The Journal: A Prophecy, A President & Death

by Parker, W. Leland

  Joanna pulls out her cell and says, “I have him on speed dial.” She dials the number when, again, they hear the phone ringing from within the house!

  Hinton, who is over examining Levy on the sofa, says with disgust, “It’s in my pocket! I took it from him.”

  Lauren says, “Agent Reese, do you think it would be okay if I remain to see that he’s okay?”

  “I think that’s best,” answers Reese.

  “Would you please contact Deputy Director Danning and let him know what’s happened, and that you want me to stay.”

  “So I’m to remain the lead?”

  “Please, sir, I think that’s best. Tell him I will come to meet the plane directly, but we are agreed that it’s important that I make sure Mr. Market is okay. Okay?”

  Reese cannot help but answer, “Okay, Agent Coles.” Her pretty face is so full of concern and hope.

  He contacts Danning updates him, and checks to makes sure that he agrees with the decision. With Danning’s blessing he then contacts Officer Anderson, who confirms that there have not been any cars on the road except the Secret Service courier with the papers they were expecting. With his report, we now have two points of confirmation on Robert’s departure route that he has not left town.

  Reese scratches his head and thinks a moment. He looks at Hinton who instinctively walks over and verifies that Robert’s and another set of footprints in the snow lead to where the car was. Both men are racking their brains. They look over to Joanna, and Reese asks, “Mrs. Market, you’re absolutely sure that Robert got into the car with Levy?”

  A bit more anxious, Joanna answers, “Agent Reese, present company would refute how certain I can be, but I know I waved goodbye to my husband! And someone definitely got in the driver’s seat!” She’s takes a look at Levy and says, “I thought it was; he looked like Levy. God, I don’t know, it could have been someone else!” Almost ready to cry, she exclaims, “I mean, the snow was falling so I could be wrong, but—goodness!”

  Lauren walks over and puts her hand on Joanna’s shoulder to give comfort.

  Reese, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pressure you. Like I said, I’ve gotta do this the best way I know and time is critical.”

  “I understand,” says Joanna.

  Reese continues, “Did anyone else see Mr. Market and or the Levy look-a-like get into the car?”

  When no one can confirm it, Lauren says, “Mrs. Phelps and Mary were here. Maybe one of them?”

  Reese, “We may have to call them, but first let’s get after that car and Robert Market.” He pulls out a local map and spreads it on the table. Talking to himself he says, “Okay, we’ve got an outer perimeter established, I need two teams moving out in both directions from here.” Referencing Agent Levy, he asks, “Agent Hinton, is he alright?”

  “Him? Yeah he’s fine. He can’t account for the eighteen or so minutes he’s missing, but so what else is new.”

  Levy, “Gee, thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Reese, “Okay, Levy, Coles, come look here. What kind of help can the locals give us?”

  Lauren, walking toward him, “Not much, we can keep Officer Anderson, and they are going to try and reroute two others.”

  With all looking at the map, Reese continues. “We’ll just have to make the most of what we have.” Motioning to Levy he says, “I’d like you to take the main road in this direction, away from the City. Stay on radio. Lauren, I’d like you to take the same road, only towards the City. He’s got to have traveled, at least some point of the way, on this road. The bonus is, Lauren, if you headed this way you’re already on the way towards the airfield to meet with the Deputy Director.”

  “Got it! Thanks,” says Lauren, as she heads out to her car. But in a flash, James dashes out without a coat and meets her at her car. As he’s done on every prior occasion, James opens the car door for her. He then asks nervously, “Do you know where to look for them, the side roads where he might turn off?”

  “Thank you,” she says softly, “and no, but I’ll just work my way towards them. I’ll be fine. His tire treads should be easy to track in this snow.”

  But James adds anxiously, “Lauren, let me come with you. I know everyplace my dad could possibly go, and if the snow gets heavier, his tracks could be covered over.”

  Lauren, “James, that’s out of the question, this is an official investigation. It’s not like when we drove up here together; and it’s not like in the movies. I couldn’t even if I wanted to!”

  “Why not?”

  “James, please, you’re out without a coat, getting snowed on, and using valuable time!”

  “Lauren, I should be with you!”

  “James! That’s a sweet sentiment, but seriously, that’s enough!”

  “That’s not what I meant. I just know– ”

  Out of nowhere bright car headlights strike their faces as a vehicle pull into the driveway. Unfortunately it’s only the courier bringing the journal copies. A brief moment of hope fades to almost annoyance, and they halt their conversation to address him.

  The courier jogs over and says, “Hi, I’m looking for Agent Lauren Coles.”

  “That’s me, but you want to take that to the agent in charge, Agent Reese.” She then looks directly at James and says, “James, please,” indicating that she wants him to show the courier where to go, which of course ends their discussion, and she would be on her way.

  He looks back into her eyes, almost pleading, then drops his shoulders, and while not breaking his gaze from Lauren says to the courier, “Sir, I’ll show you where he is, follow me.”

  As they head for the house Lauren says, “Thank you James.” She then realizing that the courier has blocked her in, yells out, “Wait, wait! You’ve got me blocked! Arrgh!”

  But they are already out of earshot in the house. While Agent Reese is signing for the papers, James—no slouch in the quick-thinking department—asks, “Agent Reese, you’re the agent in charge now, is there any official reason why I couldn’t go with Lauren to help her fine my dad. I know everyplace he could possibly go, even if he felt sick or something.” Reese looks at Hinton who shrugs his shoulders as if to say, why not?

  Reese then looks at James and says, “Go!”

  James says to his mom, “We’ll find him, Mom, I just know it!”

  Joanna smiles a half-hearted smile as she watches him go.

  Reese tells Lauren on the walkie that she will be assigned James as her protectee and to utilize his knowledge of the local area to aid in the search. She does not protest, but she’s not thrilled.

  James, full of sincere hope, grabs his coat as he runs out the door. Seeing that, and watching Agent Levy head out the door behind James, Joseph grabs his coat off the rack and begins to go outside, but out of nowhere Agent Hinton grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him back saying, “I so don’t think so.”

  Joseph is only a little annoyed at being stopped; in fact, he half expected it! Joanna is actually very relieved that her only other family member is detained with her, safe and at home! She sighs with relief, and with that same half-hearted smile reaches out her hand toward her son Joseph. He doesn’t even need to see her face to know what she wants. He takes her hand and they go sit at the dining room table and pray.

  He says, “This is what I remembered happened next; you and me alone, praying.”

  • • •

  For the next five minutes or so, the room falls very quiet. The accumulating snow muffling as it blankets. The only sound is Joanna and Joseph’s prayer, and it rises almost like a song. They softly speak of how good God is, and how much they trust him. They speak of his love and protection, and recall all the times he’s saved them from harm. Catching the attention of the two agents Listening in, Reese simply says, “Wow!”

  Hinton adds, “I know.”

  The men are so swept up in it that they’re actually startled by the sudden phone ringing. It’s FBI Special Agent William Ramirez calling Hi
nton, his man on the scene. Glancing at one another, their reaction causes them both to don slightly embarrassed smiles that communicate, “I won’t say anything if you won’t.” Deputy Director Danning is with Ramirez, who call Hinton to hear his side of what’s going on.

  “Agent Hinton,” says Ramirez, “you’re the greatest skeptic I know, I want to hear from you what the heck’s gotten into this case! How can four agents loose a protectee to a ghost? Why are we still listening to this boy?”

  “Sir, I’m having as hard a time with this as anyone, but Agent Coles is right.”

  “Hold on,” says Ramirez, as he puts Hinton on speakerphone, “I want Danning to hear this.”

  Hinton continues, “Well, sir, essentially, anything that the kid put in his journal is one hundred percent true; it is as sure as the dawn. Agent Coles’ take on this has been spot on. She’s cautious, but she moves forward accepting what the kid says as credible evidence. I have to say that anybody approaching this with the skepticism of experience probably would have made a bigger mess of things.”

  Danning, over the speakerphone asks, “How so, Agent Hinton?”

  “Sir, the kid has been relaying some new information; information from …” Hinton kind of grimaces at what he’s about to say, struggling to get it out. “from uh, dreams, sir.”

  “Dreams?” clarifies Ramirez, “Did you say, dreams?”

  “Don’t even go there with me—uh, sir. You said I was your foremost skeptic, and I still am, but I also know that if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck–”

  Danning, via speaker phone, “So he’s been relaying dreams he’s had, and they’ve been correct too?”

  “Dreams, some déjà vu, thrown in for good measure; but, no; not spot on like the journal. But if you take notes and examine what’s coming through, it’s pretty solid. If it had been me, I would have discounted them, but Miss Coles, working with the kid and the mom got crucial info we needed.”

  Danning, “Do the dreams match up with the journal?”

  “Not completely. They’re pretty much on, except with the matter of the president.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, the journal prophecy says the president dies tonight, by eight pm. But the dream-déjà vu only has him announcing that Mary Anne is pregnant.”

  “Pregnant? He said he dreamt that?”

  “Yep.”

  “And was he suppose to announce that on TV tonight?”

  “Yep.”

  “Hmm,” says Harold Danning; “That’s very interesting.” He knows something, and working from that premise, he reexamines his hardcopy of the journal pages and begins to formulate a theory. “Guys, imagine if you will, two events of major importance; both foretold in the same vision. How would you– How could you separate one from the other?”

  Ramirez, “You’ve lost us, Harry.”

  Hinton, “Good, I thought it was just me.”

  Danning, “It’s Occam’s razor all over again!”

  Hinton and Ramirez are both silent, waiting for him to explain.

  “Look, if the journal is always right, and it says that Lauren is to save the president, and Lauren is impossibly far from the President of the United States, but just minutes away from a missing …” he looks again at margin notes he’s written on his hardcopy of the journal, “yeah, missing president of a company;” his words trail off as he begins to study the document again.

  Ramirez adds, “Yeah, at this point if we flew and landed at Andrews, even the helicopter wouldn’t get us to POTUS by eight.”

  Danning looks at the Latin on later pages and begins going over them and translating them out loud. He then says to Ramirez, “See here, the word used for president is not king as you would expect for the President of the United States, but it is the broader sense of leader, and would actually be more appropriate for a coach, or a manager, or any selected head of a company.”

  Hinton says, “Mr. Market was just elected by his board of directors six months ago! He is the newly elected president!”

  Ramirez caps it all saying, “Then, Lauren has got to find to him, ’cause apparently he’s about to die, and she’s the one who will save him!”

  The Searchers

  Finally on his way to the office, Robert, at last, begins to relax. Along the dimly lit roads, he doesn’t seem to be able to recognize that it is no longer Agent Levy driving, except he does notice that his voice sounds very familiar, when his agent says, “You can relax now; it’s all behind you now.”

  Robert naturally thinks he’s referring to the situation with at the house with the FBI and the Secret Service. In fact they travel a few miles with Robert essentially explaining why the meeting he’s going to, is so important. He finds himself confessing to the man how bad he feels leaving his family, but at the same time responsible for the well being of the company. His mind is too distracted to accept that the man behind the wheel is his late father, Lawrence Market. The rural road is pitch black; only the reflection of their headlights on the snow grants any illumination.

  The first odd thing that Robert catches, and it’s a doozy, is when the man behind the wheel says, “I am so proud of you Robert Market; it is an honor to be here for you.”

  On that, Robert laughs and says, “Huh, in this dark, and only hearing your voice, you sound just like my dad.” This causes Lawrence to laugh, and on that, Robert freezes. He knows that laugh. The whole thing takes on a surreal quality. He slowly turns to study the face of his driver. The light from an approaching car illuminates the profile of the man, and Robert Market exclaims “Jesus!”

  The youngish-looking Lawrence Market turns to him and says, “Flattery will get you nowhere here, son.”

  In utter shock, Robert recoils, pressing himself against the passenger door! He says incredulously, “Dad?”

  He smiles at Robert and says a very nonchalant, “Yes?”

  “Oh, my God! Dad?”

  In a calming tone, Lawrence Market says, “Yes, son.”

  Robert gasps and through his shock a lone tear runs down his face. “Dad.”

  He reaches out to touch his father, and his dad takes his hand. When Robert feels his dad’s hand, he just breaks down and begins to bawl. It’s unexplainable, he’s never cried like that! His dad pulls off the road, and gives him a big tight hug. In the arms of his father, Robert experiences an earthquake of emotions that he wasn’t even fully aware were there. Everything he’s bottled up, every failure; from the shame of veering away from full time ministry, to every argument he’s had with his wife, and everything he never got around to telling his father, comes flowing out in tears of comfort and joy. He doesn’t understand it, but he cannot stop himself. Somehow his dad knows it all and repeatedly whispers, “It alright, it’s alright. You’ve done well; God is pleased. God is pleased.”

  Robert begins to recover, every ounce of doubt and shame and failure has somehow been removed. He can’t understand how, but he feels an unbelievable peace. He gets a hold of himself and pulls free from his father’s embrace, not noticing that a fine white powder dusts his face and hair. He looks at his father and asks “I– Dad, how?”

  “I asked.”

  “But, you, you are–”

  “Oh, there were many who wanted to come Robert; tens of thousands, but I was allowed.”

  “What do you mean? Who wanted to come? Why?”

  “Robert you’ve blessed so many, many people.”

  Again, beginning to tear up, Robert says, “Tens of? Really?”

  “Yes, son.”

  “Oh, my God!” Robert doubles over in tears. “I– Thank you Jesus! Oh, God—thank you Jesus! I’m so happy.”

  His father rejoices with him, and says, “I’m happy too, son. That’s why I’m here; that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  • • •

  James and Lauren drive along with diminishing hopes. Lauren gets a call from Danning. She thinks it’s because she is late for the plane, but he tells her that the thi
nking now is that she is there to save Mr. Market! They try to find where his car went, to follow where the tire treads trail, but the only car they see after 10 minutes of driving is Pratt’s, waiting by the side of the road. They pull up next to him, and Lauren is happy to see him still there helping. She asks him if he’d be willing to hold his position, which he gladly does. Pratt, therefore, becomes the eastern end of their search area, with Levy being the other extreme. He calls Officer Anderson on the radio and asks him to fan out to the other roads that are possible routes to the main road from the South. He also asks him to get Commander Watson, who’s following him in his truck, to help with the search.

  Pratt, “Did you know Commander Watson was following you?”

  “Of course, I would have had to arrest him to keep him from coming.”

  Lauren and James double back to try and find where they lost Robert’s tire tracks.

  James, “Lauren I’m sorry about pushing my way to be here, I–“

  “You’ve got to stop doing that!”

  “What?”

  “Apologizing when you shouldn’t—it was me that was wrong, I should have pushed to have you, rather than push you away. I’m having some trouble dealing with this, and I’m happy that you’re here.” She reaches for his hand and grabs and squeezes it.

  A radio call comes in from Levy, reporting that he has traced the path all the way to the highway in the other direction, and there are no tire tracks. Lauren and James look at each other and continue their search. That report, and the increasing snow, has James very concerned for his father, and he begins to quietly pray. Lauren drives slowly back towards the house.

  They are only about nine or ten miles from the house, at the point where the main highway exits into the main street of the city. Hearing James pray, and seeing how the snow is covering any signs of travel, the hopelessness begins to get to Lauren. She remembers what that feels like to be desperate for positive news, while absolutely everything seems to point to an unfavorable outcome. She remembers how her mom prayed so hard that her father would be among the survivors, but every report was more and more bleak—until the terrible news came.