Crossfire
by
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Click … click … click … click.
In the game of Russian Roulette, the chamber of a revolver is loaded with a single bullet. The odds narrow with every click and pull of the trigger until a shot is fired.
Click … click … click … click.
When there are just two chambers left, the odds are fifty-fifty that the bullet is in one of them. The odds are fifty-fifty between life and death. The bullet either fires, or there is a deafening silence.
Click.
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A last-second roll just before hitting a hard floor kept Joe from breaking his ribs. He lay on the ground, breathing heavily and feeling his pulse bursting beneath his chest. Sweat beaded on his forehead and then ran down his face.
Somehow, he had survived.
His thoughts were hazy as he tried to push himself up from the floor. His captors had worked quickly. First, they dragged him up a series of steep stairs and then pulled him into an old library. His captors slid open a false door that opened into what looked like an old garbage chute and pushed him inside. He finally landed in a room that looked like a dungeon.
The chute had been a way of escape, interconnected through a maze of slides leading from the upper levels to a series of underground rooms. He took a deep breath and exhaled. The sweat ran down the side of his face and dropped in beads onto the floor.
“Nice of you to join us, Mr. McDonald.” There was someone else in the room with him. Joe could see the profile of a man a few feet away from him.
Joe exhaled, realizing his breathing had grown ragged. “Not my first choice,” he said to the shadowy figure. He could see two other men in the room behind the man.
“Your lack of respect is appalling,” the man said as he approached Joe and put handcuffs on him. “This should hold you,” he said as he attached the other end of the handcuff to a hook on the wall.
“What are you doing?” Joe yelled. “What do you want from me?”
“Let’s stop playing games. Where is it, Mr. McDonald?” the man said in a deep, raspy voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joe mumbled as he tried to look away. Didn’t this kind of violence only happen in spy thrillers? The fall of several strongholds in Europe and the Middle East had led Joe to believe the era of international espionage had ended, including this kind of ruthless torture. The sheer terror of the moment made Joe’s heart race as if he had just run a marathon. His captors were cold, calculated, and businesslike. Why did they want him?
As quickly as his captors had arrived, they disappeared without warning. Joe was alone in the dungeon.
“God!” Joe screamed. “If you’re there, please help me. Please rescue me from this!”
“Stand up like a man and stop your sniveling, you wimp. Your God won’t save you from giving something to criminals that will change the world for the worse,” Joe said to himself. Still handcuffed to the wall, he slumped over and leaned against it for support before drifting into a semiconscious dream state.
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Joe’s life flashed not so briefly before him. First, as a football hero in high school and college, he had done all the right things and won success the hard way. After the early days on the farm as a young man, Joe had decided on a career in medicine. Through sheer mental energy, he had been accepted into medical school. Countless hours spent in the library after football practice had paid off.
To take a break from his studies, he read about the political turmoil in the world. As if by accident, he had discovered his true love. In a dingy, isolated corner of the library behind his favorite desk, Joe read—sometimes for hours—about a world filled with adventure and opportunity. He decided against medicine and pursued education instead. From that moment on, he spent his days sprawled out on the grass in front of the College Memorial Union, reading about grand ideas.
He thought of his wife, Kat, meeting her and falling in love during their first picnic together under the big maple tree at college. Their long walks together, the knowing glances, her smell … she would be furious with him for being so dumb, for agreeing to go to Europe in the first place. Did he really have no choice in the matter? How could he have been so naive as to let those guys steal the C-7 disk? Would he ever see his family again?
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About the Book
Joe McDonald is an ordinary guy who teaches in a Phoenix, Arizona, high school. He and his wife, Kat, have three children: Chuck, Katie, and Derrick. But what happens to McDonald is not ordinary. He inexplicably becomes involved in an international terrorism plot that involves a C-7 disk, a disk that details the government’s plans for the transport of nuclear waste, including the reprocessing of plutonium. McDonald’s innocent, little adventure turns into something with bizarre and deadly complications, and it threatens his life and the life of his family. A religious fiction novel, Crossfire, tells the story of a family man who finds himself in a most unpredictable and precarious situation for which one cannot prepare. It’s a time where God feels distant, and no answer is in sight. Ultimately, Joe discovers that God delivers on his promises.
About the Author
Devon Baker is a former pilot, a sports fan, and life-time educator as well as a husband and father. His interest in mystery and suspense is inspired by Sherlock Holmes mysteries and everyday world events. Baker lives near Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Karen, and energetic dog, Watson, his faithful sidekick.