Next, I suggest you check out the first two chapters of DILLON AND THE PIRATES OF XONIRA before diving into Chapter Three. This will most likely be the last preview chapter as the book is thisclose to me typing "The End" so savor and enjoy!
Chapter One
Chapter Two
CHAPTER THREE
TEN DAYS LATER
Dillon liked to take
vacations in between his jobs. However,
the sort of vacations that he took were very unlike the vacations most people
indulged in. There was a good reason for
that. Dillon’s upbringing had
been…unusual to say the least. There
were a lot of things he had missed out on as a child, a teenager and a young
adult. And much he was curious about. That curiosity led him to take a vacation two
years ago where he worked for a month in the kitchen at Tin’s Sammich Emporium,
the most famous sandwich restaurant in South Carolina . One year he’d worked for a summer as a roofer
in Mexico . This summer he was considering taking classes
at the prestigious Bethune-Cookman University
Some of Dillon’s friends thought it
odd that he would consider activities such as these ‘vacations’. But then again even his closest friends
didn’t know the circumstances under which and how he was raised. Most of his early life had been spent in
places very far removed from anything they were familiar with. In fact, Dillon had had to relearn a whole
lot of things when he decided to leave The Eternal City of Shamballah for good
and rejoin the world. And he wasn’t
through learning.
Besides, he enjoyed the break from
his rough-and-tumble life occasionally.
He genuinely had fun just being a regular Joe Citizen if only a few
weeks or months at a time. It brought
him a perspective that he felt helped connect him to the world and the people
in it. Dillon had seen all too often
what happened to men with skills comparable to his when they started thinking
that they were superior to other people.
Dillon was staying at a beach house
just off of highway A1A, one of the dozen safe houses he owned around the
world. This one had two stories, with a
wonderful view of the ocean. He hadn’t
been here for a few years. Matter of
fact he hadn’t been back in Florida for a number of years following an incident
where a rather heated dispute between Dillon, The Federal Bureau of
Investigation, The Miami Police Department and the Triad known as The Sons Of
The Golden Chrysanthemum led to a 747-8 getting blown up at Miami International
Airport. But he wasn’t worried. He’d quietly entered Florida
by highway and a simple disguise: he’d driven a raggedy RV he bought with cash
in Pennsylvania
that certainly didn’t attract any attention.
Every other vehicle on the road these days was an RV it seemed. But he’d taken the added precaution of adding
a fake salt and pepper beard and a battered Greek fisherman’s cap that made him
look for all the world like a guy who’d maybe just been recently widowed or
divorced and just bumming it up and down the road until his cash ran out and he
had to go back to his life.
Once in Daytona Beach
he contacted the professional property management outfit he used and informed
them that Mr. Raymond J. Johnson, Jr. of MacFhearghius Diversified would be
using his house for a month and would they please see to it that the house was
cleaned and aired out? Thank you so much
and Mr. Johnson’s gratitude would be sizeable.
Dillon moved in and just spent a
week doing nothing. He would get up
early, take a four or five mile run up the beach and then walk back to the
house, just slow poking, stopping to check out whatever caught his eye. In the evening he went out for dinner, maybe
took in a show or hung out in one of the clubs.
He did whatever his mood dictated.
Given his usual regiment he very rarely could just indulge himself and
go wherever the wind took him.
He’d found this great shop that had
Blu-Rays really cheap. Dillon stood with
at least twenty of them in a small red basket.
Most of them animated movies or box sets of anime series. He was a major animation fan, never having
seen a cartoon until he was a young adult.
He could sit and watch cartoons for hours. He didn’t have any Blu-Rays at the Florida
house and this was a great way to start a video library down here. He hummed pleasantly as he browsed through
the racks.
“Shopping for your kids?”
Dillon turned slightly to his left
and found himself looking into a pair of the most enticing almond shaped brown
eyes it had been his pleasure to look into for quite some time. There was more to go along with the
eyes. Silky, curly, sand-colored, shoulder
length hair. A wonderfully athletic
build. Lovely mocha skin. Full lips that smiled in an enticingly
delightful manner.
“I beg your pardon?” Dillon asked.
Not that he hadn’t heard her. He
liked to brag he had 20/20 hearing. He
just wanted to hear her say it again while he came up with something witty and
clever.
The mocha beauty pointed at his
basket. “The only guys that come in here
and buy that many cartoons have kids.
Boys? Girls? One of each?”
“None actually. They’re for me.”
The mocha beauty frowned. Not that it took away from how fine she was
in the slightest, Dillon thought. Not
many women could look that good frowning.
Of course, the mini jean skirt,
red Sabrina heel pumps and the red T-shirt one size smaller than it should have
been helped considerably as well.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those
men who suffer from Peter Pan syndrome.
I bet your most prized possession is your PlayStation 4 and your
Sentinels action figures.”
“No. I’ve got a mint condition 1959 Bethea Roadmaster
and a Renaissance chateau on top of a mesa in Colorado I rank a tad higher than
them.”
“Oh. I see.”
Her eyes opened wider as the smile thankfully returned. “Sorry.
Guess I was quick to judge. Comes
from dating too many of the wrong kind of men.”
“How do you know I’m not the wrong
kind of man? I could be lying, y’know.”
She gave Dillon an appraising look
and shook her head slowly. “No...I don’t
think so. Not that I don’t think you can
lie and do it very well if you have to.
Nobody with a grin like yours can be fully trusted. But I don’t think you’re lying to me right
now. Maybe later after you get to know
me better.”
“Ah. You’re assuming that we will get to
know each other better, then?”
“Well, I still am curious as to why
you’re buying all those cartoons.”
“Maybe I can explain it over a
drink. Do you work here?”
“No, but near here. I’m on my break. Why not meet me back here out in front at
four, okay?”
“Knocking off from work so early? You’ve got an understanding boss.”
“One thing about Florida :
we know how to take it easy down here.”
She held out her hand. “My name’s
Toi Lahayne, by the way.”
“I’m Ray Johnson.”
Toi cocked her head to the side in
amusement. “A pleasure to meet you Mr.
Johnson.”
“Ah, you don’t have to call me
Johnson. You can call me Ray.”
Toi cocked her head to the side and
looked curiously at him. “Nah…you don’t
look like a Ray.”
“You’d be surprised how many times
I hear that. Excuse me while I get this
rung up so I can go home and make myself impressively handsome for our date.”
Dillon rolled over in the
four poster king sized bed and looked at the sleeping back of Toi Lahayne for a
few seconds before impulsively leaning over and kissing her between the
shoulder blades. Toi murmured something
endearing and continued sleeping. Dillon
climbed out of bed without disturbing her.
He found a pair of shorts, put them on and then headed to the kitchen
for food.
Beautiful early morning
sunshine poured into the kitchen through the French doors, adding to Dillon’s
feelings of exhilaration. There were few
things he loved more than waking up to a brilliant sunrise such as this. And a wonderful evening of dining and dancing
such as the one he had enjoyed with Toi was added spice indeed.
Toi continued to feign a deep sleep
until she heard Dillon moving around in the kitchen. She reached under the bed and withdrew her
cell phone. She spent the next minute
text messaging. She wasn’t very happy
with the responses she was getting but then again she was getting paid an outrageous
amount of money for her job so she really couldn’t complain.
She climbed out of the bed, walked
over to the closet and opened it. Her clothes were hanging there nice and
neat. But she picked one of Dillon’s
T-shirts and slipped it over her body.
She kept the cell phone in her left hand as she walked into the
beautiful contemporary kitchen with its gleaming white cabinets and rainforest
green marble countertops. She stood
there for just a minute taking in the sight of his body. His skin was two or three shades darker than
hers, wonderfully sleek muscles moving under the skin with the smoothness of a
gymnast or a swimmer.
Dillon looked up and smiled warmly
at her. “Hey. I’m making a five star breakfast for you,
baby. At least if you live in China . Rice with dried minced pork.”
Toi grinned back. “ Sounds a little heavy for breakfast but it
also sounds delicious.” Her eyes
wandered over to the laptop computer that rested on the square glass kitchen
table. “Working?”
Dillon moved between the refrigerator
and the stove. “I have a job that
demands I keep up with what’s going on.”
“Wish I had a job that
fascinating. What is it exactly that you
do?”
“It’s so boring that there’s really
no point in telling you unless you want me to talk about augmented
implementations of integrated engineering principals.”
“Noooooo…I don’t think so.” Toi smiled and sat down at the laptop. The screensaver was on, a picture of African
elephants.
“I’d really prefer it if you don’t
touch that,” Dillon cautioned. He
continued moving between the counter and the refrigerator but he kept an eye on
Toi.
“Don’t worry. I’m kinda touchy about people messing about
with my computer, too.”
Dillon smiled his thanks and headed
back for the bedroom. “Let me throw on a
shirt and some shoes. I’ve got to go out
to my car for a bit. Be right back.” He left the kitchen and walked to the
bedroom. What a stroke of good luck for
her. She had been wondering how she was
going to get him out of the kitchen long enough for her to do her work. Toi figured
she had about a minute which would be more than enough. She quickly brought up her phone and with a
thumb flipped out a USB plug. This she inserted directly into Dillon’s
laptop, her intention to download as much as she could before he-
The screen flashed red and the
laptop computer shut down at the same time it emitted a loud and continuous
beeping. Toi gasped and looked up to see
Dillon standing in the doorway of the kitchen with his Jericho
pointed at her.
“Damn. I really liked you, Toi. Take out your phone and close my computer.”
Toi immediately did as she was told. “Dillon, it’s not what
you think.”
“It never is.” Dillon moved into the kitchen. “Place both of
your hands palms
down on the table. Do not take your
hands off thetable. I will not give you another
warning.”
Toi put her hands palms down on the
kitchen table. “My people have a file on
you. I believe what you say.”
Dillon moved in close enough just
to pick up the laptop and transfer it to the countertop behind him. Toi’s phone joined it.
“Dillon, if you’ll just give me two
minutes-“
“No talking.” Dillon picked up his cell phone which was
also on the countertop and pressed the speed dial. The number rang two times and then a warm,
rich voice that would have given Barry White in his prime a run for his money
said; “Hyatt residence.”
“Wyatt, its Dillon.”
“Hey! What’s shaking, baby? Who’s trying to kill you today?” Wyatt Hyatt’s infectious laugh boomed in
Dillon’s ear. Wyatt Hyatt looked more
like a NFL defensive lineman than a technological genius. But he was.
Behind his round baby face, neatly trimmed beard and square glasses was
a brain that commanded six figure consulting fees. When he decided to work, that is. And thanks to his numerous patents in the
fields of quantum computing theory and computer neuroscience he didn’t have to
very often. He provided Dillon with much
of his technical backup. And when things
really got boring for him he joined
Dillon out in the field.
“Need a favor, Wyatt. I’m holding a gun on this chick. I need her ID’ed quick fast.”
“What’d she do? Don’t tell me she was less than dazzled by
the legendary Dillon charm.”
“She tried to download information
from my laptop onto a flash drive.”
Wyatt laughed again. As well he should. He had built that laptop for Dillon himself
and he would have staked his right arm on it being unhackable by any means. “She probably just wanted to scope out your
email and see how many other chicks you got hanging on a string.”
“Maybe so. But I’d like to be sure, okay?”
“I hear you, baby. Point your phone at her and gimme a picture.”
Dillon did as Wyatt asked, taking
Toi’s picture and immediately forwarding it to Wyatt’s location which was his
lavish combination home/office/workshop in Milledgeville Georgia
“It’ll take a minute or so. When you going to swing by Georgia
and hang out?”
“I was planning on stopping by in
another couple of weeks to see you. I’m
in Daytona
Beach right now.”
“I’m hurt. You went clean through Georgia
and didn’t stop to holla at your boy?”
Wyatt tsked-tsked. “You wasn’t
raised right a’tall…okay…your intel is coming through. The young lady’s name is Toi Lahayne. Impressive resume she got here.”
“Give me the highlights and forward
the rest.”
“After serving two tours of duty in
the United States Army, your Miss Lahayne was recruited, trained and worked for
Blackspear Consultants for ten years as an executive contractor.”
“Who does she work for now?”
“Doesn’t say. She left Blackspear two years ago. Nothing I’ve got here says she’s been working
for anybody since then. Maybe she’s gone
freelance.”
“Maybe, but I don’t buy it. Keep digging and anything else you think I
need to know, you call me, hear?”
“I can be down there in a couple of
hours, Dillon. You may need somebody to
watch your back.”
“You’re more useful to me right
where you are, Wyatt. Besides, I don’t even
know what this is about and I rather not have you getting mixed up in it just
yet until I do.”
“Okay. But if I don’t hear from you I’m rounding up
the gang and we’re coming to get you.
You feel me?”
“Call you back in an hour. That’s a promise. Thanks, Wyatt.” Dillon closed up his phone and made himself
comfortable. “So your name actually is
Toi Lahayne. Believe it or not, I’m
glad. I’d hate to think you’d made up a
sweet name like that just to impress me.”
“If you’d just let me make one
phone call-“
“To who? Somebody at Blackspear? What could one of the world’s top private
military corporations want with me? I’ve
never had dealings with Blackspear before.”
“I don’t work for Blackspear anymore.”
“They fire you?”
“I left on good terms with
them. I could walk back in tomorrow and
get my old job back if I wanted it.” Toi
was beginning to get angry. “Look,
you’re supposed to be a smart guy.
Doesn’t it seem funny to a smart guy like you that if I was here to kill
you I didn’t do it while you were sleeping after we-“
“That’s the only reason your
brains are still inside that cute head of yours.” Dillon’s voice softened slightly. “I’d really like to believe you’re on the
level. But the circumstances of the life
I’ve chosen sometimes force me to act in a manner less than gentlemanly.”
“Just one phone call. You’ve got my word. One phone call and this can all be
explained.”
“We’ll use my phone. What’s the number?”
Toi gave it to him and Dillon
tapped it in. He turned on the
speakerphone mode and placed the phone on the table between them. It rang three times and then a cultured
English voice said; “Herman Jeffries.
How may I help you?”
Dillon indicated with a head motion
that Toi should answer. “It’s Toi,
Herman.”
“Toi! Nice to hear from you, my darling! Where are you calling from? I don’t recognize this number.”
“I’m in a bit of a mess here,
Herman. I’m calling you on Dillon’s
phone.”
“Oh, my. That does sound serious. I take it the gentleman is in the room with
you?”
“About five feet away with a gun
pointed at my head.”
“I see. Mr. Dillon, my name is Herman Jeffries and I
hope we can come to some arraignment that will not result in unpleasantness.”
“That depends on why you sicced your girl here
on me, Mr. Jeffries. Far as I know we’ve
never met.”
“No, we haven’t, sir. But we have mutual interests. I’m a member of an organization called The
Braithwaite Group and we’ve got some information concerning Xonira that is
quite disturbing. Part of our
investigation necessitated trying to ascertain if you have had any recent
contact with anyone in Xonira.”
“How disturbing?”
“I’d rather not go into it over the
phone, sir.”
“Mr. Jeffries, I assure you that my
phone is secure. I suggest you tell me
what this is all about and do it now.”
“I will not. I’ve stated my position and I don’t intend to
change it. Now, I propose that you bring
Toi with you to our offices here in Daytona Beach
and we’ll have a bite to eat and discuss this matter like civilized people.”
“Why can’t you come here?”
Jeffries sighed theatrically. “It would be easier to convince you of my
goodwill here. What if I gave you my
word that there will be no trickery involved?”
“There better not be. Okay, Jeffries. I’ll come.”
“Excellent. Shall we say in two hours, then?”
“I can hardly wait.” Dillon broke the connection and uncocked the
gun. “Okay, go ahead, get showered and
dressed. Then you can take me to your
boss and I can find out what all this is about.”
“Look, Dillon…what happened
earlier…that wasn’t just part of the job.”
“Whatever. It hardly matters. You had a job to do and I respect that. I don’t have to respect the way you did
it. Now go get dressed. And don’t feel you have to make conversation
while you’re doing it.”
