Page 135 of Sheltering You

If she tried to sacrifice her own life to protect these new friends, she’d only prove how little she trusted God.

But she did trust Him.

If God chose to take one of His children home tonight…?

She didn’t want to consider it. All she knew was that she’d spent years studying His Word, learning from Him. Now, it was time to prove that she believed.

After giving the binoculars to his father, who watched out the window, Derrick approached, holding out one of the little black things to her. “Take a walkie-talkie.”

She did. It was black, a little smaller than a cell phone but thicker, with a big button on the side and a speaker on the front. “How does it work?”

Derrick took it back and twisted a knob on one side. Nothing came through but static. “That’s the volume. When you want to talk, you press this button and hold it down.” He indicated the big one on the side. “Then you have to remember to take your finger off it when you’re done talking or you won’t hear a response.” He handed it back to her. “Give it a try.”

She looked from it to him. “Why do we not just use cell phones?”

“Grant’s worried Khalid will be able to track us through them.”

“Oh.” She pulled hers from her pocket. “I should shut mine off.”

“No, don’t.” Grant must’ve been listening because he stepped toward them. “Keep it on. We don’t want them to know we’re onto them. Plus, if they are tracking it, we want them to come straight here.”

“It is…bait?”

Derrick shot his brother a glare that showed what he thought about that, but Grant either didn’t see or ignored it. “If you have to evacuate the house, leave the phone behind.” When she nodded, he turned to speak to Michael.

Derrick seemed like he wanted to say something to his brother, but after a moment, he shook his head and focused on her. “Our cells only work here because we have Wi-Fi, which runs off the satellite. If we lose power, we lose the signal. It’d be easy enough to disable the generator. Walkie-talkies are old technology. They don’t rely on any of that. They’re how we communicated before we had cell phone coverage out here.” He nodded to it. “Go ahead and try it.”

“What should I say?”

“Ask if there are any updates.”

She felt foolish but pressed the button and said, “Hello? Are there updates?”

A scratchy voice said, “Who’s that?”

“Jasmine.”

“It’s Bryan. All clear up here.”

“Eight boats now.” That sounded like Daniel. “The men are holding in the woods.”

“How many?” Grant asked.

“I’d say fifty.”

Jasmine’s horror must’ve shown.

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Derrick settled beside her on the couch and took the walkie-talkie, turning the volume down. “They have numbers, and they think they have the element of surprise, but they’re wrong. We’ll be surprising them. We have the high ground. We have Grant and Michael to strategize and fight—which is saying something.”

“This I know.” She’d seen Michael in action. He was a man who liked to control everything, but he’d willingly handed the reins to Grant, proving how much respect he must have for Grant’s abilities. She had no doubt both men were fierce warriors.

“Bryan can shoot the button off a jacket from a thousand yards,” Derrick said. “And Dad taught him everything he knows. Daniel, Sam, and I can hold our own in a fight.”

She’d witnessed Derrick’s abilities. He’d already saved her life once.

“Summer’s a trained bodyguard,” he continued. “Mom knows how to handle a gun, and Camilla and Eliza have learned to shoot. Michael’s been working with Leila, who feels comfortable enough to try. Trust me. We’ve got this.”

She did trust him, of course. She trusted all of them. But a stray bullet could end a life. How would she live with that?