Rivers in the Wilderness

37~The Wilderness and then end

"Shouldn't we hide the van?" Peter asked anxiously, glancing back.

They'd stopped in a deserted area, a place resembling somewhere a serial killer might dump a body. Still, Leo shook his head at Peter's question. "Agent Roberts is on it."

Colton jumped from the van and tossed him a hooded look. "You and he are besties."

Leo let out a short humorless laugh. "I've never used that word in my life and I don't intend to start."

"Yeah." Dean threaded his hand through his hair. "It is more of a chick word."

"Hey!" Rose's small fists landed on her hips.

"But I gotta side with Colton on this one," Dean continued. "You and Roberts are buddies."

Rose glared.

"Easy, Rose." Janessa made the time-out gesture with her hands and stepped in front of Dean. "Please, don't kill him. I love him."

Dean grinned sliding his arm around Janessa's waist. "Love you too, baby."

"Relax," Rose said, lifting her arms in mock surrender. "I'm not going to hurt Dean even if he's super sexist and in need of sensitivity training."

"If we make it through this, we'll get right on that." Janessa's tone was dry, and she bit back a smile.

"Where we headed?" Mark asked, searching the mountainous landscape.

Leo stared straight ahead, his expression stoic. "Roberts said there's a cave on the north side of this mountain. Not many people know about it. We should be safe until help arrives."

Dean's jaw dropped. He wasn't alone. The others, except for Grace, stared up at the mountain peak that touched the clouds. It looked like a fierce climb for even an experienced climber. "You've got to be joking," he breathed, his hand squeezing Janessa's.

Colton and Peter stared, stunned, at the elevation. Even Mark seemed dismayed. Rose looked like she wanted to cry.

"Dude, the reason people don't know about this cave is because it's going to take an expert rock-climber to survive this suicide mission."

Leo caught Grace's reassuring gaze. "It's not as steep as it looks. Roberts said it's a fairly easy climb. Plenty of solid ground between elevations. He's meeting us there."

"Yeah, right, probably with his assassin buddies." Peter wiped the sweat from his brow in frustration. "This plan stinks."

"Like a skunk," Dean agreed, rubbing his jaw with the back of his hand. "But we can't go back. There's no way out of town with those guys blocking our way. This is all we got."

"Then we have nothing!" Rose cried, melting down.

"We have God." Mark lifted his head and looked all the way up where the mountain met the clouds. He turned to Leo. "How do we know we can trust that guy?"

"Exactly." Colton's tone was gruff. "Still can't believe you gave him the cross. The evidence was our only leverage."

"It wasn't like I had a lot of other options. Faith. That's how I know we can trust him." Leo's voice was quiet, his eyes flickering with pain. "We should pray, not worry."

Something flashed in Leo's eyes, and Grace realized he was thinking about his dad. Without John, he had no choice but to trust Agent Roberts. She could only imagine how difficult it was for Leo not knowing what had happened to his dad. Lord God, protect your servant, John Wilder.

A whispering wind swept her face. Grace spoke up. "Agent Roberts saved our lives and also the lives of the kids on the Bluejay. That's worth our trust. Leo's right. Faith and prayer are the answers."