The Vanishing by Gary Brown (top 10 motivational books TXT) 📕

Ahead, Virgil stumbled and fell.

“On your feet, Lutt!” Fallon called out.

“I… c-can’t… f-feel my leg.”

Fallon ran past Martin to the fallen man and delivered a brutal kick to the side of his body. Virgil attempted to roll, deflect the blow, but his damaged leg would not allow him to move. He cried out, then collapsed to the ground. “Get your ass up!” Fallon yelled.

Earl Bentley stepped between Fallon and Virgil. “Pretty tough for a pissant with a gun,” he quipped, hands fisted at his sides. “Maybe you’d like to try this old trucker on for size. I’ll even let ya have the first one for free.”

Fallon chambered a round and smiled. “You want a shot at the title?” He pressed the gun under Bentley’s chin, forced his head up.

Earl struggled to reply. “Like I said, nothin’ but a pissant. A gutless little pissant.”

Fallon removed the weapon from Bentley’s chin. “I haven’t got time for you now, old man,” he said. “But trust me, before the night is through, you and I are gonna dance.”

“It’ll be my pleasure,” Earl replied.

“Now get him on his feet,” Fallon demanded. He walked away.

“He ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Earl said. “Neither am I.”

“You’re really beginning to piss me off, grandpa!” Fallon yelled. He grabbed Claire by the arm, pulled her out of the line, pressed the barrel of the gun against her temple. “You have exactly five seconds to get your newfound friend mobile or I reduce our happy little hiking party by one. Five… four… three… two…”

“Fallon, no!” Amanda cried.

Bentley raised his hands, yelled. “All right! Ya made your point. Leave the lady alone!” He knelt beside Virgil.

Fallon pushed Claire aside and walked back to the old trucker. “I told you. Don’t fuck with me, old man. Next time you don’t get a count. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Earl replied. “I understand.”

“Good. Now let’s go.”

Martin helped Earl get Virgil back on his feet. “Don’t worry, mister,” Earl said. “We got ya.”

“Thanks,” Virgil replied. He winced. “I think he broke a rib.”

“Better a rib than dead,” Martin replied.

“I suppose,” Virgil said. He hobbled along the path, supported by the two men. He looked over his shoulder at Fallon as they approached the edge of the woods. “He’s on the run, isn’t he?” he whispered.

“By more organizations than you’d want to know,” Martin replied. “Do you have any idea who you’re involved with?”

Virgil shook his head. “Until last night, no. But now I do.”

“Fallon and Krebeck are walking laundry lists of criminal charges,” Martin replied. “Escaping lawful custody, kidnapping, murder, espionage, treason... take your pick.”

“I shoulda kicked his ass when I had the chance,” Earl Bentley said.

“That makes two of us,” Martin replied.

“You came to arrest him, didn’t you?” Virgil asked.

“No,” Martin said. “We came for Amanda.”

“I heard them talking,” Virgil confessed. “Krebeck killed her parents.”

“We know. When this is over, would you testify to that in court?”

“Absolutely,” Virgil replied.

“Good,” Martin said. “Then try to keep your cool. Help is on the way.”

“You got somethin’ up your sleeve I don’t know about, junior?” Bentley quipped, “’cause as far as I can see we’re pretty much on our own out here.”

“Yeah, I do,” Martin said. “When Krebeck surprised us back in the forest, I activated an emergency locator beacon in my car. It’s like a panic alarm. People from my office are already in the area looking for us. They’ll find us soon.”

Bentley smiled. “Pretty slick.”

“Just keep your eyes open and be ready for anything. When it goes down, it’ll go down hard and fast. You take care of our friend Virgil here. I’ll watch out for the girls.”

“You got it.”

“If your friends can help us,” Virgil said, “They better get here soon. We can’t go to the cabin.”

“Why not?” Martin asked.

“Fallon doesn’t know that I know about it, but I do. My friend is there, so is my family. I told them about Krebeck and Fallon and what I’d overheard. I sent them there for their own safety. Now I think I may have got them killed.”

“No one’s going to die tonight, Virgil,” Martin replied. “Not your family, not us. I guarantee that.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Virgil replied. “I want to do something to help, to protect my family, but I can’t. Look at me, I’m useless. I can barely walk, much less fight back.”

“You just hang tough, my friend,” Earl said. “I’ll do your fightin’ for you. That includes lookin’ out for your family. Everything’s gonna be okay. You’ll see.”

“Everybody hold up!” Krebeck yelled. “Stay where you are!” He walked to the end of the line, gestured to Fallon. “Come with me.”

The two men stepped far enough away from the group that their conversation could not be heard.

“What’s going on?”

“Look straight at me,” Krebeck whispered. “Don’t look around.”

“Okay,” Fallon complied. “Why are we stopping?”

“We’ve got trouble. One hundred yards, on my left. In the woods.”

63

CROUCHED BEHIND A tree, Mark placed a call on his cell phone.

“This is Pike,” the voice answered.

“Jonathan, it’s Mark. Joseph Krebeck and Reginald Fallon... you want ‘em back?”

“Hell, yes.” Pike replied. “Hot or cold. Makes no damn difference to me.”

“That’s what I figured you’d say. I need your help, pal. And I need it yesterday.”

“Name it.”

“We’ve found your boys. But if we move in now, our principal’s going to die. How soon can you deploy a tactical unit to my coordinates?”

“I’ve got a hot chopper and live-round team on the tarmac as we speak. They’re scheduled for a training exercise, but I can prep them en route. Where are you?”

Mark gave his GPS coordinates to the CIA Special Operations Commander.

“Christ! You mean these bastards have been in our backyard all along?”

“It looks that way, Jonathan,” Mark replied.

“Well, that just plain pisses me off,” Pike said. “Inform your people, we’re on our way.”

“Tell your pilot to look for several small buildings near a clearing at the base of the mountain,” Mark said. “I can’t risk dropping smoke or using a landing flare. You’ll have to locate our heat signatures using infrared.”

“Copy