by Alana Terry
She could tell when she reached the other side because the draft wasn’t so brutal and the metal wasn’t so painfully cold on her hands. Up ahead some light streamed through a vent; she inched her way along.
From the vent, she looked down on a small, dirty and dimly lit room where she saw two girls. The closest girl sat at a dressing table staring into a mirror and smudging make-up on her left cheek as if covering a bruise. The other girl lay disconsolately on the couch, staring at candle wax melting onto a coffee table. She poked at the hot wax every few moments as if this was the most excitement she had had in a week, then passed her finger back and forth through the candle’s flame and gave a delayed wince.
A tremor of a quake rattled the make-up at the dressing table and shook the candle until it tipped out of the candlestick and fell onto the shag carpet. The girl on the couch chuckled and stared at the flame for a moment before sitting up and slowly stamping it out with her stiletto heels. All the while, the girl at the dressing table ignored her. It had been a year since people reacted to an earthquake of this size.
Hadassah angled her thin camera through the vent and took a picture of each of the girls.
When the door to the small room burst open, both of the girls stiffened, sat upright and hardened their expressions.
The man’s frame filled the doorway. He was well dressed in a dark blue silk suit and neatly shaven, save for his thin mustache. But he must have overindulged at every meal, because his stomach entered the room before he did. Since she remembered his face from the envelope of photos, Hadassah took out her phone to record a video of whatever was about to take place.
“You.” The man pointed to the girl on the couch before shutting the door behind him. “Get up, you lazy girl. I’ve had another complaint. Your Uncle Tony is never supposed to have complaints.”
“So.” The young girl sneered as she slowly pushed herself from the couch. “I’m sorry,” she said languidly.
“You’re here to please my customers.” Uncle Tony stood close enough to her that his spit sprayed her face when he said ‘please.’
The girl’s stare of contempt filled the room with an electric hatred. “I thought I’s here to line yer pockets.”
He glared at her then appeared to calm himself. “In exchange for pleasing my customers I give you room and board, and occasionally some of the good stuff.” As he said this, he held up a small bag filled with chalky powder. “I thought your little friend here would serve as an example for you girls. This is what happens when we hear about dissatisfied customers.”
The girl in front of him suddenly softened her seething glower. “How ’bout givin’ me a li’l bit o’ that, Uncle Tony,” she whined. “Then I can do some work.”
“Do you take me for a fool? Get back to work first, then you can have some.” He turned and scoffed at the other girl. “What are you looking at?”
The girl at the mirror cringed. “Nothing.” Hadassah barely heard her over the music, but she saw her stifle a tear.
As soon as Uncle Tony left, the girl who had been standing in front of him defamed his character thoroughly before crashing to the couch again.
“Why do you let him sell you off like that?” the girl at the mirror asked. “That dope’s ruining you.”
“Shut up. I know what I’m doing, okay? Letting yourself get beat up by Uncle Tony might be your way of finding an escape, but it’s not mine. Besides, this stuff helps me deal with how awful his customers are.”
The other girl turned her head and cried softly. “You used to be so beautiful before all this, Brianna.”
“Keep on cryin’ to your Jesus, Shaniqua, I’m sure He’ll be eager to help girls like us.” Brianna slammed the door as she left the room.
Hadassah stopped the video recording and fished in her pocket for pen and paper. She scrawled: Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Did she dare to give away her position? But another glance at Shaniqua convinced her to send it down. She gently fed the paper through the vent and let it drop. The girl saw it as it drifted down, but waited for it to land before she picked it up off the floor.
“I can’t read,” the girl said aloud after glancing at the paper, as if speaking to the angels or to God Himself. She stared at it again for a while, then tried to sound out each syllable. Suddenly her eyes welled with tears. “Thank you, Jesus, thank you for this sign. I know you’ll be coming for me!”
Hadassah waited until the girl left the room before she dared to crawl back through the cold and out of the vent. It cost her about half an hour, during which she sent the video off to Yitzak at Mom’s office.
She heard Mom’s voice in her ear piece.
“Are you okay, Haddy?”
“Fine,” Hadassah whispered back. “Edging my way out now.”
“Someone’s gone into the warehouse, and it’s not DeSalvoso. Lights are now on. A truck’s just pulled up out front and it looks like they’re moving something in or out.”
“I need to get out of here. The socks aren’t keeping out the cold and my feet are freezing.”
“What about the boots?”
“I left them at the entrance of the air duct so I wouldn’t make too much noise.”
In the next few minutes, her feet ached with such cold it could have been the precursor to frostbite.
“The lights are out now,” Mom told her.
When Hadassah edged out of the air duct her toes and feet felt like lead as she stood again. She shined her flashlight on the ground. The boots were gone. They were given as a loan from Lena, Mom’s secretary, for the assignment. Whoever took the boots would know she was in the ventilation system. And might be waiting for her.
“Can you call our driver and ask for a closer extraction? Maybe a block from here,” Hadassah whispered into her com-link as she picked her way through the dark warehouse to the side door.
“Why?” Mom barked.
“The boots are gone.”
“What? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m sorry. My feet are so cold.”
“Done. She’ll be there before we are.”
Hadassah searched about for the door. “Please wait for me.”
“I’m almost to the alley now.”
Hadassah halted when something clanked in the offices below her and a light turned on. A door closed, blocking most of the light and sound. With the outside door she needed only ten feet away she bolted. Once she was under the street lights’ orange glow again, she saw DeSalvoso and Mom converging in the alley, giving glaring at one another as if each was more protective of her than the other.
“Mr. DeSalvoso,” Hadassah said. “I don’t know if you’ve met my mom, but she needs to be your potential buyer.” She smiled at both of them, then ducked behind one of the dumpsters before the warehouse door opened again.
“Hey, DeSalvoso,” the man at the door of the warehouse shouted. “Is she the one who you were showing the warehouse to?” He glared at Mom.
“Yes.”
“You know the boss doesn’t want to sell to no punk rocker types, right?”
“Yes, he made that quite clear.”
“I hope I don’t have to tell the boss you’ve been wasting his time.”
“No, sir, not wasting his time at all. In fact, she’s just getting ready to go.”
“Tell her to take her boots with her.” The man hurled the boots down the alley.
Mom caught one of them in mid-air. “Thank you.” But he didn’t wait around to hear her say it.
“Well, fancy that.” Hadassah laughed. She slipped the boots on before stepping out from behind the dumpster. “I think it’ll take till morning to feel my feet again.”
Mom scanned the alley. “Let’s get out of here.”
The next afternoon, when she met for the official debrief, Mom wore the smile Hadassah always looked forward to.
“We collected plenty of evidence, Haddy. The police have a warrant and will be going in tonight. Well done.”
“Will you
do me a favor, Mom?”
“Sure.”
“Will you let me know if Shaniqua and Brianna make it out?”
On Tuesday morning, when Hadassah was in between classes, she received the text. The raid was successful and all the girls were either in rehab, a safe house or back home. Then came a second text.
Shaniqua is home w/ her fam, Brianna in rehab.
Hadassah sang a private Hallelujah in her heart all the rest of the day.
WHEN EVENING CAME SHE tagged along with Mom to drive Dad to the airport for his trip to the Middle East.
Dad lingered in the hug. “I’ll be back after New Year’s, Haddy.”
“I know. I just wish you weren’t gone for Hanukkah.” She forced any show of emotion out of her voice. “You make the best latkes in Brooklyn.” She grinned, but then revealed her apprehension. “I’ll miss you so much.”
“I know, I’ll miss you too. Both of you.” He had an unusual excitement as he gave them a last hug and she couldn’t help her smile.
But as soon as he walked down the departure terminal, she began to cry. She couldn’t explain her emotions and swallowed them hard until her throat ached and the well of tears dried.
“I understand.” Mom’s tone wasn’t as flat or professional as usual. “Sometimes I have a hard time, too, when he leaves.”
Chapter 8: Early Graduation
SCHOOL LUNCHTIMES ALWAYS bothered her. Hadassah would have been glad for any excuse to pass the time and not think about Dad, but instead her skin crawled. New Year’s had already come and gone, and thirty-six hours had passed since Dad last called or e-mailed. She had stopped drinking coffee the day he left.
Half the students in the small cafeteria clamored for the spotlight, the other half yearned to be anywhere besides here. She belonged to the second group for many more reasons than her inability to mingle with this crowd.
The crackle of the intercom speakers and the voice of the principal calling a student to see him pricked her ears to attention. There were always trouble-makers called to the office, even at this private Christian school, but she kept a low profile. Maybe if it was her name they called, she could avoid reading her award-winning essay in next period’s Religious Education class. Mrs. London’s request was like lemon juice in the wound of her anxious heart.
Josh, who was either the meanest boy on the planet or the worst flirt in existence, knocked her on the shoulder, making her spew that last bite of falafel sandwich. “What’d you do this time, eh?”
Jake the pothead chimed in. “Nothing, of course. They’re probably calling her in ’cause she won the Nobel Prize for Kiss-ups or a full scholarship to Freak University.”
“Or maybe she’s graduating early and leaving all you lame-o’s in the dust.” Farrah could always be counted on to stick up for those on the bottom of any pecking order.
Hadassah wiped the food from around her mouth and stared absently at her fellow students. “What?”
Jake nudged her this time. “They called your name, Tsigele.”
Why was the word for ‘little goat’ the only Yiddish term of endearment Jake knew? Every time he called her this, it made her more determined to tell the principal about the stash of weed in his locker. But then she’d have to explain how she broke into Jake’s locker to get her science book back. So she decided against vengeance and slipped further into her favorite facade of clueless-brainy-girl. “Thanks. I think I have a doctor’s appointment.”
“You’re such a liar.” Jake sneered. “And a bad liar at that.”
She hated how he pointed out this fact. It made it more difficult for her to be a wallflower. Instead of arguing and proving his point even more, she waved at them in mock shyness and sauntered toward the teachers’ table for a hall pass.
The empty hallways gave her mind plenty of thought space, and the dialogue in her head was loud. Why would anyone want to see me?
She tried so hard to stay under the radar, to remain unnoticed, to keep all the secrets. Isabella did blog about the incident in Africa, but her friend still didn’t know what role Hadassah played. And the operation in Queens—well, Mom was the only one who knew, aside from the realtor, but he didn’t know her real name, or hair color, or what her face looked like without make-up. No one knows me. She was so good at concealing the truth, keeping the secret, telling a good story. Then why would anyone call for her? Maybe it’s about Dad! Her heart skipped a beat, and she hushed those thoughts before hope and despair waged war.
As soon as she walked into the principal’s office, her mouth dropped open. Mom stood beside the principal’s desk wearing her black and silver suit, black and silver like her hair, black and silver like her eyes. Mom never leaves work early for anything except...She hushed this thought just before choking up.
Mom gave a deeply maternal smile. “Everything’s in place now for your early graduation.”
The principal extended his hand. “Congratulations, Ms. Michelman. We’ll be mailing your diploma to you, as your mother requested.”
Hadassah couldn’t help bouncing for joy on the balls of her feet, or grinning ear to ear. “So you heard back about my application?”
“We’ll talk in the car.” Mom’s flash of a smile kept Hadassah’s countenance from falling. “But yes, you’ve been accepted. Do you need help clearing out your locker?”
Hadassah shook her head. “I emptied it before Christmas break, so I just need to hand in the key.” She looked over at the principal and dropped the key on his desk. “By the way, you might want to think about a new system for next year. Those locks are way too easy to pick.”
Mom suppressed a chuckle behind her hand.
The principal stared wide-eyed at the key and then at this honor student.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t pick anyone else’s locker, just my own.” If only that had been true, but she never found any evidence in Jake’s locker to turn him in to the police. “God bless you, Mr. Leary.”
AS SOON AS THEY STEPPED into the car, Mom gestured toward the Old Navy bags in the back seat. “New clothes. Some of your old clothes as well as your Bible and most of your books are in suitcases in the trunk.”
“Wow. You’ve been busy. Are we going somewhere?”
Mom nodded while she turned the key. “North Carolina. Buckle up.” She threw the car into drive, slammed her foot on the gas and zoomed out of the parking lot.
Hadassah pulled her seatbelt across her lap and clipped it on. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on, Mrs. NASCAR? Or are you just going to juggle me around the car and leave me hanging?”
“I got a phone call early this morning from a man named Aaron Cooper, from the North Carolina House of Prayer, or NoCaHoP.”
Hadassah jumped in her seat and smiled wide. “No way! The Cooper and the HoP. Do you know how super crazy cool that is?”
“Just wait. He said you’ve been accepted to Revelation Special Ops.”
Another smile bloomed across her wide-eyed expression. “Crazy. Wow. What else did he say?”
“I’ll tell you soon, Haddy. It’ll be a long drive tonight.”
“Why aren’t we waiting for Dad to get back?”
Mom’s silence disquieted her.
“What is it you’re not telling me?”
Chapter 9: The Phone Call
EARLIER THAT MORNING
Eva Michelman sat in the back office sipping her caramel cappuccino while the phone rang. This is a strange hour for a phone call. But Lena in the main office would get it. Her mind still hummed with the City’s constant traffic, and she longed to pray as she always did at the start of the day. Then her secretary’s voice came over the intercom.
“There’s a call from a North Carolina area code. He says his name is Aaron Cooper and he wants to talk about your husband, your daughter and something called R.S.O.”
She nearly dropped her cappuccino. “What’s his name?”
“It’s Aaron Cooper, Mrs. Michelman.”
She set her drink on he
r desk and pulled the phone closer. “Put the call through.”
“Hello, Mrs. Michelman, I’m from Revelation Special Ops, and I have your daughter’s application in front of me. But there are two reasons I called you, ma’am, and I wanted to speak with you about your husband first. You are the wife of Pastor Asher Michelman, right?”
Her mouth tightened. She picked up the receiver. “I am.”
“Was he on a team with Pastor Cho and Pastor Gallagher in the Middle East?”
Eva waited a full ten seconds before responding. Her heart would burst if it beat any faster. “Among others, yes. Have you heard from any of them?”
“I did. Do you have a secure line?”
Her chest tightened and she swallowed hard. “It’s secure.”
“The whole convoy was ambushed yesterday in Baghdad after they got off the plane from Karachi, Pakistan.”
“Can you confirm this report?”
“Pastor Cho was on the phone with his son, Matthew, when their vehicle was surrounded. Also, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Sun Xi.”
“I knew she was on the team.”
“Her daughter, Hyun, is a member of R.S.O. as well, and Hyun was on the phone with her mother when their vehicle was attacked.”
Eva focused all of her resolve to keep her voice from cracking. “I’ll call you in a few minutes, Mr. Cooper.” Then she turned to Yitzak who worked steadily at the corner desk. “I need a few minutes alone, Yitz.”
She closed the door behind him, locked it, collapsed on the floor and sobbed until she stopped hyperventilating.
Within a minute of composing herself, Eva had the phone to her ear again. “Mr. Cooper? You said you were from Revelation Special Ops. Have you accepted my daughter into your program?”
“She’s an impressive young lady.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“Did you train her in any of her skills?”
“Many of them. You’ll be surprised how driven she is.” She liked this man already, but she wasn’t about to let him know. “Is she accepted into the program, Mr. Cooper?”