The Diamond Dragon (Kip Keene Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

housing district.” Johnathon rolled his window up with the hand crank as rain began to drop inside the truck’s cabin. “Heck of a storm about to come in.”
    “Lucky us,” Strike said. She glanced in the backseat at Keene, who was staring at the empty road. “Maybe that’s got something to do with our plane going down.”
    “Probably,” Johnathon said, “storms mess up all the electronics. Phones and such.”
    “That explains a lot,” Keene said in a faraway tone.
    The pickup truck bounced off a pot hole and continued towards the dim lights on the horizon—the only indication that civilization lurked nearby. Everything else was crops that reached Keene’s forehead, and trees.
    Lots of trees.
    Keene stretched his arms in the back of the cab, trying to get comfortable after a trying flight.
    After they got settled and he checked on Strike, the bank would be the best place to start. The author of the journal had mentioned that there was a secret hidden in a bank vault box. Maybe it was the Diamond Dragon.
    Even if it wasn’t, it was their only lead.
    A sign whipped past the truck. Welcome to Tillus . You’ll never want to leave! Population 1,462.
    “Looks like you were right.” The sign blurred past and disappeared. Strike tapped her finger against the window. “What’s that?”
    “What’s what, ma’am?” Johnathon turned to look where Strike was pointing. “Ah.”
    Seemingly out of nowhere, like an oasis in the desert, a gleaming silver building—futuristic, more Silicon Valley than small town America—stood apart from the soft lights of the town. The strange structure glowed. It was located maybe a quarter mile from the town limits, the distinct gap easily discernible in the clear, smog-less air.
    “You sure you aren’t taking us to Area 51?” Strike said.
    “Hard to get clean water around here, ma’am. Government built us a water treatment plant on their dime a while back, without us even askin’. But I like your idea more,” Johnathon said. He pulled the truck off to the side of the road, right on the outskirts of town. “This is as far as I’ll take you.”
    “You won’t take us to the bank?” Strike said. “Or a motel?”
    “Afraid not.” The man’s deep voice didn’t waver, but there was a slight quiver in his arms. “You gotta walk in yourself.”
    Keene glanced outside at the whipping sheets of rain. The drizzle had morphed into a miniature typhoon.
    “You sure we don’t owe you anything for the ride?” he said.
    Johnathon’s face darkened. “I gotta tell you a secret, Mr. Keene.” There was a long, awkward pause. “Maybe you should go somewhere else. It’s a bad time, is all, for the town, and you two seem like real nice folks.”
    “Bad time, huh? How you figure that?” Keene said.
    But the large man’s lips buttoned up tight.
    Keene opened the door, the howling wind rushing past his ears as he stepped onto the wet asphalt. No cars came from Tillus, no headlights peeked out on the horizon. He stood in the middle of the muddy road, staring at the picturesque town.
    Strike almost fell palms first into the ground. But she managed to keep upright, slowly dragging herself over to Keene.
    “You can walk?” Keene said. She nodded. “We’ll go slow.”
    The truck’s engine fired, and Keene watched the pickup roar past and haul ass towards Tillus. His eyes traced over its shadowy fumes, then fell on the sparkling metal albatross just outside the town. He kicked at the dirt road. Up ahead it segued into asphalt again, but here it was basically a mud pit.
    “What’s the plan?” Strike said.
    “We’re gonna get you some rest.” Keene said. “And then find out what they’re guarding at that damn bank.”

7 | The Bank Job
    Keene stepped across the town line, half-expecting to be jolted with a sudden burst of cosmic energy. Much to his relief—and minor disappointment—the step resembled all the others he had taken in his life.
    “That guy freaked you out