Page 164 of Wrench

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¡°Fuck off,¡± I grunted into the pillow. Turning my neck and peeling open my crusted-

over eyes, I saw it wasn¡¯t even nine. I fell back asleep.

Ri¡ª

¡°Shut up!¡± I shot from my pillow and snatched my phone off the table. Grinding my

teeth, I answered with a tense, ¡°Hello.¡±

¡°Samantha? Samantha Parks?¡±

I didn¡¯t recognize the voice on the other end and noticed it was a blocked number.

Yawning, I asked, ¡°Who is this?¡±

¡°Is this the vet?¡±

My heart rate shot up and I was wide awake. ¡°Wh-what do you want?¡±

Only one group called me ¡°The vet¡±.

¡°Answer the question.¡±

¡°Yes.¡± I shot up and threw my legs over the bed to head to the bathroom. Something

told me that I had to be prepared to run. ¡°Now, can you tell me who you are?¡±

¡°It¡¯s Archer.¡± His voice became clear in my mind, and I wondered how I didn¡¯t

recognize his voice after it followed me in my thoughts for so long. ¡°We need you.¡±

¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± I tied the tie around my waistband so tight it¡¯d leave

marks. ¡°Did Wrench give you my number? How¡¯d you get hurt again? I¡¯m not your

personal nur¡ª¡±

¡°Wrench is hurt.¡±

Both of our breathing crackled in the static.

¡°Wh-what?¡± I got out. ¡°How bad?¡±

¡°Bad,¡± he said simply. ¡°We don¡¯t know how long he¡¯s been out.¡±

¡°He was alone?¡±

¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°We thought he was with you, screwin¡¯ or something. But when he

didn¡¯t come back, we went searching and¡­ and he was bleeding out halfway to the

desert.¡±

I could imagine everything vividly in my mind. From the timeline of events after I left,

to the view of cacti he saw when he was wounded. My stomach filled with nausea and I

covered my mouth to stop me both vomiting and screaming.

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