Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort by Chad Stewart (books suggested by bill gates txt) 📕

The park definitely exceeded all the boy’s expectations! Jordan and Dillon went on ride after ride, scarfed down cotton candy, ice cream, and pop, and even managed to get in a few of those carny games that most people can’t win at. The only damper to the fun was when they were riding the Ferris Wheel and got stuck! They were nearing the bottom when the power suddenly cut out.

“You gotta be kidding!” they heard one of the ride conductors exclaim in exasperation. “These power outages have been occurring more frequently. Someone has to fix this!”

His co-conductor nodded in agreement as they both busied themselves with making sure all the switches were in the right position.

As Dillon looked around he noticed that it wasn’t just their ride that was down, but that the whole park was taking a hit.

“Man! I’d hate to be those guys in the rollercoaster right now,” Jordan said with a laugh as he pointed over to where the coaster was. It didn’t get enough of a boost half way through the track in order to make it through some of the twists and turns and so some of the riders were stuck in awkward positions.

Dillon nodded his agreement. Thankfully all these outages seemed to be only for a brief time, but he thought that it was weird that a resort this sophisticated would be having this many power problems. Then again, they really were literally in the middle of the desert—hundreds of miles away from any other civilization, and Tara, the bike shop lady, did mention that they were upgrading the system which should solve these problems.

“Hey man, you hungry?” Jordan said to Dillon after they finally were able to exit the ride when the power came back on.

Dillon looked at him in disbelief! “After all that stuff we just ate you’re still hungry?” he scoffed.

“Ya,” Jordan replied. “I’m sixteen you know,” he said as though that should have explained it all. “Don’t worry twerp, you’ll be the same way in a few years.”

Dillon was sceptical as he never could understand how someone Jordan’s size (which was pretty average) could put away so much food and have nothing to show for it!

“Why don’t you grab a spot for us over there.” Jordan motioned to an outdoor patio area.

Dillon worked his way through the crowd and found an empty table by the railing on the edge of the area beside the walkway that led through the park. This amusement park was a much needed distraction for the young boy in order to help get his mind off things. But anytime he had a moment to himself his thoughts started to drift to the circumstances he had been a part of. And every time he sat down, he would feel the exhaustion of poor sleep creeping up on him. He still wondered how he would be able to get help in dealing with the situation. He took a deep breath and remembered that all he had to do was stay out of it. Even so he was really troubled by the fact that he was almost killed and he couldn’t even tell his parents about it! Jordan, the only one in his family who he thought might remotely believe him, except for Gwen— who would be of no help to him—had dismissed his supposedly “wild imaginary adventure.” He knew something strange was going on and that someone had targeted him specifically. The thought frightened him. He shook his head. Just stay out of it, he reminded himself again.

“You having fun?” came a man’s voice. Dillon jumped a little as he was jolted from his thoughts. He looked up to see those piercing blue eyes and shaven scalp which sported the asian writing tattoo he had seen a couple days earlier in the stairway. It was Derek!

“Oh … sorry for startling you,” Derek replied with a smile. “I just saw a friendly face and thought you could use some company.”

“It’s … ah … okay,” Dillon responded, trying to collect himself.

“You looked like you were deep in thought,” Derek prodded. “Everything okay?”

“Ya … ya … I was just … just thinking about the next ride I was going to take.”

“You know,” began Derek, “you’re a terrible liar Dillon.”

Dillon was dumbfounded! He didn’t know what to say next! Derek had called him out and he was like a mouse trapped in a corner with a huge cat ready to pounce on him. He was frightened. Then it struck him. That voice! He knew that voice! Derek was the one who was talking to Tom Tom!

Dillon squirmed, not knowing what to say next.

“Don’t worry Dillon,” Derek finally said at length, “you and I are on the same team.” He smiled and leaned casually on the railing, trying to disarm the kid.

“I … but …” Dillon tried desperately to say something but it just wasn’t coming out.

“Don’t say anything,” Derek replied. “Just listen. If you do that then a lot of your questions will be answered. Understand?”

Dillon nodded.

“I work for a group of people called The Orion Group who were assisting John Taylor Sebastian to find something for us. Obviously the people who have what we need didn’t want Mr. Sebastian to discover it.” He paused for effect then said, “His disappearance, as I’m sure you’re aware of by now, was no accident.” He looked around, as though he was making sure that no one was listening in on them. Dillon looked around as well out of reflex.

Derek turned back to Dillon. His eyes almost piercing through him. “We were getting nowhere with our investigation and decided that your unique abilities would be useful to us.”

“What abilities?” Dillon asked.

“You can find things, Dillon. Things no one else seems to be able to find. And, with you looking with us, we’re certain we can find what we’re looking for.”

“I don’t want trouble,” Dillon said.

“Unfortunately, our enemies have already noticed you poking around. You need us, Dillon, just like we need you. That’s why I’ve chosen to make contact.” Dillon swallowed hard, trying to digest the news.

“They … whoever they are, have also made contact and warned me to stay away from this.”

Derek look hard at him.

“They threatened harm to me and my family if I didn’t drop it.”

“My employer doesn’t want to see that happen,” Derek was quick to add, “and we can offer protection until this thing is over,” he said, trying to reassure the young boy. “But we need the use of your gifts.”

Dillon had about a thousand questions he wanted to asked but none of them would surface as he was still in shock by Derek’s admissions.

Derek must have noticed this by the look on Dillon’s face. “Yes,” he said, “we were the ones who got your family the free vacation. I planted the watch that you found when you were playing in the forest by your house, and I was also the one who dropped the arrow head for you to find in the gas station parking lot. These are all items of John’s we managed to acquire and we are sure they’re clues to finding where he was taken, but without your help we don’t think we will be able to do this.”

“But how did you know I was going to find them?” Dillon was able to ask.

Derek smiled. “By all accounts It was guaranteed that you would find them due to the gifts you possess.”

“By whose account? How do you know me? How long have you been watching me? What are these gifts you keep talking about?” Dillon blurted.

Derek waved a hand in the air trying to signal for Dillon to lower his voice. “I don’t have time to explain this to you. All you need to do is agree to help us. We can’t do this without you.”

Dillon was silent. Again, Sarah’s voice rang out in his head in warning, and so did the deep-voiced man.

“John needs you,” Derek emphasized. “We think he’s still alive but he might not be for much longer if we can’t find out what happened to him. Whether you choose to help us or not, you and your family are now in danger. These people won’t stop at a threat. And, as I said, if you agree to help us, we can offer