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

stalks staying in their shadows as he moved toward the front gate. It was good that the resort property didn’t have a wall around it, just the trees and other shrubs that added to the beauty of the place. It was also good that the front gate was a ways away from all the action.

As he approached the gate building he noticed a light on inside. Slowly he came to the side of the building right under the window. He carefully rose up and peeked inside. He scanned the area and didn’t see anyone. He was about to move on when he noticed a door on the inside swing open and he heard the sound of a toilet flush. The sudden movement of the door startled him and he ducked back down below the window. After a moment he dared to glance back over the windowsill again. Unfortunately the window was open and the smell of the restroom hit him. He silently gaged but managed to hold it in. Once the water from his eyes cleared he noticed a middle-aged man reclining easily in a large chair. He had a 42” screen TV mounted on the wall and was scrolling through the Netflix selections.

Dillon wasn’t sure how distracted the guard was but didn’t want to take any chances; he knew he couldn’t get caught. He looked around on the ground and found the largest stone he could. It was about the size of small apple. He peeked through the window once more and saw that the guard was still surfing for something to watch. He ducked back down and scooted around to the side of the guard house closest to the road. As he glanced around the corner he noticed that the door was open. Perfect! he thought to himself. He lobbed the stone toward the entrance. It hit the ground with a crack and rolled into the night. Quickly, Dillon ducked back around the corner and peeked through the window again. The guard didn’t show any signs that he noticed anything.

This guy must be deaf! he exclaimed to himself, as the night was incredibly quiet, and the TV wasn’t playing anything yet.

As he was pondering his circumstance the guard suddenly got up. Dillon ducked beneath the windowsill again. He could hear the heavy footfalls of the man’s boots on the wood floor. Really! I can hear his boots and he couldn’t hear that rock! Dillon shouted in his head.

The footsteps were getting closer to the window. Dillon put his back against the wall as flat as he could, then started to move toward the corner of the building again as quietly as possible.

He looked both ways when he got to the road, and glanced back just to make sure the guard wasn’t sticking his head out the open window. All was clear. He looked up to see where the cameras were mounted and figured that he might be able to stay in a blind spot if he stuck close to the wall.

He could feel his heart pound within his chest as he moved around the corner and toward the open door. As he got to the door he poked his head through the opening for a second and saw that the guard was still at the window, probably getting some fresh air. He knew he had to move. He sucked in his breath and darted across the doorway and around the corner of the building as quickly and quietly as he could. He didn’t even stop to see if the guard had noticed anything as he ran into the darkness once more.

He moved up the road through the trees, trying to avoid all the street lights as he went. He must have gone about three hundred yards before he saw Derek’s car parked off the side of the road and into the tree line a bit. As he approached he noticed that Derek was standing about ten feet in front of the car. He walked back and forth with his phone to his ear and waved his other hand around as he spoke to whoever it was. It almost looked like he was angry, or maybe frustrated about something.

Dillon went passed the car and approached Derek, not trying to be stealthy anymore. Derek spun around quickly, grabbed his gun from behind his back and pointed it right at Dillon, all while still holding the phone to his ear.

Dillon jumped back and held his hands up reflexively. “Whoa!” he yelled. “It’s just me!”

Derek smiled and lowered the gun. “I have to go,” he said into the phone. Dillon could hear someone on the other end but couldn’t make out what they were saying. “I understand,” came Derek’s reply. “Don’t worry. We’ll make it happen. The boy’s here now. Bye.” He took the phone away from his ear and hung up from whoever it was.

“Who’s that?” Dillon asked.

“Just someone who’s interested in our success tonight,” Derek replied as he came closer to his young friend. “Did you bring the watch and arrowhead.”

Dillon nodded as he produced them from his pocket.

“Awesome. I have a feeling that those are going to come in handy tonight.”

“What about John’s field gear?” Dillon asked.

“It’s in the car.”

“Good, because I have a feeling that we’re going to need that bag tonight as well,” Dillon responded. He had already reasoned that John packed the gear for his excursion under the Oasis; an excursion that never took place.

“Come on,” Derek said. He motioned for Dillon to get in the car. “We should be going as we can’t waste any more time.”

“Before we do, you should know that earlier tonight a man name Geoffrey Eagles-rock paid me a visit tonight and tried to convince me that the Orion Group is not to be trusted. He said that you guys are using me, and that no good will come to me if I help you.”

“Then why did you come?” Derek asked.

“Because I have faith that you’re telling me the truth. Everything that’s happened to me up to this point is telling me that there’s something bad happening here and that you guys seem to be the only ones willing to do anything about it.”

“It sounds like this Geoffrey guy is scared of you Dillon.”

Dillon was taken back by that statement. “Scared of me? Why?”

“Because they see that you are a threat to them. And now that you’re working with us, it’s just a matter of time before we really find out what they’re up to.”

“But I’m only a twelve year old boy!” Dillon spouted. “How could I be scary to anyone?”

“Yes. A remarkable twelve year old,” Derek replied with a smile. “You might not think so now Dillon, but you’re destined for something greater.”

“How do you know that?”

“There’s just something about you that tells me that,” Derek replied cryptically as he opened the door to the car. “You might not believe it, but someday you will. Now, shall we go?”

Dillon didn’t know how to respond. He thought that maybe Derek was just trying to be nice. Kind of like those people who just say good stuff about you but might not mean it; they’re just trying to be positive but have nothing logical to back it up with. He let the thought drop and climbed into the car.

As they headed down the road toward the information center they didn’t know what to expect, if anything. In a few minutes they knew they would find out. It was that anticipation of the unknown that had Dillon nervous. His stomach was in knots. He looked over at Derek and saw a man who appeared focused on one task and one task only: to find out what happened to John.

Dillon had this strange feeling, as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, that the only thing that would stop Derek was death itself.

He really hoped it didn’t come down to that.