Chapter 11 · Continued
The Choice
He answered on the second ring.
“Hey. What’s up?”
Jane leaned against the railing.
“Cam contacted RCAM.”
Silence.
“He what?”
“He contacted the logistics manager directly and told him where he was.”
Chris sounded completely stunned.
“Well, I’ll be damned. He let them know he was there?”
“Yes.”
Another long silence followed.
Then Chris exhaled. “Honestly?”
“What?”
“That was probably the smartest thing he could’ve done.”
Jane looked through the screen door toward the quiet figure standing in her kitchen.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I think so too.”
It didn’t take Phil long to arrive.
Jane met him on the front porch as a dark RCAM company SUV pulled into the driveway.
Phil climbed out looking far more nervous than she had expected. He wasn’t threatening or polished. He looked like a stressed man who had spent the afternoon imagining the end of his career.
“Jane?”
“That’s me.”
Phil glanced toward the house. “He’s really here?”
Jane nodded and stepped aside. “Come in.”
Phil entered slowly and stopped when he saw Cam standing near the living-room window.
For a moment, he simply stared.
“Hi, Cam.”
“Hello, Phil.”
Phil released a breath he had apparently been holding for several hours. “Thank you for contacting me. We were very worried about you.”
Jane noticed the wording.
Not worried about the asset.
Worried about you.
Cam tilted his head slightly. “There was no need for concern. Following the accident, I determined that returning to Jane’s residence was the most appropriate course of action.”
Phil blinked. “You found your own way back here?”
“Yes.”
Cam paused.
“The transport driver became highly agitated following the roadway impact and began yelling at multiple entities simultaneously.”
Jane looked down, trying not to laugh.
Phil rubbed his forehead. “Yeah. Gary does that.”
They sat in the living room while Jane and Cam explained what had happened after the crash.
Most of it was true.
The collision had opened the transport compartment. Cam’s telemetry systems had been damaged, leaving him without reliable navigation or contact with RCAM. He left the truck, eventually recovered enough directional information to find the road system, and returned to Jane’s house.
The only detail omitted was Chester.
Phil listened carefully, occasionally glancing toward Cam with an expression somewhere between relief and complete confusion.
“So you’ve been here this entire time?”
“Yes,” Cam answered.
Phil leaned back. “Honestly, that’s probably the best possible outcome.”
A vehicle pulled into the driveway.
A moment later, someone knocked.
Jane opened the door and found Chris standing on the porch with a large drink from a drive-through in one hand.