Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (15 page)

              "Oh, do you know Cale?" Cadence asked, with as sweet a tone as she could muster, ignoring her put-down about the speed of his operation.

"Uhm, yeah," Eliza replied. "Everyone knows Cale."

              Cadence took that to mean because he was so very attractive and had to take the opportunity to put Eliza in her place. "Oh, that’s right. He asked about you the other day," she mentioned nonchalantly.

Eliza stopped messing with her nails. "Really?" she asked.

              "No, not even a little bit," Cadence said, dryly. "I don't think he even knows who you are."

             
"You are such a bitch,"
Eliza said, utilizing the IAC so that, possibly, Aaron wouldn't know she had completely lost her cool.

             
"Hey, you started it. Don't dish it out if you can't take it,"
Cadence replied, keeping her expression as normal as she could.

"All right, stop arguing. Now. We can't have Laura seeing any sort of divisiveness between us," Aaron ordered as firmly as he could without sounding as if he had lost his cool himself, their trick of moving to IAC not fooling him in the least.

              As she was saying, "Sorry," aloud, Cadence said directly to Eliza,
"I hate you."

             
"Feeling is mutual,"
Eliza shot back. "I'll be nice."

              Elliott popped in the door, looking a little rushed and disheveled. "Sorry, I'm... on time," he said taking a seat next to Cadence. She looked at him questioningly, and he glanced at his wrist, where there was no watch and said, "What? I'm not late. I can't help it if you people are always early." Then he looked at Eliza and said, "Well, occasionally early."

              "It's fine," Aaron replied. "You're probably lucky you weren't here."

              "What did I miss?" he asked, glancing from Eliza to Cadence.

              "You show up late, you miss the opening act," Cadence replied dismissively.

"And that's all you're ever going to be," Eliza mumbled.

              Cadence opened her mouth to respond, but the feel of Aaron's hand on her arm made her stop.
"She's not worth it,"
he reminded her. She glanced at him, then at his hand, which he didn't remove, and back into those dangerous blue eyes. She nodded, and he slowly let go. Cadence folded her arms on the table in front of her, still feeling an unnerving tingling sensation where his hand had made contact with her bare skin.

Noise from the flat screen got their attention, and it was clear that Laura was attempting to make contact. Aaron utilized the controls through his IAC, and suddenly Cadence was staring into the eyes of the woman who had shot her only a few short months ago. She felt the bile rising in the back of her throat, and this time it was Elliott's steadying hand on her leg that kept her from lashing out in anger.

              Clearly, Laura wasn't particularly happy to see her either, nor was Cowboy Sam, who sat next to her on a couch in what appeared to be a rundown hotel room.

              As soon as Aaron began to speak, it was quite evident that she was the last person on Earth with which he wanted to carry on a conversation. Cadence felt compelled to reach out and steady him the way Elliott was for her but knew that would be inappropriate under the circumstances. He briefly let Laura and Sam know who was with them and why and then waited to hear what she had to say. Just before Laura opened her mouth, Cadence remembered something. Quickly, she shot Aaron a message through the IAC.
"Helicopters,"
she said, hoping not to distract him too much.

              He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, as if he was confused at first, but then he nodded in understanding. It was subtle and likely no one else even noticed. Cadence was certain he knew precisely what she was talking about.

              "I want to keep this as brief as possible," Laura said in a commanding tone. "The bottom line is this; we want Giovani. You want Giovani. If we work together, we can end all of this more quickly, and get on with our lives. We know his exact location; you know next to nothing. If you work with us, we'll gladly turn ourselves in at the end of the mission, Giovani will be dead, and we can all get on with our lives.”

              "Laura, I understand you've been speaking with Eliza for a few days, and she seems pretty convinced that working together on this is in our best interest. Can you explain to me precisely why it is you think we can't find him by ourselves?" Aaron asked.              

              Laura smiled, and it was almost enough to make Cadence want to punch her in the face. "It's pretty simple, actually. Giovani has one Vampire left that he thinks is his ally. We have been working with that person for the last month or so trying to work a deal with her. She knows that she will be allowed to go free if she cooperates with us, and she has already given us the precise location of his hideout."

              Cadence, Aaron, and Elliott all exchanged confused glances, while Eliza looked as if she already had this information. Cadence wasn't planning on speaking at all unless completely necessary, so she allowed Aaron to ask the question they were all pondering. "Why would Zabrina be willing to do that?" he asked.

"She doesn't want to die," Laura said pointedly. "She's not that attached to him. After all, she is a Vampire. Besides, Giovani is incapable of love. She knows that."

              Aaron looked at Cadence as if he knew she had a follow-up question, so she went ahead and asked it. "Why would we ever grant her amnesty after what she did in the Caribbean?"

Sam answered this time. "Because we want Giovani," he said smartly, as if Cadence was a moron.

              She took offense, but she held it back in her voice the best she could when she made her response. "I realize that. But we can take them both out without making any deals or compromises."

              "Sure we can if we want to drag it out, but why not just get it over with? Zabrina's not the real threat here; Giovani is," Laura reminded her.

              Aaron glanced at each of them, apparently trying to get a read for where his team was before he asked his next question. "Laura, Eliza mentioned something about you wanting to call the shots if we go along with this. What did you mean by that?"

              Cadence couldn't help but scoff aloud at what she was hearing, and it took her a moment to regain her composure, as well as an extra hard squeeze from Elliott and a gentle kick from Aaron in the ankle.

              "What I was trying to say was, I would like some input into coordinating the attack, as well as pairing up my team with members from your organization. There are certain Hunters and Guardians that I feel are more trustworthy than others, and I want to make sure my teammates are matched up accordingly. For example, I completely trust Jamie. I would want him there. He's also very valuable because of his ability to heal others. The same holds true with Hannah. Those two ass clowns of yours, Paxton and Smith, I don't even want them in the same state," Laura explained.

"Who else do you want there?" Elliott asked, leaning forward a bit.

              Sam spoke up. "The three of you, of course. Jamie and Hannah, like she said. We know Cadence has them two girls that work real well with her. Oh, and that tech guy, what's his name? Christian? We might need him since we don't have IACs no more."

"Three of us?" Elliott asked, double-checking his own math.

              "Well, it's Eliza's area, so we assumed she'd have a large part in the planning, but she wouldn't necessarily have to be on the field," Laura explained. "We thought she might play more of a coordinating role."

Cadence glanced at Eliza, who was nodding. Once again, she locked eyes with Aaron.
"Are we missing something?"

He didn't answer, just turned back to Laura. "All right, Laura. Let us talk this out, and we'll have Eliza give you a call tomorrow, all right?"

              Laura nodded. "Fine. There is just one more thing I'd like to say before we go," she said. Taking a deep breath, she continued "Cadence, I just want to tell you how very sorry I am that you were injured in my attempt to take out Giovani. I had no idea there was anything different about the bullet I was using at the time. Of course, I know that now. But, I hope you will believe me when I say it was never my intention to hurt you, and for that I am truly sorry."

              Feeling completely overwhelmed by the emotions Laura's statement brought back, it was all Cadence could do to fight back tears. She was determined, however, not to show weakness. Pushing away thoughts of Jack's last moments, the horrific pain she had endured, and the fear of dying she had experienced, she merely said, "It must have taken a lot for you to say that, and I appreciate the sentiment."

              "Fair enough," Laura replied.

"Talk to you soon," Aaron said, disconnecting the session.

Cadence was well aware of what Aaron was thinking before he even said a word, and the pressure on her leg let her know Elliott was waiting for it, too. It only took a second before Eliza said, "Well, I think that went pretty well, didn't it?"

              "You think we should do it?" Aaron asked her, calmly.

              "It sounds like a really good plan to me," Eliza remarked. "I mean, it needs some tweaking, but if we can get Giovani, on Zabrina's word, we can bring her in, too. That whole band of renegades is brought in, and we save the day!" she smiled.

"You mean, you save the day?" Elliott asked, no longer able to hold back.

"What?" Eliza asked. "No, it'll be a team effort"

              "Come on, Elliott, give her a break. I think Eliza's really trying to redeem herself here," Aaron directed.

              Cadence saw a quick flicker of confusion cross her friend's face before it faded to understanding, and she wasn't sure if Aaron had explained on the IAC or if Elliott suddenly realized Aaron's plan was more thought-out then he had originally gathered. Eventually, he said, "Sorry. I just... whatever you think, boss."

              "Tell you what, we've all had a long day. Let's call it an evening and reconvene in the morning and see what we think then. Sound like a plan?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "All right, good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

              Cadence gave Aaron a small smile as he passed her on the way to his desk. She stood, stretched, and waited to see if Eliza would linger in an attempt to get Aaron to herself or walk. Without saying anything, Eliza flashed them a smug smile, grabbed her bag, and made her way to the door.

              "We need to go, too," Elliott whispered, and Cadence nodded. She was certain Eliza would be waiting to see if they also left. Sure enough, she was standing at the front desk, talking to Mrs. Carminati, a fake grin plastered on her pretty face, when they walked by.

              "Pizza sounds good to me," Elliott said, as if they had been discussing dinner plans so that Eliza would have no idea the other three members of the committee were planning to meet shortly.

             
"Good idea. Why bother to start worrying about your thighs now?"
Eliza shot to Cadence without even looking away from the receptionist.

Cadence didn't even give her the satisfaction of acknowledging the ridiculous remark. "Have a good night, Mrs. C.!" she shouted as they made their way out the door, Elliott's arm around her shoulders.             

              Initially, Aaron had planned to meet them back at her apartment immediately; they were both certain of that before he came over the IAC to confirm it. However, he truly did have business to do, and it was taking a lot longer than expected. Elliott ordered a pepperoni pizza, and they made themselves comfortable on Cadence's couch in front of a movie while they waited.

              At around 11:00, Cadence realized she'd dozed off. She awoke to the low rumble of Elliott trying to stifle a laugh. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, the hang-over feeling back again.

              "Sorry," he said as she pulled her head off of his chest. "I was trying not to wake you up, but Jimmy Fallon is so damn funny."

              "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you," she said, taking a sip of water to try and get rid of the nasty taste in her mouth.

"I've slept with worse," he muttered, turning the TV down a bit.

              She laughed and scooted back on the sofa a bit. "I bet you have," she said, a teasing tone in her voice.

              "Hey," he shot back, as if he were offended. "I've slept with some pretty hot chicks in my day, too."

              "Have you?" she asked, feeling a little odd to be having this discussion with someone she considered to be her brother.

              "Yes, ma'am. Dr. Sanderson knows how to get around," he replied.

              "Good for you, bro," she said, patting him on the leg.

              "You seem surprised."

              "No," she replied, over-dramatically. "Not even a little bit."

"Whatever," he muttered. "Listen you, I may not be a ten when it comes to looks, but I've got personality, and that's important."