The Vanishing Gary Brown (booksvooks TXT) 📖

“I told him no. But I know he didn’t believe me.”

“I knew Fallon was dangerous,” Sky said. “We have to get out of here, the sooner the better. We have Blessing to think about.”

“And Amanda.”

Sky paused. “You’re right. We can’t leave her behind. If her life is in danger, she’s safer with us.”

“Mommy?” The tiny voice at the door made Sky jump, and she realized how deeply afraid she had suddenly become. Blessing stood in the doorway to their room.

“Yes, baby?”

“Goodnight.”

“I thought you were asleep, sweetie,” Virgil said. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I was,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “I needed to go to the bathroom, but it was dark, and I was scared.”

“It’s okay, honey,” Sky said. “I’ll take you down the hall to the bathroom.”

“That’s all right, Mommy. I already went.”

Sky looked at Virgil and smiled. “Well, I guess you are a grown-up girl now. Able to go to the bathroom in the night all on your own.”

“I didn’t go on my own,” Blessing answered. “Mr. Fallon took me.”

“What did you say?” Virgil said.

“He was standing outside the door when I got up.” Blessing ran to the window. “See?” she said, “There he goes now. I guess it’s his bedtime too.”

Virgil watched as Fallon disappeared into the dense mountain fog. He leapt to his feet.

“Virgil, no!” Sky cried. “Don’t!”

Too late, his heart pounding like a timpani, Virgil ran out of the room, struggled down the stairs as fast as he could manage, shoulder-slid along the wall, and shuffled out of the building into the thick fog. Fallon was gone. Virgil gasped for air. He knew he was in no shape to give chase. He would need to conserve his strength for their escape from Eden.

He shuffled up the stairs, walked back to his room, and froze at the sight of the broken door.

An unwelcome adornment graced its tarnished brass handle. The bloodied plastic strip he had earlier used as a tourniquet swung back and forth on the doorknob like a hangman’s noose awaiting the neck of a condemned prisoner.

“He must have followed us back,” Virgil said as he entered the room. His voice shook with anger. “He was standing in the hallway, listening to us. He heard every word we said.”

Sky clutched Blessing. “I’m scared, Virgil. What are we going to do?”

“We need to get out of here. But not tonight. It’s too dangerous right now. I know Fallon. He’s out there somewhere, hiding in the shadows, just waiting for me to make a mistake. Pack whatever you can tonight that will allow you and Blessing to travel light. We’ll leave tomorrow night.”

“What about Amanda? We can’t leave her here.”

“We won’t. I’ll come back for Amanda. She trusts me. She knows I wouldn’t lie to her. First, I need to get you two someplace where you’ll be safe.”

“But where will we go? We have no car, no money, and we barely have any food.”

“There’s an old hunting cabin on the mountain. Reisa and I came across it a few weeks ago. I’m sure it’s abandoned. It doesn’t look like anyone’s used it for years. We can stay there. At least for a couple of days.”

“And then?”

“Then we go to the police.”

48

MARK OYAMA SAT in his chair at the head of the boardroom table as the members of his team entered the room and took their seats.

The attention of the room fixed on Claire. Under the table Martin held her hand, squeezed it reassuringly.

Mark motioned to Justin to turn out the lights. The room fell dark as the flat screen monitor presented the image of a newspaper article taken from the Paulo Brava Examiner. The headline read, WITHOUT A TRACE.

“Each of you will find dossiers in front of you,” Mark began. He rose from his chair and paced the room as he spoke. “Please open them now.”

He continued. “Twelve years ago, Dr. Prescott’s younger sister, Amanda, disappeared. The Prescott’s contacted the authorities and a full investigation was launched. No ransom demand was ever received, and no contact was ever made with the family. In the end, both state and federal came up dry. Now we think we know why. Next picture please.”

The image of the newspaper article morphed into the file photo from Martin’s book. The blurry visage of Joseph Krebeck and Amanda Prescott captured by the telephoto lens filled the screen.

“We believe from recent information provided to Dr. Prescott that her sister was taken against her will by the man you see here. His name is Joseph Krebeck. The woman is our extraction target. Until this morning we knew very little about Krebeck. Seems he’s dodged our radar very well over the years. I’ll ask Justin to take us through his findings.”

Justin stood, took the room. “Thanks, Mark.” He opened his file folder, removed a photocopy of an official document, and held it up. The cover page read:

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

EYES ONLY

OPERATION DELIVERANCE

“What you’re looking at is a copy of a de-classified report outlining the involvement of the CIA in Uganda twelve years ago,” he said. “The United States government agreed to assist in a military coup to oust a radical fundamentalist by the name of Mustafa Mensah. Mensah and his cronies had taken it upon themselves to redistribute Red Cross supplies and food to the people living in his territory. Those who could afford to pay with land, women, or children received the blessings of his generosity. Those who couldn’t died by the hundreds. Operation Deliverance was put in place to topple Mensah’s regime and restore aid to the people in need of it. That’s where Krebeck comes in.”

Justin advanced the presentation to the next image, a copy of a CIA identification card.

“Joseph Ulysses Krebeck,” Justin said, reading aloud the name on the photo identification. “A bona fide spook, ghost, or any other intelligence moniker you want to give him.”

Dan Raines sat forward in his chair. “Let me get this straight. Our bad guy’s a fed?”

“More than that,” Justin replied. “Joseph