Page 18 of Hunted (Desert Island Duet #2)

Chapter twelve

Reece

“ W est, did you notice if that gift shop sold cell phones?” I ask, my mind racing through ideas of how to get us home.

“I didn’t see any, no.”

Moving to the window, I glance out and see a few stores across the street. “I’m going to go see if I can get one.”

“Do you have your wallet?” West asks, making me stop in my tracks. My hands go to my pockets, but I already know the answer. No. I lost mine ages ago.

“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.

“Why would mercenaries try to kill you? ”

“We think it has something to do with Frank?”

“Frank?” he asks in confusion.

I nod as I respond. “Yeah, we think he’s behind everything, their plane crash, Darla’s…” I trail off, realizing I’ve never told him about the wonky paperwork I found leading me to Frank in the first place.

“Darla? What are you talking about?”

“I found her, Dad. She’s alive.” He doesn’t speak for so long I have to prod him. “Dad? Did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I… I can’t believe it. What about her father?”

“He’s long gone. But she’s been shot. We’re in the hospital now but I’m making arrangements to get us home. Just do me a favor and have someone keep an eye on Frank until we can figure this whole thing out, okay?”

“Of course, whatever you need, Son.”

We hang up and I let out a deep breath.

“Did he even ask about her?” King asks with a frown.

I think for a moment, then shake my head. “I just threw a lot of information at him. He was clearly shocked to hear she was still alive. You have to remember he thought she died fifteen years ago.”

We’re silent for a moment, digesting that information until I look down at the cell phone and realize I’m not the only one with family to call.

“King, Bower, you want to call your mom?” I ask, holding the cell phone out towards them.

They both come over and I take Bower’s place at Darla’s side. Smoothing her hair back from her face, I stare down at her, hoping she’ll wake up soon .

“I’m gonna grab a wet cloth to clean her up a bit,” I tell West as I head into the bathroom.

Silently, I work on cleaning her face and arms as I listen to King and Bower talk to King’s mom on speakerphone.

“Mom?”

“Kingsley?! Oh my god, is it really you?!” His mom bursts into sobs making Bower and King chuckle softly.

“Mom, Mom, calm down, I can’t understand you,” he says, trying to get her to stop bawling.

“Are you okay? What about Bower?”

“I’m right here, Mrs. V,” Bower chimes in.

“Thank goodness you’re both alright! Where have you been?! Do you know how worried I was?”

“Is that them?” I hear Kingsley’s sister, Hazel, yell in the background.

“Yes, they’re okay!”

“Here, let me put it on speakerphone,” Hazel’s muffled voice comes out as we listen to the two of them wrestling with the phone. “King, Bower? Are you guys really okay?”

“Yeah, Haze, we’re okay.”

“Where are you?”

“Madagascar.”

“What?!” both women ask at the same time.

Bower answers for them this time. “We were stranded on a deserted island about an hour from here. Reece finally found us.” He glances at me and winks as the girls start talking over each other.

“Mom, Haze, you gotta slow down, one at a time.”

“Hazel, shush! Let me talk to my son!” Bower laughs and King rolls his eyes in amusement. “Are you flying home today? ”

They both look over at Darla and hesitate in their answer, realizing they are going to have to do some explaining.

“No, we can’t come home just yet.”

“Why not? I’d think you’d be dying to get back here.”

“We are, trust me, Mom. But someone in our group got injured and we have to wait for them to heal a bit more before we come home.”

“Oh no! Was it Reece? Will he be okay?”

“Reece is fine,” Bower says, still avoiding the answer.

“Boys…” she says in a warning tone. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Well, when West, he was our pilot, Bower, and I crashed into the ocean and ended up on the island, we weren’t the first ones to be deserted there.”

We hear the women’s collective gasps before Hazel asks, “Who else was there?”

“Well…” King says slowly as he and Bower look at one another, clearly unsure how to explain who Darla is and what she means to them. “Her name is Darla.”

“Her? And she’s the one who’s injured?”

“Yeah, we’re in her hospital room with the guys now.”

“The guys… So all four of you young men are in there with her now?”

“That’s right,” King says with a nod.

His mom is silent for a moment before she adds, “She must be very special to have all of you looking after her.”

“She is,” they say in unison, smiling at one another.

“Where is she from? Is her family coming there to get her?”

I finish cleaning Darla, and head back to the kitchen as Bower and King stay silent, clearly looking at each other for an answer .

I roll my eyes and grab the phone from them as I pass. “Mrs. V? It’s Reece.”

“Reece! It’s so good to hear your voice. How are you? Are my boys really okay?”

“We’re all okay,” I tell her, tossing the cloth into the sink.

“As for Darla, we’re hopeful she’ll recover, and we can bring her back to the states in the next few days.

As for her family, we’re her family now.

Google her name, Darla Danvers, you’ll find everything you need to know.

As for what she means to your sons…” I glance at their wide expressions as I decide to tell her the truth.

“They are both dating her, and so is West. I’m hoping to be a part of that too, but we’re working on it. ”

“Ho-ly SHIT!” Hazel exclaims loudly.

“Hazel! Language!”

“Mom, I’m twenty-three, I’m allowed to swear!”

“Not in this house, young lady!” I toss the phone to King as I pass them, heading back to Darla’s side.

“Mom? We’ve gotta go. I’ll call you when we’re home, okay? I lost my phone, and we’re sharing this one so it’s harder to keep in contact with you. I’ll buy a new one as soon as I’m back.”

“Alright, Kingsley. You boys take care of each other, you hear?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“And I expect to hear all about this Darla when we see you.”

“Yes, Mom, love you.”

“Love you, too. You as well, Bower!”

“Love you, Mrs. V!”

They hang up and take a second to digest the call .

Finally, King drops down on the bench by the window as Bower moves to the foot of the bed, staring down at Darla. “Now what?” he asks.

I glance around at all three of them as I consider our plan.

“We need to wait for her to heal before flying back home so she can recover. In the meantime, we should shower, shave, and get some real clothes. Oh, and Arnold’s already arranging new cells for everyone. I’m working on a plane… so I guess all that’s left is food.”

Bower frowns as he looks down at Darla. “I don’t know if I can eat anything real until she can. I’m craving a burger and fries so badly, but it’s only been a few months for me. It’s been way too long for her.”

I nod, knowing what he means. “We can’t starve ourselves. She’ll be upset if we look emaciated when she wakes up. And we need our strength to take care of her.”

“And protect her. Don’t forget, Frank hired men to kill us. For all we know, they’ll try again,” West says in frustration.

He’s right. If anything, we’re less safe here since so many people know our location and we can’t get away with killing so easily here.

I grip Darla’s hand in mine and watch her face for signs of movement. No matter what, her safety comes first. I will not lose her again.