The Vanishing Gary Brown (booksvooks TXT) 📖

“Wolf!” Dan cried. He drew his gun, trained it on the silhouette starting down the hill towards Mark.

“Hold your fire!” Mark yelled. He walked across the roadway and stopped at the edge of the embankment. “Maggs? Is that you?”

The growl abated. An uncertain whimper escaped the forest floor.

“It’s all right, Maggy,” Mark said. “It’s me, girl.”

“She’s scared,” Karen said. She crossed the road and stood at his side. “Be firm with her, Mark. She’s confused. She needs to know you have control and that she’s safe.”

“You’re right.” Mark called out sternly. “Maggy! Service!”

Woof! came the reply, accompanied by a scuttling of leaves and twigs. The retriever bounded up the hill through the darkness, rounded Mark, then sat beside him.

Karen knelt, hugged her. “Good girl, Maggy! Good girl, baby!”

“You think she knows where Martin and Claire are?” Dan asked.

“We’re about to find out,” Mark answered. “Okay, Maggy. We’re counting on you, girl.”

Maggy looked up at Mark, cocked her head.

Mark commanded the dog. “Track.”

The retriever ran ahead, then stopped and looked back.

Mark followed. “Find Martin, girl,” he said. Maggy ran to the top of the embankment, waited momentarily, then disappeared over the peak of the hill.

The team followed their canine guide into the blackness of the forest.

58

VIRGIL KNOCKED ON Reisa’s door. As the door creaked open, he forced his way inside.

“Come on in,” Reisa scoffed as Virgil brushed past him. “Make yourself at home. Geez! What’s eatin’ you?”

“I need your help and I need it now!” The words rushed out of Virgil’s mouth. His trademark calm demeanor had vanished. An uncommon measure of fear played in his voice.

“All right,” Reisa replied. He placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder and helped him to a chair. “That’s good enough for me. But would ya mind tellin’ me what the hell’s going on?”

“Amanda is not Prophet’s daughter. He killed her parents. Fallon’s in on it too. Prophet’s holding Outsiders hostage and…”

“Whoa!” Reisa interrupted. “Hold on, partner. Slow down. Take a breath and start from the beginning. What’s this about Prophet and Fallon and… hostages?”

“We need to get out of here, right now!”

“You haven’t answered my question. What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?”

“You’re never going to believe me.”

“Try me.”

“I overheard an argument between Prophet and Fallon. Prophet admitted he killed Amanda’s parents.”

“He what?”

“It’s true. She’s not his daughter like we thought. He and Cassandra have been keeping her hidden from the police. Remember the reporter who took a picture of us at Sonoma State?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“The community newspaper printed that picture. Now Fallon is worried that when the police see it, they’ll recognize Amanda and come looking for her. They’ll speak to the reporter first, then to students at the university. That will lead them here, to us. We’re in danger, Reisa. And I’m sure Fallon knows I know about Amanda.”

“How could he? Did he see you?”

“No. I heard someone coming down the stairs from Prophet’s building after I overheard the argument. Turns out it was Fallon. I didn’t want anyone to know I was there, so I ran. I tripped in the dark and fell over a pile of wood behind the workshop. That’s how I messed up my leg. He heard me fall and came looking for me, but I managed to stay out of sight. Fallon’s mad, maybe Prophet too. He’ll kill me if he finds out I know the truth.”

“You’ve got to talk to the police about this, Virgil,” Reisa said.

“I will, but only after my family is safe. That’s why I need your help.”

“Name it. What do you want me to do?”

“Get them out of here tonight. Remember the old hunting cabin we found up on the mountain?”

“Yeah.”

“Take them there. Stay with them until I arrive.” Virgil removed the bloodied plastic strip from his pocket, handed it to Reisa.

“What’s this?”

“I used it to tie off my leg and stop the bleeding when I cut myself. I threw it away, but Fallon found it. He left it hanging on the doorknob to my room. It’s his way of telling me he knows it’s me he’s looking for.”

“It’s not safe for you to stay here, Virgil. You should be coming with us.”

“I know. But I can’t leave Amanda behind. Her life may be in danger, and I can’t walk away knowing that. I’ll find her and convince her to come with us.”

“How?”

“I don’t know yet. Guess I’ll deal with that when I have to. Besides you and Sky, I’m the only one who knows there’s trouble. That should work in my favor. If I just go about my business quietly, maybe I can buy some time.”

“What about the Outsiders?”

“Leave that to me. Prophet and Fallon were leading them in the direction of the supply shed. Which would be a likely place to keep them under guard. For all we know, they’re the police. I’ll let them out. We could use their help.”

“You’re in no shape to do this on your own, Virgil. Let me help you. We can leave for the cabin with your family, together.”

Virgil smiled. “You’re a good friend, Reisa. The best way you can help me right now is to get my family out of here. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. I’ll meet you at the cabin in an hour.”

Reisa stood up and slipped on his coat. “Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll be there. You have my word.”

Virgil shook the big man’s hand. “I know.” At the door, he turned back. “Listen, Reisa. If anything should happen to me…”

Reisa cut him off. “Nothing’s going to happen to you so long as you don’t do anything stupid. You get my meanin’?”

“Just the same,” Virgil said. “Watch over Blessing and Sky for me. Okay?”

Reisa nodded. “Like they was my own. Now get out of here. I got a job to do.”

59

HIDDEN IN THE shadows that had now become his ally, Virgil pressed his back against the wall of Prophet’s building and listened.

Distant footfalls moving