Frantic by Jerry B. Jenkins

tinkered with something. Nets. The motor. But when we got way out and set anchor, I didn’t hear anything. Nothing but the waves lapping at the side of the boat.”
    â€œWhat did you do?” Vicki said.
    â€œI went back to find him, and all that was there were his clothes and his gear. It was the spookiest thing ever. I didn’t know if he’d fallen overboard or maybe jumped for some reason. I looked for maybe a half hour before I called a Mayday, but by then things were going crazy. Wasn’t too long later that I hooked up with Tom and Luke and they explained stuff to me that made sense.”
    â€œStill doesn’t make sense to me,” said a girl who didn’t have the mark.
    â€œThat’s why these guys are here,” Tom said.
    Vicki opened her notebook and looked at Shelly and Conrad. She took a deep breath. “All that’s happened— from the disappearances to the earthquake, the tidal wave to the locusts—has happened because God wants to get your attention.”

11
    FOR THE next three days, Vicki showed the kids from South Carolina what following God was all about. Shelly and Conrad told their stories and talked with the kids one-on-one.
    By the end of the three days, everyone on the island had the mark of the believer. Conrad helped Tom fix their computer and work on the small generator that powered it. Vicki encouraged the kids to read Tsion Ben-Judah’s Web site and theunderground-online.com and keep looking for what was coming next.
    Luke and Tom took Vicki and the others to meet Pete. As they waited, Luke said, “A lot of what you said we knew, but we didn’t know how to tell others. It was a big help watching you explain it.”
    Vicki promised she would have Lenore put her notes on theunderground-online.com Web site. Pete’s truck rumbled in the distance.
    â€œWhere are you guys headed next?” Tom said.
    â€œWherever God takes us,” Conrad said.

    Lionel listened to Judd explain Pavel’s plan. At first, Lionel couldn’t believe Judd was serious. But the more Judd told him, the more sense it made. The pilot might be able to get them back to the States or know a different way.
    â€œPavel’s supposed to get in touch in a few minutes,” Judd said, “but there’s something else I need to talk about.”
    â€œI hope this is not about Nada,” Lionel said. When Judd nodded, Lionel said, “Are you crazy? Haven’t you learned anything? Jamal’s going to—”
    â€œI don’t think he’s ticked off at me anymore. I think he understands this is between his daughter and me.”
    â€œWhat did she say this time?” Lionel said.
    Judd explained the conversation. When he said Nada thought he was restless, Lionel screamed, “I don’t believe this! Why are you having the conversation? When she came up here you should have—”
    â€œFine,” Judd said, throwing his arms in the air. “I thought I could talk to you. I thought you could help me work through this.”
    Lionel took a deep breath and walked to the attic window. “OK, I’m sorry. You’re right.” He turned back to Judd. “What’s keeping you from just telling her that you like her, but you’re not interested in anything long-term?”
    Judd stared at the computer.
    â€œWhy don’t you just tell her that you don’t feel the same way she does and leave it at that?”
    Judd looked up. His eyes were red. “Because it’s not true.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œMy problem isn’t telling her I’m not interested. If that were true I could do it. The problem is, I am interested.”
    Lionel sat down hard. He felt light-headed. “Whoa, I didn’t expect that.”
    â€œNeither did I,” Judd said. “I’ve always thought we’d go back to the States, but this evening it occurred to me that I could stay and work from