ZONDERVAN Mark of Evil Copyright © 2014 by Tim LaHaye This ...

ZONDERVANMark of EvilCopyright © 2014 by Tim LaHayeThis title is also available as a Zondervan ebook.Visit www.zondervan.com/ebooks.Requests for information should be addressed to:Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530978-0-3103-3464-4 (HC, Library Edition)Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataLaHaye, Tim F.Mark of evil / Tim Lahaye & Craig Parshall.pages cm. -- (The End Series ; Book 4)ISBN 978-0-310-33454-5 (trade paper)1. End of the world--Fiction. 2. Good and evil--Fiction. I. Parshall, Craig, 1950- II. Title.PS3562.A315M35 2014813’.54--dc232013037376Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used bypermission.Scripture quotations also taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission of Zondervan. Allrights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comAny Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this bookare offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement byZondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the lifeof this book.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy,recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the priorpermission of the publisher.Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents areeither products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional,and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.Interior design: James A. PhinneyPrinted in the United States of America14 15 16 17 18 19 20 RRD 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

OneIn the futureAthens, GreeceEthan March had just confronted the horror once again. He nowstruggled to steady himself and to clear his mind after seeing the hideousface. He murmured to himself, lips barely moving, as he spoke thetwo words that seemed to explain everything.“The beast.”A lightning-fast shiver shot down his spine, like an aftershockfollowing an earthquake. One thing he knew for certain: he had notdreamed it and it wasn’t just some nightmare; he was sure of that.Just more evidence, he thought to himself, that the final reckoningapproached.Ethan had spent the previous night sleeping up on the flat, tiledroof of his apartment building. The air-conditioning inside the1

Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshallbuilding didn’t work and it was cooler up there. It was likely the riotingacross the city and all the fires had caused the electrical failureseverywhere. Economic desperation had wrestled Greece into an economicchoke hold, just like the rest of the world. And the masses weregetting restless.At the first glimmer of dawn that morning he had wakened onthe rooftop, stretched, rubbed the sleep away from his face, and saidhis morning prayers. The sun was just breaking over the mountains,spreading its burning light across the miles of whitewashedoffice buildings and apartments crammed into the Greek capital. Itwas then—with his eyes wide open—the same vision had appearedto him, just as it had so many times before. Ethan was convinced itwas a message from God. He didn’t care what other people thought.Although the truth was he had told very few others about what he sawin those moments. He couldn’t afford to. He also understood that insome strange way the visions were for his benefit, even though theyunsettled him deeply, down to his gut.Each time the sequence was the same: the image of a handsomeman would appear to Ethan out of nowhere. But those features wouldlinger only momentarily and would quickly disappear like a morningfog evaporating in the sun. And then, suddenly, in one great, sickeningjolt, there would come another face—a repulsive, red-eyed creature. Amoment later and it would all be over. The vision would leave Ethandrenched with a sense of dread and wondering why, out of everyonein the human race, he’d been chosen to encounter the image of thatgrotesque creature, over and over again.Ethan was still up on the flat rooftop, and now his eyes searchedthe four corners around him. He had to be ready for nasty, unannouncedvisitors, like the violent men who were probably at thatvery minute scouring the city for him. Tracking him down.But today he was expecting his buddy Jimmy Louder, who wassupposed to arrive any moment now. Louder was one of the most2

Mark of Eviltrusted men in Ethan’s Remnant group—the underground networkstruggling to survive in this new order of things. Like Ethan, Louderhad once been an air force pilot, but he was several years older. He hada laid-back manner, but underneath there was a reserve of toughness,something that had come in handy during his confinement in a NorthKorean prison camp. Although Louder and Ethan didn’t focus onphysical survival—their mission was bigger than that—it was still anecessity, especially for Ethan, who was at the top of the Most Wantedlist of the Global Alliance.From his position up on the roof, Ethan could now hear the sirenswailing across the city and see smoke spiraling up from half-a-dozenfires set by vandals, rioters, or looters. This was life as usual. He knewsimilar scenes were happening in every other major city on the planet.With no sign of Louder, Ethan decided to make use of the time.He yanked up the bottom edge of his sleeveless T-shirt to wipe thesweat off his face, cracked the stiffness out of his nineteen-inch neck,and rose to his feet, shaking his muscular arms to loosen them up.Then he dropped down for fifty rapid-fire push-ups. Then fifty situps.Then leg raises, followed by an explosive volley of running inplace. He must have been shaking the roof, because someone in theapartment below began screaming out the window. Ethan understooda little Greek and knew the man downstairs was yelling for him tostop. He was shouting a few other choice things too.Ethan smiled and called back an apology. “Sygnomi!” He grabbedhis canvas rucksack, which was filled with fifty pounds of bricks,and prepared for his daily routine. For the last two years he had beenforced to live his life like an endless series of stunts on a movie lot—scampering down the sides of apartment buildings, leaping fromrooftops, and jumping out of moving cars—just to stay one step aheadof the Global Alliance agents who pursued him. That meant every daywas a training day.Strapping the heavy rucksack to his back, he sauntered over to3

Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshallthe edge of the three-story building where a four-foot black, wroughtironfence surrounded the rooftop. A rope had already been cinchedto it and hung over the side until it nearly reached the street level. Heclimbed over the fence and quickly rappelled down the rope. Thencame the hard part—with a heave, he scampered back up the rope tothe rooftop with the pack full of bricks still strapped onto his back.While he caught his breath on the roof, a voice brought him out ofhis thoughts. “I figured I’d find you up here.”Ethan snapped around. He relaxed when he recognized the thinframe of Jimmy Louder with his reddish hair receding in a widow’speak at the temples.“Always pushing yourself physically,” Louder said.Ethan shrugged and smiled. “Force of habit, I guess.”“Going all the way back to your Triple-A baseball training, I suppose?Nearly making the pros—yeah, that always impressed me, bythe way.”“Well, it didn’t impress the pitching coach much,” Ethan shotback with a smirk. “I had a pretty good fastball. But about as muchcontrol over the ball as my mom had over her tomcat. And then therewere those other problems I had with the game . . . So, next stop, theUnited States Air Force.”Louder had a glint of admiration in his face. “And all of thatspecial-ops training they put you through. Now, me? I was just oneof those ol’ run-of-the-mill fighter pilots who only got the basic survivalcamp.”“Which came in handy, I bet, when you got shot down on thewrong side of the DMZ.”“Sure. For the four days I was on the run. Until I ran smack into aNorth Korean patrol. Oh well. Water under the bridge. And God wasgood. Two years later He sent Joshua Jordan and the rest of you guysto get me out.”Ethan still struggled over that. He always felt a sting of regret that4

Mark of Evilhe didn’t really do a lick of work on that rescue mission. It had allbeen God and Josh Jordan as far as he was concerned. Oh yes, andthe pretty, dark-eyed Rivka. She had been in on it too, big-time. Howcould he forget her?“The minute I noticed your new location on the encryptedRemnant GPS,” Louder continued, “I wondered what happened tothat cheap hotel room where you were living before—the one on thewestern end of the city.”“High-crime area,” Ethan said with a wink. “Bad neighborhood.”Louder chuckled. “Since when are you afraid of a little violenceand mayhem?”“Actually,” Ethan explained, “some agents from the GlobalAlliance’s security police showed up one day and started asking thelandlord about me. I had to split in a hurry. So I found a room here inthe Plaka district. It turns out this landlady’s one of us. So what’s newwith you?”Louder quickly surveyed the rooftop. They were still alone. “Twothings. First, on a personal note”—he broke into a grin—“I ran intoRivka a few days ago at a safe house in Jerusalem. She was travelingthrough on her way back to Hong Kong. She said to say hi.”Ethan’s face brightened slightly. “Oh? Did she say anything else?”“Only that she would really like to see you soon.”Ethan shrugged. “Well, she knows the encrypted undergroundnumber. She can locate me that way anytime she likes. In fact, shecould have done that a year ago.”Louder snickered. “Do I sense that you’ve got some feelings onthat subject?”Ethan waved the comment off. “What’s the second thing?”Louder sobered. “Speaking of the Global Alliance, I think I wastailed today. Two rough-looking guys.”That was something Ethan didn’t want to hear. He could feel hisjaw tensing. “Did you lose them?”5

Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshall“Yeah, about a block from here. They didn’t look like GlobalAlliance police. More like bounty hunters. Probably sniffing after thereward money the Alliance is offering.”“I wondered when the Alliance was going to raise the bounty.”“Well, on you they have. Big money. But for the capture of little ol’me,” Louder said, “they’re just offering dresser change.” He gave out afake whimper. “My male ego is still aching about that.”Ethan managed a grin. But silently he mulled over the bountyhunter issue. He hoped Louder had lost the guys tailing him.He shook it off and changed the subject. “All right, on the subjectof an underground barter payment system, where are we on that?”“I’ve been in contact with the black market guy. His name isGikas. A local Greek. He’s the Athens point person for Mr. Big.”“Jo Li?”“Right. I’ve already set up the introductory meeting with Gikas.”“Where is Jo Li now?”“Don’t know. But we may find out shortly. You and I have a meetingwith Gikas up at the Acropolis, like, right now. That’s why I cameby to pick you up. Sorry about the short notice. If he clears us for thenext step, then we get a meeting directly with Jo Li.”“Good,” Ethan said, snatching his short-sleeved shirt off the roofand slipping it on.“Just one thing,” Louder said. There was caution in his voice. “Wejust don’t know a lot about Jo Li’s operation. I’ve only heard rumors.We have to be careful.”“Sure. But those of us in the Remnant who refused to get laserimprinted with the BIDTag identification don’t have any choice,” Ethanshot back. “Ever since the Alliance linked the universal monetary systemto everybody’s BIDTag via the web, we’ve been stuck. I’m hopingJo Li’s system will be our ticket to an alternate method to buy and sell.”Louder smiled as he watched Ethan launch into one of his favoritesubjects.6

Mark of Evil“If we fail in this,” Ethan continued, “our people won’t eat. Won’tbe able to pay for housing. And we’ll be strapped for communicationsmoney to deliver the truth to a world on the verge of imploding. Andthen there’s our field operations budget. Without that, how are wegoing to protect God’s people from the evil empire? This is a ‘Moses atthe Red Sea’ moment.”“I thought you said you weren’t called to be a preacher,” Jimmycracked with a sly smile.Ethan shrugged it off. “Okay, so I guess I’m cranked up this morning.”He looked out beyond the rooftops and up to the ancient ruinson the top of the hill in the distance. He studied the columns of theancient Acropolis from his position on the rooftop, and then he askeda question that came out more like an answer. “Most people just don’tthink their own civilization will crumble, do they? Josh kept tellingme how one day the whole planet would start collapsing into chaos,right before God wraps up history once and for all. Brings Christ backto establish His kingdom. Like an idiot, I didn’t take it seriously backthen. But Josh was right. He was right about a lot of things.”Louder studied him. “You miss him, don’t you?”“I miss all of them,” Ethan shot back. “The whole Jordan family.Josh. And Abby too. Boy, she really sized me up when she first noticedI was interested in her daughter!” He laughed. “And I miss her too.Deb Jordan, I mean. I know now why it never would have workedbetween the two of us, though I didn’t have a clue at the time. And Imiss Cal, of course. We ended up like brothers. But right now I knowthat none of them are looking back. No regrets. And meanwhile youand I, because we dragged our feet in making a decision about Jesus,ended up being left behind.”Louder bobbed his head. “At least we’re on track now.”Just then Ethan heard a sound, as if someone approached. Hewas instantly on the alert, like a hunting dog. The noise came fromthe far end of the rooftop where it was accessed by a single door7

Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshallset into a copula. Ethan narrowed his eyes and pointed to the door.“When you came up to the roof, was anyone hanging around in thestairwell?”Louder shook his head.Before Ethan could reply, the door burst open and two menrushed out onto the rooftop. In the lead came a bounty hunter sportinga Mohawk and a sleeveless shirt that revealed tattoos runningdown both arms. He was followed by a tall, lanky man with his hairtied back in a ponytail who hung back.“Hold it right there!” the tattooed guy screamed as he stood hisground at the other end of the roof. He pointed a strange-lookinggun in their direction. “We’ve got a piece of paper from the GlobalAlliance. And you know what?” He broke into a big grin. “It’s got bothyour names on it.”“They had those kinds of papers in Nazi Germany too,” Ethancalled back.“Nice history lesson, Jesus freak,” the man yelled, following upwith a string of profanities. “But I didn’t come this far to chat. Waittill the Alliance starts putting the screws to your head,” he said with alaugh. “I wish I could see that.”Ethan whispered to Louder, “I’m not carrying at the moment. Areyou?”“Nope,” Louder replied in a hushed voice.Ethan sucked in a deep breath and stared at the two tough guysedging cautiously toward them. “Looks like we’ll have to do this thehard way.”8

TwoEthan and Louder raised their hands. As they stepped slowly towardthem, the bounty hunters eyed them like jungle animals stalking aprey that could fight back.Ethan kept his eye on the little black weapon with four barrels thatwas gripped in Tattoo Guy’s hand. “Looks like one of those Russianpistols. The PB-4M,” he whispered.“Rubber bullets?”“Maybe.” Rubber bullets or not, Ethan knew that a shot to hisskull from one of those would knock him out, and could even be fatal.And a hit anywhere else would certainly disable him. “They mustwant us alive.”“What’s the plan?”Ethan surreptitiously glanced around. They were standing aboutfive feet from the wrought-iron fence at the edge of the building’s flatrooftop. “You slide down the rope. I’ll handle the illustrated man withthe gun.”9

Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshall“I thought you were the master rope climber.”“But you’re the old guy. Age before . . . whatever.”“Shut up!” the tattoo guy yelled. Without warning he fired hispistol, winging Ethan in the thigh. Ethan howled, grabbing his leg. Hegrunted to Louder, “Yeah, rubber bullets. Get down the rope. Meet meat the Acropolis.”The two bounty hunters were now about five feet away. Louderturned and launched himself over the fence, sliding down the rope.The tattooed shooter aimed for him, but Ethan leapt forward and buriedhis head in the man’s midriff, taking him to the ground as thepistol clattered out of his hand. The tattoo guy gasped for air, the windknocked out of him.The tall man with the ponytail jumped into the fray and lockedhis arm around Ethan’s throat from behind. Ethan grabbed the ponytailand tossed the man over his shoulder, sending him onto his backwith a smack.Struggling to his feet, Ethan began to limp toward the edge ofthe building. But the tattoo guy had recovered enough to catch himby the ankle and trip him. As Ethan jumped to his feet again he sawMr. Ponytail scrambling over to the pistol. Ethan hobbled toward thefence, coming within a couple of inches of the rope before the tattooedbounty hunter caught up to him and wrestled him to the ground. Asthe two men struggled, Ethan caught a glimpse of Ponytail picking upthe pistol. An instant later the man had the multibarrelled gun in hishand and with three shots left was running full speed toward Ethan.It was now or never. Ethan punched his assailant solidly in the face,knocking him out. As the ponytailed gunman ran toward him, Ethanlifted up the listless bounty hunter and held him like a shield. Mr.Ponytail fired and hit the bleary-eyed tattoo guy squarely in the back.With a low groan he registered the strike, now only semiconscious.Ethan dropped him and vaulted over the fence to rappel down therope. By the time he reached the porch of the second floor below, Mr.10

Mark of EvilPonytail was aiming his gun down at him. Ethan swung himself outof sight onto the patio.An elderly couple sat there on the deck in folding chairs. Theywatched him, wide-eyed with mouths agape.“Folks,” Ethan announced hurriedly, “you’d better go inside.” Hepointed to the sliding door that led to their little porch. “Stay there foryour safety. I’m borrowing one of your chairs.”The elderly man nodded hesitantly, like he was trying to understand.He and his wife rose unsteadily to their feet, Ethan helping thewife until she had both feet planted beneath her, and made their wayinto their apartment.Ethan snatched up a folding chair and collapsed it. He steppedup to the edge of the patio and waited. Two seconds later Ponytailcame sliding down the rope with his gun now jammed in his pocket.When he saw Ethan staring back at him, he grabbed frantically at theweapon, trying to yank it out of his pocket as he swung back and forthon the rope.Ethan raised the folding chair. “Stop persecuting God’s people.”He swung the metal chair and smacked it into the man’s midsection.Mr. Ponytail dropped off of the rope and fell straight down, clippingthrough an awning and finally landing on his back on the roof of a car.Ethan grabbed the rope and finished rappelling down to the sidewalkbelow. The ponytailed thug was rolling around in pain on thecar’s roof like a turtle on its back. Reaching into his pocket, Ethanpulled out a gospel tract and tossed it onto the man’s chest. “Read that,”he said to him. “Seriously. You’re on the wrong side. There’s still timeto turn your life around.”Then he placed under the windshield wiper of the car a few oldfashionedinternational CReDO currency bills. He’d heard a fewmerchants were still accepting those remnants of the last one-worldcurrency that had been in circulation before the world’s money systemwent totally digital. Those bills would cover the damage to the11

Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshallcar roof. He felt bad about the torn awning, but there was nothing hecould do about that now.He limped across the street to another apartment complex andmade his way through the lobby to a back entrance that led to an alley.He’d have to use a staggered route for the first part of his walk up tothe Acropolis to avoid detection. He was feeling the heat from theGlobal Alliance in Athens.Only one thing to do: After the meeting, time to leave the area andrelocate.Ethan made his way to Therios Street, where it took a steep turnup to the Acropolis and its overshadowing marble structures, theParthenon and the Temple of Athena—monuments to the long-deadprestige of pagan Athens. Therios Street would put him in the wideopen, but there wasn’t any other way to get there. Once up among theancient ruins, things might be safer, at least on the ground. Withthe devastating effect of worldwide depression, tourism was a bust.The grounds surrounding the ancient sites were usually vacant,except for hordes of homeless people sleeping under trees.As Ethan glanced up at the familiar remnants of ancient Greecewhere he would meet Louder and Gikas, he began to silently pray.For a successful meeting. For some way to provide a financial systemfor millions of new Jesus Remnant members around the world. Andfor some way to protect them as long as he could while the rest of theworld continued to collapse.12