by C. G. Mosley
Annie noticed that the feeds did indeed change, but due to the darkness, she could still see very little.
“I know you can’t see much right now, but trust me, there is a lot going on,” Hardcastle said. “I’ve been on your boyfriend about getting some night vision hooked up, but he’s being a cheapskate.” Hardcastle paused a moment, and it was clear a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Hey, maybe you can talk him into it?”
“Oh, I see,” Annie replied dryly. “You called me in here to show me all of this with some sort of false hope that I can get Eric to get you some fancy night vision cameras…well, you can forget it because he’s so stubborn; I can’t even get through to him.”
Hardcastle rolled his chair back from the desk and held up an apologetic hand. “No, no, no,” he said quickly. “That’s not why I called you in here.”
“Well, why then?”
“Two reasons: One, I know this place makes you uneasy, and I wanted to show you just how much we’re able to keep tabs on all the dinosaurs out there—especially the really nasty ones.”
“And the second?” she asked.
Hardcastle gave a sideways smirk. “Well, I’d like to know more about your last visit here.”
Annie’s demeanor suddenly changed. A frown appeared, and she sighed deeply. “I guess that jackass told you I’ve been here before,” she said after a long pause.
“Yeah, he let it slip,” Hardcastle replied. “What happened? How did you get here, and why were you here?”
Annie considered getting up and leaving right then and there, but she remembered again that she had nowhere else to go at the time. Now more than ever, she did not want to go back and face Eric.
“Well, you’ve heard of Angus Wedgeworth?” she asked.
Hardcastle nodded.
“He’s my uncle—was my uncle—and he dragged me out here with promises of getting me a Pulitzer Prize winning shot,” Annie explained. “So I grabbed my camera and followed him here with a few other ignorant souls and once we got here…well, it got bad.”
“How bad?” Hardcastle asked.
“Bad enough that people died,” she replied somberly. “Bad enough that I still can’t make it a whole week without having at least one night where I wake up screaming and soaking wet with sweat.”
“What happened?”
Annie shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she replied.
“Oh come on,” Hardcastle pressed. “What happened?”
Annie shot him a hard glare. “I said I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Hardcastle huffed and shook his head, clearly wanting to argue, but knew better. “Fine,” he said finally. “But if it was that bad, why would you ever want to come back?”
“That was seven years ago,” Annie replied. “Eric has done a lot of begging and put forth a lot of effort showing me pictures of what he’s built here to convince me to come back.”
“You love him that much?”
“I thought I did,” she said. “Now I’m not so sure. But I think it was more than just that. You know…all that facing your fears to overcome them nonsense probably played into it.”
Hardcastle was about to try and pry a little more information out of her, when suddenly something on the computer screen got his attention.
“What is that?” Annie asked, noticing it too.
“I’ll be darned,” Hardcastle replied. He peered at the little window that had popped up on the screen a few seconds more to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him.
“What is it?” Annie asked again. She could clearly tell that whatever was on the screen was important.
“Someone just entered the safety bunker on the other end of the island,” Hardcastle muttered.
Chapter 20
Once they were all locked inside, fluorescent lighting lit up the ceiling and revealed a narrow staircase that descended deeper into the bunker. Jonathon, Henry, and Silas all waited for Dave to lead the way. None of them said anything, but even Dave could sense their skepticism.
“Guys, relax,” Dave said as he began to hobble down the stairs. “You guys have me outnumbered three to one, and my leg is probably going to end up so infected that I’ll have to have it amputated.”
“Well, I don’t know about getting your leg amputated, but if you try anything funny in here, that possibility will become the least of your worries,” Jonathon grumbled.
Dave offered no response, but soon led them to a room that measured approximately twenty feet across in all directions, and roughly seven feet in height. The three walls opposite of where the staircase came down were covered with shelves and cabinets. There was plenty of canned food and water available. There were two cots in the center of the room and a couple of wooden chairs.
Silas grabbed a can of peaches and began rummaging for something to open it with.
“You guys think of everything except a darn can opener,” he snapped.
“Here,” Jonathon said, reaching for the large knife sheathed on his belt.
“Much obliged,” Silas said, and mere seconds later, he began plucking peach slices from the opened can.
“I found pineapple,” Henry said, and he took the knife and began working on his own can.
“Alright, well since you’ve fed us, why don’t you go ahead and entertain us with a little dinner conversation,” Jonathon suggested.
Dave looked confused. “What else do you want to know?” he asked. “I’ve told you everything.”
“I want to know more about what you morons are doing on this island,” Jonathon replied.
Dave sighed an exasperated breath. “I’ve told you more than I should’ve already.”
“Well, tell us more,” Silas said as he threw the last peach slice into his mouth.
Dave bit his lip and crossed his arms. He sat down in one of the chairs, and Jonathon pulled the other one closer to him and sat as well.
“Come on, Dave,” he said. “Don’t make my dad get the knives out again.”
“What do you want to know?” Dave spat, clearly agitated.
“How many animals have you shipped off of this island?” Jonathon asked.
Dave thought a moment. “Somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty, I think.”
Jonathon’s eye’s widened. “Thirty? That’s just wonderful,” he said, slumping down into the chair.
“We are careful. The animals that are sold are all neutered or spayed. They are unable to reproduce, and even if they were, we’ve never sold two animals of different genders,” Dave explained. “If we sell a male Triceratops, that’s all we will ever sell in the future.”
“And the animals that you’re selling…how many of them are dangerous?” Jonathon asked.
“We’ve sold a couple of raptors, but for the most part, it’s been small herbivores. We’ve sold quite a few Protoceratops. They’re plentiful on the island, they’re small, and they’re not dangerous at all.”
“And now you’re selling juvenile tyrannosaurs,” Henry said, as he settled onto one of the cots.
Dave suddenly got quiet.
“Do you have any idea how extraordinarily stupid bringing a tyrannosaur to civilization is?” Jonathon asked.
“The buyer is paying an extraordinarily large amount of money for it,” Dave countered.
“We can’t let it happen,” Jonathon said sternly. “I won’t let it happen.”
Dave considered what he said a long moment, and suddenly his mood softened. “Okay, look,” he said. “The truth is, I wasn’t crazy about the tyrannosaur either. But once Eric sees the dollar signs, he won’t back down.”
“Yeah, he’s obviously blinded by greed so much that he was willing to sacrifice you,” Jonathon said. “Did that thought ever occur to you?”
“No,” Dave said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t Eric. It was the guy that was driving the jeep I was in. He’s what you’d call our resident dinosaur wrangler. His name is Glenn Hardcastle, and unfortunately for me, he ha
tes me. He probably wanted the dinosaur to kill me, and when I see Eric, I’m going to tell him all about it.”
“And how do you think you’re going to see Eric?” Silas asked. “We’ve got you, son.”
Dave laughed. “Do you really think they’re not going to come looking for me?”
“Not if they think you’re dead,” Jonathon said.
“Even if they did think I was dead,” Dave argued, “this end of the island will be crawling with Eric, Glenn, and many others as they try to fulfill the other half of the order. Sooner or later, you’ll be found out.”
Jonathon perked up. “What do you mean, the other half of the order?”
Dave clenched his teeth and shut his eyes. He couldn’t believe he’d been so careless.
Jonathon stood from the chair. “What else are they after?” he said, noticing how disturbed Dave had become because of his error.
Dave remained silent. Jonathon grew angrier. He grabbed Dave by his shirt collar and jerked him out of the chair. “What are they after?”
“I can’t even pronounce the name of it!” Dave shouted fearfully. “Sarco—something…it’s some kind of prehistoric crocodile. I don’t know exactly what it’s called!”
“Sarcosuchus,” Jonathon said, abruptly dropping Dave back into the chair.
Henry sat up from the bed. “Son, you sound worried…and if you’re worried, I’m worried.”
“I’ve been around plenty of crocs while shooting Wild World,” Silas said. “A prehistoric one can’t be good.”
Jonathon swallowed hard. He took his wide-brimmed hat off his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not good at all,” he said somberly. “It’s basically a forty-foot crocodile with a mouth large enough to gulp down your entire body in one catastrophic chomp. The hide on it has to be almost impenetrable.”
“It is,” Dave said. “According to our paleontologist, it’s the most dangerous animal on the entire island. They’re planning on capturing an adult one.”
Jonathon clenched his teeth and wrung his hat in his hands. “I won’t let them capture it,” he said angrily. “It will not happen on my watch!”
“What sort of customer would want something like that?” Henry asked.
“Someone with a lot of money,” Dave replied flatly.
“Someone up to no good,” Silas countered. “Do you guys check out who you’re selling to?”
Dave looked away and said nothing.
***
Glenn Hardcastle had endured a rough night. Sleeping was next to impossible after what he’d discovered on the computer monitor the night before. Someone had entered an emergency bunker during the night, and he was certain that it had to mean that Dave was alive. Initially, he wasn’t sure if the discovery was good news or not. On one hand, Eric would be thrilled when he found out that Dave was indeed alive, and he would undoubtedly be pleased with Glenn for figuring it out. But on the other hand, Dave being alive also meant that he would probably waste no time at all expressing his displeasure with how Glenn had treated him, and he would certainly make it known how reckless he had been.
Ever since he’d quickly ushered Annie out of the room, and encouraged her to return to Eric, Glenn had been unable to concentrate on anything else. Truthfully, he could care less if she never spoke to Eric again, but given his latest discovery, he needed time to think. And so it was, thinking was all he did the entire night. After giving it so much thought, he finally decided that the benefits of going forward to Eric with the information outweighed anything negative that could result from it by a good margin.
He’d call him as soon as the sun came up and let him know what he’d found. Then he’d spearhead the mission to go after him, and maybe, just maybe, Dave might be so relieved to see him, he’d conveniently let bygones be bygones. And after all, if he didn’t say anything about the bunker, someone else would almost certainly figure it out and notify Eric if he didn’t hurry up and do it first.
Morning finally did arrive a short time later, and after making his decision, Glenn somehow managed to get at least an hour of sleep. As soon as he was up, he marched straight to Eric’s apartment. He raised a fist to knock on the door, but then suddenly an awkward thought occurred to him. He’d sent Annie back several hours ago. Lord knows what happened after that, he thought.
He’d just about decided to spend some time packing the jeep first when suddenly the door opened. It was Annie. Her hair was disheveled, her makeup looked terrible, her clothes were in disarray, but somehow she still looked stunningly beautiful. She was understandably surprised to see him standing there.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, in a voice just above a whisper. She looked over her shoulder as she spoke.
Glenn got straight to the point. “I’m here to see Eric. I’d have waited, but it’s pretty important.” He could now clearly hear water running.
“Well he’s uh…he’s taking a shower,” she said in a tone that suggested she was embarrassed.
Glenn read between the lines, but he certainly didn’t see any reason for her to feel embarrassed. If anyone should’ve felt embarrassed now, he felt it was certainly him.
“Well, tell him I’ll be in the hangar. Tell him to come find me as soon as he gets out. It’s about Dave,” he said, turning away to leave.
“What about Dave?” she asked.
Hardcastle stopped, but didn’t turn back to face her. He suddenly remembered that Annie knew nothing about Dave’s disappearance. “I’d rather speak to Eric directly about it,” he said very matter-of-factly.
“I see,” she replied. “I suppose that means it’s something bad,” she said in a worried tone.
Glenn kept his back to her and rolled his eyes. “No, it’s actually something good,” he said. “In fact, tell Eric that the news I have about Dave is good; you can tell him that.”
Dave was just about to walk away again when he heard a muffled voice call out from somewhere further toward the interior of the apartment. Glenn had never ventured inside Eric’s apartment before.
Eric’s jabbering had gotten Annie’s attention. She leaned back to listen, seemed to understand, and replied, “It’s Glenn…he says he’s got good news about Dave!”
The water immediately turned off and Glenn could hear what sounded like a shower curtain shuffling about.
“Glenn! Wait!”
Moments later, Eric jogged into the doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was soaking wet, and it suddenly occurred to Glenn he’d never seen Eric shirtless before. The man obviously was working out and his athletic appearance only made Glenn despise him more.
“What’s up with Dave?” Eric asked.
Hardcastle kept his mouth shut and glanced over at Annie. Eric suddenly remembered she didn’t know what all had occurred the day before.
“Sweetie…err, excuse us a moment,” Eric said, and he stepped outside and shut the door behind him.
Hardcastle looked around. He wondered what would be thought or said by any of his coworkers if they caught a glimpse of him standing with a naked Eric—and outside his apartment to boot.
“I think he’s alive,” Glenn said. “I got a ping off the bunker at the other end of the island. Someone went inside it last night.”
Eric smiled, but it disappeared almost immediately. “I thought you said you saw Dave die.”
Glenn shook his head. He was ready for this. “No,” he said, holding up a hand. “I never said I saw him die. I said I saw the tyrannosaur attack him, but he was in the truck. Everything happened too fast, and to tell you the truth, I was in survival mode at that point. When things were obviously hopeless for Dr. Cruz and Dave, I had to do what I could to protect George and myself. Dave must’ve somehow slipped out and escaped. I never got a clear, unobstructed view.”
Eric let out a breath and closed his eyes. He was letting it all process.
“I’m telling you,” Glenn continued. “If there was anything I could’ve done, I would’ve.”
“You’ve never liked Dave,” Eric said, a little too coldly for Glenn’s taste.
“Look, I’m a jerk, and I can be—difficult, I know all that,” Glenn replied. “And yeah, I’ve never been fond of Dave because he’s always come across as a kiss-ass. But you know how serious I am about my job, and part of my job is protecting you and everyone else in this corporation from these monsters. I wouldn’t purposely do anything to get someone killed.”
Eric stared at him a long minute. He took another deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Well, Dave’s out there all alone with those monsters all around him right now,” Eric said. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to go get the little pain in the ass,” Glenn said with a grin.
Eric smirked. “Yes, you are,” he replied. “And I’m going with you—after I get dressed.”
He opened the door to the apartment, and as he was about to go inside, he stopped and turned back to Hardcastle.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he said. “Our new paleontologist arrived during the night.”
Glenn was taken aback. “New paleontologist…already?”
“Finding a paleontologist to come to this island will never be a problem,” Eric said. “And coming during the night is the best way to get them here discreetly.”
“But Dr. Cruz has been dead less than twenty-four hours,” Glenn said somberly. He was surprised at how much it bothered him that the man was so quickly replaced.
“I know,” Eric said. “But you know Casey would want us to push onward. We’ve got a big croc out there to get. We need all the help we can get and we don’t have any time to waste. The bunker is close to where the super crocs are. This little adventure to go and get Dave will be her first taste of what this island has to offer.” And with that, Eric disappeared into the apartment and abruptly shut the door.
Her? Glenn thought to himself.