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

child laborer somewhere he thought. He laughed inside. There were easier ways to steal a kid then to fabricate some fanciful tale of working for a secret organization who is trying to help a member of theirs who had disappeared. Not to mention Derek saving his life. No. He believed that Derek was telling the truth and that the man did need his help finding John. Dillon pushed all the unpleasant thoughts aside and rehearsed all the weird stuff that had happened up to this point which confirmed Derek’s story.

“So I’ve been meaning to ask you something but I keep forgetting,” Dillon piped up at last as he produced the small metal object he found when the coyote burst into flames in front of him. “What’s this?”

Derek took it from Dillon’s hand and glanced at it. “I don’t know. Where did you find it?”

“It came out of one of those creatures that attacked me at the center.”

“How did you get it?”

“I found it in the pile of ash after it burned up. I figured it would be important, or at least a clue of something, but I haven’t been able to find out what it is or what it does.”

Derek looked equally as puzzled as he handed it back to Dillon. “There are more than enough mysteries happening here that we need to crack,” he said soberly.

Dillon nodded as he placed it back in his pocket.

“So how did you get involved with The Orion Group?” Dillon asked, trying to pry more information out of his new friend. And now that Derek was actually speaking he thought he would capitalize on the opportunity for him to learn more.

Derek was silent for a moment. “It’s a long story Dillon,” he said cryptically. Dillon figured that it was probably a good idea to leave it at that. He was sure that Derek would open up to him when he felt he wanted to and not a moment before.

“So … do you have a family?” Dillon asked, thinking that the question was innocent enough and less invasive.

Derek glanced over at him and then looked to the road again without saying a word.

“Sorry, but I get talkative when I’m nervous.”

“It’s gonna be okay Dillon,” Derek reassured, not even looking over at him. “I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe. As a matter of fact, when we find the entrance I don’t want you coming in with me. After I’m finished what I need to do, I’ll take you back to the resort.”

Dillon liked the man’s confidence, but didn’t like the suggestion that Derek didn’t want him seeing it through to the end. “But … ” he stammered.

“No Dillon!” Derek said as he raised his voice. “Your job ends when we find the entrance.”

He immediately calmed. “You’ve done well. Very well. Better than anyone could have expected, but I can’t have you risking your life anymore.”

“But I’m still in danger,” Dillon argued.

“Not if I can neutralize the aggressor. That should give you peace of mind.”

Dillon thought of a hundred good arguments about why he should go with Derek but realized that they would be of no use. Instead, he sat silently for the rest of the drive. When they arrived, Derek turned off his headlights before he came to a stop in front of the center.

As the two of them got out the first thing they noticed was the stillness in the air. There was no wind and there weren’t any clouds in the sky. The stars shone brightly. Here, practically in the middle of nowhere, the sky burst to life with sparkling light. Dillon always marvelled at the sereneness of it all. He looked back toward the resort and saw the lights shining on the horizon.

He was suddenly brought back to reality, however, with the far off sound of a coyote. He shivered slightly. He knew that those coyotes out there at that moment were most likely not the demonic kind that tried to kill him a few days earlier; but the sound of them nonetheless sent a chill down his spine.

Derek went to the trunk, opened it up, and slung John’s backpack onto one of his shoulders. “After we find the entrance I’m going to need the compass.”

Dillon looked at him curiously at first then clued in—the watch with its accompanying arrowhead. Derek smiled when he saw the lights go on in Dillon’s head. “Come on,” he said as he started moving across the street toward the center. Dillon followed close behind.

When they got to the door Derek pulled out his phone tapped one of the apps on it and then reached in his pocket for a short cord that had a key-looking thing on the end of it. He plugged the key into the door and the other end into his phone. Dillon watched and marvelled. In a moment the alarm system was shut down and the lock turned open.

“That’s awesome!” Dillon whispered a little louder than he meant to. “How can I get an app like that?” he asked a little quieter.

“It’s standard issue,” replied Derek with a smirk.

“Just like the other device you used on John’s house?” Dillon asked with a smile. “I’m starting to like this Orion Group,” he said in admiration. “Hey why didn’t you use that other device on this door?”

“That one won’t work on this type of lock,” he replied as he cracked the door open and he and Dillon slipped inside. He then reached in his pocket and pulled out a small flashlight and started to look around cautiously. All seemed normal. “Try to be as quiet as you can,” he whispered to Dillon as he drew out his hand gun. “Just because the place looks empty doesn’t mean it is. Trust me. I’ve had a ton of experience with this stuff.”

Dillon swallowed hard as he followed Derek through the maze of merchandise to the back hallway. As they moved through the place Dillon spotted a 360 degree security camera staring at them from the ceiling. He tugged on Derek’s arm and pointed it out.

“Don’t worry,” said Derek in hushed tones. “It’s stuck on the images which were being filmed just before we opened the door.”

“Another app?”

“Yup.”

“That’s cool!”

Derek smiled for a moment then turned cold-faced as he continued through the center. “Just in case you’re wondering, we’re heading to the back room first because that’s where you said Tom Tom disappeared from. That’s probably the most likely spot for an entrance to an underground lair.” Dillon just knew that Derek’s years of training and self-discipline must have been kicking in as he was probably beginning to expect the worst. Dillon understood the logic of his reasoning clearly and followed closely behind.

They made it to the back room without incident. It was pretty much the same as it was the last time Dillon had seen it; nothing was out of the ordinary. “I’m sure the entrance is in here somewhere,” Derek said as he turned to Dillon. “Let’s fan out and look around.”

Dillon nodded, not wanting to appear scared. The truth was that he was terrified! He had already been attacked once by creatures that seemed demonic and wasn’t interested in going through that again. Nevertheless he steeled his nerves, pulled out his phone, turned on the light, and took the opposite side of the room from Derek.

“Just yell if you see something,” Derek said as he moved behind some boxes.

Dillon searched the wall area first then started to move into the inside. He could hear Derek move boxes and racks out of the way as he looked. They both searched for what seemed to be a long while. In reality it was less than fifteen minutes.

“See anything yet?” asked Derek from the darkness.

“No. You?”

“Nothing. There has to be a hidden door or something here somewhere,” Derek said. His tone starting to edge toward frustration. “Let’s move some of these boxes around and take a thorough look.”

Derek met Dillon in the middle and they started moving the boxes out of the way and looking more closely at the floor. Dillon was down on his knees trying to discern whether or not there were edges to a door or something when a thought struck him. He pulled out the watch and arrowhead, attached them, and waited to see what happened. At first the arrow head kept pointing toward Derek.

“Hey Derek. Are you still carrying that stone from John’s backpack?”

Derek nodded.

“Let’s take it out for a moment and chuck it as far as you can to the other side of the room.”

“Why?” Derek asked.

“I have a hunch that this stone comes from somewhere below the Oasis and that John knew it could lead him to the entrance, but we won’t know if that stone is anywhere near the arrowhead as that’s all it’s picking up. So I’m thinking—”

“That there’s probably another magnetic field close by that will pull on the arrowhead which should lead us to the entrance,” Derek finished.

“Exactly!”

“That’s ingenious Dillon!” Derek pulled the rock out of the pack and tossed it as far as he could to the entrance where they entered the room. The arrowhead followed the stone at first and then spun around in the opposite direction. Dillon smiled widely. He got up and started following the “needle.” It pointed generally at the back wall and then started to angle toward the corner. Derek joined him and the two of them kept following it until they came to a stop at the corner of the building.

They immediately started feeling the wall for a door way, hatch, or something that would open up but there was nothing. Derek shone his light all up and down the wall in desperation but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“It’s useless,” he said finally. “Maybe John was wrong about his suspicion.”