Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (14 page)

              "Right." Cadence pondered the situation. "You need to be in on this, too. Eliza doesn't have that kind of air power. I know they do primarily medical runs, but are they armed?"

              He looked at her for a moment, as if he was contemplating whether or not he could trust her before he smiled and said, "They can be."

She grinned back at him. "Does Aaron know that?"

              "Of course," Cale replied, his eyes wide. "Doesn't Aaron know everything?"

              "Touché," she admitted. "If we decide to go through with this, you'll help, right? Even if it's just support?"

              He didn't hesitate. "Oh, absolutely."

She nodded. "Good. I'm much more comfortable with the idea knowing we can use your birds. Although, honestly, I can't imagine any reason in the universe why we would ever trust Laura Comer."

Cale shrugged. "I don't know a lot about the situation, but I'm sure the lot of you will come up with a good decision."

              She nodded. Just then, Aurora came across the IAC, letting her know the car was there. "Ugh," she groaned. "I've got to go. But I'll come back just as soon as I can. I promise."

              "I believe you," he said, leaning in to kiss her at last.

Cadence returned the sweet kiss and lingered a little longer than she had originally intended to before finally pulling back. "I'm sorry. They're waiting."

              "I'll walk you down," he offered.

              "Oh, no, that's okay. I... you're busy and..."
I will want to kiss you in front of my friends,
she thought. "But my bike is in your garage..."

              "I'll take care of it for you," he assured her.

"Perfect. Thank you so much--for everything. You're so amazing," she smiled.

              "You're unbelievable," he replied, leaning down to kiss her one last time.

              As she neared the door, she turned back to give him a quick wave before exiting his office, finally on her way back home.

The ride to the airport was fairly silent. Cadence didn't feel like talking about her disappointment in leaving just when things were beginning to look promising, and Aurora and Meaghan knew it probably wasn't in their best interest to say anything at all, so they didn't. Once they arrived, the driver pulled in next to the G5 and got out to open the doors. There was a flurry of activity as the baggage handlers transferred the luggage from the car to the plane, and Cadence gave the Mercedes one last longing glance as she made her way up the stairs.

              "Why the sad face, kid? Lose your life savings in the casinos?"

              Cadence stopped in stunned amazement at the top of the stairs. "Elliott!" she exclaimed.

              He stood up from his seat in the front row and opened his arms just in time to catch her as she flung herself at him. "Ah, now that's better. How you doin'?" he asked squeezing her tightly.

              "I am so happy to see you," she said, not willing to let him go just yet. She kissed him on the cheek and then re-buried her head in his burly chest.

"Come on now," he said chuckling and glancing at Aurora and Meaghan who were also laughing as they sat down in the row across from them, "it ain't like it's been that long."

"It's been almost four months," she reminded him, finally stepping back. "I am never going that long without seeing you again. Ever."

              "All right," he said sitting back down in the window seat so she could sit next to him. "That's cool with me."

              As Cadence buckled her seatbelt, she let out a long sigh of relief. "I was so upset about having to leave, and now you're here..., and everything is okay."

"That's my job," he replied, taking her slender fingers in his and giving them a squeeze. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, and he gently kissed the top of her head. "For what it's worth, I missed you a little bit, too."

              She glanced up at him. "Yeah? Just a little bit?"

              He made a gesture with his thumb and finger to show her the measurement. "You know, just a smidge."

              "Good," she said with a satisfied smile. "It's nice to know somebody misses me when I'm gone."

              If it was a chide at Aaron, he didn't take it that way, and they spent the rest of the plane ride home catching up on everything that had been going on. Cadence let him know about her budding relationship with Cale, including how hard it had been to say goodbye just then--to which he scoffed and said the good doctor better get used to missing her--and he let her know everything he could about the situation with Laura, which wasn't too much more than she already knew. When she brought up the idea of borrowing Cale’s helicopters to help track Giovani, Elliott thought it was worth mentioning to Aaron, so Cadence planned to talk to him about it when she got a chance.

              When they landed, Cadence was surprised to see their friends were out in force to greet the returning Hunters. Jamie, Christian, Hannah, and Shane were all there, excited to have them back home, even if it was just for a little while. Cadence realized pretty quickly that Shane was specifically there to see Meaghan, which was fine with her. She was very excited to see Jamie and Hannah, and disguised her continued contempt for Christian the best she could.

              "All right, kid, this is where I leave you," Elliott said once they had reached her penthouse apartment.

"You're not coming in?" she asked, stunned. She had her hand on the doorknob, but she hadn't unlocked it yet; she had a very odd feeling about being home again--it seemed surreal.

              "Sorry. I've got some work to do before the meeting. But I'll meet you over there at six o'clock," he replied, an apologetic look on his face.

She moaned and dropped her shoulders the way one might do with a push-over parent. "You're going to make me walk to Aaron's office by myself?"

              "It's only one hundred yards away," he said in a mocking voice.

              "But he'll be there," she groaned, piling her forehead into his chest.

              "Then don't be early," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.

              "But I'm always early."

              Her voice was muffled by his chest, but he could still understand her. "Cadence, come on now, be a good girl and go inside. I'll see you in a little while."

              She exhaled loudly with a, "Hmph," before stepping back and crossing her arms. "Fine. Go do your thing. Whatever," she said, clearly teasing.

He laughed. "I'll see you, kid," he said before pecking her on the cheek and retreating into the elevator.

              Cadence turned and eyed her apartment door. She hadn't lived here long, but there were so many memories, both good and bad, and they all seemed significant. She finally used her IAC to unlock the door and went in.

              Everything was exactly the same as she left it, and it was clear someone had been cleaning it for her. One thing caught her eye immediately, however. On the coffee table sat a bouquet of purple tulips, her favorite. There was no card, but she had no doubt whom they were from.

              She used the time she had to check in with her parents and attempt to take a nap before showering to wash the plane ride off, changing into a short-sleeved royal blue dress, grabbing a bite to eat from the fully stocked kitchen, and finally deciding to head over to Aaron's office, aware she would be early.

              She just hoped that Eliza wouldn't be there already.

              ***

              Aaron was praying that Eliza wouldn't be the first to arrive. He was notified when her plane landed a little while ago, and even though he assumed her luggage would take at least fifteen minutes to transfer to the car he sent to pick her up, she could very well arrive in his office early.

              When he heard a light rap at the door, however, he knew precisely who it was. Though he was sitting at his desk all the way across the room, he made it to the door in less than a second and opened it for her. "Hi," he said, stepping out of the way so Cadence could enter.

              Over her shoulder, she said "It was nice to see you again, too," to Mrs. Carminati, Aaron's secretary as she stepped in. "Hi," she said, smiling despite the fact she'd been reluctant to agree to come.

              "How was your flight?" he asked, gesturing for her to take a seat at the large table to the left of the door in what was the back of his office.

              "It was good," she replied as she pulled out one of the large, black leather chairs and sat down. "This is a nice set up you've got here," she remarked, eyeing the large flat screen on the wall and the other equipment he had available for transmitting information to a larger group.

              "Yeah, thanks," he replied sitting at the head of the table, to her right. She had, of course, taken the seat with the best view of the screen, other than his, perhaps. "Christian set it up for us a couple of years ago."

              "I guess I didn't notice it the last time I was in here," she muttered, glancing over her shoulder at his desk area, which had been the scene of their last--and final--break up.

He ignored the comment, and asked instead, "Can I get you some water or something?"
              "Oh, no, I'm fine," she replied. "Thanks." She briefly contemplated whether or not she should apologize for the comment she had made earlier, about him going away, but he didn't seem to be thinking about it just then, so she decided against it. "Oh, uhm, thanks for letting Elliott come out to get me," she said, smiling. "That made it a whole lot easier to get on that plane."

              "That was the idea," he admitted. "Sure, no problem. I'm glad he had the time to do it. Listen, I just want to let you know the whole team is really grateful that you decided to help us out on this. I know you didn't have to, and that you had other plans, so it means a lot to me personally that you're here. So, thank you."

She nodded, and started to respond, wanting to assure him that she was glad to help out when he cut her off, saying, "And Eliza's here."

              "What?" she asked, not sure what he had said at first. Just then, the door burst open and she understood.

"Okay, bye-bye then!" Eliza said, a sickeningly fake smile on her face, as she pushed the door closed behind her and rolled her eyes. "That woman is so unbelievably annoying!" she remarked, rolling her eyes.

              "Mrs. Carminati?" Cadence asked. "She's nice..."

              "All she said was have a nice day," Aaron said, equally as confused.

              Eliza looked at him for a moment, as if she wondered how he knew that before shrugging and saying, "Whatever. She doesn't stop talking." Walking over to the table, she absently checked her manicure, and took the seat at the other end, though it didn't have the best view of the screen and was several chairs away from them. It was, in her mind, also the head of the table. She was dressed in a very expensive looking skirt suit, all black with a red button down shirt, the pencil-skirt hitting mid-calf, with six-inch high heeled black pumps, and her hair was much shorter than the last time Cadence had seen her.

              Cadence bit her tongue, resolved to put their difference behind them and move forward for the sake of this mission. That was her initial plan anyway; she wasn't sure she would be able to stick to that.

              "We're just waiting on Elliott, who will be here in a few minutes, and then Laura should be on the line shortly," Aaron explained, clearly uncomfortable.

              "She's dialing in?" Cadence asked, looking for clarification.

"Yes," Eliza replied tartly. "She wasn't willing to give us a number."

"We could still trace it..." Cadence said, trying to keep her tone even.

              "We're going to try, but she claims to have some sort of high-tech blocker," Aaron explained.

              Cadence nodded, but before she could say anything, Eliza said, "Oh, and Daniel said to tell you he's so sorry he couldn't make it, but someone had to stay home and run the show, you know, in my absence."

              "Who's Daniel?" Cadence asked, lost once again.

"He's my Hunter Leader," Eliza replied with an air of importance.

"Oh, I didn't realize San Fran had one," Cadence said, nodding slowly.

              "It's a really big area," Eliza remarked with a condescending tone. "It stretches all the way from LA to Portland and then over to Reno. Oh, but I guess you know that, don't you?" she smirked.

"I guess I didn't grasp that it was that large," Cadence answered, still trying to keep her cool. She glanced at Aaron who was shaking his head no, and she wasn't sure if he was saying, "no," it isn't or don't argue with her, but either way she was sure that Eliza was exaggerating, as usual.

              "Hmmm, seems like you always miss out on the large things around here that I am very familiar with," she smiled.

Cadence's mouth dropped open, and Aaron covered his face in embarrassment and disbelief. But before either one of them could respond, Eliza continued, "Oh, I heard you finally got those pesky Rogues in Reno the other night. That's great. I heard it only took your new boyfriend six months to catch them. That's pretty impressive, what with their being five of them, and all."