Matt Archer: Legend Read Free Page B

major’s team.”
    “Are they going to contact Jorge?” I asked.
    “The colonel said he’d try…you know how Jorge is about
technology. If we can’t reach him by sat-phone, we’ll have the Peruvian
National Guard look for him.” He didn’t sound convinced that the Guard would
have much luck. “But he seems to sense when we’re coming, like the
knife-spirits keep him informed on what’s going on. I bet Ramirez finds him
waiting by the drop zone with cookies and lemonade.”
    Will laughed. “The thought of Jorge and cookies doesn’t go
together.”
    No doubt. An Ivy-League educated medicine man didn’t really go with anything. Jorge was one of a kind. “So now what? Are we still on our
investigation here, or do we need to go back?”
    Parker shook his head. “We stay—we have that meeting at the
university tomorrow, and I need to ask the experts some questions. There’s
something prowling around up here, and I don’t think it was just those boulder…things.”
    I didn’t, either. The rock monsters seemed special ordered
to come after us.
    Or, if I was totally honest, to come after me. I’d had a
series of freak accidents the last year or so. A truck nearly killed me during
my driving test, a parachute failure almost turned me into a pancake in
India—stuff like that. Just last week, all the shelves in my closet had
collapsed without warning. If I hadn’t jumped clear, I’d probably have a dent
in my skull right about now.
    “Well, if we’re going to meet with some profs in the
morning, we need some sleep,” I said.
    Will took that to mean right now and flopped down on his
bed, wincing when he landed on his bad shoulder. He started snoring about eight
seconds later.
    “I’ve never seen anyone who could just sleep like that,”
Parker muttered.
    I grinned. “Wait five minutes and I’ll pass out on command,
too, sir.”
    Parker left me then, giving me a chance to shower. I
grimaced when I saw the damage. Scrapes along my jaw, a cut on the back of my
left hand, and dust mixed with slime in my hair, turning my brown buzz cut into
greenish fuzz. I knew I’d be sporting a dozen bruises in the morning too. Hazardous
after-school job, monster hunting. At least I didn’t have to hide the truth
from my mom anymore. Without Mamie home, it was nice to have someone there to
fuss over my injuries, especially since I didn’t have a girlfriend to worry
about me.
    I climbed into the shower, angry I even started that train
of thought. Turning the hot water up as high as it would go, I scrubbed my skin
raw, trying to shake loose the memories of my time with Ella. I couldn’t change
things, and it was no use being a crybaby about it. So she broke up with me, so
what? My life was a soldier’s life now; personal misery had to be shoved aside
for the job.
    Yeah, right man, I thought as I dried off and put on my
t-shirt and shorts, keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it.
    But tonight, I was feeling extra low; the lies I told myself
just wouldn’t stick. And when you feel low, you do stupid things.
    Like call your ex.
    I walked out into the hotel room and had my phone in hand
with Ella’s number pulled up before I realized what I was doing. I wanted to
ask Will to talk me out of it, but his snores rivaled an earthquake. There was
no way he’d wake up to tell me this was a bad idea, and I hit “send” without
thinking.
    It rang once, twice, three times. Deciding she would let the
call roll to voice mail, I had my finger on the “end” button when I heard a
soft, “Matt?”
    My breath caught. “Hey.”
    “Is something wrong?” Ella asked.
    “No. I was…I was just thinking about home and called.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Canada.” Why did I do this? Just the sound of her voice was
enough to undo the little bit of calm I’d scraped together in the last four
months.
    “Canada. Job?”
    “Yeah.”
    She sighed softly. “Are you hurt?”
    Yes. “No.”
    “Good. But I can tell