The Vanishing Gary Brown (booksvooks TXT) 📖

weren’t for Martin’s help and that of the people who are working with him. And we’re not alone. We’re to meet up with the rest of the extraction team in an hour. I’d like to tell them we’ve got a solid lead to follow up on. But we need your help.”

“Extraction team?” Bentley said. “Last time I heard that I was in the military.”

“It’s what we do,” Martin said. “We rescue loved ones who have been taken from their families or gotten involved with psychopaths like Fallon. We give them a chance to get their life back, to start fresh.”

“Fallon? That’s this character’s name? The guy I gave the ride to?”

“Reginald Fallon, to be exact.”

“And he’s got your sister?”

“We believe so, yes. He and another man, Joseph Krebeck. And maybe others besides Amanda.”

Earl Bentley scratched his long, scraggly beard, contemplated the situation. “Well, I guess I have no choice here, do I?”

“There’s always a choice, Earl,” Martin replied. “You can do as you said you were going to do and leave. We’re thankful for your help either way.”

“Nope,” the old man sighed. “Not in this case. There ain’t a choice anymore. I got a code to follow.”

“A code?” Claire asked. “What do you mean?”

“Truckers code,” Bentley replied. “Never leave a lady in distress. So, I guess you could say I’m duty bound to see this through.”

Claire kissed him on his cheek. “You’re a sweet man, Earl Bentley. Thank you.”

The old man blushed, leaned over, picked up a crooked branch from the ground, tested its heft, tried unsuccessfully to bend it. Satisfied, he turned to Martin.

“Well, don’t just stand there, sonny boy!” he said as he took Claire’s hand and marched up the path. “Ain’t you learned nothin’ I taught ya today? Get a move on. We’ll mark our way in a little further then head back to meet your friends.”

“You’re sure about this, Earl?” Martin said. “You don’t have to get involved you know.”

“Hell, son, I’m already involved.”

“Thanks. Under the circumstances, we could really use your help.”

“Well, come on then,” Earl Bentley said as he pushed aside a swath of branches and helped Claire step over a fallen log. “We’re losin’ light the longer we stand around here doing jabberin’. The sun drops like a stone this time of the year.” He looked up. “With those clouds rolling in over the mountain, the forest will be black in no time.”

“On second thought, maybe we should head back,” Martin said as he observed a wall of gray clouds inching over the mountaintop. “You’ve had your fifteen minutes, Claire. Besides, Mark’s on his way. We need to hook up with the rest of the team and plan how we’re going to deal with this. It looks like there’s a lot more ground to cover than we expected. And like Earl says, it’s already getting late. We’re probably better off to conduct a grid search in the morning after we’ve mapped the area by sector. There’s no point in fumbling around in the dark.”

“The man’s got a point,” Earl said. “We ain’t got no flashlights.”

“Let’s just see what’s beyond the tree line,” Claire replied. She pointed to the edge of the forest. “Look, you can see the clearing from here. We can be there in five minutes.”

“Sorry, Claire,” Martin replied sternly. “I don’t care if it’s five more seconds. I told you before, this is Mark’s operation. You’re along for the ride, remember? Frankly, so am I. He made it clear to both of us that your safety is my responsibility.”

Claire turned, walked deeper into the woods. She picked a wildflower from the edge of the trail and dropped it at her feet.

“You heard what Earl said, Martin,” Claire replied. “The sun’s going down. We’re wasting time.”

“I don’t care. We’ll be back first thing in the morning. We know the way in, and the path is marked. Now let’s go.”

“Not yet.”

“Perhaps you didn’t hear me amidst the deafening silence, Claire. I said we’re leaving, now.”

“I hate to get in the middle of what clearly ain’t none of my business,” Earl Bentley said. “But maybe I can offer a compromise.”

“I’m all ears,” Martin replied.

Claire stood stone-faced on the path. She looked back at the two men.

The old man produced a penlight from a small pouch attached to his belt and clicked it on. Its narrow beam was barely visible in the fading twilight.

“It ain’t much, but it’ll do for the next few minutes. It should give us enough light to find our markers if we lose the light completely.”

“All right,” Martin reluctantly agreed. “But in five minutes we’re out of here. Clear?”

Claire turned, headed into the woods, offered no reply.

“Feisty young thing, ain’t she?” Earl said to Martin as they walked together through the woods.

“No, she’s just scared.”

“Of what?”

“Not finding her sister.”

“You really think this Fallon fella’s the key?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then we’ll find him. Ain’t nobody this old dog can’t sniff out. Speaking of dog’s, where’s yours gotten to?”

Martin whistled. From a distance came the sound of crackling leaves and snapping twigs. “Maggy… track,” Martin called out. The retriever ran alongside the two men, then bounded back into the woods.

“That some kind of command?” Earl Bentley asked.

“It used to be when she was in active duty. Now it’s more like hide-and-seek to her. If I tell her to track, she’ll stay out of sight but keep an eye on me from a distance. The same way a police officer covers his partner’s back.”

“How come she’s not still active?”

“Maggy was involved in a raid on a methamphetamine lab five years ago that went bad. The cops didn’t know the bad guys had a pit bull inside when they broke down the door. It took one officer by the leg and brought him to the ground. As soon as it saw Maggy coming through the door, it released the officer and went for her. The cop put six rounds into the pit bull. Maggy needed seventy stitches to close her wounds. She almost died on the