Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (32 page)

              "Hope so," Cadence mumbled.

"We have an election date," Hannah offered. "Not sure if you heard."

Cadence's eyebrows furrowed as Aaron nodded and said, "That was coming up on my list. When is it?"

"Sorry to get ahead of you," Hannah replied, to which he indicated it was no problem before she continued, "but it is set for the third week in September."

"Election?" Cadence asked, confused though she thought she might know what they were talking about.

"Yes," Hannah explained. "The Hunters have decided to formally put your candidacy to a vote, Ms. Findley," she smiled.

              Everyone was smiling at her, and Cadence was having trouble believing her ears. "Really?" she asked, both proud and overwhelmed. She leaned back in her chair as Aaron squeezed her hand. "Wow. I'm not sure what to say to that." After a few moments of consideration she said, "Wait--I don't have to campaign or anything do I?"

Hannah chuckled. "No, honey. The Hunters will vote that day. It's a pretty easy process. We just call roll through the IAC, and anyone who wants to vote can. They vote yea or nay and if you get at least two-thirds of the votes, you're the new Hunter Leader."

Cadence nodded her understanding, feeling butterflies in her stomach similar to the ones she felt when a Vampire was nearby.

"It's the first time we've made it to an actual election in over twenty years," Aaron explained to her, still holding her hand.

              "Cool," Cadence replied, knowing the term didn't quite seem to fit the situation, but not knowing what else to say. "And what happened with Eliza's request for a vote of no confidence?"

              Hannah sneered. "It was dead in the water before she even began," she replied.

Jamie spoke up then. "No one blames Aaron for what happened, but a lot of people still believe that Eliza had something to do with the ambush."

Cadence assumed that would be the response she would receive before she even asked the question, but she was relieved to hear that the Guardians were not considering ousting Aaron.

Clearly, Aaron was uncomfortable with the current topic, so he changed the subject. "Meaghan?"

              "Sir?" she replied, snapping to attention.

              Aaron laughed, not intentionally trying to alarm her. Neither Aurora or Meaghan were used to these types of meetings, but since they had done such amazing work with Cadence as independents, Aaron had decided to include them. "You were working on finding out more about our decoy?"
              "Yes," she confirmed, exhaling deeply, as if she had been expecting him to say something negative. "I found out his name is Travis, and Sam had worked some sort of a deal with him. I’ve been hearing rumors that he’s traveling north through Cale's territory, so I'll be working with him to try and get a location."

"Sounds good. And did we ever get any more information about what Laura was doing in South Carolina?" he asked in general.

              Jamie replied. "I haven't been able to get a word out of her--other than a few curse words--since we brought her back," he admitted.

              Aaron looked disappointed. "I thought if she'd talk to anyone, it would be you."

              Jamie nodded. He had, after all, saved her life at one point. "But we were able to obtain the footage from the airport, so we do know it was them. And we were able to track down some other surveillance video to put them in the general vicinity of a specific region of South Carolina. I'm going to contact some of our independents there, I just haven't gotten to it yet."

"That sounds like a good plan," Aaron nodded. "Where do you think they were?"

"Well," Jamie continued, "we know they flew into Columbia and headed south towards Lake Marion that's really all we..."

              "Shit," Aaron interrupted. "I know where they went."

"How do you do that?" Cadence asked quietly, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

He looked at her, acknowledging the question, but didn't answer. "You need to contact Sharon O'Braonain."

              "Who?" Jamie asked, puzzled.

              "O'Braonain?" Cadence exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Is that the same..."

              "Yes," Aaron confirmed.

"What's happening?" Aurora mumbled to Meaghan out of the corner of her mouth.

"It's a long story," Aaron replied, running his hand through his hair as he often did when he was anxious or annoyed. "Just contact her, Jamie. Let her know what happened. She'll probably work with you. Just don't mention my name if you can keep from it. You can tell her you work with Cadence, though."

              Cadence raised an eyebrow again, making a mental note to ask about that later. As Jamie agreed that he would follow directions, Cadence said, "But Laura's not getting off the hook, right?"

"No, of course not. Why?" Aaron asked, looking at her suspiciously.

              "Good. I want to interrogate her. Today. If she has any idea where Sam or Flynn might be, she's going to tell me," Cadence insisted.

              "How exactly are you going to make that happen?" Jamie asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

              "Christian, do you still have any of those titanium bullets you took from the renegade’s guns?" Cadence questioned.

              Christian glanced at Aaron before looking at Cadence and offering a response. "A few," he admitted.

              "Good. I want them. And, Jamie, you're coming with me," she said confidently. Aaron didn't offer any opposition, so she continued. "I can make her talk."

              "Okay," Jamie said hesitantly, also looking at Aaron to see if there was any indication as to whether or not the brakes would be put on this idea. There was none so he said, "but I'm not exactly thrilled about the idea of healing her again."

              "That's perfect," Cadence replied with a somewhat wicked expression on her face. "Because I’m not asking you to."

***

              Aaron had insisted on walking Cadence and Jamie down to the holding pen where Laura was being kept, despite the fact that Jamie had been down there dozens of times by himself in the last few days. Though Aaron wasn't lying when he said it wasn't a prison, it was a small room with no windows and a door that not only locked but was reinforced against the possibilities of any being--Hunter, Guardian, Vampire, or otherwise--finding a way to muscle through it. Standing outside of the room, he watched as Cadence double-checked that her Glock was loaded with the titanium bullets and then shoved it into the back of her waistband beneath her shirt.

              "You sure about this?" he asked, his hand on her arm.

              "Hell, yes," she replied, sweeping her long brown hair over her shoulder. "I've been looking forward to this for months."

"You don't sound like the same sweet Cadence I fell in love with," he teased.

She shook her head. "Then you're not gonna want to watch this. The bitch shot me," she reminded him. "She is responsible for this attack."

              "I know," he agreed. "I'm fully aware. I just don't want you to walk out of here regretting anything, not when I can do it for you," he explained.

"I can handle it," she assured him. He already had the weight of pulling the trigger on Camilla on his shoulders. She could take care of this without his help--and she intended to.

"All right," he agreed, exhaling. "Just be cautious." He kissed her on the forehead before turning to Jamie, patting him on the arm, and disappearing back up the stairs, as Cadence had insisted.

Jamie punched some numbers into a keypad next to the door, inserted his thumb into a reader above the doorknob, and waited for confirmation that the door was unlocked before pulling it open for Cadence. She surveyed the room quickly before entering, waiting to hear the click of the lock behind her.

              Laura was sitting on a bed in the far left corner of the dimly lit room. Only one single light bulb hanging from a pull chain in the middle of the room provided any sort of illumination whatsoever. Cadence could see that she was chained by her left ankle and right hand to the frame of the bed, which appeared to be welded into the concrete floor. There was what one might call an interrogation table in the middle of the room, far enough away that Laura couldn't get to it without being unshackled. There was a metal chair, and Cadence sat in it. There was also a toilet close enough to Laura that she could use it without having to be dispatched.

              "What the hell do you want?" Laura asked as Cadence sat down, pushing herself away from the table with a screech.

              "Laura," Cadence said calmly. "It looks like your face has begun to heal. That's disappointing."

              Laura's right eye, the one that had been bothering her for months, was so swollen after Cadence's beating that she still couldn't see out of it. Her left eye still had a massive bruise beneath it, and her nose had healed crookedly. She scoffed. "Listen, Findley, I don't know anything. And if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Just like I told those other jackasses, I had no idea Sam and his shitheads were going to open fire."

              Cadence folded her arms. "That's bullshit," she said quietly. "This was your plan. And you're not only going to tell me everything you know about Sam and Flynn's whereabouts, you're going to admit that you orchestrated this whole idea. You're going to tell me the names of every single asshole who helped you pull it off, and you're going to do it joyfully."

              Once again, Laura laughed a sharp cackle. "Shut the hell up, Findley. You don’t know shit."

              Cadence gave her a moment, stared at her, crossed her legs, waited. Even in the darkness, she could clearly see Laura growing more uncomfortable. After several minutes, Cadence said, "Your uncle's a pretty smart guy, huh?"

              "I don't know what you're talking about," Laura replied dryly.

              "Titanium, mixed with silver. I wondered how he knew that would work," she continued. "Did he ever tell you how he came up with it?"

              "My uncle didn't have anything to do with those titanium bullets. I already told you..."

              "Huh! That's not what he said," Cadence continued. "He said that he had been doing some research on a way to level the playing field, if you will, for decades--well before your little run in with me. I thought it was odd, since he never Transformed--why would he care? Seems the problems between your family and other Hunters go back for centuries, Laura. Did you know that?"

              Laura looked intimidated, but she said nothing.

              "His entire career choice hinged on the fact that he had found some ancient documentation revolving around titanium's potential for turning the Ternion on its ear. I suppose you didn't know that either though, did you?"

              Laura shifted on the bed. "I told you, my uncle had nothing to do with..."

              "He's here, Laura. He's upstairs with your sister right now. So don't play dumb with me, bitch."

              There was a flicker of panic on Laura's face for a moment before she said, "You're lying."

              Cadence snickered. "You think so? Okay... doesn't matter. What matters," she said, pulling the Glock out of her waistband and setting it on the table, "is what I have in here."

              The panic was back, but stronger, as Laura eyed the weapon on the table. She took a deep breath, trying not to show Cadence any fear. "You're bluffing," she replied, trying to keep her voice even.

              "Am I?" Cadence asked, picking up the gun. She popped the cartridge, took out one of the titanium bullets, and held it up to the light, as if she was examining it. "Hmm, looks like titanium to me," she shrugged, putting it back into the cartridge and re-loading the weapon. "How’s about we find out?"

              "You wouldn't shoot me," Laura dared her, though her expression revealed she wasn't so sure.

              "I wouldn't?" Cadence asked, clicking the after-market safety off. "Why not? I mean, fair is fair. You shoot me, I shoot you.... You arrange for the murder of my best friend, get my team shot up, try to kill me and my fiancé. Yeah, I think I can shoot you. For sure."

              The slight change in expression on Laura's face at the word fiancé was not lost on Cadence, and even though Laura tried to hide it from her, as she did her growing fear, Cadence was willing to exploit it. "Oh, you didn't see my ring? He's got fine taste, that one." She held her ring up to the light so Laura could have a better view.

              "You're engaged to... Aaron?" Laura asked.

              "Sure am," she replied, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "Surely you didn't think you could get him back now, after what you've done."

"I didn't want him back," Laura said, looking at the wall, her tone betraying her true feelings.

"Sure you did," Cadence replied. "You're just such a sick, twisted bitch you had no idea how to go about it. So you thought a murder spree would teach him a lesson, huh?"

              "Go to hell."