Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page B

that that Pan-Con heavy would not have had enough fuel to go looking for somewhere else to land.
    If the quake happened before they touched down and it became obvious to the pilot he couldn’t land at Baghdad, he wouldn’t have had a whole lot farther to go.”
    “So that’s good news, Mac. Since I didn’t find the plane at Baghdad, it has to be somewhere relatively close by. I’ll keep looking. Meanwhile, tell me what you know.”
    “All right, Ray. I don’t guess we’re at any point in history where it makes sense to play games. If this doesn’t convince you I’m not one of Carpathia’s spies, nothing will. If it gets back that I quoted him to you, I’m a dead man.
    So regardless of what you think of this or how you react to it or what you might want to say to him about it, you can’t ever let on. Understand?”
    “Yes, yes! Now what?”
    Mac took a breath but, maddeningly, said nothing. Rayford was about to explode.
    “I gotta get out of this cockpit,” Mac said finally, unbuckling himself. “Go on, Ray. Get out. Don’t make me climb over you.”
    Mac was out of his seat and standing between his and Rayford’s, bent low to keep from knocking his head on the ceiling of the Plexiglas bubble. Rayford unstrapped himself and popped the door open, jumping down into the sand. He was through begging. He simply determined he would not let Mac back in that chopper until he told him whatever it was he needed to know.
    Mac stood there, hands thrust deep into his pants pockets. Light from the full moon highlighted the reddish-blond hair, the craggy features, and the freckles on his weathered face. He looked like a man on his way to the gallows.
    Mac suddenly stepped forward and put both palms on the side of the chopper. His head hung low. Finally, he raised it and turned to face Rayford. “All right, here it is. Don’t forget you made me tell you… . Carpathia talks about Amanda like he knows her.”
    Rayford grimaced and held his hands out, palms up. He shrugged. “He does know her. So what?”
    “No! I mean he talks about her as if he really knows her.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean? An affair? I know better than that.”
    “No, Ray! I’m saying he talks about her as if he’s known her since before she knew you.”
    Rayford nearly dropped in the sand. “You’re not saying—”
    “I’m telling you that behind closed doors, Carpathia makes comments about Amanda. She’s a team player, he says. She’s in the right place. She plays her role well. That kind of stuff. What am I supposed to make of that?”
    Rayford could not speak. He didn’t believe it. No, of course not. But the very idea. The gall of that man to make such an implication about the character of a woman Rayford knew so well.
    “I hardly know your wife, Ray. I have no idea if it’s possible. I’m just telling you what—”
    “It’s not possible,” Rayford finally managed. “I know you don’t know her, but I do.”
    “I didn’t expect you to believe it, Ray. I’m not even saying it makes me suspicious.”
    “You don’t have to be suspicious. The man is a liar. He works for the father of lies. He would say anything about anybody to further his own agenda. I don’t know why he needs to besmirch her reputation, but—”
    “Ray, I told you I’m not saying I think he’s right or anything. But you have to admit he’s getting information from somewhere.”
    “Don’t even suggest—”
    “I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just saying—”
    “Mac, I can’t say I’ve known Amanda long in the larger scheme of things. I can’t say she bore me children like my first wife did. I can’t say we’ve been together twenty years like I was with Irene. I can say, though, that we are not just husband and wife. We are brother and sister in Christ. If I had shared Irene’s faith, she and I would have been true soul mates too, but that was my fault.
    Amanda and I met after we had both become believers, and so we shared an almost