Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (34 page)

              "I hope not," Cadence mumbled. She'd had enough regrets to last a lifetime.

              Later that evening, Cadence, Aaron, and Jamie met with Christian in his lab. “I’ve got some of the blood samples Jamie took earlier today,” Christian explained. “I know he’s running some tests, and I will do the same to see if we can figure out exactly what happened once you took the two vials of Transformation serum.”

              “The sooner the better,” Aaron advised, leaning on the lab table near where Christian had his vials and other tools lined up. Cadence was sitting in a chair across from Christian, looking intently at the vials, wondering what they might possibly reveal.

              “I know Dr. Morrow is eager to hear what we have to say as well,” Christian added.

              “I’m sure he is,” Aaron replied, absently. Then, changing the subject, he asked Jamie, “Did you get a chance to follow up with Sharon?’             

              “Yes,” the Healer confirmed, pulling his eyes away from Christian’s experiment for a moment. “Ms. O'Braonain wasn’t very forthcoming with information at first, but eventually she opened up. She admitted she had been talking to the renegades, that they had given her a cell phone to stay in contact, and that they had asked her to filter misleading information through other Guardians and Hunters so as to throw us off of their track.”

              “Why would she do that?” Cadence asked shaking her head. “Surely she can’t still hate you for what happened with her father that many years ago.”

              “Honestly,” Jamie replied, “she said she didn’t realize everything that was going on, and I tend to believe her. She’s a pretty old woman,” he added.

              “Regardless,” Aaron began, “she needs to be held accountable for her part in this. We’ll make sure that happens eventually. Did she say she still has the phone?”

              “Yes,” Jamie confirmed. “I had Teresa pick it up, and she’ll get it to Aurora and Hannah when they go down to visit customs.”

              “Perfect. We can use her phone to find the phone the renegades were using to contact her. If we can get a ping on the phone Sam and Laura were using, perhaps we can figure out who has it and where he is,” Christian stated.

              “If I had to guess, Sam probably has it,” Cadence thought out loud. “And I doubt he’s stupid enough to even turn it on.”

              “If he gets desperate enough he might,” Aaron replied. “And when he does, we’ll have him.”

Chapter Ten

              The US Customs and Boarder Control Office in Miami, Florida was just like any typical government office. A flag flew out front, assuring Hannah and Aurora that they had reached the appropriate building, and when they entered the agents were as unfriendly and uncooperative as one might expect from their governmental cousins in similar offices. Aurora approached the counter, badge in hand, with Hannah standing over her shoulder, concentrating on persuading the wiry, dark-haired agent to be cooperative.

              It took him several minutes to notice the women at all, staring blankly at a computer screen instead. When he finally acknowledged them, it was only to point them to a clipboard next to the window with a log he dryly insisted they fill out.

              "That won't be necessary," Aurora assured him, towering over him at six foot with four-inch heeled black boots adding to her height. "As you can see by my badge, I am with the FBI. And you have a package for me."

              He snickered at first, taking a drink of his coffee, and Aurora desperately wished Elliott were with her. She knew he would be able to handle this moron in about five seconds flat. Nevertheless, she had faith in Hannah, and when the older strawberry blonde woman began to speak, the sinewy man began to listen.

              "I'm Agent Hannah Roberts, and this is my associate, Aurora Bowling. We have explicit orders to retrieve a package from Sierra Leone, one that your office has detained. Here is the specific information regarding this package, and you will do whatever it takes to make sure we leave here with this package quickly and effortless, understand, Bill?"

              Agent William Long glanced down at his own nametag, as if he wasn't sure she was addressing him, but when he glanced back up, his demeanor had changed. "Of course," he said, accepting the paperwork from Aurora. "I understand. Let me process the appropriate paperwork, and I will make sure the package gets to you both quickly and effortless."

              "Perfect," Aurora smiled.

              Less than an hour later, Aurora contacted Cadence and Aaron.
"We've got the package, and we're on our way home,"
she smiled.

             
"Way to go!"
Cadence congratulated her.
"I knew you guys could do it!"

             
"It wasn't easy,"
Hannah admitted.
"I didn't know if I could be that persuasive. But I learned from the master."

             
"Yes, you did,"
Aaron agreed.
"Now get back here because we're going to need you in Billings."

              It had only taken a few days for Morgan's team in Montana to confirm that the reports that Flynn was in the area were true. After a lengthy discussion with Aaron and Cadence, they determined it was time for the Kansas City LIGHTS team to make the trip north. They handpicked the most appropriate Guardians and Hunters to take with them, and Jamie, Christian, Hannah, Meaghan, and Aurora would be making the journey.

              Morgan was a short brunette, full of spunk, and she managed her team in a no-nonsense sort of way. Aaron had worked with her several times in the past, most recently in December a few days before Jack Cook's memorial service. At that time, he had left Cadence in Elliott's care, and this was an eerie reminder of how things had changed.

              "Welcome," Morgan said politely, throwing open the door to her office. Her team was assembled inside the dimly lit, rather large space, sitting around an over-sized conference table.

              "Morgan, it's nice to see you," Aaron said, offering her his hand, which she took with a sly smile.

Her expression seemed peculiar to Cadence, who shot her a questioning glance before offering the shorter woman her hand. "Hi, I'm Cadence," she smiled.

              Morgan smiled back. "Hi. It's so nice to meet you. I've heard a lot of great things about you. The way you got information out of Laura was epic."

              Cadence blushed a bit, surprised at how quickly the news had spread. “Thanks,” she said quietly. Whatever that smile had meant, Cadence let it go, and Aaron introduced the rest of his team as Morgan ushered them inside, offering them seats at the table and beverages before introducing the key members of her own team to those who had not previously met them--which would include everyone except for Aaron and Jamie.

              "This is our tech person, Hattie," she said indicating the muscular, dark-haired woman at the end of the table. Cadence noted she did not look like a Hattie, but continued to focus on the rest of the names. "Lucas is our go-to guy for terrain analysis, something very important out here." He was tall and thin with light hair, including a thin moustache. "Mark is our Healer, and Gretchen handles pretty much everything else." Mark was possibly the strangest looking Guardian Cadence had ever seen. He was older and rounder than most, with glasses and a pudgy nose. Sylvia was a tall, slender black woman with hair cropped to her scalp.

"You're all Guardians, correct?" Cadence asked, a bit confused.

              "Yes," Morgan nodded. "I was asked not to assign any of my Hunters to this mission, as Aaron thought it wouldn't be necessary."

"Oh," Cadence said, looking at him questioningly.

             
"I have the best Hunters. I don't need any more,"
he replied through the IAC.

"A little heads up would've been nice, though,"
she responded.

             
"Sorry--not used to having to coordinate with anyone,"
he admitted, squeezing her hand under the table.

              Morgan could clearly see that there was a private discussion going on, so she waited for a moment until she was certain she had their attention before continuing. She was still standing, walking around behind her team members' chairs as she gestured to a large screen behind her on the wall. A similar one hung across the room so that no one would have to turn around to see what she was discussing. "These are the Crazy Mountains," she explained, pulling up visuals to go along with her topic of discussion. "And this is Cave Lake. We know that there are a number of Vampires that make their home here. The majority of them are Compliants and they leave humans alone for the most part, so we don't bother them either. As some of you already know, from time to time we will have an incident where a Rogue will try hiding out either here or in any of our other various mountain ranges, and this often leads to quite the hunt." Once again, she shot a look at Aaron that seemed a bit too familiar to Cadence. She looked at him questioningly, but if he picked up on it, he didn't acknowledge it.

"About a week ago, we started getting reports from some of our informants in the field of some suspicious activity. At first, we thought perhaps we just had a long term camper, but once we were able to secure some visuals, we realized that this guy," she pulled up a very blurry picture of Flynn kneeling down by the lake, "looked very similar to one of the renegade Hunters MIA since the Sierraville Incident."

              Cadence shuddered. She had never heard it called that before--the Sierraville Incident. Again, Aaron's hand beneath the table reminded her that everything would be okay, and she returned her focus to Morgan's speech.

              "We believe he is hiding out within the cave system here, although it's possible he could be finding shelter any number of places out here on the mountain range. There are some old hiker cabins, plenty of rock formations, areas with dense foliage." Morgan concluded her explanation standing behind Sylvia's chair, both hands grasping the black leather, surveying the team to see what questions they had. Clearly, she had been doing this a long time, and Cadence was impressed with her polished skills--despite the odd looks she kept giving Aaron.

              "How large of an area are we talking about?" Jamie asked from his seat next to Cadence.

              "The Crazies are approximately forty miles long," Lucas explained. He pulled up a geographical map on the screen, which indicated various altitudes of specific peaks. "However, they're part of the Rockies, so really, if he gets wind that we are on to him, he has an endless amount of hiding places."

"And what do we know about the cave formations?" It was Aurora this time, and Cadence was happy to hear her speak up so confidently.

              Again, it was Lucas who replied. "There are really only two major cave entrances to consider in this area," he explained, indicating where those were located on the map. "And they are frequented by backpackers and spelunkers this time of year."

              "It would be more likely that he would try to lose us in the forests or mountainside than in the caves," Morgan stated pointedly.

              "When was your last confirmed sighting?" Aaron asked, clearly considering all of the information and trying to formulate a plan.

              "Yesterday," Sylvia replied. She had a thick accent that Cadence couldn't quite place and she wondered if the woman actually was from Africa. "One of the park rangers is an Independent Hunter," she explained. "He took the picture we showed you earlier."

              "And where was that taken precisely?" Cadence questioned, leaning in to have a better look at the map.

              Lucas utilized his IAC to place a small red dot on the map. "Right here," he responded.

"So, near the caves, but also near the hiking trails," Cadence concluded, and a nod of the Area Leader's head let her know that she was correct. "Why would he be hanging out so close to where hikers and others might see him?'

              "Because he's an idiot," Christian offered.

Cadence looked at him dismissively. "Maybe," she conceded. "Or else..."

"He's waiting for someone," Aaron finished her sentence.

              "And what if he's waiting for Sam and we move in and tip him off?" Jamie asked, nervously tapping the table.

Cadence knew it would be difficult for Jamie to be involved in this hunt, Meaghan as well. They had both been badly wounded in the first incident. Jamie easily could have died if Cale hadn't extracted him so quickly. "I think it's a chance we have to take," she finally replied. "I mean, we can do our best to keep watch, in case he is making his way this direction. But it could be someone else. And I don't think we can afford to wait. Flynn could potentially slip away."

              "There's no reason for us to assume it is Sam," Aaron agreed. "I don't think we can afford to wait either. But if he's hanging out that close to trails, he is likely waiting for someone."

"Maybe, it's this guy," Morgan offered, pulling up another blurry surveillance shot.

              "Who is that?" Meaghan asked squinting at the unfocused image.

              "We aren't sure," Hattie spoke up. "But we are pretty sure he's a Vampire. We've had some information from various sources that there has been some new activity in some of our outlying areas—and a body turned up yesterday."

Aaron was nodding, and Cadence was certain that meant he had heard this information already.

              "We think he's a Rogue, just no idea who he might be. We haven't gotten a clear look at his face," Hattie concluded.

              "This shot was taken outside of a Conoco near Harlowton," Morgan explained. "The clerk behind the counter said a 'weird guy' came in late and kind of hung around until the other customers left. He said he got a strange vibe from the man, and at one point, the 'creepy' guy seemed to insert some sort of weird Vampire teeth and lunge at him. He said that another group of customer came in at the time and scared him off."

Cadence looked confused. "Who interviewed him?"

"I did," Mark replied. "I run a little paranormal research center on the side. Helps feed us information. He contacted me through my website--wanted to make sure this wasn't a legitimate Vampire sighting."

              "Interesting idea," Cadence said, nodding. "So you just assured him that he had nothing to worry about?"
              "Essentially, but I also told him to make sure he called me if he ever saw him again," Mark agreed.

"Did he look like he had a scar from a tracker removal?" Aaron asked. "It's hard to tell in the picture."

              "Yes," Morgan confirmed. "He said he had a strange scar on his forehead."

"It's gotta be Travis then," Aaron stated. "Short, stocky thin-haired older guy with his tracker cut out. Couldn't really be anyone else."

“All of the information I’ve been able to gather has him headed in this direction,” Meaghan confirmed.

              Morgan nodded in agreement. "So it makes sense that Flynn is waiting for him then. Good call, boss," she smiled.

Cadence's raised eyebrows got only a shrug in return, and she returned to the question at hand. "So what's our next move?" she asked
"Boss?"

             
He snickered at her addendum before replying, "You tell me. I'm sure you've got this all figured out."

              "Well," she began, concentrating for a moment, "I think we intercept him. We know what he wants, and we can track him. If he can lead us to Flynn, then we'll have them both."