Dillon Hunt And The Desert Oasis Resort, Chad Stewart [hot novels to read .TXT] 📗

Dillon raced to his room as quickly as he could. He wanted to drop off his backpack and do a quick check of his appearance before going to see Dad. He didn’t want to raise any suspicions that his activities while away from the family were anything but normal. It also gave him a chance to wind down after the encounter. He knew he had to play this smart and cool. He had to get back to the information center and he knew that if he told Dad the truth about what happened he would never believe him. If, on the other hand, he could show him the signs of struggle in the center, and the absence of Tom Tom, then that would elevate his chances of getting help to another level.

After changing his shirt and wiping the dust from his face and arms he headed for the pool. He knew he had to play this cool and smart. He could have asked Dad over the phone to take him to the center, but he knew that Dad always responded better to such requests in person. That brought a challenge, as he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to act normally enough to convince him that nothing was wrong. It was a gamble, but he had to try.

As he entered the pool area he did a quick scan and saw his family hanging out under an umbrella by the patio just as Dad said. Of course Jordan was off to the side talking to some girls he had probably just met. Claire was in the open sun apparently trying to bake herself into a nice golden toasty color, and Gwen was floating in the pool nearby on a massive inflatable swan. Mom and Dad were under the umbrella having a cool drink and talking.

As he started to walk over he noticed a guy at the other end of the pool lounging back in a deck chair and staring in his direction. The guy had massive wild blonde hair that danced wildly in the slightest breeze, and he was wearing a colorful Hawaiian t-shirt. Dillon almost laughed because he looked so strange, but then he suddenly got an uncomfortable feeling from him for some reason. It was weird. He knew he could get sidetracked with uncomfortable feelings and just shook it off as nerves. He cleared his mind and tried to focus on the current situation: getting Dad to the center.

Dillon took a couple of deep breaths in order to calm his nerves and began walking over to them. As he approached, Mom and Dad both looked up, smiling. “How’s it going little man?” Mom asked.

“Not bad,” Dillon responded, trying to be as cool as possible. “How was town?”

“It was fun!” Mom said enthusiastically. “We saw the residential areas. Found out that they have a tropical zoo, there’s a small amusement park on the other side of the Oasis, and tons of little touristy shops with locals selling their wares. You should have come! You would have loved it!”

“Sounds great.” Dillon tried as hard as he could to sound excited. He wasn’t sure his performance was cutting it.

“What’s up man?” Dad asked. “You seem like something is bothering you?”

That’s it! Dillon figured he was done at that point. Come on man! Get it together! he thought to himself. “Nothing’s wrong,” he responded quickly. Then he had an idea. “I saw some cool plants around here that I didn’t recognize and I really want to go pick up a book on the local plant life. I think I saw one at the information center.”

“I guess I should be happy that one of our sons is interested in expanding his mind,” Dad replied sarcastically as he smirked at Jordan who just walked back from talking to his new friends. “But since when have you been into plants?”

“Oh, you know me. I love reading everything about different places,” Dillon replied with a shrug. “So … I guess I came to ask you if we could take a quick drive to the information center so I could grab that book?”

Dad visibly sighed a bit. “We just got to the pool Dillon. Does it have to be right now?”

“It’s not that far up the road,” Dillon put in urgently. He realized it sounded too insistent so he said more calmly, “It won’t take long. I don’t know what time the center closes, and it would be a great book to read while I enjoy the sun with you guys pool side.

Mom gave Dad that look, and Dillon knew he had him!

“Okay,” replied Dad resignedly. “Let me grab my keys from the room.”

“Thanks Dad! Dillon exclaimed.

Dad nodded, removed himself from the chair and headed for his room.

Mom smiled. “You boys have fun.”

Dillon nodded and smiled, but on the inside he was terrified. What if he was putting his Dad in danger by taking him there? He put the disturbing thought away. He didn’t know what else to do and besides, he had escaped the coyotes once before by himself, it should be a breeze with his Dad with him.

They pulled up to the center and everything appeared normal at first glance. There were even a few more cars in the parking lot. Dillon was surprised by this given the fact that only just over an hour had elapsed since he made his escape from the place. He didn’t let the apparent normalcy of the situation deter him from being on guard though. He and Dad approached the front door together but Dillon reached for the handle first, not willing to let his unsuspecting father go in first without any idea of the situation they faced. Dillon figured that he could better respond to anything that came leaping out of there.

He opened the door quickly and launched himself into the center.

“Whoa there!” Dad exclaimed. “You really must want that book,” he joked.

Dillon didn’t smile.

He looked around and noticed that the place didn’t seem touched at all! There were no signs of struggle and there were even a few people mingling around, looking at merchandise. As he moved through the store he noted that the one thing that was absent was Charlie, the stuffed coyote that had frightened Gwen when they first arrived. He didn’t know what to think. Was Charlie the coyote that attacked me? Was he somehow in stasis before? None of it made sense.

“So how long did you have to wait in that traffic delay this morning on the highway,” he overheard someone say as he moved over to where he had the battle with the first coyote. He paused for a moment to consider that.

Maybe that’s why no one was around when Tom Tom was questioned? he thought to himself. But who would do that? He