"Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins - Left Behind Series 2 - Tribulation Force" - читать интересную книгу автора (LaHaye Tim)

“With me. I have a schedule, you know.”
“And there's no room for me on it?”
“You're asking for an appointment then?”
“If it's not inconvenient. I'd like to know where I'm going to land and what kind of
assignments you have in mind for me, that kind of—”
“Those sound like things we can talk about when we meet,” Verna said. “Alice! See
if I have a slot in twenty minutes, please!”
“You do,” Alice called out. “And I would be happy to show Mr. Williams his
cubicle while he's waiting, if you—”
“I prefer to do that myself, Alice. Thank you. And could you shut my door?”
Alice looked apologetic as she rose and moved past Buck to shut the door. He
thought she even rolled her eyes. “You can call me Buck,” he whispered.
“Thanks,” she said shyly, pointing to a chair beside her desk.
“I have to wait here, like seeing the principal?”
She nodded. “Someone called here for you earlier. Didn't leave her name. I told her
you weren't expected till Monday.”
“No message?”
“Sorry.”
“So, where is my cubicle?”
Alice glanced at the closed door, as if fearing Verna could see her. She stood and
pointed over the tops of several partitions toward a windowless corner in the back.
“That's where the coffeepot was last time I was here,” Buck said.
“It still is,” Alice said with a giggle. Her intercom buzzed. “Yes, ma'am?”
“Would you two mind whispering if you must talk while I'm working?”
“Sorry!” This time Alice did roll her eyes.
“I'm gonna go take a peek,” Buck whispered, rising.
“Please don't,” she said. “You'll get me in trouble with you-know-who.”
Buck shook his head and sat back down. He thought of where he had been, whom
he had met, the dangers he had faced in his career. And now he was whispering with
a secretary he had to keep out of trouble from a wanna-be boss who had never been
able to write her way out of a paper bag.
Buck sighed. At least he was in Chicago with the only people he knew who really
cared about him.


Despite his and Chloe's new faith, Rayford Steele found himself subject to deep
mood swings. As he strode through O'Hare, passed brusquely and silently by Nick,
he suddenly felt sad. How he missed Irene and Raymie! He knew beyond doubt
they were in heaven, and that, if anything, they should be feeling sorry for him. But
the world had changed so dramatically since the disappearances that hardly anyone
he knew had recaptured any sense of equilibrium. He was grateful to have Bruce to
teach him and Chloe and now Buck to stand with him in their mission, but
sometimes the prospect of facing the future was overwhelming.
That's why it was such sweet relief to see Chloe's smiling face waiting at the end of
the corridor. In two decades of flying, he had gotten used to passing passengers who
were being greeted at the terminal. Most pilots were accustomed to simply
disembarking and driving home alone.
Chloe and Rayford understood each other better than ever. They were fast becoming
friends and confidants, and while they didn't agree on everything, they were knit in
their grief and loss, tied in their new faith, and teammates on what they called the