The Vanishing Gary Brown (booksvooks TXT) 📖

The Vanishing

Gary Winston Brown

Start reading the Jordan Quest series today for free

Have you met gifted psychic turned FBI agent Jordan Quest? Get the series prequel and read her backstory here, for free.

A tragic accident brings with it an incredible gift. But is the price too high?

When a young Jordan Quest is discovered lying on the bottom of the pool at her family’s stately mansion she is pulled out of the water and pronounced “vital signs absent” by the attending paramedics.

Unwilling to give up on the girl, Jordan is rushed to the hospital in a desperate attempt to revive her. Teetering on the brink of death, aware of her surroundings but unable to communicate with the trauma team working frantically to save her life, a strange and mysterious presence makes itself known. In that moment, Jordan’s life is changed forever.

She calls it The Gift, and her newly discovered abilities will have a profound influence on the world’s understanding of psychic phenomenon. Hers is now the voice of the dead. And law enforcement is listening.

In helping the authorities locate and bring to justice killers who have long evaded capture, Jordan soon discovers an unsettling truth: Is her astounding ability really a gift? Or is it a curse that brings with it unimaginable consequences.

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“When evil men plot, good men must plan.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Contents

Start reading the Jordan Quest series today for free

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

Chapter 65

Chapter 66

Chapter 67

Chapter 68

Chapter 69

Chapter 70

Chapter 71

Chapter 72

Chapter 73

Chapter 74

Chapter 75

Chapter 76

Chapter 77

Chapter 78

Chapter 79

Also by Gary Winston Brown

About the Author

1

EXCEPT FOR A van travelling several car lengths behind him, the canyon road was especially quiet. The drive to the top of Zion Point was usually a pleasant ten minutes. Oliver Prescott was in no rush. He expected the traffic to be heavier considering it was the fourth of July and celebrations were already in full swing behind him in the small town of Paulo Brava. On just about any other night he would still be in his office at the Center nursing a snifter of warm brandy with Bach or Brahms playing softly in the background. But this evening was special. It was the celebration of his retirement. The end of the first chapter of his life and the long-awaited commencement of the next.

Elaine Prescott leaned across the passenger seat of the Porsche Carrera and nestled her head against her husband’s shoulder. Oliver glanced out his window and took in the ocean’s beauty glistening in the moonlight. He thought of his two beautiful daughters, Claire and Amanda. Claire would be out on the town tonight with her boyfriend, perhaps even watching the fiery display from Steve’s boat in Paulo Brava harbor. How time flies, Oliver thought. Claire was already in her third year at university. A naturally gifted student, she had made the dean’s list two years in a row, determined to follow in her father’s footsteps. Oliver knew several of her professors personally. All agreed Claire was one of their best and brightest students. He thought of Amanda, and his heart pained. She had disappeared two years ago without a trace. Despite the efforts of some of the finest law enforcement officers in the country, she could not be found. She had simply vanished. For six long weeks, the Prescott’s once peaceful household was transformed into a base camp for local and federal police agencies. Residential and business telephone lines had been tapped. Background and association checks were run on family, friends, professional acquaintances, and enemies. Sophisticated electronic equipment of various purposes had been set up to assist in every manner to monitor and track the progress of the search. A mobile command center had been posted at the entrance to the estate, manned around the clock. Only the Prescott family and those with on-premises security clearance were allowed access to and from the home. Both Oliver and Elaine knew the authorities had been excruciatingly thorough in their search for Amanda. Nothing, it seemed, had been overlooked, no stone left unturned. Yet despite their best efforts, hours soon turned into days, days into weeks, and the many leads the investigators valiantly pursued into dead ends. Over time it became necessary to reduce the intensive human resources being exerted in the search. Difficult though it was, they made the decision to pare down the investigation. The case, for all intents and purposes, had gone cold. Oliver could still recall the looks of disappointment on the faces of the investigators who had been a part of their lives for weeks, now forced by their superiors to pack up their equipment and move on to other cases. They offered their prayers and apologies and wished them luck. As a family they had been drawn into an unending nightmare, relentless in its determination to test them beyond their limits. Eventually, they were forced to confront the unthinkable reality that for some unknown reason Amanda was gone. And in all probability, they would never see her again.

Waves charged into the shoreline, crashing violently over the rocks at the foot of the canyon, their rhythmic mantra barely audible above the soft whine of the Porsche and the occasional boom of the fireworks.

Elaine Prescott clutched the spoils of the night’s affair in her arms. Oliver glanced at her in the mirror.

“Nice award,” he said. “Care to read the inscription to me one more time?”

“Okay,” Elaine replied. “If you insist.”

“I do.”

“The American Psychiatry Association Lifetime Achievement Award.