Repercussion: The Clandestine Saga Book 3 (6 page)

              Cale was also aware that his team seemed to be unreceptive to the newcomer's suggestions. "I'll tell you what," he started, "why don't Cadence and I have a little discussion, plan things out, and then get you all back together once we have a solid, agreed upon proposal. Does that work for everyone?"

              Nora objected, "But it's getting late. They'll probably be home soon. Weren't we going to do this tonight?"

              "Oh, I wouldn't suggest we try to do this tonight," Cadence chimed in, realizing too late that she had overstepped by offering her opinion to a question that was not addressed to her.

              While the rest of the team looked at her as if she had two heads, Cale didn't seem to mind that she had responded to the question. "How's that?" he asked, his tone curious, not judgmental.

              "Well," Cadence stammered, aware of the daggers pointed in her direction by the rest of the Reno team. "I just don't feel like we are on the same page at all, at this point. It will probably take us at least another hour to iron out a strategy. After that, getting into position will take a while. Oh, I was just thinking... we should really plan on coming back tomorrow, once we have everything in place."

              "We hardly ever have an outlined plan before we go in," Nick offered.

"Maybe that's why you haven't been successful," Meaghan stated under her breath, though loud enough for everyone to hear. She realized she may be offending Cale, but she couldn't hold back her remark.

              Once again, he didn't seem offended. "All regions operate a little bit differently. We do plan ahead," he said, eyeing Nick decisively, "though, it seems, perhaps not to the degree that you are used to. Let us chat, and we will get back to you," he stated dismissively.

              "Should we go home then?" Phoebe asked.

              Once again, Cale glanced at Cadence. She was still standing in the same spot, her arms crossed, waiting for him to answer. Seeing that she was not going to back down from her statement, he finally replied, "Yes, go ahead. Go back to headquarters. We’ll implement the plan tomorrow."

              Though there were verbal protests, his team followed directions and headed to their vehicles. For a moment, Cadence wondered how Cale would get home, but once they were all loaded up, she realized that he must have rode separately. She saw a motorcycle very similar to her own parked beneath the trees close to where her team had left their own bikes. LIGHTS definitely didn't skimp when it came to purchasing vehicles.

              "What do you want us to do?" Meaghan asked as the BMW S5 carrying the four members of the Reno team disappeared in the distance.

              "Head out," Cadence replied to both of her teammates. "Cale and I will work it out, and I'll keep you posted, all right?"

              Both Aurora and Meaghan agreed. "Stay safe," Aurora said squeezing her arm, before saying goodbye and making her way across the parking lot.

Cadence nodded and watched her teammates mount their bikes before tuning back to the silent Adonis next to her. He seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes locked on the building before them. Once the roaring engines were far enough away, she turned back to him. "Do you think we should go somewhere else, in case they return? Or do you want to stay here and observe?"

              Her voice broke his train of thought. "Oh, uh, we've observed them coming in before. And, oddly enough they do drive a Hummer." Cadence didn't think it was odd at all that she had picked up on that. She had noticed some clues to indicate the type of vehicle they had been parking there, but she didn't mention that now. "I think we should probably go somewhere else. There's a park not too far from here, though it is on the better side of town, back toward headquarters. Up for a walk?"

              Cadence was still feeling exhausted but the thought of a stroll on a moonlit night with a handsome man was not uninviting. "Lead the way," she invited with a smile.

              By the time they reached Virginia Lake Park, it was almost 2:00 AM and there was no one one else in sight. They parked their bikes next to each other, and the doctor led her down a little path to the lake. It wasn't too impressive as lakes went, but it was nice enough, and the moon played on the water, creating a feeling of serenity.

              Cale didn't speak until they began their journey down the walking path that looped around the small body of water. "It's lovely out here, isn't it?" he finally asked, gesturing towards the water.

              Cadence had begun to think perhaps he wasn't going to speak at all and was relieved when he finally did so. "Yes," she replied. "It seems very peaceful."

              "During the day, there are almost always families out here feeding the ducks, running, and playing. Joggers, bikers. Sometimes I come out here to run when I have the time."

              Cadence nodded. Images of the doctor in running clothes invaded her mind and she quickly pushed them away. She tried to formulate a sentence but could think of nothing intelligent to say.

              Luckily she didn't have to. "I'm very sorry about all of that back there," Cale offered.

              "Oh, no, that's fine!" she exclaimed.

"They were so rude," he insisted, shaking his head.

              "We are used to people disagreeing with our suggestions. It's fine," she lied. Rarely did anyone fail to jump on board with the plan she and the girls formulated. However, he didn't need to know that.

              "Still," he continued, "I expect my team to be more open-minded than that."

"I understand," she shrugged as they followed the trail around the edge of the lake. "You have your reservations as well," she added.

"True," he admitted, "but I am open to suggestions. I mean, I called you out here for a reason. And if you think setting a fire is the best way to go, then that's what we'll do."

              Cadence shook her head. "No, I don't want to do anything your team isn't comfortable with. We can go with plan B. That will work for us. Do you have other teammates who will be there? And I'll need to know who is a Hunter and who is a Guardian."

              Cale explained that Archie and Nora were his two primary Hunters. She already knew that Nick and Phoebe were Guardians. He said he also had two more Hunters and three more Guardians available if she needed them, which she decided would be a good idea. They spent the first lap around the lake talking about positioning and assignments. She insisted on leading the actual attack, which he agreed to, so long as she allowed him to guard her in person, which she also agreed to. By the time they were halfway around on their second lap, they seemed to have everything squared away.

              "Perfect," Cale said. "I'll just go over all of this with the team tomorrow. Can we meet you at that old Exxon station down the street and stage from there?"

              Cadence considered the question. "I think we should probably roll up to the location so our vehicles are nearby if they should try to exit."

              "Really?" he asked. "We always try to avoid that because of the noise," he explained.

              "I know that's a concern," she nodded, "but under the circumstances, I'd really like to have my bike nearby, just in case we are forced into pursuit. What do you usually do when they bail?"

He considered her response. "Well, we usually try to keep up, but sometimes that ends it for us, honestly," he replied.

              Cadence began to realize what one of the problems might be. "How long have you been doing this?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound too rude.

He laughed quietly before answering. "Don't have much confidence in me, huh?"

"No, it's not that," she insisted. She instinctively placed her hand on his arm, and then withdrew it, embarrassed. "I was just curious."

"Not too long," he admitted. "I Transformed about five years ago, but I was just assigned to this position last year. I'll admit, I'm still learning."

              "I didn't mean to imply..." she stammered.

              "It's all right," he maintained. "I've not had the opportunity to train with someone like Aaron for too long. Of course, I did my few weeks at the KC headquarters like everyone else, but then I went back to London, and things are different there. I was pretty surprised, honestly, when they asked me to come out here. I've spent a lot of time working on infrastructure, making sure we have the weapons and vehicles we need. My predecessor didn't keep up on things like that. It's been a rough go. And I've had to build a lot of my team from scratch as well. You may have noticed a lot of them are pretty new. While I like it here in Reno, a lot of people end up requesting transfers to more exciting places, leaving me with whoever will stay or the new people."

              Cadence was nodding along. "I didn't mean to sound judgmental. I was just wondering because, obviously, I'm pretty new at this, too. And I know everyone's learning curve is different. But I trust you, Cale, I really do. I trust your judgment, and I think you know your team well. If you want to park elsewhere, then that's your call."

              He nodded his appreciation. They were almost back to the beginning of the trail and they spent a few minutes in silence. Finally, he slowed his pace a bit and asked in a hushed tone, "May I ask you something personal?"

              Cadence looked at him out of the corner of her eye, not sure how to respond. After a long pause she nodded her approval, wondering which of many topics he might be broaching.

Even with her permission, he seemed to hesitate. Eventually, he said, "There are a lot of rumors going around. I'm sure you've heard many of them yourself. I was just curious, why did you leave?"

If there were rumors, Cadence hadn't heard them, though it made sense that there would be. She wondered what they might be. She didn't ask. "Well," she began, continuing to walk, though her pace was slower now, "if I had a direct answer for that question, I would share it with you, but honestly, I'm not completely sure myself."

              He nodded, though it seemed he didn't quite accept that response. "Do you miss it?"

              "Ha," she laughed, again not sure how to answer that. "Parts of it, I guess," she conceded. "I miss... some people. I miss my friends. And I didn't realize just how organized it really is there until I got out in the field, into other regions."

              "Well, that's not surprising," he admitted. "It's not just me then," he chided, bumping her gently with his elbow.

              She appreciated the physical contact a little more than she expected, and she felt herself blushing. "No, it's not just you. It's basically everyone," she replied, though she didn't bother to tell him most places were more organized than his area. Still, in retrospect, most of the leaders in the other places she had visited had been in command for a while. They should have it down by now.

              "We can't all be superheroes," he reminded her.

             
No, but in appearance, you would be pretty close,
she thought. "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses," she said instead. "While Aaron is definitely, by far, the most organized, meticulous person I have ever known, I seriously doubt he could perform an appendectomy."

              Cale laughed. "True. And for the patient's sake, I don't think I want to see him try." She giggled at the mental image, and he continued. "I guess that's one way to look at it. I will say this, I wasn't sure if you were going to live up to your reputation. It seemed to me that the rumors had to be false. No one could possibly be so effective in this line of work so quickly. But I was wrong. You've definitely exceeded my expectations."

              Cadence felt herself blushing again. She hoped it was too dark for him to see. "Thank you," she finally replied. "But you haven't even seen me in combat yet, so don't speak too soon."

              "No, that's true," he admitted. "And I can't wait to see it first hand. Tomorrow night should be... should be interesting."

They had reached the parking lot and Cadence picked her helmet up, pausing a moment before she put it on. "Well, thanks for hashing things out with me. Hopefully, we can convince our teams that this is the best approach and everything goes off without a hitch."

              He offered her his hand, which she took. "Thanks for your time," he replied smiling. "I have full confidence everything will go off just as planned."

              "Right," she smirked. "What could possibly go wrong?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. They both knew well enough that many, many things could go wrong. She flashed him one last smile before mounting her bike and pointing it in the direction of her hotel room.

***

              Despite the fact that she had consumed no alcohol the night before, Cadence awoke feeling as if she had been hit by a Mac truck. The restless nights were starting to add up. By the time she'd made it back to her hotel, met with Aurora and Meaghan and went over the new plan, and unwound a little bit, the sun was creeping over the horizon. Even after nearly ten hours of attempting to get even a couple of uninterrupted, consecutive hours of slumber, she finally hauled herself to the shower, hoping the hot water would somehow make her feel as human as a non-human could feel.