Free Through the Flames by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Page A

threw the car into reverse. He wasn’t used to speeding backwards and twice veered into the curb. That must have made Lionel wonder about his safety because Judd saw him skip up onto the sidewalk. When Judd finally stopped near Lionel, he was stunned to see Lionel chuckling.
    “What did I do, scare you guys?” he said, as he slid into the backseat. “And what’re you doin’ on the floor, Ryan?”
    Judd floored the gas pedal again, but he had forgotten to shift into drive, and the car jumped back and over the curb, narrowly missing a light pole and stopping inches from a brick wall. “Hey! Whoa!” Lionel said, laughing. “You’re safe in this neighborhood, now that you’ve got a brother in the car.”
    Judd was relieved he had not hit Lionel or the wall but was also embarrassed at being such a klutz. He was soon speeding away, only to have to stop quickly at a red light a few blocks away. “Didn’t you see LeRoy?” Judd demanded.
    “LeRoy? No, Talia brought me to see André. They’ve got him holed up in—”
    “I mean didn’t you just see LeRoy pull into that alley?”
    Lionel turned around in his seat. “Are you sure?”
    “We’re sure,” Ryan muttered from the floor.
    “Get up here, will you?” Lionel said. “You’re safe now.”
    Ryan clambered into the seat. “He was drivin’ that ugly old brown and yellow van,” he said.
    “Must’ve been him all right,” Lionel said. “We’d better go back.”
    “Right,” Judd said sarcastically. “I’m gonna go back there and face LeRoy in the middle of the night.”
    “Yes,” Vicki said. “Let’s.”
    “No!” Ryan wailed. “I’ve been brave enough for one day.”
    “Yeah,” Lionel said. “You’re brave as long as you can camp out on the floor out of sight.”
    Judd didn’t know what to do. He felt responsible for Lionel, but was André his problem too? He pulled to the side of the street after getting a green light.
    “We’re not going back, are we?” Ryan said.
    “Just let me think,” Judd said.
    “We have to,” Vicki said.
    “If you don’t go back, I’m going to have to go on my own,” Lionel said. “He’s my uncle, and I have to make sure LeRoy doesn’t do something stupid. Once LeRoy figures out that I’m onto him and that my friends know, André is as good as dead.”
    “Well,” Judd said, “I can’t let you go back alone, but I don’t think we all need to go either.”
    “I don’t want to go at all,” Ryan said.
    “We got that message,” Lionel said.
    “I don’t want to get this car down in there and not be able to get out,” Judd said.
    “C’mon,” Vicki said, “let’s just walk back with Lionel and see what we can see.”
    “You can’t leave the car here either,” Lionel said. “You’ll come back to a pile of trash or maybe to a pile of nothing.”
    Judd sighed. He felt responsible for everyone. It wasn’t fair to make Ryan face LeRoy again. And how could Judd ensure his safety? He breathed a silent prayer. He didn’t know how to tell yet when God was leading him directly. He decided to use his best judgment and assume that was from God.
    “Vicki,” he said, “Lionel and I will go back and be sure André’s all right. You and Ryan stay here with the car—”
    “Oh, I wanted to go,” Vicki said. “I’m not afraid of—”
    “Just do this for me,” Judd said. “I don’t have time to argue about it, but I’m not leaving the car here or Ryan here alone.”
    “Thank you!” Ryan shouted.
    Vicki shook her head. “OK,” she muttered.
    “I hate to leave you out of it,” Judd said. “But I don’t know what else—”
    “Just go,” she said. “I understand.”
    It didn’t seem like she understood or agreed, but Judd didn’t have the time to persuade her. He took her word for the fact that she was all right with his decision, and he and Lionel headed back. “Keep the doors locked and the engine running,” Lionel said as they left. “And don’t talk to anyone but a