Sanctuary Lost WITSEC Town Series Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

his son crawled onto the couch and snuggled against him.

     
     

Chapter 3
    John sat in the back of the black, unmarked
car. Beside him, Pat gripped the small cage housing his rat. They
pulled up to the Air Force base and the driver gave a set of papers
to the guard. When they were handed back, the guard moved to John’s
window. He rolled it down and handed back his badge and ID.
    “Good morning, sir.”
    John accepted his stuff back. “Good morning,
Sergeant.” He looked at his son. “Pat, you want to say hi to the
sergeant?”
    “Hi.”
    The sergeant grinned. “What’s up, little
man?”
    John smiled and beside him on the leather
seat, Pat giggled.
    “You guys are good to go.”
    “Thank you, Sergeant.”
    “Y’all have a good trip.
    The car pulled forward through the barricade.
John left the window down and Pat leaned over his lap to get a look
at their surroundings. They drove through residential areas and
military buildings to an airstrip on which sat a huge plane that
would take them across country to Mountain Home Air Force Base in
Idaho. From there a helicopter would take them to Sanctuary.
    By air was the only way in or out. Sanctuary
was inaccessible by road, since the closest dirt track lay fifty
miles away. The surrounding area was a stadium of virtually
impassable mountains it would take two days to hike over. John had
searched for it online, but the satellite image of the general area
showed only the ring of mountains with a bunch of grass in the
middle.
    Sanctuary had its own water treatment plant,
waste management, medical center, a small school, a farm which grew
the bulk of their produce and a cattle ranch. Anything else they
needed was flown in by plane, which was also how the mail and
medical supplies were delivered. A dentist—which the town currently
did not have—was flown in once every six months.
    Everyone in the town was required to perform
a service that kept the town running, for which they were paid.
That job was either their former career or their choice of a new
job.
    Internet activity was contained to the
library and every resident was given half an hour a day to go
online, although their usage and activity was logged and monitored
by the NSA. Anyone who broke their WITSEC contract was taken away
by helicopter where they were either kicked out of the witness
protection program, or put in jail. The “Memorandum of
Understanding” each witness signed was a binding contract.
    No one ever just left, or went on vacation,
as far as John could tell from the files. Any child born in town
who wished to leave when they came of age had to opt out of the
program and could never return—including going to school. If a
Sanctuary resident left to go to college they could never
return.
    John held the door while Pat scooted from the
car. Their two suitcases were loaded onto the plane along with the
lockbox holding John’s weapons. He led Pat to where Grant stood at
the bottom of the steps.
    “Ready?”
    John looked at Pat, trying to figure out if
the boy was happy about this or not. He hadn’t said a word about
leaving his friends. What was John supposed to make of that? Pat
gripped the cage and gave John a small smile, apparently content to
let his dad lead. John ruffled his son’s hair. “We’re all set.”
    “Call me when you get there?” Grant held out
his hand and they shook.
    John pulled his brother to him and slapped
his back. “Sure.”
    “I want weekly reports. Let me know if you
need anything or if you have any questions. When the month is up, I
want your final decision in writing.”
    “Got it.”
    John was eager to get the lay of the land and
figure out how this was going to work. The file had confirmed what
he’d suspected—there was little recorded crime in Sanctuary. But
who knew what went on beyond what was recorded on paper? It
depended on the people. And how the previous sheriff had chosen to
do his job.
    Hours later, the military helicopter flew
over mountains