Masquerade E-Book

Stephen W. Hiemstra

• Herausgeber: T2Pneuma Publishers LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

What happens when an online date goes horribly wrong?

Luke Stevens saves the day and pays the ultimate price, but U.S. relations with China preclude him from dying just yet. The CIA recruits his father, the divorced Pastor Phil Stevens, to masquerade as his son and flush out the terrorists. Can he remain faithful to his marriage vows in the midst of deception, temptation, and betrayal? Can he find love again?

Author, Stephen W. Hiemstra, is a debut novelist, but has published a Christian spirituality series (5 books), a standalone prayer-book, and numerous research publications while working as an economist.

Leseprobe

Contents

Other Books by the Author

Title Page

Copyright

ACT ONE

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

ACT TWO

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

ACT THREE

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

ACT FOUR

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

ABOUT

Guide

Contents

Start of Content

A Christian Guide to Spirituality

Called Along the Way

Everyday Prayers for Everyday People

Life in Tension

Living in Christ

Oraciones

Prayers

Prayers of a Life in Tension

Simple Faith

Spiritual Trilogy

Una Guía Cristiana a la Espiritualidad

Vida en Tensión

MASQUERADE: A Thriller

Stephen W. Hiemstra

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead is coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 Stephen W. Hiemstra All rights reserved. ISNI: 0000-0000-2902-8171

With the except of short excerpts used in articles and critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, printed or electronic, without prior written permission of the publisher.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Names: Hiemstra, Stephen W., author.

Title: Masquerade : a thriller / Stephen W. Hiemstra.

Description: Centreville, VA: T2Pneuma Publishers LLC, 2021.

Identifiers: LCCN: 2021919745 | ISBN: 978-1-942199-40-3 (paperback)

| 978-1-942199-39-7 (KDP) | 978-1-942199-41-0 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH Terrorists--Fiction. | China--Fiction. | Thriller

fiction. | Romance fiction. | Christian fiction.| BISAC FICTION

/ Christian / Suspense | FICTION / Thrillers / General

Classification: LCC PS3608.I328 M37 2021 | DDC 813.6--dc23

My thanks to Rui Ma, Ted Covey, Nathan Snow, and Wilson McMillan for helpful comments and to Diane Sheya Higgins and Sarah Hamaker for editing assistance. Thanks also to Christine and Reza Hiemstra for offering support and counsel.

Cover art is called Red Sea Crossing by He Qi (www.heqiart.com). Used with permission.

CHAPTER ONE

TRAFFIC. MEETINGS. TRAFFIC. Rinse. Repeat. Luke Stevens repeated to himself as he sat in his silver Mazda MX-5 backed up on route 95 east of Baltimore in the August heat.

Washed out. Sitting at his desk at home later that evening, Luke tried to work online but threw in the towel at nine p.m. Retreating to the kitchen, he put the dishes now dry on the rack away in the cupboard, warmed up a can of split pea soup in the microwave, and returned to his desk with a steaming bowl in hand. Between soothing spoonfuls of soup, he pulled up an online dating app.

Scrolling through potential candidates in the Baltimore metro area, he read: Abigail Ling – Chinese medical student, former Olympic gymnast, long shiny black hair, eyes the size of a harvest moon only darker, 25. Why does a fashionable gymnast take a name like Abigail and need to look online for a date? Then, Luke noticed that she was online and connected with her in the chat.

“Hi, I’m Luke. I love your online profile. What’s special about studying in Baltimore?”

“Hey, Luke, call me Abi. Good question—the harbor reminds me of summers along Bohai Bay with my family. What about you—Why Baltimore? Why economics?”

Wow. That was quick. It’s like she read my profile and waited for me to connect.

“Baltimore? Like you, I love the harbor and the ships. They remind me of my time at the Naval Academy and later service at sea. Unfortunately for the Navy, I discovered a passion for economics at the academy and finished a graduate degree in economics during my spare time in the service. When my time was up, I began working as a analyst and developed a fascination for building financial models. So why did you take up studying medicine?”

“After my grandmother died from breast cancer three years ago, I devoted my life to helping people. One thing led to another and here I am.”

Luke fidgeted with his spoon, stirring his soup and thinking about his own grandfather. He responded: “That’s tough. It sounds like you were close to your grandmother. Was she a doctor?”

“Yes. My grandmother was a pediatrician who loved working with kids. We were very close. ”

Luke paused to consider what to say next and finished up the last couple spoonfuls of soup.

Abi jumped in: “I hate to break this up but I have an exam in the morning. Would you like to get together in person tomorrow evening? Tomorrow is Friday so I can take some time off and sleep in on Saturday.”

What? Most women chatted several times online before considering a date. Abi must be super self-confident.

“Sure. What kind of food do you like?” Luke responded.

“Let’s meet in front of the aquarium at eight p.m. and figure it out from there. My life is so programmed that I try to be more spontaneous when I am free to choose.”

“Great! See you then—I will be the guy with the Santa hat. You have my cell number if things get too spontaneous. ;=)”

“Okay Santa. Look for Sailor Moon, the Japanese cartoon heroine.”

Luke hung up intrigued that he had a date to look forward to. He washed his soup bowl and spoon, and placed them in the cupboard. Then, the phone rang.

“Hello, mom? How was your week?” Luke heard a Turkish game show theme song playing in the background.

“Fine dear, I just got off the phone with a colleague. We have been working through an audit together from an agency in the Department of Defense.” Sarah responded.

“I thought that you were taking some time off. It’s August. Why aren’t you taking a vacation?” Luke asked.

“You know that I love to be at home—why aren’t you taking one yourself?”

“Being single, I have been appointed the designated adult while everyone else takes their family to the beach. The good news is that I have a date tomorrow evening.”

“Is this someone that I should know?”

“Nope. First date. Wish me luck.”

§

Luke pulled into the city parking garage at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening. I can’t believe that I found a parking place on the first floor. He put on his Santa hat and walked downhill to the dock area by the Baltimore Aquarium. Although he sweated in the August humidity, a cool breeze from the harbor blew in his face. As he walked, he heard tire rumble behind him. When he turned to look, he noticed a white van, which picked up speed and drove off.

As Luke drew closer to the aquarium, he checked his watch and noticed he had arrived early. Nevertheless, across East Pratt Street a petite woman dressed with red boots, a deep blue skirt touching the tops of the boots, and a white blouse with a red bow that matched the boots waved at him. Behind her stood a sign for the National Aquarium. She crossed the street, ran up and kissed him on the cheek.

“Abi? You warned me about the Sailor Moon outfit. You look great! Did you wait long? I thought that I was early.”

“Not long. I came early to walk around the harbor.”

“So where does your spontaneity take you this evening?”

Abi took his hand and said; “Let’s walk up Charles Street until we find something inviting.”

“Okay. Lead on. Let me know what invites.”

Luke walked with Abi on his arm eastward up the street to Charles Street. Once on Charles, the sunset silhouetted the buildings and illuminated the storefront windows across the street on their right. Groups of college students and young couples walked down the hill, dogged occasionally by pre-teen bikers speeding around oblivious to the traffic.

Luke felt at ease with Abi. Her self-assuredness and warmth disarmed him completely. He expected an attractive and fashionable woman to demand center stage, but not Abi. He felt no need to play the entertainer, be defensive, or chose words carefully. Mom would love this girl; Dad would approve.

“Abi. Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure. What’s on your mind?

“Why does a former Olympic gymnast need to use an online dating service?”

Abi pointed to a coffee shop across the street: “Let’s talk about it over a cup of a coffee.”

She tugged his right hand with so much strength as they crossed the street that his body whipped to the left. As this happened, he noticed two short, thin men with crew cuts, black ties, and green-tan suits standing across the street and looking at them. Abi dragged Luke a few more steps to the shop, opened the door, and ushered him up to the counter.

“What can I get you?” The barista asked as Luke studied the wall menu. “The muffins are . . .” A shocked look flashed across the barista’s face.

“Hold it right there.” Luke turned around to see a uniformed police officer drawing his gun as the same two men he had seen across the street burst through the door brandishing pistols. Choo. One of them shot the police officer. The officer doubled over but as he fell to the floor he returned fire—Psiss—and hit the man. The other attacker froze, fixated on the officer.

Luke stepped up, grabbed the man’s pistol by the barrel, snapped it loose from his hand, and whipped him across the face. The man fell to the floor. Chee—a shot rang out, hitting Luke in the back. Luke turned to see a woman in green tan suit holding a pistol in one hand and a syringe in the other. Luke returned fire—choo, choo—and she fell to the floor.

Still holding the pistol, Luke saw the man he disarmed struggling to get up. He looked up at Luke, who had the drop on him, then took what looked like hard candy out of his shirt pocket and popped it into his mouth. Then, he fell back to the floor with white foam oozing from his mouth.

Luke felt uneasy on his feet. Seeing the threat had passed, he shoved the pistol into his pants and stumbled a couple of feet to straight-arm himself on the back of a chair.

“Luke! Luke!” Abi screamed, rushed over, and tried to hold him up.

His knees weakened. Luke saw a white van pull up in front of the shop. He slumped hitting his face hard on the back of the chair, slid to the floor, and passed out.

CHAPTER TWO

IN MCLEAN, VIRGINIA, Phil Stevens laced up his Adidas Countrys for a Saturday run, after the August haze and humidity briefly lifted following a morning shower. Reality seemed illusive after Sarah took off last year. Why did she object vehemently to being a pastor’s wife after so many years? Her role in the church and her career as a accountant seemed compatible and the congregation loved her.

Clearing his head, he walked to the curb and began jogging. One, two, three, four; one, two, three, four . . . He passed several neighbor’s homes. As the grade leveled off and rose again, he heard footsteps behind him.

“Hey Luke, wait up.”

Phil looked over his shoulder to see a fit, young woman with her blond hair streaming over her shoulders as she ran to catch up.

“Natalie, I want to thank you for confusing me with Luke again. You keep forgetting that he runs with the blue Naval Academy tee shirt. Mine is green!” Phil teased.

“Fooled me again, Phil.” Natalie laughed.

“Other than the tee shirt, how do you tell us apart?”

Natalie stopped, turned, and looked Phil in the eye with a blank expression, as if caught with an unexpected need to think. She blinked, then said: “Not by looks, but by attitude—you are the serious one; Luke is more fun. I think that is why my mother keeps reminding me that you are single now—she always says that I am not serious enough about life and always look for love in the wrong places. Do you think I should start attending church again?”

“It’s never too late to attend for the right reasons!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should date my mother! Catch you later.” Natalie turned right at the corner as Phil turned left.

§

Head down and lost in his thoughts, Phil jogged down a small hill and up the other side. One, two, three, four; one, two, three, four . . . Lord, why have you brought me to this time and this place? Life was simpler when Luke was growing up. Sarah was never the same after Luke left for the Academy.

As Phil reached the top of the next hill, a police cruiser drove past him up to the next street corner, turned on its flashers, and blocked the street. The commotion startled him to look up, but before he could gather his thoughts a white van pulled up next to him. The side door opened up and a man in a suit called out: “Phil Stevens?”

Phil stopped. He turned to the man, who displayed credentials identifying him as a Fairfax County police officer: “Yes. How can I help?”