The Dead Peasants' Contract: A Sequel to The Dead Peasants File (The Dead Peasants' Series Book 2)

by L. Craig Harris

  “Clearly, these things were designed by a creator,” Christopher said, standing next to him with his mouth open. “Look at those patterns.”

  John was standing on the other side of Dillon with a video camera in his hand. “These are the largest fish in the world. They eat plankton like whales, but they are not mammals, they are fish. Several years ago, 400 of them were spotted in the water near here.”

  The sun was getting close to the horizon, but it was still bright and warm. Julia climbed down the ladder and got into the water with Victoria. Both of them had on goggles, snorkels and swim fins.

  “I touched one! I touched one!” Julia said from the water. She was dwarfed by the size of the nearest one, the one she had reached out and touched as it glided by with its mouth agape. They were swimming close enough to the surface that Dillon could clearly see them as they slowly passed by. Occasionally, they would breach the surface and he could see their patterns even more clearly. People in the other boats were pointing and taking photos and video. Dillon pulled out his phone, which he had retrieved from Victoria, and shot footage. “Gabby is not going to believe this,” he said out loud to himself.

  The captain started the engine when the sharks moved past the cluster of boats, and followed them for several minutes, careful not to get too close so he would not bump into one. Dillon was relieved when Victoria and Julia climbed back onto the yacht. It made him nervous to see them out in the water with such huge animals, even if they were harmless. Besides, he didn’t know what else might be lurking beneath the surface.

  John stood beside him, watching the water until they couldn’t see them anymore in the distance. Then he looked at Christopher and Dillon. “Hey, why don’t you guys stay with us tonight.” He glanced over at the Reed’s boat. “I bet we have more room than they do.”

  “We don’t want to be any trouble,” Christopher said.

  “You’re no trouble. We have plenty of room.” He looked at Travis. “Is that okay with you?”

  “Fine by me.”

  “It’s settled then,” John said. “You’ll stay with us tonight. I want to hear more about Morgan. Then, you can join Travis in the morning on his boat. We’re taking Rodney to San Pedro to catch a flight, then heading back to New York.” He looked again at Travis. “Stay tethered to us tonight and we’ll have dinner in an hour.”

  Dillon had never been on a yacht before, much less to spend the night. He liked the idea of a warm shower and cool quarters in this lap of luxury. The idea of dinner sounded good too, since he hadn’t eaten anything since the sandwich several hours ago.

  Julia couldn’t quit talking about her adventure touching the shark at dinner. “I think it looked at me when I touched it,” she said.

  “It was terrifying,” Victoria said, “because they were just so big. I couldn’t believe we were in the water with such huge beasts.”

  Julia nodded. “Oh I know. But they were beautiful, weren’t they?”

  John poured some red wine into his cup and looked at Travis. “What’s your plans for tomorrow?”

  “We’re taking them to see the reef and the blue hole.”

  John grinned. “Way cool.” He glanced at Victoria. “We’d go with you, but Rodney has to catch a plane.”

  Travis looked at Dillon and Christopher. “Let’s spend the day there tomorrow, then we’ll head back to the house. I know you guys can’t stay down here forever.”

  “That sounds good to me,” Dillon said.

  Christopher nodded. “Looking forward to it.”

  “Call your wives and let them know you’re okay if you want to,” Victoria said.

  Christopher took a bite of broiled fish. “Yes, I need to. Thank you.”

  At bedtime, Christopher stood in the doorway to Dillon’s room. “This is so nice. I could stay here forever I think.”

  “Is Rachel okay?”

  “Yeah, she sure was glad to hear from me. I feel guilty that she isn’t getting to see all of this, though.”

  “Let’s plan to bring the wives in a few months and come back.”

  “I like that idea.” He nodded. “A lot.”

  “John gave me his number,” Dillon said. “He wants us to come with him next year when they come back.”

  Christopher looked around. “That would be amazing.” He looked back at Dillon. “He sure was interested in what Morgan is doing to us.”

  “Yeah, and if anyone can do anything, it might just be him.”

  “Maybe God sent us here to meet him. Maybe that’s been his plan all along.”

  Dillon nodded. “Maybe so.”

  Sunlight streamed into Dillon’s circular window early the next morning. He looked around at his bedroom and grinned, not believing where he was. He could see blue sky and water, and nothing else, out the window. He sat up and stared for a moment, then adjusted his silk pillow case and went back to sleep.

  Rodney came and knocked on his door at eight. “Breakfast, sir.”

  Dillon brushed his teeth with the toothbrush Rodney had given him the night before, then washed his face. Julia and Travis joined them at the table, and Julia and Victoria continued to talk about their brief adventure and encounter.

  John looked over at Christopher. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Wonderfully,” he said. “But I’ve never slept on silk sheets before. I was afraid I might slide out.”

  John laughed. “You would have if we had been hit with a big enough wave.”

  “Linen sheets on our boat, in case you’re wondering,” Julia said, grinning.

  After breakfast, John shook everyone’s hand as they left his boat. “I’ll see you guys next year.”

  “Plan on it,” Dillon said.

  John hugged Julia and helped her across. “Don’t touch just any shark now! Some of them have teeth!” He made a small triangle with his fingers. “Big teeth.”

  “Thanks for everything,” Christopher said. “This was something I’ll never forget.”

  Dillon helped Travis untie the ropes that had held the Reed’s houseboat to the yacht. Travis climbed into the wheelhouse and started the engine, then pulled away and toward Lighthouse Reef.

  The water turned from deep blue to turquoise as they approached the reef. Dillon began to see fish and coral beneath the boat. In places, the sandy bottom came up and into view. A white-tipped reef shark swam toward them, then darted away. Beaches rose in front of them and Travis began to negotiate around them so he didn’t run aground.

  Julia pointed out the lighthouse and the resort to the north. “You can stay there,” she said, the wind taking the sound of her voice.

  Palm trees lined some of the beaches. Shore birds called out as they flew above them, some landing on the boat itself.

  “Oh look, an eagle ray!” Julia said, pointing toward the water in front of them.

  Its coloration reminded Dillon of the whale sharks.

  Up ahead, Dillon could suddenly see The Great Blue Hole. It was a dark blue circle, a thousand feet across, surrounded by shallow, light blue water, in the middle of the atoll. There were only two ways in or out of the circle since it was nearly ringed by beach. Travis motored through the reef and then on top of the circle itself. Now, Dillon could no longer see the bottom. He and Christopher looked over the side into the darkness of the deep. An occasional fish swam by.

  Travis killed the engine right in the middle of the circle and came and stood beside them. “It’s three hundred feet deep,” he said.

  Christopher looked over at him. “What formed this?”

  “It’s a sink hole, like a cave,” Travis said. “There are stalactites down there.”

  “You wouldn’t catch me down there,” Dillon said.

  Julia grabbed his arm. “Well, you at least have to get out and swim in it, so you can say you did.”

  Dillon and Christopher both had on shorts. Dillon looked at him, then at Julia. “It looks like we’re getting wet.”

  “They say it’s not that pretty down there,”
Travis said. “It’s very dark, but cave divers love exploring it. You have to be a certified cave diver to go to the bottom.” He shook his head. “It’s not for everyone.”

  “It’s not for me, that’s for sure,” Dillon said.

  Julia called to them from the cabin door. “You guys ready for lunch?”

  Dillon had eaten such a good breakfast a few hours ago, he wasn’t that hungry. But he figured he better eat when it was offered. “Any time, Julia.”

  Christopher and Travis echoed his reply.

  She went back in the cabin and re-emerged a few minutes later with the familiar tray of sandwich-makings. When Dillon saw them, it stirred his appetite and he thought he could eat a sandwich without any trouble. She went back in and came out with bottled waters and soft drinks.

  Travis asked Christopher to bless the food, and the four of them ate at the outside table, as they had done the day before. It was an amazing place, right in the middle of the blue circle, and Dillon couldn’t quit looking around them.

  “Let’s take a dip after we eat,” Julia said.

  Christopher took a bite. “Aren’t we supposed to wait an hour?”

  “I don’t think anyone does that anymore,” Travis said. “Anyway, that’s for swimming away from the boat I think, so you don’t get a cramp. We’ll stay right nearby.”

  Dillon liked the sound of that. The closer to the boat the better. In fact, he had no intention of taking his hand off of it, and he planned to stay in the water about thirty seconds at most. He wondered for a split-second if he could take a weapon with him into the water. He looked over at Travis. “I never told you, but I brought your .38 yesterday. I put it in the kitchen cabinet in there.”

  “Yeah, I saw that last night,” Travis said. “I wondered who put it there. Actually, I figured it must have been you.”

  The water was surprisingly cold. Dillon climbed down the ladder and into it. It was crystal clear all around him. He could easily see his feet and then just darkness below them. He pushed away from the ladder so the others could join him, then swam back and held on to the bottom rung. He didn’t like the idea of how deep and dark it was beneath him. Looking at it was good enough for him. But he had to admit it did cool him down. He felt the cold remove any heat the sun had produced on his skin.

  He was enjoying himself for a moment, but then thought about what might be beneath him. “I think I’ll get back in the boat, if you guys don’t mind.”

  “No, no,” Julia said. “Go ahead. You were a good sport to get out here at all. Now you can tell everyone what you did.”

  “They say it’s rare for any big sharks to wander in here,” Travis said. “Just some bull and nurse sharks, isn’t that right, Jules?”

  “Yeah, that’s what they told us.”

  Dillon climbed back into the boat and wasn’t surprised to find Christopher right behind him. They stood at the stern and talked to Travis and Julia, who lingered behind. Dillon took several photos and some video.

  “Take some pictures for me,” Christopher said, “since you threw my phone out the window.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that, sport.”

  The group spent the rest of the afternoon watching some divers going in and out of the water near the edge of the hole. Julie got some video with her phone. Dillon tried to picture himself diving into the blue, but the thought terrified him. He had gotten into the water, right at the surface, so he could say he did, but he wanted no more part of it. In fact, it would have been okay with him for them to head out of the circle, but Travis was busy watching the divers and had said he didn’t want to create a wake. The water was glass-smooth. Dillon watched for interesting rays and tropical fish swimming near the boat.

  The sound of a boat coming toward them caught his attention. He looked over to see a boat that looked familiar to him coming into the blue circle.

  “Isn’t that Tiny?” Christopher said.

  Was it? What was he doing back out there? As the boat approached, Dillon could see that is was Tiny standing at his wheel. It looked like two other men were standing in the boat. They were coming right toward them at a fast speed.

  Travis stepped up beside Dillon. “I wonder what he wants?”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Dillon was worried that Tiny might be rushing out to bring some bad news from home. But that didn’t seem possible. He and Christopher had both spoken to their wives the night before, and everything was okay. So what could be causing him to be speeding toward them? He stood and watched the boat approach. It circled around and pulled right up alongside the starboard of the Reed’s boat, just feet away. Dillon, Travis and Christopher were standing on the opposite side of the boat, against the rail. They turned to face Tiny’s boat as it pulled up alongside them.

  “We’re looking for Dillon McGee,” one of the men called out.

  “I’m Dillon McGee.”

  The man reached into his shirt and pulled out a 9mm handgun and fired three shots at him. Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Dillon had seen him pull out the gun and point it at him, and that gave him just enough time to duck. He threw his body to the right, but the second bullet struck him in the left shoulder, knocking him over the side and into the water. The third bullet whizzed over his head as he went over the side.

  He was stunned when he hit the water. Pain shot from his shoulder when the salt hit his new open wound. He was paralyzed by the cold shock of striking the surface and found himself sinking into the darkness. His mind began to scream at him to fight. To swim to the surface so he could breathe. To live. But his body wouldn’t respond. He continued to sink. He opened his eyes and they burned with fire. He could see blood in front of him in the darkness. He tasted it.

  He regained control and began to struggle to gain the surface. He looked up and saw the shadow of the boat above him. He kicked toward it. His left arm wouldn’t cooperate and ached when he tried to use it. He fought hard with his right arm to pull himself up, kicking frantically.

  Then he breached the surface. He gasped for air, filling his lungs. He could hear shots being fired. He panicked, wondering who else was being shot above him. He grabbed onto a rope on the side of the boat. He had to help his friends. He was determined to fight back. His marine discipline began to take over. He calmly maneuvered around the stern of the boat, working his way toward the ladder.

  He grabbed the ladder and got his legs on the bottom rung and wrapped his right arm around the ladder so he could use his right hand. He pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around his shoulder for support and to try to stop the blood flow into the water. He knew bleeding in the ocean was a bad idea for more than one reason. Every move he made sent waves of pain through his body. He fought to remain conscious. He could hear shouting now in the boat.

  He managed to get his footing on the ladder at the back of the boat and slowly climbed onto the loading platform. He peeked over the side. The man who had shot him had climbed into the boat and was holding Christopher by the arm.

  He was shouting into Christopher’s ear. “Mr. Morgan doesn’t like spies. Do you hear me? Do you want to go to the bottom with your friend?”

  Christopher was not responding.

  “Charles Morgan will find you. He will go to the ends of the earth if he has to. There is no place safe. Do you understand?”

  Dillon looked to see how he could get behind the man. Then he recognized him. This was the same man who had shot him in Denver. He began to maneuver around the side of the boat, but the other man in Tiny’s boat saw him and yelled out at him. “There’s McGee. He’s still alive!” The man pulled out his handgun and fired at Dillon.

  This time, Dillon had time to duck behind the side of the boat. The bullets cracked the air over his head.

  The man who had Christopher by the arm fired a shot toward him and hit a metal pole. Clang! “McGee, come to me or I’ll shoot your friend right now.”

  Dillon had to think fast. He wasn’t about to let this man shoot Christopher, but he
knew if he showed himself, he would be shot again. He paused just a moment, weighing his options. “No, don’t shoot him!” He yelled. “I’ll come out.” He stood up on the diving platform so that his upper body was exposed behind the side of the boat. He raised his right hand. The man in Tiny’s boat pulled out his gun and was aiming to shoot him, but Tiny suddenly appeared from the wheel platform and shot him right in the base of the skull with a flare gun. ZZZIP! It knocked him over the side and into the water. Dillon could see his body disappearing into the deep of the blue circle.

  The man holding Christopher’s arm let him go and aimed his gun at Tiny. Just as he pulled the trigger, Christopher threw his body into him, slamming him to the deck and causing him to miss. The gun flew away from him and the two men knocked the table and chairs over as they fought each other to reach it. The assassin climbed on top of Christopher and landed a blow to his face.

  Dillon climbed over the side and ran toward them to help Christopher. He grabbed the man with his good arm and pulled him off of Christopher, but didn’t have the balance or strength to contain him. The man turned on him and knocked him to the deck. He stepped over and grabbed the gun, then grabbed Dillon and put it to his temple.

  Tiny climbed down the stairs and climbed into the boat to help Dillon, but it was too late. The man had a gun on him and held Tiny and Christopher at bay. “I will shoot him right now,” he said. “Stay back.” He looked over toward the cabin and fired a shot into the window. Travis and Julia, who had run inside, ducked out of sight as the bullet penetrated the glass.

  “Why is Morgan calling me a spy?” Dillon said, trying to catch his breath, and trying to stall the man from shooting him.

  “You are a spy.” The assassin sprayed spit as he yelled. “Morgan can’t stand spies. He will hunt you down.”

  “Why? Why are you calling me that?”

  “You hacked the system didn’t you? You saw the emails didn’t you? You spied on Mr. Morgan didn’t you?” He pushed the gun into the side of Dillon’s head with his finger on the trigger. He modulated his voice. “Well, he was watching you too.” His eyes were wide with adrenaline. “Now, it’s going to cost you.”