Sea Creature by Victor Methos Read Free Book Online Page B

You’ll have to live off of charity like a homeless person because that’s what you’ll be.”
    Patrick stared off in the distance in silence. The word “homeless” had struck a nerve. He had seen so many at the VA. So many soldiers who looked fine on the outside but had been torn apart on the inside. They would live on the streets because they couldn’t deal with wives and children and parents and bosses anymore. They let their hair grow, their guts grow, and they would eventually be found in alleys and underpasses, drunk or nodding off from drugs. It was a nightmare that kept him up at night.
    “I’m sorry,” she finally said, “I’ve overstepped my bounds.”
    “No, not all. I was just thinking.”
    They climbed back into the boat after another half hour of tanning and after returning the rental Patrick took her back to her bed and breakfast. They agreed to meet for dinner tonight and go to the casino afterward. As she was saying goodbye, she leaned in and gave him a long kiss. He couldn’t help but smile all the way back to the hotel.

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13

    Christopher sat at the beach, working on his ipad under a pink umbrella. He needed to plan his next move. Randomness and being caught off guard was not something he would allow to happen. He needed to be one step ahead of everyone else, needed to see the turns that were coming up.
    The fact was, Patrick was probably never going to join him so the question he was asking himself was whether he should join up with Hamilton on his own or stick with Patrick.
    “Hey,” Patrick said walking up from behind him.
    “Hey. What’re you doing here? I thought you were out on a date.”
    “I was. We’re meeting up for dinner tonight.” He sat down in the sand, watching a yacht drift by with several women in bikinis waving hello. “Call your guy.”
    “What guy?”
    “The oil billionaire.”
    “Seriously?” Christopher said, sitting up. “You’re serious?”
    “Yes, call him. But we need a contract in place saying he’s funding everything and all of that. I also want some money up front.”
    “How much?”
    “I don’t know, enough for us to live on for a while I guess.”
    “I’ll work out the details, don’t worry about it.”
    “I think you might be getting your hopes up for nothing. For all we know there’s not anything out there.”
    “Maybe, but I don’t think so. I heard about another attack from some of the fishermen. This one was pretty bad; blood and body parts all over the place. Happened on a yacht not too far from here.”
    Patrick rose, wiping sand off of himself. “Just make sure we get some money upfront. Tell him we know all the local people and we’ll arrange the deckhands and fisherman that we need but he’s got to lease a big boat and all the equipment.”
    “I think that’s plan. He sounded really excited on the phone when I was telling him. But, I gotta warn ya, he sounded a little weird.”
    “Weird like ‘I’m an eccentric billionaire’ or weird like ‘I’m gonna rape you while you’re sleeping’ weird?”
    “More eccentric billionaire. Don’t think he could rape us, he’s in a wheelchair.”
    “Well, just make sure—”
    “We get some money up front, got it.”

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14

    Taylor Hamilton sat in his estate’s gardens and painted the sunrise. His wheelchair was chrome with black padding on the seat and arm rests. It responded to voice commands and he asked it to back away a little, judging his work.
    He glanced quickly at the monitor that had been set up next to the easel. It was linked to his home daycare. The daycare was run by state licensed employees and, truth be told, was probably the finest daycare in the state. But that was not why he had set it up. He liked to watch the children. Boys, girls, teens . . . he enjoyed watching them as they played or ate or slept.
    When he was a young man and not bound to this machine, he remembered there was no child he couldn’t have. Now, he had to watch.
    His assistant,