things I don’t know but we can discuss them if time permits.”

Johnny quickly spoke up. He sounded especially irritated at the direction of the conversation.

“Well to me all the religions are a load of bunk and then some. Especially when they teach that if you’re not a follower of them, you must be killed.”

I think I understood what he meant.

“Right,” I said. “According to one prophet’s teachings all the non believers referred to as Kafirs must submit or die.”

I was getting the sense it was a good time to clarify what it meant to be a Christian—in biblical context.

“There are a lot of human-centered religions out there with radically different teachings but did you know there is one doctrine or belief they all share?” I asked hoping to keep the conversation focused.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Johnny said sounding only slightly curious.

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“None believe that Jesus is the one true God.” I said.

At that, the men became silent as dead men as though this was the most shocking statement anyone had ever made.

“And how we view God ties directly in with what it biblically means to be a Christian.” I continued.

Although I wasn’t sure how much more of this discussion the men would accept or how much further the trip was to the hotel, I sensed it was time for specifics.

“Would you consider yourselves to be good people?” I asked.

I noticed Jacob nodded slightly while Johnny seemed hesitant to respond at all. But he did.

“I’m not perfect,” he said, “but I’ve been doing this work, like I said before, for fifteen years and haven’t had to kill anybody—yet.”

Yet? What’s he mean by that? I suddenly wondered if I needed to be concerned for my safety. Being trapped in a cold cab sitting in soggy, wet clothes only a few inches away from a maniacal driver with a weapon who maybe disliked and certainly distrusted Christians was not exactly how I envisioned my life ending.

Johnny continued with a chuckle. “Does that count as a good person? Not killing anyone?”

Although Johnny’s answer caused me some uneasiness, what was about to be said I imagined might stir the pot more.

“Would you consider yourselves good enough to go to Heaven?” I continued.

This time Jacob chimed in. “There are a lot of both moral and civil laws in the Torah but I say if a person does their best in this life hey, why not…...and that’s of course assuming there really is a Heaven.”

“Fair enough. So assuming Heaven is a real place how would you know if you were good enough to go there?” I pressed further. “Or to put it another way, by what standard 17

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would you use to know if you were going to make it there after you die?”

I wondered how long I would be aloud to ask such questions before someone would attempt to change the subject. And then it seemed it might happen.

“I don’t think I like where this is going.” Johnny said, shifting his whole body slightly. “What do you mean by standard? I figure if we do more good than bad, that’s good enough.”

I hoped to draw the men out more so I continued.

“The Bible teaches that God is holy.” I said. “God is so holy in fact, sin cannot dwell in His presence. And not only is He holy but He is also perfect and just. We can see God’s perfection and holiness by looking at the Ten Commandments also known as the moral law. Do you care if we take a quick test and look at a few of the commandments for a minute?”

I hoped the men would agree. I quickly glanced over at the girl next to me hoping she might join the conversation. She was looking down at her phone now and appeared to be oblivious to the discussion. I continued to throw out questions using the Ten Commandments as a guide and hoped the men were still at least semi interested in what I was intending to explain.

“Have you ever lied, stolen, always put God first, and never used God’s name as a cuss word?” I asked.

“Muhammad and Hitler’s name have not even been so hated as to use their names in vain. Ever lusted?” I asked.

I told the men how Jesus had stated in Matthew 5 in the Bible that God considered lusting after a women as serious as committing adultery. I wrapped up my good person test by saying that although we had looked at only a few of the commandments, if we were honest with ourselves, the Law shows that no person could ever measure up to God’s perfect standard of requirements to enter Heaven.

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“But what about the good religions that promote charity, helping the poor or don’t think it’s right to kill non believers?”

Johnny shot back.

I understood what Johnny might be getting at because I could think of many religions and religious organizations that promoted helping the poor and raising money for those in need.

In fact, I had donated to some myself because it was a good thing to do. However, this kind of goodness, I told him, was according to a human standard and not God’s. Some might even think doing good deeds is what it means to be a Christian but it’s not.

“Good deeds are perfectly fine and all people should do them.” I said. “But they won’t get any of us to Heaven because as God’s moral law shows, He requires perfection and holiness of the heart. And because God is just and knows each of our thoughts He cannot be bribed by doing good deeds.”

I likened my point to being found guilty in a court of law of committing a heinous crime and trying to bribe a good judge here on Earth.

“Do you think an earthly judge would let you off simply because you had done something good and tried to bribe him with it? If this won’t work with a good judge, how much more it will not work with God.” I reasoned.

I also explained how violating God’s law is called sin and the law shows that everyone has sinned against God. I was grateful to God that the men were still apparently listening to my mini sermon.

“Now in an earthly court there is a punishment reserved for lawbreakers called prison and sometimes the punishment leads to death. Similarly God has reserved a place of punishment for all sinners or lawbreakers. And this is where Hell comes in.”

At this point I anticipated an almost certain objection from any one of occupants in the car and that’s exactly what I got.

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“What about if I don’t believe in any type of punishment, a Hell or even in the God you’re talking about?” Johnny countered raising his voice slightly. “This life is hell, just look around.”

I could relate to this life being a kind of hell. I had battled two different types of cancer and at one point got close to dying in the hospital. Murder was on the rise, suffering seemed to be everywhere and in real-time buildings were collapsing before our eyes. There was no certainty as to what might happen next.

“Good points,” I said, “but none of this is up for debate with God. He has spoken through Isaiah the prophet and through others in the Bible revealing to us that He is the one true God. Of course we are each free to come to our own conclusions, but I am just conveying what God has spoken through His Word.”

I could sense through the momentary silence that Johnny wasn’t satisfied with my response. I wanted to expound on my statements concerning God’s judgment so I took the opportunity.

“You mentioned earlier that this life is hell and it can feel like that especially when we look at the carnage from terrorist attacks or see all the sickness, suffering and death this world is experiencing on a daily basis. But do any of us ever ask God or wonder if He will deal with the evil and chaos that exists?

When we hear or watch the evening news with all the natural disasters, wars and terrorist related attacks on the rise it should cause us to see that something is radically wrong with the relationship between mankind and his Creator.” I said.

“You’re right about the carnage on the Earth,” Jacob said, “and the sickness and the suffering, that cannot be denied.”

I nodded in agreement. I further explained that Jesus spoke about the reality and seriousness of Hell, but because God is long-suffering, it is not His desire that any person should perish.

“So this begs the question, if Hell exists as Jesus claimed, is there any way of escape?” I asked.

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Johnny hedged in his seat again and cleared his throat.

“If what you’re saying is true about how bad we are then how can anyone go to this place you call Heaven?” he said.

I replied by telling him that as doing good deeds cannot get us into Heaven, similarly there isn’t anything we can do ourselves to escape judgment in Hell.

“The only way of escape would be for someone else who is perfect and without sin to save us from it—someone such as God Himself. We need a Savior. But do you know how God paid the penalty for our sins?” I asked.

I was about to answer my own question when I heard the girl next to me respond.

“Jesus.” she said softly with tears in her eyes.

“You’re exactly right!” I exclaimed with a mix of surprise and excitement. I was overjoyed she had joined the conversation so I decided to draw her out a little more.

“Do you know what He did?” I asked.

She nodded slightly.

“He’s God and He came to Earth as a human being to die on a cross.”

“Right,” I said with a grin. Then I recited the scripture verse from Romans 5:8.

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

I continued talking with a renewed sense of purpose.

“God loves us so much He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die a brutal death on a cross for us. Because Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, only He could pay the penalty for our sins.”

I finished by saying that God validated this work of Jesus’ sacrifice of paying the penalty for our breaking His Law by raising Jesus from the dead after three days. I told them both His death and resurrection were also predicted before the actual events and can be verified historically and in various passages 21

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in the Bible such as Mark 10:34, Luke 18:33, and Isaiah 53.

Although Jacob and Johnny didn’t verbally object to what I had just told them, I could see Johnny was shaking his head.

I was thankful he still had his eyes plastered to the road during my mini sermon. We had been riding together on the same road for what seemed liked more than a few minutes and it had been because we were still stuck in traffic creeping ever so slowly on the Minnesota interstate.

As we continued moving in the direction of the Ritz hotel I was given the opportunity to mention how we can access God’s forgiveness. I told everyone in the car how we must repent of our sin by turning away from it and by asking God’s forgiveness for violating His commands.

“We must make God’s sacrifice for our sin our own by putting complete trust in Jesus Christ alone.” I said.

I added by quoting a scripture from Romans 10:9. “‘If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’ Which means you will be saved from God’s coming judgment against sin.” I said.

Jacob responded with an air of doubt in his voice.

“Well since you brought it up, how do you know Jesus was actually God and not just another prophet like Muhammad or something?” Jacob asked.

“Because He claims to be.” I said with confidence. “Jesus makes clear statements about who He is which anyone can read about in John 8, Mark 14 and in other passages. When we look at the reaction of the Pharisees and those in authority before the crucifixion of Jesus, there was a unified desire to have Him killed. And have Him killed not only for his teachings, but particularly for blasphemy. Those in authority knew perfectly well who Jesus was claiming to be when He said, ‘Before Abraham was I AM.’ So either He was lying about who He is, 22

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was just plain crazy or is actually who He claimed to be. If He was crazy or lying, than no one can nor should trust him as a reliable teacher, let alone trust him as a worthy prophet. But if He really is God, then everything He says is not only true, but really does matter.”

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CHAPTER FOUR

e must have been drawing closer to our hotel now because Johnny was beginning to merge the cab into the right lane. He squeezed the taxi between a green Cadillac and a blue van with a New York license plate. We moved toward an exit onto an interstate off-ramp. Once on the ramp it was as if our car was part of a long freight train consist heading down a steep grade.

In the darkness ahead I could see a large intersection with signal lights crossing a broad road. Once at the intersection, we slowed to a stop just behind another dark blue van without rear windows. The signal light changed from red to green and Johnny waited as the van moved forward. Then we traveled for a mile or two on what seemed to be a barren two lane road before my eyes became fixed upon a large upscale building off to the right. The building looked to house multiple levels towering at least thirty floors above the ground. Toward the top of the high building I noticed a large red sign with the words The Ritz glowing in brightly lit neon letters. The Ritz reminded me of a type of casino from Las Vegas with its white and blue spot lights facing toward the front of the building. Together each blue light cast a potent beam of light giving the hotel an all but eerie haunted look. A minute later Johnny pulled the cab into the parking lot as he began to search for a place to park.

The hotel parking lot was filled with a mix of both yellow 24

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and white taxi cabs, shuttle vans, guests’ vehicles and various sedans. Many of the vehicles were parked end to end like sardines in a can each tucked in and ready for bed. The entrance to the lobby had an impressive overhead structure protruding out from the middle of the hotel. Even though it was still November, the trim around the porte-cochère was decked out with strings of small white lights that seemed to wrap the structure like a gift on Christmas morning. Johnny then brought the cab behind a line of cars near the front of the luxury hotel. That’s when I noticed many of the cars were state trooper and law enforcement vehicles. I looked back toward the street that led to the hotel and noticed a line of coach style buses parked along the curb. The luxury buses where mostly white but each one featured dark tinted windows across the side. I could see at least three of the buses had stopped in the middle of the road. Then all of a sudden the side doors on each bus opened and a hoard of people began to exit—each person heading straight for the hotel!

I assumed many of the people had become displaced especially since the airport had been evacuated. It was now well after ten o’clock and none of us in the taxi had booked a room.

The sheer number of cars in the parking lot was cause enough for concern about the hotel’s vacancy. Would we be able to get a room at all? And then there was the additional presence of the law enforcement personal near the entrance.

What could be happening to warrant such a massive police presence? I had more questions than answers.

Johnny expertly stopped the cab in between a red Camry and a shiny black Cadillac Escalade parked only a few yards from the hotel lobby. Jacob opened his door and I followed his lead. The only bag I had was the one slung around my neck. I asked the girl who had been sitting next to me if she needed any help carrying her luggage.

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Johnny must have heard me ask because he spoke up before she could speak. “Uh, no she didn’t have any luggage with her.” he said as we exited the car.

It wasn’t until after I stepped outside that I noticed additional helicopters circling above the hotel. Seeing them with their spot-lights bouncing around the sky reminded me again of the seriousness of the situation still unfolding around us.

After the young girl got out of the cab Johnny shut the two driver side doors. Up until this point she hadn’t said much but I hoped that might change once we got inside.

Johnny told us he would ordinarily simply drop us off but tonight would be different due to the serious nature of the current situation. And since cellular phone service had also been interrupted he said he wanted to find out if he could learn more about the local attacks. All four of us walked together from the cab to the lobby as if we were a security detail guarding a VIP. Inside the Ritz, the lobby itself was magnificent in size and beauty but it wasn’t quiet. I spotted a massive globe shaped crystal chandelier which hung from the high ceiling in the middle of the room. The entire floor was covered in a plush velvety red carpet and towards one end of the lobby was the front desk. It was long but it was partially obscured by a growing number of people standing in front. I noticed multiple designer-like cushioned chairs that appeared strategically placed throughout the posh looking lobby. Some of the chairs were already occupied and other chairs appeared to be waiting patiently for the next weary traveler to fall asleep and enjoy the chair’s soft cushions. The noise level in the lobby seemed to steadily increase as more visitors, and law enforcement personnel streamed into the room. It was becoming increasingly apparent that the four of us probably wouldn’t be getting a room at this hotel tonight.

I noticed a growing line of people with elevated voices hovering 26

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around the front desk.

“What’s going on!? We demand answers!” they hollered.

“I want to speak to a manager!” Another man shouted.

“Where’s my room?! I had reservations!” A women complained loudly.

At that moment Johnny and Jacob made a beeline toward the elevators. I glanced to my right and noticed a couple of televisions mounted to the wall a few hundred feet away. One was showing new reports as they came in on the latest nationwide attacks. A mob of people were gathered around it as the another television mounted to a wall was showing the latest weather. As I scanned the room some more, I noticed a few people were crying while others seemed to be looking down at their cell phones waiting in vain for service to return.

I wanted to be able to help somehow but I felt helpless. Yet despite the growing tension and unrest that existed in the room, I sensed many people were doing their best to remain calm.

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CHAPTER FIVE

wondered what God must think especially in moments of tragedy. I believed He was in control of everything that was going on even if to us uncertainty surrounded us. He still had a plan in place for how it would work out for good. I knew some of the outcomes would not turn out how we as humans would like but nevertheless it was comforting to know that God was still working all things out for His glory. Then my thoughts were interrupted.

“I saw you there.” I heard a female voice say.

I turned to see the girl from the cab standing next to me.

“Pardon?” I replied quickly.

She raised her head slightly.

“I saw you at that conference.” she said raising her eyebrows.

“Oh! You mean The Renewing the Mind conference in Bloomington!?” I answered feeling surprised.

She nodded and smiled.

“That’s fantastic!” I said as enthusiastically as one could muster despite the horror that was occurring in the nation.

“I'm David by the way,” I said raising my voice slightly.

“But I didn’t catch your name.”

“Natalie.” she said.

“Pleased to meet you Natalie.” I responded.

The noise level in the lobby was approaching new heights now.

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“Perhaps we can talk later…somewhere less noisy.” I suggested not knowing where or when that would be. Natalie nodded.

Despite the noise, I was considering whether or not it was a good time to ask her where she was heading when Bam! Someone hit me from the front and I felt myself falling backward.

I found myself lying on the floor flat on my back. A man was lying on top of me. He had dark skin and bushy black eyebrows with bronze colored hair. He appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent but I couldn’t be sure. I heard multiple people yelling and hollering.

“They went that way!” I heard someone yell.

“Sorry bout that,” the man said as he rose to his feet.

When he stood up he began scanning the immediate area…as if he were looking for someone—or something. I wondered what he might be interested in when he reached down beside me and grabbed a hat that had apparently fallen off his head. It was a little brown fedora hat with a pink feather. He appeared to be the same short little man I had seen at the airport!

The man picked up his hat and put it on. He then reached out his hand toward my chest. I saw his hand was open as if he wanted me to shake it but then I realized he was trying to help me up. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet.

“See you around, David.” he said and then disappeared into the crowded lobby. That was oddly familiar. I had recognized the man but how did he know my name? I didn’t have a name tag and I knew I didn’t know who he was. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a loud ruckus near the elevators.

“He’s got a knife!” I heard one man yell.

“Get out, now!” I heard someone scream. Within minutes a group of heavily armed guards dressed in black military style clothing came rushing passed me to my right then I lost track of 29

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them for a moment. Minutes later I watched as two men in handcuffs with black hoods over their heads were quickly escorted from the lobby by federal agents.

The agents were accompanied by police officers and other armed security personnel. I noticed a couple of the officers from the law enforcement entourage were carrying what appeared to be identical metallic briefcases.

Then something next to my feet caught my eye. I glanced down and noticed a small slip of partially crumpled paper on the floor. I quickly picked it up and shoved it into my pocket.

Just then someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Jacob and Johnny standing behind me.

“That was quite a fall you had. I think he was pushed.” Jacob said apparently referring to the man who had fallen on me.

“We should get out of here before things escalate further.”

Johnny chimed in. “Meet me in front of the lobby in ten minutes.” he said.

Jacob and I nodded. There was a sense of urgency in Johnny’s voice. And so as if we were needle and thread, we wove ourselves around the mob that had crammed itself into the Ritz.

Once outside, the three of us assembled near the busy entrance and waited for Johnny in the cold autumn night. I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. As I did a small folded slip of paper nearly the size of a Post-it note floated gently to the ground. It was the crumpled piece paper I had found on the lobby floor! I quickly glanced at the time on my phone and then bent down to pick up the slip. The time was 11:18 p.m. I unfolded the small slip of paper to reveal three lines of text:

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‫في الوقت المحدد‬ aompsm 21:11 lecxeztir 00:11 Perhaps an encoded message of some sort? I guessed. I showed the slip to Jacob and Natalie.

That’s when I heard Johnny’s voice.

“Okay, so here’s what happened...” he said rejoining us. He was interrupted as Jacob quickly handed him the note. Johnny hastily eyed the contents of the paper and I watched as the muscles in his face abruptly tightened. He gave Jacob a knowing look and then without saying another word, he summoned us back to his cab.

Johnny led the way to the taxicab as the four of us hustled past some hotel security officers and a growing line of hotel guests that had gathered in front of the hotel. I felt my heart rate dramatically increase as adrenaline began to build inside me.

Johnny stopped just short of the cab and pulled the three of us aside. Nobody could have prepared me for what would happen next.

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CHAPTER SIX

ohnny quickly pulled out a leather wallet revealing an ID card and a silver badge attached.

“My name is Russell Kinnmark. I am a special agent for the state anti-terrorism division. Tonight I have been working undercover as a cab driver but this work here,” Russell said, pointing to his badge, “is my bread and butter.”

Russell looked down at the slip of paper he had in his hand.

He held it up slightly and then pointed to it.

“I will need to confirm it, but I believe this to be an encoded schedule of operation. The first line of text appears to be a phrase written in Arabic and the numbers written are most certainly times.” he said.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to think. Should we be more concerned? Surprised? Confused? I was all of the above and then some. Russell’s ID and badge had certainly convinced me he was a legitimate undercover agent but why had he posed as a taxi driver? Clearly Russell trusted us but I wondered what our involvement might be especially now that we knew he had been working undercover.

“We are currently in the process of tracking and apprehending potential suspects with the intent on doing harm on a massive scale both locally and across the nation.” Russell 32

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spoke in deliberate terms. “Specific briefcases have been strategically placed within the region as part of a highly classified undercover operation. Such briefcases are not to be handled or tampered with under any circumstances. We haven’t much time now.” he said. Russell opened the doors to our waiting cab and we took our seats.

Inside the dark cab, I found myself searching for the seat belt while Russell showed off some of his driving skills and adeptly moved the cab around some vehicles that were parked in front of the Ritz. I caught a short glimpse of the entrance again as we drove past it. Masses of people were streaming out of the front doors and some folks were running toward waiting buses and taxis. Then as if I was watching a magic show illusion, more law enforcement personnel and a few emergency vehicles with flashing lights seemed to appear out of nowhere. They descended upon the hotel property and some of the law enforcement agents accompanied by police officers began escorting groups of people toward the waiting buses and taxis.

Russell quickly brought our cab around the side of the hotel and I lost track of the action. He made another turn and we entered the parking area located directly behind the hotel.

Although it was dark outside, the rear parking lot was well lit by street lamps spread evenly across the sprawling lot. The parking area sat between the hotel and what appeared to be an open grass covered field. Off in the distance I noticed another cluster of flashing lights and more law enforcement vehicles. A helicopter was sitting on the ground and the vehicles were bunched together around it like kids huddled around a campfire at summer camp. I noticed the strobe lights on the helicopter were flashing and the rotor blades were in motion. It looked as if the aircraft was preparing to take-off. Russell pulled the cab just short of the chopper and told us to follow him to it. As we approached, it was clear this was no ordinary helicopter but a 33

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law enforcement rotor-craft. Was I surprised? Maybe so but then I realized now probably wasn’t the best the time to ask questions. Instead I ran after him with the others.

Natalie was just ahead of me and Jacob was close on my heels as we ran toward the chopper. As the four of us neared the dark colored helicopter, I could see the side door was open and just to the right of the door was a blue and gold police star emblem. The area around the chopper was lit up and I could see the words State Police just under the front rotor. The helicopter’s rotors grew louder as we approached, and the blades made a clapping sound that seemed to bounce off the back of the Ritz hotel. I figured the chopper was close to takeoff because the grass around it began to blow and I noticed dirt kicking up from the underneath.

There was a man with a flashlight dressed in tactical military gear standing next to the open door on the side. He motioned to us with his light to climb aboard—so we did. Russell got in just behind the three of us, then he closed the door. Once inside he handed each of us a headset to allow two-way communication over the excess engine noise. Russell then pulled a lever down on the door from the inside then gave a quick thumbs up to the pilot. The whole process happened not a moment too soon because almost immediately it felt as if we were lighter than air—we were airborne.

I glanced out the side window as we quickly began moving away from the Ritz hotel. The parking area below appeared to rapidly shrink as we gained altitude and traveled further away.

The chopper pilot banked the helicopter left and then briefly leveled out. I then felt the chopper begin to tip forward before speeding briskly away from the hotel altogether.

After we had been airborne for only a short time, Russell told us through our headsets we would be landing at a top secret facility located in the region. The facility had been set up as a 34

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type of central command center for counter terrorism efforts in the local region. He said that other states had set up similar facilities as the current events had warranted.

“We have reason to believe other locations in the area, in addition to the Ritz, are prime targets for eminent attack.”

Russell told us during the flight. “I can confirm that law enforcement agencies throughout the region have been working to evacuate the hotel even as we speak.”

So that explained the mass exit of people from the hotel. I glanced outside the side window of the helicopter and noticed a mysterious foggy mist had appeared to engulf the area just below us. We appeared to be getting lower because I began to see hazy lights from buildings and streetlights as they begin to emerge and grow brighter in the heavy fog. Then as quickly and sudden as the lights had appeared, they vanished.

Now I could see nothing outside except for the helicopter’s navigation lights illuminating the fog around us. It didn’t seem like we had been in the air long before Russell informed us we were about five miles out from the command center facility. I tried to make out some type of building structure or ground lights as the helicopter began to slow in preparation for our descent.

The helicopter slowed some more and then began to hover slightly as the pilot maneuvered the aircraft onto a stationary landing zone marked by green and white lights. Further from the helicopter were some high intensity lights and a few red perimeter beacons marking a boundary area. The whir of the helicopter’s engine and rotor slowed becoming quieter as Russell opened the side door to let us out. We each in turn climbed out of the chopper single file. Outside it seemed colder here wherever "here" was so I was thankful for the flight jacket I was given when we took off.

The three of us followed Russell and another agent toward a 35

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waiting car a few yards in front of us. The four door vehicle was solid black but I noticed the words State Law Enforcement in small white letters just below the driver side window. Another man dressed in a military uniform began opening the rear passenger side doors of the car. Jacob, Natalie and I took our cue and slid onto the back seat while Russell joined the driver in the front. The car doors were shut and after we had buckled our seat belts we began zooming down a dirt road.

Tall chain-link fences paralleled both sides of the road as we drove between them. Every so many feet I noticed blue lights mounted to the top of each fence on both sides. It almost felt like we were driving through a large highly secure animal park of some kind. We rounded a bend on the dusty road and then seemed to pass through what looked like a security gate. In the distance I noticed a couple of mysterious industrial warehouse style buildings that were surrounded by high intensity lighting on light poles. The lights illuminated much of the exterior around the twin buildings including the ground and many of the surrounding trees reminding me of the flood lights at a high school football stadium during a night game.

We passed the buildings to the left until the road curved right again and then narrowed slightly as we entered a small grove of maple and oak trees. I lost sight of the rustic industrial buildings momentarily until we emerged from the grove of trees. It appeared we had come around to the back of the buildings and were now facing another mysterious looking wood structure. It was surrounded by more flood lights which lined the perimeter marking the immediate area. Officers dressed in tactical military gear could be seen standing motionless while others freely roamed the premises as if we had entered a military base of some kind.

The wood building resembled a large rustic log cabin with its magnificent wooden beams, peaked roofs and grand archway.

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Off to one side of the building another section seemed to rise at least four levels and was connected to the industrial buildings by an elaborate skyway system. Aside from the LED lighting that ran the length of the skybridge, tinted glass made up the exterior of the skyway causing it to blend seamlessly into the moonless night sky. When our car finally stopped in front of the rustic building a couple of uniformed men opened our doors.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

don’t think any of us had spoken a word during our short drive from the helicopter to the command center. Once out of the car, the three of us met Russell near the front of the vehicle and then waited. Several minutes seemed to pass and then four armed guards approached us.

“Greetings, Gentleman!” Russell said first.

“Greetings, Sir. Are we ready?” One of the men responded.

“Yes, we are ready.” Russell said.

With that two guards escorted us toward the rustic wood cabin.

We entered the building through a security room with a full body scanner.

“You will need to remove your shoes before going through.”

Russell said.

We removed our shoes and I suddenly felt like I had been transported back to the airport as we each shuffled through the scanner without our shoes on. After doing the scanner shuffle we passed through a large office space divided up by a maze of cubicles. As late as it was, there were still some folks dressed in uniform milling about the room while a few other people appeared to be literally glued to their desks. I followed Russell and the armed guards down a hallway until we reached an elevator at the other end. The six of us took the elevator up three floors before its doors opened onto the skybridge walkway 38

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that led to one of the industrial buildings.

It didn’t take more than a couple minutes to walk through the long skyway before we found ourselves waiting by another set of doors. In fact, the entire trip from the Ritz to the command center seemed to take less than an hour. I checked my phone and noticed it was 11:51 p.m.

A couple of men dressed in suits came through the doors.

They greeted Russell and exchanged handshakes. The doors open and we followed the men into the building.

“Welcome to Command Central One.” Russell said with a sense of pride.

“This is the hub for the center.” he said moving toward a large counter in front of us. As we approached, a couple of men with freshly pressed suits emerged from behind it.

“We have a complete facility for housing a couple hundred federal officers, agents and security personnel....and some guests.” Russell said with a grin. “In addition to the first class accommodations, there is an interrogation room, strategy center, briefing room, gym, and an on-site mess hall. By this time tomorrow, any questions you may have will have hopefully been answered. Agent DaVoy here will show you to your private sleeping quarters for the night.” Russell said as one of the men stepped forward.

We turned and followed him as the agent led us down a brightly lit hallway with space gray carpet and wallpaper to match. As odd as it may have been not knowing any details for why we had been brought here or why we had been transported by law enforcement helicopter no less, the whole experience was beginning to make me feel more and more like a VIP even if my pants were still cold and damp.

On the way to our rooms, we passed by four elevator doors and then a wall of doors that seemed to run the entire length of the hall. It looked as if we had arrived at another kind of Ritz 39

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hotel but instead of traveling by taxi, we had come by helicopter.

As we passed a few more doors I noticed a curious white letter and number combination engraved just to the right of each door. Towards the end of the hallway, Agent DaVoy stopped in front of room 2COR 520-1249 and told us this was to be Natalie’s room for the night. The room next to her’s was Jacobs and the one directly across the hall was were I would be staying.

“You will find various amenities in each of the rooms….and a change of clothes.” The agent said handing us each an electronic room access card.

“The clothes may or may not be the correct size. Just let Russell know if you need anything more.” Agent DaVoy said before he left. I glanced at my room number. It was 2COR 520-1250.

I carefully held up the room card I had in my hand to a small black rectangular-shaped metal plate located just to the right of the door handle. I heard a click and the door slowly opened on its own.

Some lights came on as I entered the room. I was greeted by a plush looking gray and brown colored bed complete with fluffy looking pillows that had been placed delicately at the front of the headboard. There were neatly folded towels resting gently on the corner of the bed. At the far end of the room I spotted a fancy oak desk and a small two drawer end table next to it. I noticed a black book sitting on the desk so I walked over to get a closer look. It surprised me to see the book wasn’t just any book, but it appeared to be a Bible.

At first glance, I figured I must be mistaken since it seemed to me that the government had been growing increasingly hostile toward Christians. Just the thought of a Bible being present within a government command center seemed to me to be highly unlikely! But then again this wasn’t your ordinary government facility. I took a closer look at the book and noticed 40

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the words Holy Bible clearly inscribed in gold letters on the front. Sure enough it was a Bible and even though it was surprising to see it here, I was thankful it was.

On the opposite side of the room, I noticed a closed door. I walked over and opened it revealing a rack of various business style pants, shirts, ties and suits. My eye caught some vibrant colored golf shirts with two buttons near the collar. I ran my hand between a couple suit coat sets, then between a pair of nice looking dark gray slacks. As I stood staring at the clean rack of clothes I was again amazed I was even here. I wondered if any of the clothes would fit so I quickly pulled a navy blue suit coat jacket off the hanger and slipped it on. The sleeves went over my arms with ease and I felt as if I was worth nearly a million bucks. I reached out my arms in front of my chest and noticed the sleeves on the jacket extended well past my hands. The jacket was indeed a little big. I tried on one of the vibrantly colored shirts labeled large. Now it was true I did prefer to wear loose fitting shirts but this one must have been a double extra large masquerading as a large because it was so big it almost reached my knees! Clearly these clothes must have been made for a giant but even so, it felt good to have access to dry clothing.

I turned and noticed a full-length mirror mounted to a door just to the right of the clothes closet. The door was slightly open so I entered the room. As I did a couple white ceiling lights came on revealing a beautiful gold and marble tile bathroom complete with porcelain sink, toilet and a walk-in shower. It was truly a sight to behold!

As I was exiting the luxurious bathroom, my eyes fell upon something shiny under the edge of the bed. I got down on my hands and knees to get a better look. It was a silver metallic briefcase laying on its side! I was tempted to pull it out and open it when I remembered what Russell had said about not 41

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disturbing silver briefcases. I wondered how concerned I should be about this one. Perhaps it was a bomb? And I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I tried to shrug off any disturbing thoughts of bombs under my bed and whatnot and look for something to eat.

Next to the closet mirror was a chest high refrigerator and a microwave oven. I walked over to the refrigerator to see if anything was inside. I opened it and was thankful to see it was fully stocked. There were various gourmet style meat sandwiches with some cold cuts and a couple of large fruit trays.

This might be better than the Ritz, I thought. I noticed some bottled water on the lower shelf of the frig along with a 6-pack of cherry cola. I was glad the food was there because I was beyond hungry. I grabbed what looked to be a turkey and lettuce sandwich on wheat bread. I quickly thanked God for providing the food and the fine sleeping quarters. Then I heard a knock on the door.

I rushed over to see who it was. I opened the door and was greeted by Russell standing in the hallway. He turned to look at me.

“I trust you find your accommodations suitable.” he said with a poker face. “If you need anything tonight don’t hesitate to ask. And rest assured, as I said earlier, any larger questions you have, they will all be properly addressed along with some other pertinent intelligence details tomorrow morning at the anti terrorism briefing. The briefing begins at 5:30. We will meet in the hall at 5.” Russell said just before leaving.

I thanked him for everything and gave him some proper measurements for a dark blue suit and some slacks. Then I remembered the briefcase under the bed. Should I ask about it now, or wait? I decided to mention it.

“I found something I was wondering about under the bed… you are probably aware of it.” I said.

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“Oh yeah, you don’t mean the monster do you? Russell said smugly. “Because we hear about that one a lot.”

I figured he was joking even though I didn’t find it funny given the circumstances.

“No, but I found a briefcase under there that isn’t mine.” I said with guarded hesitation.

“What about it? You didn’t move it did you?” Russell said sounding slightly annoyed I had mentioned it.

“Uh, no sir.” I said hoping to end the discussion.

“Good.” he said. “I will see you tomorrow. Have a good night.” He left and I closed the door.

Russell’s reaction to my inquiry about the briefcase did little to calm my nerves. Now I was indeed grateful for a warm dry place to sleep tonight but with a mysterious briefcase under my bed and the day’s horrific events still fresh on my mind, I wondered just how much sleep I’d actually get. And so I was prepared for a long extended night of tossing and turning. I fully expected to wake up feeling more exhausted than ever. And yet I must have been more tired than I realized because the last thing I remembered after reading some Bible verses, praying and taking a quick shower, was turning off the light.

I was fast asleep when I heard what I thought was a knock at the door. That’s odd, I thought. I had set an alarm for 4:45 a.m. which I thought was pretty early but it hadn’t even gone off yet.

Early room service perhaps?

“Just a minute!” I groggily called out feeling utterly exhausted.

I slowly climbed out of bed and threw on a navy blue robe I found hanging on the bathroom door. I imagined how tired I must have looked because I felt more tired than a bear that had been tranquilized more than a few times.

Were my eyes even open?

I sluggishly walked toward the door and opened it to see 43

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whoever might have been knocking. That’s when I saw him. A large hairy headed man was standing in the doorway. He must have been between seven or eight feet tall and he was wearing a dark gray suit with white shirt and navy blue tie. Then I noticed what was in his hands. The giant sized man was holding a gun in one hand and a silver briefcase in the other.

The briefcase! And he’s got a gun! My mind was racing. I was about to panic when he quickly opened the briefcase and pulled out a stick about the length of a yardstick. I wondered what the stick was for when suddenly he began to whack me with it! I tried to block his wild swings by holding my arms in front of my face but the stick seemed to go right through them!

With each swing of the stick I expected pain but there was none.

Was I dead? I tried to cry out for help but he just kept swinging that stick.

“This is what you get for lying to Russell. You opened to the briefcase when it was not meant for you.” the man said bluntly.

I made a fist with my right hand and gave him a quick jab toward his head. I must have missed because again I felt nothing. It was almost as if he wasn’t really there. I was about to give him a kick in the legs when I suddenly awoke.

I was lying on my bed nearly drenched in sweat. A nightmare, for sure.

Then I heard a knock on the door.

It was 4:40 a.m. according to the digital clock mounted on the wall. Wow, just five minutes before my alarm was set to go off! I threw on a blue shirt and some slacks from a set of clothes I had laid out the night before. As I opened the door I was greeted by a man of medium stature and a military style crew cut. The man was dressed in a navy blue suit with a white shirt and blue tie that had diagonal black stripes. He was holding a fresh stack of folded clothes along with a couple of suits on hangers.

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“Here are the replacement suits you asked for and some other clothes for your stay.” he said.

I tried my best to hide any lingering affects of being raddled by the troubling nightmare and quickly thanked the man and shut the door. Then I rechecked to see if the briefcase was still under the bed. I was greatly relieved when I saw it hadn’t moved. And yet I couldn’t seem to shake the words the man had spoken to me. Had I lied to Russell? The whole bedtime experience felt like I had slept with a momma grizzly bear for about five hours and survived.

It was nearing time to meet Russell in the hallway now. I heated up a sausage and egg sandwich I had found in the refrigerator and then slipped on a snazzy dark gray suit coat and tie to match the slacks I was wearing. And before heading out I read some Bible scriptures and asked God for guidance and direction for whatever He had in store for the day ahead.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

t was now 5:15 a.m. as I stood waiting in the hall for Russell.

I hoped to see Natalie or Jacob but instead it was so quiet in the hallway I could make out the gentle patter of rain as it fell outside. A minute passed and then Russell appeared at the end of the hallway.

“Couldn’t wait for the official call, huh?” he said with a partial chuckle when he approached.

“Well I’m ready.” I said trying my best to hide some new concern I was beginning to have about him. He turned and knocked on the door that was directly behind him. Natalie opened it. She was wearing a smile that went nearly ear to ear.

She had a cheery glow that seemed to touch the three of us and put my mind at ease.

“Hello, Miss Graham!” Russell said with a renewed sense of enthusiasm in his voice. Natalie was wearing a gray pant suit, a light colored blouse and black ankle strap sandals. She looked ready for the runway at a fashion show except that wasn’t why any of us were here. In fact it had been more than five hours since we had left the Ritz and I still didn’t know why we were here. I hoped Russell was right when he said today we would find out why.

I had been looking for the right opportunity to ask Natalie if she had found a briefcase in her room when Jacob must have heard us in the hall. He suddenly emerged from his room before 46

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Russell had a chance to knock. Jacob was wearing a familiar dark blue suit similar to the one he had worn in the cab. And then I noticed it. Just above his right front pocket, a gold badge could be seen securely attached to his belt. I wasn’t about to ask Natalie about the briefcase now.

Russell led the way as the four of us walked the long hallway toward the briefing room. As we made our way through the hall, I imagined we were walking down a yellow brick road with the hope of finding answers to our questions from “The Wizard of Oz” himself. Except this wasn’t a movie. And yet the lyrics from a familiar song overtook my thoughts. “We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.” The song percolated through my mind and then we stopped when we had reached the elevators. We took the first elevator that opened and after the doors closed Russell pressed the number six.

“I trust you all had a restful night sleep.” he said as we rode the elevator to the sixth floor. “This is no 5-star hotel,” he said with a slight grin, “but we do our best.”

Natalie told us she was extremely grateful to be able to be here especially since most of her belongings and money for a hotel got left at the airport. She said she was able to read the Bible in her room and that God had been showing her a few things.

Jacob also conveyed his appreciation of the comfortable accommodations and said that he may need to consider relocating to the Twin Cities to become a secret agent.

“We could use a few good pillows like that back home at the station.” he said with a smirk.

When we exited the elevator on the sixth floor, we followed Russell as we made a few more turns and passed through a couple more hallways. Finally we stopped just short of a large entrance about half-way down the hall. Just to the right of two glass doors, I could see the words Anti-Terrorism and 47

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Intelligence clearly printed in black on a silver nameplate.

Russell held up his ID card that was hanging around his neck, up to an area next to the doorway. The doors opened and we went inside.

The Anti-Terrorism and Intelligence Briefing room was spacious and in the middle of the large room was an oval shaped conference table. Around the outside of the table were a few dozen padded high-back office chairs all carefully arranged.

A large wide flat-screen monitor could be seen mounted on the wall closest to the table, by a full motion wall mount. Six more screens could be seen mounted along the side wall. Further back from the conference table there were more chairs neatly aligned into rows. Russell told us we could take a seat in any of the rows. I followed Jacob and Natalie to the first three seats on the first row.

In the back of the room I noticed a buffet table. Neatly laid out on the table were a couple rows of food and drinks. There were trays of cut fruit, boxes of donuts, coffee, juice, and various croissant rolls all of which seemed to be begging us to come and eat! Russell seemed to be reading my thoughts again.

“Help yourself to anything on the table. We should be starting in a few minutes.” he said.

I took the opportunity and walked over to get a closer look at the breakfast buffet. I grabbed a napkin on the end of the table and a large cream filled glazed doughnut. Then I made my way back to my chair. I glanced around the room at the many remaining unoccupied chairs in the room. Where was everybody? I wondered. Then all of sudden the doors opened and a couple dozen men and women dressed in formal wear entered the room.

The men that entered wore crisp black or dark gray suits like the others while the women wore navy blue or black suit coats and skirts. Many of the men and women sat down at the table in 48

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the middle of the room while the rest took seats on either the chairs that lined the side of the room or in the rows behind us.

One of the men separated from the others and made his way to the front of the room. The man was short, wearing a tailored charcoal-gray suit over a crisp white shirt. He had on a silky solid colored blue tie and shiny black shoes. His hair was bronze in color with a slightly greasy shimmer. I noticed he had dark bushy eyebrows and was wearing a dark brown fedora hat.

The hat looked familiar.

I knew I recognized the man as he walked to the front. Then it dawned on me where I had seen him before. Sure enough it was the man who had fallen on me in the hotel lobby and it appeared to be the same man I had seen pick up that silver briefcase at the Minnesota airport!

“My name is Martin Kasam,” he said in a clearly understandable but still noticeable thick Middle Eastern accent. “I have been the lead agent for the Federal Anti-Terrorism Division here in the Minnesota region.”

Martin talked fast but he seemed to have the unique ability of enunciating every syllable in every word he spoke.

“First and foremost, I want to welcome you all here. We have much to cover so I won’t waste your valuable time.” he said.

“As many of you are aware, agents Rosen, Dunnigan, Lee, Ross, Sy, Kinnmark, Rizvini and myself have been the leading agents for some special undercover operations in the region as part of a top secret anti-terrorism task force. In addition, Jacob Spielman from the Los Angeles area Law Enforcement agency has lent us his assistance with a particular lead. What he and the others have uncovered thus far, goes beyond the scope and intention of this briefing but I do want to bring you all up to speed on what we know right now.”

As if he was the conductor of a Philharmonic orchestra, 49

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Martin used his arms when he spoke.

“Within the last twenty-four hours the country has been the target of deliberate Jihad attacks by Islamic Jihadis. Airports, land-marks, cellular networks and other places of interest have been specifically targeted.” Martin said.

A 3D animated map appeared on the monitor screen just above Martin as he talked. The CGI map on the screen rotated clockwise for a few seconds before pausing briefly to reveal a top-down view of the whole country. The animation pulled the map closer to the screen as red markers began to randomly dot locations on the map.

Martin continued.

“Complete details on exactly which airports have been hit and to what extent the damage is still being gathered at this time.

We know a total of fifteen airports have been directly targeted so far. Other single targets for attack have been Mall of America, a mid section of the Las Vegas strip including several casinos, Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and the South Coast Plaza mall in California. Currently all government and local law enforcement agencies are on high alert and many facilities are in a full lockdown. Command centers around the country are working to gather the latest intelligence data with an expedited effort to thwart off new attacks.” he said. “I can now reveal specific details on several successful undercover operations within our region. The first operation has aided and ultimately lead to the intentional interception of a couple attacks within the region.” Martin said.

As he spoke familiar text appeared on the screen. ‫في الوقت المحدد‬ aompsm 21:11 lecxeztir 00:11

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It was the text from the slip I had found at the Ritz.

“What you are looking at,” Martin said, “are the specific times and locations for scheduled terrorist attacks within our region. The first line means 'right on time' or 'the exact time' in the Arabic language.

Martin was now using a laser pointer as he pointed to the second line of scrambled words.

“The second line are acronyms for specific locations that have been printed in reverse. The first location MOA, stands for Mall of America. The second group of letters is the airport code MSP otherwise known as Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport.” he said pointing to the screen.

“These two locations were simultaneously scheduled for attack at 9:11 p.m. central time. Unfortunately we were not able to intercept this first line of attacks. However we have gleaned valuable information since their occurrence.”

Martin told us that the last line of text were both the acronyms for the Excel center and the Ritz hotel. These locations were also targeted for attack.

Martin continued.

“Fortunately there is a silver lining despite the horrific events that have already occurred.” he said. Thanks to the smart thinking of one of our guests who is with us today, our special agents were able to successfully prevent these final two targets from coming under attack and potentially saving thousands of lives.

“David McGregor would you please stand up?” he said gesturing with his hand to stand.

I hesitated for a moment then stood up as the other agents turned to look at me.

“Thanks to David he had a part in recovering a piece of valuable information at the hotel before any new attacks could be realized. So thank you Mr. McGregor.”

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Many of the agents and security personnel in the room gave me a smile.

A few things were slowly beginning to come together.

Martin hadn’t mentioned it but I wondered if the metal briefcases had been part of this operation too. I figured Russell must had given my name to Martin while we were at the Ritz.

I sat down and Martin continued.

“Our undercover plan with local taxi and charter bus companies has been an overall success. As a direct result of Operation Hoist the Rose, we have been able to thwart an attack on the Ritz hotel and the Excel Center. The guests and citizens involved have all been safely transported and evacuated from both locations as intended. Martin paused and picked up a metal briefcase sitting on the desk in front of him. He held it up.

“Additionally, Operation Silvercase has also been highly successful in our efforts of halting more attacks. As many of you know, our office, in conjunction with state and local phone companies, have authorized the intentional but temporary interruption of the cellular network within the region. Metal briefcases have been the primary vehicle of communication within the terror network and as a result our agents have been able to exploit and infiltrate the network through strategic placement of our own briefcases. This systematic and precise deployment of both agents and briefcases within the terror network itself has greatly disrupted future terror related activity.

More specifically, a briefcase covertly swapped at the airport has assisted our work, together with help from local law enforcement agencies. We have been able to track and capture four terror suspects traveling from the airport to the Ritz.

An image of a blue van appeared on the screen.

“Two of the known would-be attackers were spotted driving this van. The van at the time was carrying an unnamed explosive device of which was expected to be detonated at 52

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exactly 0011 hours or 12:11 a.m. central standard time in close proximity of the Ritz hotel.” Martin said. “Special agent Kinnmark who has been working undercover spotted the van en route to the Ritz where the interception was made. Our clandestine operation of intentionally drawing out the attackers to these locations have lead to their capture. In all, a total of eight terror suspects have been apprehended. Additional briefcases within the terror network containing maps, instructions and specific targets have also been recovered.”

Martin said.

I was told later that as part of Operation Hoist the Rose, the Ritz had been the focus for law enforcement agencies who had hatched an elaborate scheme to infiltrate the terrorist network.

The essence of the ploy was to disseminate counterfeit information throughout the terror network about a scheduled high profile VIP appearance that would also draw masses of people to the hotel. The hope by law enforcement was to make the Ritz appealing enough so that it would become the next target on the terrorist hit list. Unbeknownst to those within the terror network, since the information about the VIP had been mostly false, law enforcement officials were ready when they showed up.

Martin continued.

“Agents Lee, Dunnigan, Lytton, Owen and Rizvini have also been able to confirm the success of our Excel Center operation affectionately code named Going to Grandmas.” Martin said.

Going to Grandmas? Really? Who makes up these names anyways? “Thanks to our agents working at the Excel, the suspects involved in that terror plot have also been captured.” he said. “At this time I would like to take a moment to recognize the astounding work of our fine agents who have been directly responsible for the success of these secret operations. Would agent's Kelly Ann Dunnigan, Hailey Lee, 53

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Russell Kinnmark, Jody Ross, Donovan Rosen, Carl Maxen, Amil Rizvini, Bruce Lytton, James Sy and Alina Owen please come up?”

I watched as ten highly trained special agents began to make their way to the front of the briefing room. They took their places next to Martin. He shook their hands and gave each person a small wooden plaque complete with gold plating.

Everyone in the room began to clap as the agents were presented with an award for excellence. It was truly an honor to be in the same room as these men and women who were working to keep us secure.

Martin ended the intelligence briefing by telling us of some other threats the country faced and how federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were working to prevent future attacks.

“Thank you all for your attention and be sure to help yourself to the refreshments on the back table.” he said just before concluding.

Martin and Russell came over to thank us for coming. And I thanked them for the accommodations. Natalie, Jacob and I exchanged handshakes with them and then we followed two security officers out of the room.

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CHAPTER NINE

efore we left the command center, we were given a brief opportunity to gather any personal belongs left in our rooms. I went back to get my clothes, Bible and bag. As I entered the room something shiny caught my eye. Directly in front of me, a silver briefcase was laying on the bed. I hesitated for minute not sure if I should move closer and then I heard Russell’s voice behind me.

“That briefcase is a gift from us here at the center and is now yours. All we ask is that you do not open it until you have left the facility. Have a safe trip.” he said with a grin.

In the hallway Natalie and I exchanged goodbyes with Jacob and Russell before an officer escorted the two of us to a waiting four-door car outside. As we walked to the car, I noticed Natalie was carrying a briefcase similar to the one I had received.

The rain was falling now and another agent was standing by the car holding an umbrella. When he gave us some sandwiches and bottled water to take for the road I almost felt like we were leaving on a trip after a cross-country visit to Grandma’s house.

And when the agent handed us the food, it almost felt as if Grandma herself had just handed us a homemade lunch to take along for the journey. The short time we had had at the secret command center had been a little like that. After all, there had been donuts, fruit, sandwiches, friendship and more hospitality than your typical 5-star hotel but this wasn’t Grandma’s house.

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In fact, it really wasn’t close to being Grandma’s house because this place was a secure top-secret command center filled with special agents, secret briefcases and police helicopters!

The agent placed our briefcases in the trunk and then it was time to leave. From the command center we were driven to a waiting helicopter preparing for take-off. On the short drive, Natalie and I didn’t say much. My thoughts were on the briefcases we had been given. Why had Russell wanted me to wait to open it? The whole thing was odd to say the least.

Natalie broke the silence.

“I noticed you got a case too.” she said.

I nodded.

“What do you think is in them?” she asked with curiosity. It was as if she was reading my mind.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing.” I said wishing I had x-ray vision like superman so I could have made sure the briefcases were safe to open before we left the command center.

“Russell said it was a gift so I don’t imagine it would be too dangerous.” I said trying to sound reassuring.

“It’s probably clothes or something.” Natalie surmised. ”Wouldn’t it be funny though….if they were empty?” she said laughing.

I nodded slightly doing my best be supportive but hoped her suggestion wouldn’t be true. We had already been given so much for them to turn out to be nothing. Besides, what kind of gift would that be?

Once we reached the helicopter our driver stopped a few hundred feet away so we could board. We ran to the waiting chopper and when we were securely fastened in our seats the pilot was given the green light to depart and take us to a police headquarters nearby. The pilot told us that all commercial and private air traffic had been shut down, so Natalie and I decided that once we got to the headquarters we would look into taking 56

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a train home.

At the police station Natalie and I decided to open our briefcases at the same time. I took a seat on a chair while Natalie made a stop in the restroom. I waited for her to return and then it was time to find out what mysteries, if any, the briefcases held.

“Maybe you should open yours first.” she said when she returned. She sounded as if she was having second thoughts and I couldn’t blame her.

I nodded and she watched as I lifted the latches on the side and then the lid. Inside the briefcase there were items carefully arranged with a letter sitting gently on top of them. I was glad to see the briefcase wasn’t empty. When Natalie saw the briefcase was safe to open, she quickly opened hers. The letter was folded neatly so I unfolded it and began to read it silently.

Dear David, You have been tested. If you should be reading this letter, know that you have passed the test. Naturally you are probably wondering about what test we could be referring to. You have been the subject of a top secret experiment and we have been following your moves ever since you fell off that chair in the airport. Don’t ask why you have been chosen or tested but please know that your actions and involvement have proven your honesty, truthfulness and trustworthiness. When faced with temptation to lie or the opportunity to open a briefcase, even when it seemed like no one was watching, you heeded our instruction instead and left it alone. We could use more people like you in this world David. Additionally, find enclosed one honorary agent certificate, a complimentary pocket watch, a pen and a train ticket for your ride home.

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Thanks again, Agent Russell Kinnmark Agent Martin Kasam P.S. Tell Natalie “hello” for us.

I looked up and noticed Natalie was still reading her letter.

When she finished she looked at me, staring for a minute.

“By the way, Martin and Russell say hello.” I said grinning.

“Yeah, they want me to say hello to you too.” Natalie said smiling. “I’m just glad it wasn’t a bomb.” she said. Then we laughed.

I folded my letter and placed it in the pouch attached to the inside of the lid. I handled a pen and noticed the word’s “Command Center” delicately inscribed across the side. The certificate was a nice touch too. It had my name printed neatly towards the middle with a gold seal in the corner. I picked up the train ticket and studied it briefly. It was good for a one-way trip west on the Empire Builder. As I closed the lid, I thought about the test Natalie and I had become unknowingly a part of.

I didn’t know exactly why we had been chosen but it felt good to know we had done well nonetheless. But something that made me feel even better was knowing we were finally getting to go home.

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CHAPTER TEN

rom the police headquarters, an agent officer told us he would drive us to the train station. I nodded and after a quick restroom visit, Natalie and I gathered our belongings and got into an unmarked four door sedan parked outside. I took a seat directly behind the driver and Natalie got into the front seat next to him. The dark haired driver was wearing a black suit coat, black trousers and sunglasses. The car itself appeared to be a brand new high-end luxury car. Inside I noticed the distinct new car smell of leather upholstery. Then the curious thought of whether this vehicle had been used as a bait car for catching car thieves entered my mind.

Curiosity was getting the best of me so I decided to ask our driver that very question. He shot me a half grin which I noticed in the rear view mirror.

Then he said, “That’s classified information I’m afraid. If I told you then I’d have to….”

The car suddenly veered off the road as if the driver had lost control of the car or something. The car hit an embankment a few feet away just missing some parked cars. The vehicle then rolled to an abrupt stop but not before nearly hitting a concrete wall which apparently surrounded some private property.

What happened? I thought, feeling completely surprised and a little dazed by the apparent accident.

“Is everybody okay?” I slowly called out.

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Natalie responded first.

“I think so.” she said rubbing her neck.

I was thankful we had buckled our seat belts but as I turned to unbuckle mine I realized my neck was sore too.

I expected to hear the driver answer next but he didn’t. I rubbed the left side of my neck, and slowly disconnected my seat belt as I got out of the car. I noticed Natalie was getting out at the same time and she quickly came over to help open the driver side door.

When we finally got the door open, I saw that the officer’s head was slumped forward on the steering wheel. I checked for signs of blood but didn’t see any so I checked his pulse. I was relieved to find he had a faint pulse but noticed his face was growing pale so I asked Natalie to help me get him on the ground. He was a heavy man for his size but we were able to slowly lower him down to the ground a few feet from the car. It was unfortunate but since neither of us knew CPR I prayed and hoped for any kind of miracle to keep the man alive. I figured it might be all the more difficult to get help without working cell phone service in the region and because many emergency services would probably be tied up due to the recent attacks.

Nevertheless it was imperative we help him soon if we wanted a chance at saving him.

I frantically glanced around the dash of the car to see if it had a built-in radio system of some kind. Nothing. I was about to give up looking when my eyes caught what looked to be a portable hand-held radio attached to the man’s belt. I quickly pulled the radio from his belt not having much idea about what I was going to do with it. I could feel my blood pressure rising as panic began to set in. Stay calm! I told myself. I wasn’t feeling any calmer so I asked God for help. I didn’t know what condition the man was in now but I held the two-way radio up to my lips. I pushed the push-to-talk button on the portable 60

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transceiver and started calling for someone—anyone who might be listening. All I could hear was static and then I heard a female voice.

“Come in, Agent Nolen. Over.” she said.

I tried to hide my fear by responding as clearly as I could.

“Agent Nolen has been injured, we need an ambulance right away!” I said.

“What is your name sir and what is your location?” The women said in a calm reassuring voice.

I told her my name even though I wasn’t exactly sure where we were. I told the lady where we were heading and what happened before we veered off the road. I knew we were losing precious time so I hoped she had an immediate plan.

At that moment my mind started racing again. I knew none of us had been promised tomorrow so I hoped she’d have an answer for us real soon.

Within seconds she responded. “I have your location now ...

An ambulance is on it’s way.”

I wasn’t sure how she got our location but I was relieved she did because Agent Nolan was in desperate need of attention.

And despite the grave situation, simply knowing help was on the way put my mind at ease a little.

I said another prayer for Agent Nolan while Natalie and I waited. Within minutes I could hear sirens in the distance. A fire truck was first to arrive on the scene. An ambulance was right behind it. Natalie and I watched as two paramedics rushed over and quickly began to perform CPR on Agent Nolen’s apparent lifeless body resting on the ground. A couple of firefighters raced over to us. They asked if we were okay. We told them our necks were sore and we were a little shaken but we felt fine otherwise. They told us we should get our necks looked at but we both insisted on waiting until we were home.

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and then we were informed that he appeared to have had a heart attack.

As Natalie and I witnessed the agent being lifted into the back of the ambulance I was reminded of something I had told an audience at a conference recently. I told the listeners that since none of us are promised tomorrow it was crucial that we each know where we were going after we die—before we die. I quoted the Bible scripture found in Hebrews 9:27: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” And as I had explained to them this time, we have all sinned against God but all people now have an opportunity to be restored and brought back to a proper relationship with our Creator. This was entirely possible only because of what God accomplished through Jesus Christ on a cross.

Natalie and I were grateful when a police officer at the scene offered to take us the rest of the way to the train station. Once in the police cruiser, I asked the officer if he would keep me updated on the agent’s condition. He agreed and I gave him my number.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

t was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon when Natalie and I arrived at the train station. The station was smaller and older looking than I expected it would be. When we stepped inside I noticed the station’s vaulted wooden ceilings which looked like something out of an old western film. However, this building wasn’t entirely western style. In fact, the floor was made with modern marble and had a glistening glass-like appearance to it.

In one corner of the depot, I noticed a couple snack and beverage vending machines. There were park style benches laid out in parallel lines that went down the center of the station.

People were bustling about the building crisscrossing as they made their way to and from the trains while some folks stopped at the ticket counters. The lines at the ticket counters were long since the airports had been shut down and more people were riding the train. Natalie and I were both going west on the Empire Builder that was scheduled to depart at two o’clock. I glanced up at a large clock centrally located on the wall of the station. The time was now 1:55 p.m. Then, as if on schedule I heard an announcement over the PA system that the train would be leaving in fifteen minutes. The announcement also included a reminder that the region was at a high security alert level. The security announcement reminded me of the vulnerability of the entire transportation system. I had heard that trains could be especially vulnerable for attack due to the hundreds of miles of 63

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open rail and the supposed less stringent security measures in place.

With a briefcase in one hand and a bag in the other, Natalie and I climbed the stairs to the upper level of a bi-level rail coach.

Inside the coach, the luxurious high back seats were so comfortable to sit in, if felt like one was sitting on a full-length body cushion. And if the seats had reclined more, I might even have enjoyed sleeping in it as much as I did sitting.

I was caught up in my thoughts about how little the seats reclined when I heard the train whistle. I felt the train slowly begin to move forward and then it gradually picked up speed.

There was barely a bump as the train seemed to glide effortlessly across the tracks.

As Natalie and I, along with the other passengers settled in I listened as she told me a little about her family and why she had come to Minnesota.

“I was in town for a internship with a local theater company.” she said. “We’ve been getting ready for Christmas….been working on a production called the Nutcracker.”

Ah, yes,” I said. “I have heard of this Nutcracker you speak of.”

We continued discussing family life and Natalie told me she had a couple of older brothers and a two-year-old baby sister.

Her mom had told her a few days ago they had also recently gotten a puppy and a couple of kittens so she really did have a full house!

It was much later now when the conductor came by to verify our tickets. Outside the late autumn sunlight was beginning to fade. I gazed out the large window next to me noticing as a few stars began to appear and twinkle in the evening sky. Off in the distance I could still make out the faint outline of a darkening mountainous horizon as it appeared to touch the starry sky. I 64

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must have been feeling tired now because I started yawning almost uncontrollably. I began to doze off, when without warning the peaceful ride seemed to change into another nightmare.

Everything went black for a moment, as if we had entered a tunnel. Then our bi-level coach abruptly began to shake. As if in the middle of a massive earthquake the coach started to tilt and rock violently back and forth! It felt worse being on the upper level—I was sure we were about to come off the tracks! And then there was the familiar smell of smoke as it filled the inside of our passenger car. Looking outside, any light left was rapidly being replaced by an eerie smoky night as the smoke grew thicker and thicker. I heard various screams and cries for help then loud explosions as if someone had lit a few sticks of dynamite next to my chair.

I heard people yelling, “Get out! Get out!” and “Save yourself if you can!”

What was happening? I wasn't sure but I knew I wanted off the train—and fast. I tried to find an exit but I couldn't see well enough to escape. All the doors in the coach appeared to be blocked by fire and then I remembered Natalie. Where was she and was she safe?

I frantically searched the area around me again but the smoke was growing thicker than spoonfuls of blackstrap molasses. People tried to smash open windows hoping one would break. I heard more yelling and then someone cried out, “We took the wrong train!”

Suddenly I heard a crash and then a thud, like something heavy had fallen. That’s when I awoke to find a large aluminum suitcase lying in the aisle only a few feet from where I was sitting. The suitcase looked familiar. I figured it was one of ours and must have come from the baggage rack above me. I glanced up to see Natalie sitting in the same seat she had been sitting in 65

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when we got on the train. She looked a little surprised as she stared at the lifeless suitcase laying on the floor. We both stared at the piece of luggage for a moment and then I thought I really was smelling smoke.

I took a deep breath to be sure. Sure enough, the smell of smoke was rapidly filling the space around us and I let out a brief cough. I quickly began to look around for a fire or smoke.

Then I saw him, the gentleman seated behind us was in the process of lighting a cigarette. A conductor nearby quickly rushed over to him and told the man to put it out.

Only a cigarette, what a relief!

I was thankful there had been no fire and our train was still moving safely down the track.

The train conductor then noticed the suitcase on the floor. He glanced at Natalie and then me.

“Is this yours?” the conductor said.

“Um, yes, it looks like it.” I said.

The conductor smiled and handed it to me.

“Be sure to secure it safely in one of the overhead compartments….someone could have gotten hurt.”

I nodded as he handed me the briefcase.

Tell me about it, I thought as I took the briefcase from him. I gave the identification tag that was wrapped around the handle a quick glance and noticed Natalie’s nor my name was on it.

Instead, the words Official Government Property - To Not Open were written across the tag. Natalie saw the tag and then her mouth came open in disbelief. I immediately handed the familiar briefcase back to the conductor.

“Excuse, me sir, this isn’t mine after all.” I said feeling sightly rattled by the discovery.

“I see. Thank you sir. Our system has been a little out of sorts since the attacks.” The conductor said taking the briefcase.

I nodded. Then he walked away with the metal case.

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Just then the announcement was made that we would be coming to our first major stop on the way out West. I was hoping this stop would finally be an opportunity to call my wife.

The train slowed as it neared what looked like a small lonely train depot in the middle of no-man's-land. I glanced through the side window at a sign on the front of the little depot. I read it: No-Mans-Land Train Depot.

The sign made me chuckle. Someone’s attempt at humor I suppose.

At the station when the train finally stopped, Natalie and I, together with some other passengers got off the train. The first thing I noticed was how cold it was outside compared to inside the warm coach car—it felt at least fifty degrees colder. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground and it made a crunching sound as we walked toward the little metal depot building. I noticed the building was nearly completely surrounded by trees that were lightly flocked with fresh snow.

While a few of the passengers took the time for a smoke break, I utilized the time to make a phone call. Inside the small building I checked my phone to see if there was cellular service.

Surprisingly there was and I noticed my wife had left me several voicemail messages along with a few text messages.

Natalie was already talking to someone when I finally dialed my wife’s number. After three rings I waited for her to answer.

Another ring and then I heard her lovely voice.

“Thank you for calling Emily McGregor, please leave your name, number and a brief message after the beep and I will call you back.”

It was my wife’s voicemail. I waited for the beep and left a quick message of my own. I told her I was okay and was riding home on the train. Then I listened to her messages informing me that she was okay but that she had become increasingly concerned about my safety and whereabouts. I had barely hung 67

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up the phone when I heard the train whistle again. It was time to go.

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CHAPTER TWELVE

ater when the train stopped somewhere in Montana, I tried calling my wife again. This time when we finally connected, Emily told me she couldn’t wait to see me, for which I responded, “And I, you…my beauty.”

Now it's true that being from the Northwest coast of California my wife and I had grown accustomed to earthquakes, flooding and Tsunami drills but no one could get used to enemy attacks like those our country was now facing. My wife told me there were news reports that the president was in an undisclosed location and that there was still mass hysteria and panic spreading throughout the country. All malls and amusement parks had been put on high alert and some were being completely shut down out of an abundance of caution. She told me that even though many in our small town were on edge, local police patrols had been expanded and something else was happening. The recent tragedy had a way of bringing people together. Communities large and small were supporting each other like never before. I was just thankful she was okay. We said goodbye and I got back on the train.

Settling back into my chair I began to open my Bible when I heard the sound of Natalie’s voice.

“I had an abortion,” she said.

I looked up in time to see Natalie with her head down slightly. She had her hands raised up to her face and she was 69

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crying. I could hear pain in her voice as she spoke.

“I thought you should know,” she said. “My family doesn't even know yet.”

As we spoke further she told me that she had had the abortion a few years ago. At the time she had run away from her home near Seattle and wasn’t sure she even wanted to live anymore. She told me she had kept the abortion a secret up until recently. She had been going to school in the Twin Cities when she heard about a conference in Bloomington. It was the same Renewing the Mind conference I had attended. Natalie told me she didn’t even want to go but some of her friends who were going convinced her to go with them.

“When I saw you speaking at the conference,” Natalie said pausing just long enough to catch her breath between sobs.

“I heard you and the others speak about God and how much He hates sin.” she said. “Someone at the conference spoke about the importance of not being like the world. At that moment I felt more awful about what I had done and more alone than ever. I mean, I had taken a baby's life! Questions about why I was even on Earth began to overtake my thoughts.

Right then and there I just wanted to hold my baby!” she said crying.

Folks seated around us began to look on with a mix of sympathy and concern. I grabbed some tissues that were laying on the seat beside me and handed some to her. Through her tears Natalie continued telling her story.

“Then I heard you mention there was a way of escape from God’s anger and judgment for our sin and stuff” she said.

“I wasn’t even sure I believed in that but I wanted to know more in case I was wrong. I don’t remember who said it but I heard one of the speakers say we could be forgiven of all our wrong doing against God. It felt like they were speaking directly to me! I started crying right there in my chair. My 70

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friends and some of the other girls there came over and put their arms around me. Then I told Jesus that I knew I had broken God’s commandments and needed Him to save me from what I deserved. Right there I repented of my sin and told my friends about my abortion and that I had just put my trust in Jesus Christ. They prayed with me and gave me a Bible and now I’m here.” she said.

Listening to Natalie’s story gave me tears of joy. I noticed that even though she had been crying, a small smile began to grow on her face. God had saved her and now she had true peace for the future despite what was going on in the world. I was so happy for her and her renewed relationship with the Creator. We talked a little more as the train passed through Idaho and crossed the border into Washington State.

The scenery on the trip had been gorgeous, the ride was smooth and now we were entering the final day of the train trip.

Outside, the sunlight was beginning to fade again on the snow that capped the mountains in the distance. I knew that once we reached Spokane, the train would make a switch. Part of the train would go through Oregon while the rest would continue toward Seattle. It would be morning when we would reach this junction. And when we reached it, Natalie and I said our goodbyes, exchanged hugs and agreed to keep in touch.

My train headed toward Portland and I watched the sun begin to peek from behind a ridge of mountains. I watched a few remaining stars twinkle in the early morning light. Staring at the stars reminded me of why I had made the trip to Minnesota in the first place. Sure I had come to speak at a conference but for me it was more than that. This trip was a reminder, a reminder we all need.

As a speaker at the conference it had been my hope to point people to the One who had made the stars in the first place. And if they didn’t believe in Him I would tell them why it mattered.

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There is a battle raging on around us—a battle between good and evil. It’s essential we be reminded of who triumphs over evil. In light of the recent events, I didn’t know if I or anyone else would ever be flying again or if I would even make another trip to somewhere. Nevertheless, it was clear that the world was crumbling and people were seeking hope and peace. Now it was time for all people to be told about true hope and peace—eternal hope and peace found only in Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.

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