The Vanishings

Someone was Knocking at the door. Martin wasn't expecting anyone, neither was Carol. Martin glanced at his watch." Who could that be? It's after 10:00." "Well there is only one way to find out" Carol responded. Martin put down the paper he was reading and left the comfort of his overstuffed recliner to answer the the door. That is the last time Carol saw her husband of 25 years.

The police thoroughly searched the house and the surrounding neighborhood. there wasn't a trace of Martin Gilman anywhere to be found. Detective Jim Miller had a gut feeling that this wasn't going to turn out well. Miller walked back toward the Gilman house to talk the wife again. Something was missing besides Martin and he had to find out what it was.

Carol saw the tall man returning to the door and she walked over to let him in. "Hello detective, Have you any news?" Carol asked anxiously. " Nothing yet, but we are continuing the search." The detective answered. "I hope you don't mind, Mrs Gilman, But I need to go over the events of last night with you again. We have to be sure we haven't skimmed over something that may have been important". Carol looked up with sad eyes and said "Of course detective. Whatever you think will help find my husband."

Just two weeks prior to the strange disappearance of Martin Gilman, Carol Gilman was in the kitchen cleaning up the breakfast dishes. Martin had left for work about thirty minutes ago and Cassie, their twelve year old daughter, had just left for school. The phone rang. Carol turned to answer it. " Hello, Gilman residence." click! Whoever it was hung up. "Must have been a wrong number" Carol said to herself. Carol thought nothing of the incident until it happened tree or four more times. She mentioned it to Martin after the last incident. He seemed concerned but told her not to worry "it was probably just a wrong number."

When Carol told Detective Miller about the phone calls he seemed very interested. Now she was wondering if those calls were somehow connected to the disappearance of her husband.

Two years after the vanishing of Martin Gilman, Paul Whitner got up from the late news to answer a strange Knock at his door. He was never seen again. His wife, Marilyn, was terrified. Rodney, Her 14 year old son, tried to comfort her as the Tall detective gently asked the questions that were so similar to the ones he had to ask Carol Gilman just a couple of years ago. Now he had 2 missing husbands and zero clues as to what had happened to them. Little did he know that in three weeks, four more family men would come up missing in very similar circumstances. Phillip Holloway, Joseph O'Conner, Richard Barker and John Walker all would vanish leaving behind wife's and kid's.

Jim Miller was stumped, to say the least.Of course the vanishings had to be connected but "what the hell was going on?" Jim wondered out loud. He had to get to the bottom of this before more men came up missing.

On the small South Pacific Island of Kadavu, Fiji, Martin was excited as he waited for the small plane to land.He had taken a water taxi to this small air strip at Vunisea. After two years on this Tropical Island It would be good to see his old friends. They had bee sending money to get everything set up for their new lives and Martin had opened a diving company that is quite successful after only two years in business. Paul and Richard had come up with the plan when the six of them had been talking about their stale marriages and obnoxious kids. All they had to do was find a way to put the plan into action. They each carefully started setting money aside and John found an unsavory character on one of his out of town business trips that could get them new identities. It was decided that Martin would go first and get their new lives set up. When it was all ready the rest of them would follow. The plane landed and John, who was from this point on, going to be known as Parker Hancock, was The first to disembark. When he saw his old friend Martin, Now known as Jeff Greenly, proprietor of the Clear Water Diving Company,He let out a whoop and rushed to meet up with his long time friend and new business partner. Paul, Phil, Joe and Rich were right behind John. As they stepped off the plane they stepped into new lives and new identities as entrepreneurs on the Beautiful South Pacific Island of Kadavu.