by Alana Terry
“Maybe you can clear something up for me. I caught a blog post a few nights ago about the Kaufmans’ adoption in Africa. Wild story, eh?”
Eva sipped her coffee. “Yes, Mr. Cooper, it was a wild story.”
“Well, ma’am, I’ve been praying about this incredible miracle in Africa—all those children who were rescued from trafficking. Sixty in total, right?”
“Yes, Mr. Cooper.”
“I read that your daughter went missing for the better part of two days. I’m glad to hear she was okay.”
“Me too.”
“I wasn’t going to accept your daughter because she is under eighteen. But after I read Mrs. Kaufman’s blog, I knew she’d be a good fit with us. I have reason to believe your daughter helped rescue those babies.”
Eva began to pray.
“Mrs. Michelman? Are you still there?”
She opened her eyes again and typed ‘Greensboro’ into Google Maps. “I’m here.”
After another long silence, Mr. Cooper spoke again. “I also had intel from a friend named Andrew Blessing pointing to your daughter’s involvement in their rescue.”
“How do you know Mr. Blessing?”
“I spoke with him in Monrovia before the raid. He was working undercover and was about to blow Mr. Lavo’s operation wide open.”
“Please tell me about your background, Mr. Cooper.”
“I worked for the FBI and CIA in my twenties and thirties and I was full time staff with NoCaHoP for a few years. Last year, Pastor Gibbons released me to start R.S.O.”
I didn’t want to make this decision about Haddy without Asher. She sighed.
“We’ve accepted your daughter, Mrs. Michelman, but I understand if, given the circumstances, you want to keep her with you.”
“I’ll be driving her down tonight. I need to know she’s going to be taken care of while I look for her father.”
Mr. Cooper cleared his throat. “I understand. I like to interview potential recruits first.”
Eva viewed driving directions on her computer screen. “Then meet us for an early breakfast in Richmond.”
“How about Kelley’s Street Diner?”
“Sure. I’ve been there once or twice before.”
“I’ll be there at 5:00am.”
“It’s in my GPS. That’s a twenty-four hour joint, right?”
“Sure is.”
“Make it 4:00am.”
Chapter 10: Need to Know Basis
“MOM, DON’T GIVE ME a need-to-know-basis excuse again. Tell me what’s going on.” She fixed her gaze on Mom, who swerved onto an off ramp then back onto the highway to get around a car driving the speed limit.
Mom gripped the steering wheel tighter and grimaced. “Mr. Cooper had information about your Dad.”
Hadassah’s heart fluttered and she felt a sudden chill, even in the 76° air of the car. Her thumbnails dug into her fingertips. “What information?”
“He was kidnapped yesterday outside Baghdad.”
Her whole body shook until it felt as if her rattling bones would break the skin. Once she began to breathe again, she looked at Mom. “Then why am I going to North Carolina? Why can’t I stay with you and help find him? We need to find him, Mom.”
“I need to make sure you’re cared for, Haddy, while I look for him. Besides, I thought R.S.O. was something you wanted to do.”
“That was before I found out about Dad.”
“I’m meeting with people in Greensboro who know about the last moments before your dad disappeared. I may leave straight from North Carolina.”
“Do you mean leave the States?” She swallowed her rising tears.
Mom nodded. “I don’t think New York’s going to be safe for very much longer.”
Hadassah stared out on the sea of cars and blinked. Not crying made her throat sting. She swallowed again. Suddenly, as if on cue, she saw a billboard for coffee that triggered her heart. Thoughts tumbled through her mind like water from a breached dam within her and wordless prayers spilled with each silent tear that fell.
AFTER SEVEN HOURS OF staring out the window while Mom weaved in and out of traffic, they pulled into an Omni Hotel in Richmond, VA. Mom encouraged her to eat something at the restaurant, but Hadassah had no desire for food.
“Tell me plainly, Mom, has God ever given you such crystal clear direction before you did something?”
“I know He did for your dad. He told your dad I would be his Eve a week before he met me, even though I had a disdain for Christians at the time.”
Hadassah smiled for the first time since noon. She had never heard Mom’s version of the story about how her parents met. “Was Dad a pastor then?”
“He was the assistant pastor at this tiny Messianic congregation in Manhattan. He invited me to the service and I attended so I could argue my point with him better. I had just moved over from Israel, and my heart had a thick shell after five years with the Mossad. And after living under my parents’ orthodoxy, I had a skewed view of Eve. Your dad’s teachings about Eve as the helpmeet healed something in my heart. Long story short, he heard the Lord clearly about me, and here you are to prove it.”
Hadassah stared at Mom while pondering Dad’s persistence. “So, what’s this Mr. Cooper like?”
“He’s a little hyper, but you’ll like him.”
Hadassah squinted at her mother. “Did you just say a little hyper?”
“You’ll see when you meet him. Your dad would like this guy.”
“Do you think Dad’s okay?”
“I have to.” She took a sip of water before handing the check and her credit card to the waiter.
Chapter 11: Kelley’s Diner
RICHMOND, VA
The beep of the alarm clock ricocheted off the walls in the dark hotel room, and while Hadassah thrashed the end table searching for the snooze button, Mom calmly sat up and turned on the closest light. They hardly spoke as they dressed, gathered belongings, and left before the clock read 3:45am.
The streets were busier than Hadassah had anticipated for a Thursday morning. No one seemed to sleep anymore in this mad world, and none of those prowling the streets at this hour looked as if they carried good intent. But Mom found a parking spot right in front of the diner, and once inside they followed a tattooed waitress to a booth on the second floor overlooking the street below.
“Mr. Cooper told me to keep an eye on you.” The waitress handed them menus. Hadassah glanced at the angel wings tattooed on both of the girl’s forearms.
Mom and I are the only people here without tattoos and the only diners who don’t smell like breweries. She was surprised there was no beer on the menu.
“They come here to sober up before going home,” Mom commented, eying a girl passing by who had more than a dozen piercings and a tattoo of a hummingbird on her shaved head. “The perk about this place is that no one will remember a word we say even if they do happen to eavesdrop.”
“Is this the sort of place you expected to meet Mr. Cooper?”
“This isn’t my first time here, Haddy, so I knew what to anticipate. We can go back to the hotel if you’d like.”
“No. I feel more comfortable in this setting than in most other places. When I look at all these people I love them with Yeshua’s love and I long for them to change.”
Mom glanced over at her. “Don’t let anyone ever preach that out of you.”
As soon as Hadassah saw Mr. Cooper she knew it was him, although he wasn’t anything like she’d imagined. He had the lean build and muscular prowess of an accomplished spy, but was short, only as tall as Mom. Also, he was black; although she didn’t expect this, it was comforting to her. She knew he was a brother in the Lord before he opened his mouth. And Mom was right, Dad would have liked him.
He stopped at the booth and looked toward her. “Good morning. You must be Hadassah. I recognize you from your application photo. I’m Aaron Cooper.”
Hadassah stood to greet him. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
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“The pleasure and honor are mine, young lady.” Mr. Cooper bowed slightly when he shook her hand, almost as if he was Japanese. “I didn’t expect you to be so tall.”
“She’s taller than either of us.” Mom flashed one of her quick grins as she stood.
Mr. Cooper took a seat across the table. “I’m sure we all have dozens of questions, but you ladies can go first.”
Hadassah and Mom glanced at each other, but Hadassah began. “What will the academic part of the program include?”
“The recruits to R.S.O. will learn cultures of the world and protocols regarding hostage and crisis situations. You’ll also take three Bible courses a week, studying a book of the Bible per course. Much of our teaching will be focused on End Times prophecies throughout the Bible.”
Hadassah narrowed her eyebrows. “End of the tribulation rapture, right?”
“Mostly. Apostolic pre-millennialism. A big phrase to describe the same thing your father teaches.”
“You’re familiar with my dad’s teaching?”
“I downloaded MP3’s from your church’s website on the book of Revelation and listened to them while driving up here.”
“It’ll be a relief to be surrounded by people who don’t subscribe to the ‘we’ll get out of here before it gets bad’ theology my school taught us.”
“We teach that the saints will be on the earth during the tribulation until the seventh trumpet, and will be partnering with the Lord by praying for the release of judgments when the timing is right.”
The tattooed waitress stood beside their table smiling at Mr. Cooper. “Preach it, my brotha’. It’s always nice to hear God’s word in amongst all this late-night rabble. What can I get for ya?”
After they ordered, the waitress ignored them except to refill drinks.
Mom took a sip of her coffee, grimaced at the cup and set it down again on the scratched up diner table. “I know about your stint with the FBI and CIA, but why did you choose the North Carolina House of Prayer?”
“I grew up down the street from their old facility on Friendly Avenue. When I returned to Greensboro, I met Ronny Gibbons. He invited me to one of the evening prayer sessions—8:00-10:00 I think—and I stayed until 6:30 the next morning. The short answer is, I am where God wants me.”
“And how long have you been at NoCaHoP?”
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that in detail. CIA constraints. But it’s been over five years.”
Hadassah attempted to eat her eggs while Mom asked another question. “How many will be in R.S.O.?”
“Seven have already been training for a year. Most of those coming on board now, like you, Hadassah, have had at least the amount of training our current team has. There will be fifteen altogether, including the nurse, the chef and the tech person.”
Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, Hadassah asked, “What are the ages of the other recruits?”
“Most of them are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. You’ll be the youngest, Hadassah.”
She smiled graciously, unsure how else to respond.
Mom drew her eyebrows close together. “What I haven’t heard yet is how all of this is financed.”
Mr. Cooper lowered his voice to a whisper. “There are several businessmen, whose names I cannot disclose. They have set up an account which already has enough to finance everything for the next four or five years. They’ve invested in several currencies and in silver, so there will be plenty of money. These business men neither dictate policy nor plan missions, but they believe in what we’ll be doing and are parties we’re accountable to. In other words, they make sure their money is used to expand the Kingdom of God. But Hadassah, please tell me about Liberia.”
Hadassah gave him a brief rundown of her mission.
When she finished, Mr. Cooper nodded his head as if in approval. “I believe you met Andrew Blessing in Monrovia.”
Her eyes widened and she stared back and forth between Mom and Mr. Cooper. “I did talk to him before the army came, but I didn’t see him. How do you know him?”
“I’d known Mr. Blessing for years. And I also remember you from the market in Monrovia. Last time I saw you, I debated rescuing you from a swarm of street kids.”
She remembered all too clearly. “Yeah, they stole half of my money and I felt really dumb for not anticipating their actions. But I remember seeing you. There was an Asian kid with you.”
A grin crossed the man’s face. “Just for that, I’m sure you belong with R.S.O. Matthew’s one of the recruits, and has been training with me longer than any of the others.”
Hadassah tried to suppress her smile. Then Andrew Blessing came to mind again. “What do you know about Mr. Blessing?”
“He made it out of the raid without a problem and told me the next day about the ‘little American girl’ who hid under a sheet of metal.” Mr. Cooper’s eyelids suddenly sank and his countenance fell. “Several weeks later he was killed. He’s gone home to the Lord.”
She willed her tears not to flow, but wasn’t sure if she masked how sick she felt. “How did he die?”
“I believe the Minister of Justice, Xavier Rhodes, had his hand in it. It was a drive-by shooting at a church gathering.”
The news fell like a snowplow into Hadassah’s heart. She winced as if the weight was real. “I had hoped he’d be okay.”
“Before he died, he sent a message to me saying, ‘Look to the cargo ships and look to Babylon.’”
“What does this mean to you?” Mom set her level gaze on him. Hadassah could see the wheels turning in her head.
“I think they’re trafficking humans on those cargo ships. Mr. Lavo was a big player in that business before he was killed. But tell me what other questions you have, Hadassah.”
“Okay. Why do you want us studying the Bible for six months instead of helping kids who are hurting right now?”
He looked quite comfortable with her confrontation. “We need to know the Lord’s voice before we go out into the field.” He took a small Bible out of his pocket and placed it on the table. “This is how we acquaint ourselves with His voice. We hope to train and prepare recruits for the day when the events described in Revelation begin to unfold. The best way we can train you to be operatives is to exhort you to watch and pray, and to study His word.”
“How do you teach the book of Revelation?”
“Our goal is to take Jesus at His word. When He says it’s a symbol we take it as a symbol; when He doesn’t, we don’t. Mary of Bethany took Jesus at His word about His death on the cross, and she was commended by Him. We’ll take Him at His word about His second coming. That includes the 150 chapters in the Bible related to the end of this age.”
Hadassah raised her eyebrows. “Wow. I didn’t know there were so many. Do you have a list of them?”
“Here’s a whole list of suggested reading, which includes these 150 chapters. But I have one question for you, Hadassah. Do you know about the Bridal Paradigm?”
“I don’t think I even know what you mean by paradigm?”
“It’s a lens or point of view through which we view things, in this case the Bible and the world around us. The Bridal Paradigm involves reading and understanding the Word through the revelation of Jesus coming for His bride, the Church.”
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s my thing.” Romance was something both high school and New York had extinguished within her.
“We’re not talking about romantic dates with Jesus or any notion along those lines.”
“Well, that’s comforting. But what does the Bridal Paradigm have to do with preparing for the End Times?”
“It has everything to do with preparing for the End Times.”
WHILE MOM FOLLOWED Mr. Cooper’s car during the three and a half hour drive from Richmond to NoCaHoP, Hadassah read most of the 150 chapters of the Bible relating to the End Times. Somewhere near half way through the suggested reading list, she realized she hadn’t really read the chapters. She�
��d been scanning the pages as if memorizing them for a test rather than reading God’s Word to hide it in her heart. When she began to view the passages in the light of the encroaching End Times, a new fervor for Yeshua welled inside her.
She watched the landscape pass outside the window: innumerable buildings and houses rested under blankets of snow. But the whole landscape: the cities, the trees, the farms, the sky, all looked different than before. What will the fate of America be? Will war come to these shores before the End? And how on earth would the sky roll back like a scroll? She glanced again at Mr. Cooper’s suggested reading list. A note at the top of the page read, “Pray through the scriptures and write down any questions you have.” How did I miss these instructions before? It must have been the excitement. She reread the material slowly, prayerfully. The radical faith of the saints stood out to her, laying one’s life down as Jesus did: it was more about this than about doctrine.
Then she read the Sermon on the Mount. Turn the other cheek had a whole lot more significance. So did praying, fasting and giving to those in need. It seemed as if the need for these activities would increase in the light of what was happening in the world. Questions she wanted answers for overflowed the pages of her notebook.
She turned to the second portion of the reading list—the Bridal Paradigm. There were only a few passages listed: Psalm 45, Hosea 2, Isaiah 54, John 3, Song of Solomon. Beautiful poetry and amazing words, but what was their significance in the light of the book of Revelation? Why did Mr. Cooper say this had everything to do with the End Times?
“You’re awfully quiet, you know,” Mom pointed out somewhere across the North Carolina state line.
“I’ve been studying the suggested reading. Frankly, after all the questions we asked Mr. Cooper, I still don’t know what to expect.”
“You may be waiting on people at first. That’s what I did in Mossad for the first two months. Then you will have various levels of endurance training, according to Mr. Cooper, and enough academic work to make you feel as if you had chosen Yale or Princeton instead.”