A Distant Shore by Karen Kingsbury (books for students to read .txt) 📕

training had taught him how to slow his heart rate in situations like this. Steady breathing, focus on objects not people. But again this time was different.

By now two agents and the Bahamian police would be in the backyard, surrounding the dwelling. One of them would be on the roof of the detached garage, a rifle scope trained on the guy trying to get his money.

“You saw what you’re getting.” The man crossed his arms, legs spread. He was looking angrier by the second. “Two hundred dollars.”

Jack pulled his wallet from his pocket, his hands cool and steady. Get me out of here, God. Rescue me from this. He peeled ten twenties from the billfold and handed them to the man. At the same time windows broke in every direction.

“Police!” The cry rang from all four corners of the house.

“What the…?” Jack was supposed to run out, the way a would-be customer might do if a raid went down.

Instead, the big guy shoved Jack against the wall and before he could do anything about it, the man had a gun at his temple. “Everyone freeze.” He spit at Jack’s face. “Or your pretty informant’s a dead guy.”

So he did know. This was the worst possible situation. The agents creeping their way closer didn’t dare do anything to get Jack killed. He closed his eyes. This is my hour, God. Help me, please. Right now.

The smaller guy bolted out of one of the rooms down the hall, gun raised. But before he could pull the trigger, the lineman turned and fired a single bullet through the man’s forehead.

“That’s for ratting on me.” The big guy watched his buddy fall to the floor, facefirst. Then the shooter pushed his face against Jack’s. “Open your eyes, pig. I want my face to be the last you see.”

Jack kept his eyes closed. He wasn’t about to do what the man said. His next breath would be his last, he was certain. Watch over Eliza, Lord. She needs You.

A single gunshot rang out and the lineman fell to the floor.

Nothing made sense. Jack had been in a fatal trap, no way out. So how did his captor…

“Go!” It was a Bahamian police officer in uniform. “Out the front door.”

Jack hesitated only a moment. Something about the man was familiar, but then, that was impossible. He ran outside as gunfire broke out in the building. The shooting lasted only ten seconds or so and then agents and police officers began streaming through the front door.

A little while after, two agents including Camille walked the girls from the bedrooms onto the front lawn. They’d killed a total of three traffickers and arrested another two. None of the agents or officers were harmed.

All because of that one cop. Jack needed to catch a plane back to Texas, but he wanted to find the guy first. Jack had no idea how the man had breached the building, but his aim and shot had been perfect, taking out the lineman before the guy could pull his trigger.

Half a second off and Jack would be dead.

He walked through the small crowd gathered on the lawn and then around to the back of the house. But he couldn’t find the man. He asked a few Bahamian police, but none of them seemed familiar with him. “None of our officers were in the house when the shot was fired,” the captain told Jack.

That’s when it hit him who the officer looked like. Of course.

The man had looked like Beck.

JACK WAITED TILL he was in the plane before taking out his laptop. Maybe this would be the day he’d have a first email from Eliza. If she had found a secure location, and if she felt safe, she could log in and tell him everything he was dying to know.

Eliza would also use the server to talk to her superiors, let them know if anything unusual was happening or if she needed a quick rescue. The brass watched everything that came and went through the server, but Jack didn’t care.

He had talked to Oliver about his friendship with Eliza, and how it was definitely not anything more. “She needs someone who cares about her,” Jack had explained before he left.

Oliver had hesitated. After all, he was the first to notice Jack’s feeling for the Belizean girl. But in the end his boss agreed. “Everything you write to her will be read by a dozen people. Just so you know.”

Jack had nodded. “I have nothing to hide, sir.”

So it was that now Jack opened a blank email and began to write.

Dear Eliza,

I’m alive. The mission was successful, but I won’t lie. It got a little dicey at the end. I don’t want to think about what could’ve happened, but at the last moment a Bahamian police officer saved my life. He looked a lot like Beck.

Remember him? The guy I told you about.

Jack wasn’t about to talk angels here, where everyone could read about it. The brass would think he’d lost his mind. And maybe he had. Maybe the whole story with Beck had only been his imagination. God’s way of getting his attention. It didn’t matter. Eliza would know what he meant. He started typing again.

Anyway, I’m fine and the operation is behind us. The girls were rescued—all of them. Camille was with us, and she saw to that. Be safe out there.

Until next time,

Jack

There was so much more he wanted to say. But that would do for now. He sent the email and then saw another one land in his inbox. From the agent on the ground in Belize. The subject line read only “Answers.”

Jack opened it and read through the letter as quickly as he could.

Jack, I want to let you know I made a careful sweep through the Mennonite communities in Belize. The bureau agreed with you that your informant Ike Armstrong in Lower Barton Creek might’ve been onto something. We had hoped to find Eliza Lawrence’s mother and brother,