Rage and Ruin | 2

0 | 9

F I N N

The phone rang two times before I picked it up. Looking at the caller's number, I saw that it was Mr. Hunt. Ever since I'd called him asking him to contact the Romanian officials three days ago, he'd been silent. I'd begun to worry that he wasn't getting through to them.

      "Hello?"

      "Finn," he answered, sounding like he was in a hurry. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person."

      I shook my head, though I knew he couldn't see me. "You're busy. We understand."

      "I spoke with the Romanian officials. They've declined to have a meeting with us. Even after contacting the President, I couldn't get through to them. They used the excuse that he's away in Serbia until the end of the week."

      No. "But isn't this a matter of national security? Shouldn't they have to answer?"

     He sighed. "Technically, no. The United Nations had a secret meeting after the fall of Imperium a year ago. After all of the investigations of the area, the site was able to be legally controlled by Romania. The land is within their borders, after all."

     "Yeah, but-" I trailed off, not having a good argument. I rested my head in my free hand and was surprised to feel how hot my hand felt. Any hotter and it would burst into flames.

      "What should we do?" I asked, hating feeling helpless. "That was our one shot at proof that Imperium is really back. I believe Delphinium but a few of the others doubt her."

He was quiet a moment before answering. "That wasn't the only shot, it was just the easiest one."

"What do you mean?"

"The assassin that attacked you at the Los Angeles airport and then again in the forest would be proof, if we could get the truth out of him."

       I held back a scoff. "He's come close to killing us several times. How are we going to get answers from him?"

      Mr. Hunt answered, "He's a known affiliate of Adiago Hundsen, so our investigators are searching for him as well. When we get Hundsen, we'll have the assassin as well."

      "And how close are you to putting Hundsen behind bars?" I asked, trying to prove my point. It was getting hard to stay positive in the situation we were in.

      I heard him exhale slowly. "We've brought in a few people that may have been associated with him but they won't talk."

"Well," I said, "I'll go tell the others the news. They won't take it well, but they need to know."

"We'll be in contact," Mr. Hunt concluded before ending the call.

      Slowly putting the phone down, I thought about how to break the news to the others. Given her reaction back at the ONNT headquarters, Delphinium would take the news the worst. I knew that this was personal for her.

I walked downstairs, forming what I would say in my head. They'd blame Mr. Hunt, I already knew it. Sometimes I felt pity for the man when I heard the others expressing their anger at him. He certainly hadn't made the right decisions at times but I believed that he genuinely had our best interests at heart. Deep down, he did care for us.