Page 40 of Hunted
“Wait, where’s Arnold?” Bower asks, reminding me we weren’t alone in that chopper.
“Shit, I don’t know. We all took off after Darla, and I didn’t think to check in with him. I’m not used to not having a cell phone.”
“You should walk around the hospital and see if you can find him. He’s probably looking for you.”
“Good idea—”
I’m cut off when the door opens and in walks Arnold himself.
“Arnold! I was just about to come and find you.”
“No need, sir. I grabbed you some supplies, although I see you already got some clothes. I have some other things in there for you, too.”
“How did you find us?” West asks.
“I just asked around and was directed here. Apparently, they didn’t want to upset the young men who came in off the helicopter,” he says, a small smirk on his lips as he looks at me.
I take the bag and look inside. A huge grin covers my face when I see the cell phone. Pulling it out, I ask, “Is it—”
“Charged and working, sir. Also, I should mention, I’ve already put in some calls to get passports for the other four.”
“Arnold, you’re a lifesaver!” I say with a genuine smile. He looks at me in surprise, like he’s never seen that expression on my face before.
But he quickly shakes it away, his calm and collected exterior back in place. He reaches into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out a couple things, handing them to me.
“Your passport and a credit card, sir.”
“You really thought of everything,” I say, happy I don’t have to leave the room.
King takes the bag from me and starts to look through it as Arnold responds. “It’s my job, sir.”
“This is far beyond your job, Arnold.”
“I programmed my number into that phone. As well as Slade, your father, and King and Bower’s mother. Is there anything else you need?”
A grin crosses my face and I nod. “Yeah… a plane.”
Ten minutes later, I’m pacing the room as the phone rings, waiting for my dad to pick up. I considered going somewhere else to make this call, but I didn’t trust anywhere in this hospital to be private. And the five of us were in this together now.
“Yes?” My dad’s voice cuts through the phone in annoyance.
“Dad?”
There’s a moment of silence before he responds. “Reece?” he says in surprise. I am calling from a new number. He probably expected it to be a scam. I’m surprised he even picked up.
“Yeah, Dad, it’s me.”
“Where have you been?”
“What do you mean? You knew where I was going. Why didn't you send a rescue team when you didn’t hear from me?”
“I’m sorry, Son. I thought you’d be busy catching up with your friends. I knew you’d call when you were ready.”
“Dad, we were attacked.”
He’s silent before he asks tentatively, “Attacked? What do you mean? By who?”
“We’re not exactly sure. We think they were mercenaries.” My eyes move to the others, who are silently listening to my side of the conversation.
