The Vanishing by Jana DeLeon Read Free Book Online Page A

the shotgun, much less lower it.
    “Sir,” Max said. “The girl never returned home, and we’re afraid she ran into trouble. If you could just tell us where you saw her, we’ll be happy to get off your property and go look for her there.”
    Finally, the man lowered his shotgun. “This swamp is a dangerous place for people that don’t know their way around.”
    “I know,” Max said, “but we have to take the risk.”
    “If the girl you’re looking for left Cache then tried to return, the risk may be a lot higher than you think.”
    The man looked up at the darkening sky. “A storm’s coming. Maybe it will hold off until tonight or tomorrow, maybe not. But if you’re determined…” He pulled a knife from his pocket and cleared some brush away from the ground until only dirt was exposed. Then he began to draw a crude map and explain how to reach the area of the swamp where he’d seen Anna.
    Colette watched as he drew one turn after another, and listened as he explained all the channels in the bayou that they had to navigate, and she grew more nervous by the second. Max studied the drawing, asking the occasional question, until finally, the man drew an X.
    Max took a picture of the drawing with his cell phone. “Thank you for your help. My name is Max and this is Colette.”
    The man nodded. “People call me ’Gator. Ain’t got no given name that I know of. You run into trouble, tell them ’Gator gave you directions. Most of the swamp people know me. It might buy you enough time to ask about your friend fore someone shoots you.”
    Colette sucked in a breath and felt Max squeeze her arm.
    “We appreciate the help, ’Gator.”
    “Good luck,” the man said, but his skeptical look told Colette that he didn’t expect them to succeed.
    Before she could thank him, he spun around and disappeared completely into the brush. Colette stared into the undergrowth where he’d left the trail, but couldn’t see any sign of him. Nor could she hear him. No wonder he’d been on top of them before they knew it. It was as if he’d vaporized into the swamp.
    “How did he do that?” she asked.
    Max stared into the undergrowth and frowned. “Experience.” He started back down the trail to the dock and she fell in step behind him.
    “The same experience the people of Cache will have,” she said.
    “Yeah. They’ll know we’re coming long before we arrive.”
    “Should we continue? Maybe we should go back for supplies or help or both—maybe an entire branch of the Marine Corps.”
    He smiled. “That might appear a bit confrontational.”
    “Okay, I’ll admit, I’m scared to death of getting lost out here.”
    “I have a plan for that,” he said as they stepped out of the undergrowth onto the muddy embankment at the boat dock.
    He looked down the bayou in the direction ’Gator had indicated. The foliage was even denser, the light fading as you progressed deeper into the swamp. “It’s everything else I’m worried about.”
    Colette stared at the dimly lit bayou and bit her lip. She looked back at Max. “I didn’t pay you to risk your life. If you don’t want to do it, I’d completely understand. I don’t consider this part of the job.”
    “No. You paid us to find Anna. This is where the trail leads. As much as I’d prefer to have equipment and a better boat, I don’t want to waste time returning to New Orleans to get it. I think we should take a look around. If we haven’t found anything in a couple of hours, we’ll return the boat and come back tomorrow better equipped.”
    She looked up, studying the tufts of dark clouds that littered the sky. “And if it storms?”
    Max glanced up and shook his head. “We’ll just hope that it doesn’t.”
    She watched the clouds swirl across the sun. A chill came over her, and she hurried down the muddy bank to climb into the boat. The temperature must have dropped as the shadow covered her body. That was why she felt a chill.
    That’s what she told