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Deception Island

By Janice Boekhoff

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Introduction

In a world where genetic manipulation is the newest superpower, dinosaurs are brought back from extinction and released on the American population. After several gruesome fatalities, the military hunts down each specimen and transfers it to a sanctuary—the newly formed island of Costa Rica. Contained by an expanded Panama Canal to the south and the freshly dug Nicaraguan canal to the north, the dinosaurs flourish in the tropical climate.

However, the costs required to purchase the land, evacuate the residents to nearby countries, and construct the sanctuary leave the United States saddled with enormous debt. This cost, coupled with an overworked prison system—a result of a decline in the moral fabric of the country—leads to the signing of a new death penalty bill, dubbed by the media as Jurassic Judgment.

After four months of accelerated appeals, death row inmates are given a choice: immediate execution or … exile to Extinction Island.

Wrongly convicted of her best friend’s murder, reptile expert Oakley Laveau chooses the island and survives for two terrifying weeks among genetically modified dinosaurs and ruthless convicts. In that time, she’s discovered her own genetic modification and the identity of who framed her. But her hunt for the truth is just beginning.
 













Chapter One

The cracked mirror hanging on the bathroom wall of the cave reflected a distorted image. Oakley Laveau peered closely. There was a shifting darkness hiding behind her bright blue eyes. The darkness ran deep within her, infusing her cells and clinging to her soul like a smoky mist.

This darkness wasn’t primitive—like the slaughter inflicted by the dangerous dinosaurs outside—it was more devious. Something that had changed her on a cellular level.

Leaning over the vanity, she clasped the sink with both hands and pinched her eyes closed. She couldn’t get rid of the darkness, but she could push it down with all her strength … at least until she found out who had modified her DNA and what it all meant.

As if called forth by her closed eyelids, the dream from last night resurfaced.


Mama faced her while walking backward along a tight corridor. Mama’s mouth was moving as she gestured with her hands down the hallway, but the words were muted and unrecognizable. She opened a thick, gray, metal door and stepped through.
When Oakley followed, a warm, humid breeze blew through her hair, whipping it around like a dark curtain. She stood on a catwalk across from Mama. The metal grate hovered over the ocean, far enough out to sea that no land was visible on the horizon.
Mama's voice broke through the silence like the sudden tuning of a radio. "We made you here. Come home."
Before she could ask how, Mama shoved her with both hands, sending her tumbling over the low railing. With a silent scream, she twisted and flipped as she fell. The ocean rushed closer and closer, its foaming waves waiting to suck her under.


“Are you ready?” Cane LeBlanc’s smooth voice came from outside the bathroom curtain.

Oakley’s eyes flew open. She sucked in a deep breath. The prickle of her electrical power surged in her core like a storm cloud crackling, but she kept it in check. Despite her racing heart, she was safe in the cave with Cane and the others.

What had he asked? Oh, yeah, whether she was ready. “I’ll be a minute.”

She submerged a cloth into the basin that was half full of rainwater and ran it over her face and neck.
The curtain didn’t afford much privacy, but they had a working toilet, sort of. The toilet consisted of a wooden base over a hole in the floor of the cave—Cane had called it a natural joint in the rock—that ran down and emptied far below her feet into the chasm outside the cave’s entrance. Liquid waste went straight out. Solid waste required flushing a bucket of water down. Needless to say, everyone knew which business had been completed and how often.

The cave was a far cry from the luxury, eco-friendly resort she’d stayed in when she’d first arrived on Extinction Island. Right off the prison transport boat, the Cazador gang had kidnapped her and taken her to their compound. A place of terror for the first few hours, but then it became a refuge. Not because of the better accommodations, but because of her kidnapper.

Kaleo Palani had protected her, charmed her, and drawn her in with his unexpected bursts of sarcasm. She’d opened up to him more than anyone, even her dad. If only she could have stayed at the resort with him.
When she came out of the bathroom, Cane was eating a bowl of meat, probably from the Oviraptor they’d killed yesterday. Flank shots from Cane’s arrows had driven the animal over a small cliff where it had broken its neck. The gruesome act of cutting up the meat hadn’t stopped her from eating her fill last night. Today, though, she couldn’t stomach it. She sat on a stool and picked up a bowl of fruit.

“In my personal opinion,” Cane said around a mouthful of meat, “leaving is a bad idea.”

What was she supposed to do instead? Live the rest of her days on Extinction Island, forever wondering who made her and what she was? Perhaps he had a point about not following the dream urgings of the woman who had tried to kill her as a child, but her dream mother wasn’t her real mother. More likely, it was her own subconscious pushing her to find answers.

Rather than respond, she slowly bit into a strawberry. She wasn’t going to debate the merits of leaving the island again. Cody, her pet Coelophysis, nuzzled her hand. She stroked his downy head a few times before dropping him a strawberry.

“What else do you need that you don’t have here? Friends, dinosaur meat,”—he winked at her while pointing to the bow and arrow set in the corner—“and weapons. We even have a safe room in the back if anything were to happen in here.”

“You do?”

“It’s for the women. Most of the men couldn’t fit through the small vertical opening.” He spun his fork around one finger. “The point is I can keep you safe here.”

She could hardly blame him for being concerned. Her plan was risky, even with her own enhanced protective defenses, but the dream had convinced her. Somewhere in the floating lab lay the answer to what was programmed into her cells. She needed to know the truth behind her strange abilities.

Cane had accepted his abilities as gifts from God and saw no reason to investigate further. Why God would have allowed someone to give him killing chemicals that came from between his fingers seemed inexplicable. But Cane’s logic frequently escaped her. She, however, needed a little more explanation. “How can I know who I am if I don’t know where I came from?”

With her government tracker currently disabled, this would be her only chance to leave the island undetected. Her only chance to find out exactly what had been done to her, and also to Cane.

He got up, put his bowl in the sink, and let out a resigned sigh.

She finished the berries before speaking again. “I need to tell Kaleo I’m going.”

“I know.”

She looked sideways at him. “You’re always the voice of reason, which means you never agree with me.”

He chuckled and the musical note in his laugh calmed her frayed nerves. “I’ve learned when to pick my battles.”

She gave him a grateful smile. Somehow, he understood that she would go without him, and yet he refused to let her do this alone. Maybe such grace and kindness came with the job of being a pastor. Was loving God the only reason this kind man in his twenties with no criminal record had come to the largest, most dangerous prison on the planet? So far, he hadn’t confided much about his past.

“It will take us about a day to get to the boat,” he said. “Last time I checked on it was a year ago. I’m praying the motor still works.”

He hefted one of the packs they’d stuffed full of food and supplies onto his back, then helped her with hers. She slung a bow and quiver over one shoulder, and he did the same. They both moved to the front of the cave where a steady wind blew in from the open cave entrance. An ocean of verdant trees stretched out in the valley below.

Cane strapped into the zip-line harness that would take him across the deep chasm to the jungle cliff beyond. With a wave, he jumped and raced across.

On the other side, he removed the harness and gave it a shove. She pulled it back using the guide rope. Once she secured it around her legs and chest, she gave Cody a quick pat, then stepped off the ledge.

As she sped toward the cliff on the other side, the view down the canyon took her breath away. A wondrous expanse of emerald trees and dark rocks curved into the distance. Beneath her feet yawned a three-hundred-foot drop to the jungle floor. Dizziness swamped her, and the dream surfaced in stark reality again.

Falling toward the ocean. Flailing as rushing wind flew past her face.

She shook her head and thrust the images away. This was the jungle, not the middle of the ocean. The zip line was perfectly safe, or at least safer than most places on this island.

She landed next to Cane on unsteady feet. He helped her slip from the harness. Normally, they left it hooked to a nearby tree so they could use it to return. But they wouldn’t be returning for a while, so she shoved it back along the wire. Someone from the cave, probably Neve Torres, would pull it in later.

A flash of guilt pulsed through her heart. She was taking Cane away from the people he wanted to protect. But Neve, with her healing skills and calm presence, would take care of them in his absence. She was a native Costa Rican who had chosen not to evacuate when Extinction Island was created, and she knew her way around the jungle better than most of them.

Cane pushed into the trees and Oakley followed, practicing the stealthy tactics both he and Kaleo had taught her: Watch for footprints to avoid traveling on game trails. Pay attention to the wildlife because animals go quiet when predators are near. Listen for rustling in the undergrowth. Trust your instincts.
She kept her gaze focused at eye level. Although the sight of an immense T. rex would be terrifying, the smaller dinosaurs were her gravest concern. At barely over five feet tall, she wouldn’t even be a snack for a Tyrannosaurus.

Of course, that hadn’t stopped Camocroc, a twenty-foot-long camouflaged Saurosuchus, from coming after her during her first week on the island. Some of the dinosaurs seemed to have an uncanny penchant for finding her. Perhaps they were attracted to her scent. Or maybe they could sense the darkness lurking within her.

The leaves surrounding them blew gently in the wind, and her nerves pulled taut. Were there other dinosaurs tracking her right now? Slow, even breaths helped her muscles to relax as they descended a steep hill. She was with Cane. His instincts were second only to Kaleo’s.

They crossed a small creek and headed up the slope on the other side. Just before they reached the crest of the hill, a hush came over the forest. Cane heard it too, because his steps slowed.

She fingered the string of her bow. For the last couple of days, Cane had been giving her archery lessons. According to him, she was a natural with quick reflexes.

He gave her a subtle nod. In barely a second, she swung the bow out, swiped an arrow from the quiver, and nocked it. With no clear target, she swiveled in a semicircle with the bow drawn.

The jungle closed in like a leafy cocoon, broken only by small sight lines between the trees. Tiny shafts of light streaked through the canopy above, creating dancing shadows in the breeze.

She turned her head back and forth to angle her ears in each direction. No sounds, not even the twittering of birds.

She caught his gaze and shook her head. His answering look meant he hadn’t heard anything either.
Her arms relaxed, then went rigid again as pounding thumps stomped about twenty yards away. Whatever it was, it was large and coming right at them.

Cane also drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He spun around, putting his back to hers in a defensive stance, and guided her toward the cover of a huge kapok tree trunk. She kept her arrow trained sideways toward the noises.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The running animal drew closer, shaking the ground beneath her feet, but not enough for something like a T. rex. This dinosaur was smaller.

The pounding noises came faster, overlapping. Another animal was pursuing the first. A creature with thundering footsteps as powerful as the fleeing animal, maybe more so.

Between small gaps in the foliage, she caught glimpses of something long and blue racing toward them. Cane pressed her against the back side of the tree trunk. She lowered her bow and arrow as he moved in front of her.

She craned her neck to look around his shoulder. An adult Parasaurolophus broke through the undergrowth and smashed into the front side of their tree. Its swooping blue head crest shaved off thick branches near the middle and sent wood crashing down on their heads.

Cane dove on top of her and covered her as the weight of the branches pinned them to the ground.

The Parasaurolophus thrashed against the tree and stomped, shaking the ground. It boomed out a deep honk. More branches cracked and continued to rain down.

The pounding thumps of its pursuer drew closer. The predator had to be almost on top of them as well.

Whoosh!

Heat rolled over them like the first flush of propane in a gas fireplace. Cane grunted and pressed tighter into her back. Even with him as a buffer, the heat smothered her head and arms. Sweat erupted on her entire body.

The para must have righted itself because branches stopped falling. Its heavy footsteps thumped away. Apparently, it had escaped the predator just in time.

Wood smoke filled her nostrils. Something had caught fire. Cane rolled to the side and began shoving the branches off.

She grabbed his arm. “Wait,” she whispered.

A sharp twinge tightened deep in her gut. The predator hadn’t moved on yet.

Tense moments passed. The only sounds came from the crackle of burning wood and the distant thump of the para’s feet. The air became a misty haze. She covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve to filter out the ash.

Cane shifted to the side. She squinted at him through the smoke. His eyes were closed. One hand was stuck out at an angle through the branches. Clearly, he was using his ability to release hydrogen cyanide in order to deter the predator. Several minutes passed where she continued to breathe through her sleeve.
The heat died down. The crackling eased to a dull smolder.

Just as the faint smell of almonds started to come through her makeshift mask, heavy thumps shook the ground near their tree. The creature circled once, then moved off in the direction in which the para had fled.
They waited another full minute before crawling out from under the charred branches. By that time, her head swam from lack of oxygen. She sucked in deep breaths as she dragged her bow and quiver away from the smoldering embers.

“Are you okay?” Cane asked.

“I should be asking you that question. You took the brunt of it.”

“I’m fine.”

She looked him over. His neck appeared to have a slight burn, but his clothes had protected the rest of his body. Satisfied he truly was fine, she moved around to the front of the tree.

Half of the trunk had turned to charcoal. Bits of bark flaked off in dark slivers. The fallen branches on this side had been reduced to smoldering piles of ash.

What kind of genetic monster could create damage like that? Cane appeared as surprised as her. Had this dinosaur moved in from another area?

She touched the flaking charcoal on the trunk. It crumbled off, leaving a dark stain on her fingers. Her heart gave a quick jump. Could new dinosaurs be coming to the island? She’d have to ask Kaleo if he’d seen anything like this.

An hour later, she and Cane stood on the opposite side of the wide chasm across from the Cazador gang’s resort compound. A shiver of apprehension snaked through her belly that had nothing to do with strange predatory dinosaurs. What would Kaleo think of her plan to leave the island?

Cane drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and let it fly. It bridged the chasm and buried itself in a wooden pot on Kaleo’s balcony—the signal announcing their arrival. If he was in his room, he’d hear it.

The two of them retreated to the designated meeting place at the head of the neighboring canyon, the same place Kaleo had left her after faking her death almost a week ago. So much had happened, it seemed as if she’d been on Extinction Island for months instead of a mere two weeks.

Within fifteen minutes, Kaleo’s tanned face appeared from around the side of a tree trunk. The dark intensity of his eyes kickstarted her heart. Powerful, bordering on arrogant, and fiercely protective, Kaleo’s presence couldn’t be ignored.

Despite his size, he moved toward her on feet that didn’t make a sound. When he stood inches from her, he stopped, reached up with the back of his hand, and traced the curve of her cheek. Warm tingles flooded down her spine. He hadn’t forgotten about her yet.

Beside them, Cane fidgeted with the string on his bow. The nervous action was so uncharacteristic that she had to squelch the urge to ask him what was wrong. Asking would only make this moment more awkward.
Kaleo shifted his gaze to her lips. Bittersweet memories of their two stolen kisses bubbled up inside her like champagne fizz. She bit her lower lip. What she wouldn’t give for one more kiss.

Cane took several steps away to give them privacy.

She cleared her throat. “How are things at the compound?”

“Fine.” Kaleo folded his arms across his chest. “Wyatt is still our main guard. Orion has taken up Chubs’s old position as keeper of the compound.”

The mention of Chubs turned her stomach. Hard to believe a baby-faced boy would murder his teacher, but behind his innocent face lurked a lustful, controlling manipulator. For a taste of more power within the gang, Chubs had been ready to present Oakley as a plaything for Daric, a serial killer. Kaleo had kicked him out for the betrayal. Barely eighteen years old, Chubs was on his own in this deadly jungle. Maybe he was dead already.

“How’s Misty?” In her sixties, Misty was a woman from the compound with long gray hair and subtle wrinkles around her eyes. Her crime was poisoning several husbands. The convicts usually left her alone, thanks to Kaleo and her dangerous background.

“As reclusive as ever. And still in charge of maintaining the poisonous traps in the jungle.” He dropped his arms and cut the distance between them in half. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You smell like the ginger lilies they keep at the cave.”

Heat crawled up her neck. Small talk was safer than being so close to him. He grabbed her arm and guided her farther from Cane.

Then, he bent his neck and brushed his scruffy cheek against hers. The rough sensation thrilled her. With a tilt of his head, he gently kissed her earlobe and along her jawline. By the time he reached her lips, she responded eagerly. He drew her into a deep, dizzying kiss.

When he pulled away, she swallowed hard and fought to slow her heavy breathing. She’d let him distract her, very nice, but she needed to get back on task. She took a step away and put a hand on his arm. “I have something to tell you.”

He flinched as if he knew what was coming, though he couldn’t possibly.

She bit her lip before pressing on. “I had a dream about Asperten.” It sounded silly, almost irresponsible, to take action on a dream, but even now the memory of it was as real as being here with Kaleo.
Mama's sharp voice saying, "We made you here. Come home."

“Your dad’s company?” he asked.

“Yes. My mother worked there too. In the dream, my mother was at that lab. I think I can find answers there.”
What she wouldn’t tell him—what she hadn’t told anyone—was that she now remembered putting her mother into a coma as a child. At only seven years old, she’d acted in self-defense and then repressed the memory to block out the trauma. The dream had to be connected somehow.

Kaleo wrinkled his forehead.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “I’m leaving today. Cane has agreed to come with me.”
His forehead didn’t relax. His gaze darted to Cane and then back to her. His mind was churning, trying to find a way to talk her out of this. “Does Raptor know?”

Her former boss, Ogden “Raptor” Greene, did not know of her decision, and she was going to keep it that way. “I can’t tell him.”

Raptor, a reptile expert like her, traveled to Extinction Island every month to check on the dinosaurs and the ecological systems. His salary was funded in part by Asperten International and in part by the federal government. If the government found out she’d left the island and Raptor knew about it, he’d be arrested. She couldn’t let him take the risk.

Kaleo moved closer again. He towered over her, his broad chest filling her vision. She looked up into his chestnut eyes, hidden in the shadows from his thick hair.

He trapped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “What if you find something you don’t like?”

His husky voice speaking her fear aloud almost prompted her to abort her plan. Almost. She pushed down the visceral effect he had on her. “This is my only chance to find the truth.”

Her government-issued tracker had shorted out after she’d used her electrifying ability on a Velociraptor. Until the government found her to reinstall her tracker, she could leave Extinction Island of her own free will, the same as Cane, who had never been convicted of a crime.

Kaleo grasped her gently by the forearms. “Even though you’re at the cave and I’m at the resort, I’ve started to think of this island as beautiful because I know you’re here somewhere.” He took a deep breath. “But if you go,” a sad smile crept over his expression, hardened by the firm line between his brows, “I need you to promise me something.”

“What is it?” she asked in a quiet tone.

He tightened his grip. “Don’t come back.”

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