The Vanishing Gary Brown (booksvooks TXT) 📖

Claire smelled the rose, appreciating its rich, aromatic fragrance, as gentle as the woman who gave it to her.

How interesting that Rosa should give her a yellow rose, Claire thought.

Yellow. The color of hope.

22

MAGGY GREETED THEM at the Navigator with a hearty woof!

“I know! I know!” Martin said. He pulled the serviette in which he had wrapped a strip of bacon out of his jacket pocket. “Be patient, will ya? Geez!”

Maggy promptly devoured the treat.

“See what I mean?” Martin exclaimed. “No table manners. The dog’s a canine vacuum cleaner. She doesn’t eat her food, she inhales it. But she is great company. Aren’t you, bacon-breath?”

Maggy licked her mouth, panted, and presented a satisfied smile from the back seat.

Claire laughed. She removed her cell phone from her purse. “I guess I better make that call.”

They drove towards Sacramento, leaving Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley behind. The mid-morning traffic was lighter than usual, and Maggy decided it was a good time to settle in for a snooze. She snored lightly and barked softly in her sleep, no doubt dreaming of a world filled with all-day walks in the park, an endless supply of bacon-flavored treats, and all the frisbees she could catch.

To the west of Vallejo, off Interstate 80, San Pablo Bay glittered and danced in the morning sun. Sailboats, power yachts and windsurfers skimmed across the turquoise waves, while beachside the water teemed with families splashing and playing together.

Claire looked out the window at the bay. “Martin,” she said, “tell me about the people we’ll be meeting with.”

“Sure,” Martin replied. “The organization is called The Reformers. It’s run by a fellow by the name of Mark Oyama, together with his two associates, Justin Dale and Cynthia Rowe. Mark is a retired special agent of the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Unit. Justin and Cynthia are professional de-programmers and field agents. They specialize in gathering covert intelligence on extremist groups who pose a threat to public safety such as neo-Nazi movements, paramilitary separatists, white supremacists, and religious cults. They’re also trained to conduct rescue missions, or extractions.”

“And you think they can help us find Amanda?”

“Trust me,” Martin said. “If anyone can, Mark’s team can. They’ve successfully extracted many individuals from cults at the request of their families. Afterward, they undergo de-programming sessions with Justin and Cynthia to help rid them of all the crap that’s running around in their head. Eventually, they’re able to integrate back into society and lead contributing, productive lives once again.”

“What mental state are they in when they’ve been rescued?”

“You name it,” Martin said. “Depressed, suicidal, angry, confused. Some spend weeks at a time not knowing what to believe, simply because their concept of right and wrong has been thrown into a tailspin. Think about it. For as long as they’ve been with the cult, the cult has made all their decisions for them - what to eat, what to read, what to say, what to believe. Their ability to think and reason has been carefully manipulated to benefit the cult and its leaders. They’ve basically surrendered their will, so re-establishing their identity as individuals with the right to freedom of expression and self-governance is extremely difficult. They feel tremendously alienated from their families, and they’re scared to death of not living in accordance to the rules and constructs they’ve become accustomed to. It’s a difficult period of adjustment for everyone, especially their families. But once they’ve been through the deprogramming process and their wall of resistance comes down, and you get that person back, whole again, it’s a wonderful feeling.”

“What do you think motivates them to get involved with the cult in the first place?”

“Could be many reasons. Some are street kids desperate to call any place home, and the cult is only too pleased to welcome them. Others come from extremely wealthy families or are college students introduced to recruiters by their friends on campus. But it’s usually the doctrine of the group that is their primary reason for getting involved. After they’re in, it’s pretty much impossible to get them out. Abusive cults immediately set about isolating them from the outside world and insist they find the answers to their questions and problems from within the group itself. They hammer their ideologies and beliefs into their mind. Pretty soon they’ve become brainwashed into believing they can’t say or do anything without the approval of an elder or group leader. To do otherwise would risk disapproval, punishment, ex-communication, or possibly even death.”

“It’s hard to believe that one individual could be so charismatic that they hold such extreme influence over so many,” Claire said.

“Not when you’re desperate for love and attention,” Martin said. “If the people you call family show their affection for you by beating you senseless routinely, it becomes easy to see how a person could eagerly attach themselves to an individual or group willing to show them compassion and respect. When you’re at your weakest and meet people who demonstrate by their words and actions that they care for you, you won’t just walk to them, you’ll run to them. It’s only after you’re in that the pressure to conform and the isolation, interdependence and mind games begin. That’s when they have you. By that time, you’ll do whatever they tell you in exchange for continued acceptance. Just look at what happened to my wife, Anne. She was an intelligent, well-educated woman. But when they got inside her head and began pushing the right buttons, she didn’t have a chance, and she paid for it with her life.” Martin paused. “Believe me, Claire. There’s no way in hell we’re going to let that happen to Amanda.”

23

FORTY-FIVE MINUTES later the city of Sacramento came into view, at once disappearing then re-appearing in rhythmic intervals as the swish-swish of the windshield wipers swept away the last remnants of a brief sun shower.

“We’re here,” Martin said as he brought the SUV to a stop at