Exhume [H.S.]

XIII.

Harry always found the ocean to be therapeutic.

That was why he was so glad that the Indian Ocean was surprisingly warm for an early morning in late September.

It was an undisputed fact to Harry that the ocean was full of healing properties. A cold, early morning plunge did more to heal one's body than any multi-vitamin ever could. Not only was it beneficial to one's physical health, but it was extremely beneficial to one's mental health, as well. A clean reset of the mind was almost always guaranteed after submerging underwater. The calmness of the undulating waves allowed for time to slow down, and the mind to settle as it poured over anything taking up precedence in it.

That was exactly true for Harry in that moment, as his mind was calmly tracing over the conversation he had with Reyes before he got in the water that morning.

"Benny boy, lovely to hear from you so early in the morning," Harry chirped, already walking down the path of the hotel after leaving his bungalow. He was making his way toward the hotel's private beach for an early morning swim as usual when his cell phone rang. The clunky gadget was held to his ear while he spoke.

"Harry. Thought I told you not to call me that if you knew what was good for you," Reyes answered back, though there was no truth behind his words. He was used to Harry's obnoxious personality, and actually enjoyed his humor.

Harry smiled to himself as he adjusted the towel on his shoulder while he walked. "And I thought I told you that I struggle to follow basic directions. You can imagine how much my teachers enjoyed me as a student growing up."

That caused Reyes to actually imagine a young Harry in school, being wise beyond his years such that he always had some smartass thing to say. "I can imagine it perfectly."

"Right? Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?"

Reyes appreciated Harry getting to the point rather quickly, as he had a tendency to ramble about things that didn't matter. "Just wanted to check in and get an update. I'm guessing you two are safely in Madagascar by now?"

Harry went on to update Reyes on everything since they last spoke. He told him about their journey to Madagascar and everything in between. Since Harry had called Reyes the night he got shot, Reyes was already caught up with the next clue and how Anderson's men were also involved in the search. That led Harry to begin gushing over Indy's skills when he had finally reached the beach, taking a seat on the sand as he waited for the call to end before he thought about getting in the water.

"Did you know how fucking smart Indy is, by the way? She completely scaled an old pirate map to size accurately... and that map had fuckin' nothing on it, but she still managed to figure out exactly how to scale it."

A light laughter rattled through the line as Reyes heard everything he already knew. "I'm fully aware, Harry. Why do you think she works for me? And why do you think I sang her praises so much to you when bringing you on for this? She's brilliant."

"She's beyond brilliant," Harry agreed. A few beats of silence settled before he continued with, "I think she's actually starting to like me, you know."

The smile in Harry's voice was heard by Reyes, causing him to say, "is she? Good. I was worried about her getting along with you. She didn't exactly have the best experience with her old partner."

Harry remembered Reyes beginning to talk about Indy's old partner after Harry had snuck around the outskirts of Rousseau's mansion in France, but he had been cut off before he could say too much.

"How so, exactly?"

It was clear to Harry that it was kind of scummy to get someone else to tell him about Indy's personal life, but he couldn't help his curiosity. He wanted to know more about Indy.