Chapter 119
Jamie drives almost as crazy as Elliot did, though a few minutes in, after my mom made her “oh, my” comment for the third or fourth time, he must’ve remembered that there were some regular humans in the car because he stopped taking corners so quickly. I absently wondered how they could remember to walk slowly but not to drive like the other cars surrounding them on the road, but I kept my comments to myself.
The drive to headquarters took about fifteen minutes, and we went out of town a little way, into the countryside. Eventually, we got to a gate that automatically opened, I imagined because of a device somewhere in the SUV, and headed back down a winding lane, past a few buildings that seemed to increase in height until we reached the two tallest buildings of all.
It seemed like everyone else had been here before, including my mom. We got out of the car and some man who seemed to work there started grabbing our bags out of the back. I thought it must be nice to have people to do these things and thought about how Lucy never cleaned up after herself, leaving everything for the housekeeper, Sandy. Maybe I could live that way as well.
“We have enough time to head upstairs and change,” Cadence said once we were standing on the sidewalk in front of what looked like a fifteen- or twenty-story tall building.
“Okay,” I muttered, watching the guy with the bags wheel them inside. Aaron said something to him that sounded like he wanted them all taken to the penthouse, and I remembered that Cadence’s and Aaron’s apartments were the only ones up there.
“Bring back memories?” my mom asked my dad, who was staring up at the building, and I couldn’t help but tip my head to the side in observation.
“It does,” he replied with a nod. He glanced down at me and shrugged. “I guess you may as well know now, Cassidy. I grew up here.”
“You did?” I asked. “I thought you lived in Des Moines, at Grandma’s house.”
“I did, part of the time, but my parents’ apartments were on the top floor here. Grandma had her own space and Grandpa had his so they wouldn’t drive each other crazy while they were working. I was here a lot of the time.”
“What about school?” I asked, thoroughly confused.
“Well, I had a private tutor until I was in high school, so when we were here, school was here, and when I was in Des Moines, school was in Des Moines.” That made sense, I supposed,
“And then I insisted on going to a regular, public high school. So Grandma and Grandpa arranged for me to live in their house, the one she lives in now, with a few retired Hunters.”
“Were you here when Grandpa died?” Cadence asked, squinting her eyes at him, like she’d never thought of any of this either.
“No, I was in college,” Dad replied, dropping his eyes to the sidewalk. “I wish I would’ve been.”
Cadence looked at Aaron, and then at Jamie, neither of whom said anything, and I absently wondered if they were there when my grandpa died. And then I realized that I needed to read a little more into what they were saying. “Hold on,” I said, just as everyone took a collective step toward the front door. “When you asked if dad was here when Grandpa Jordan died, you’re implying that Grandpa died here. As in, right here?”
Five faces turned and looked at me with various levels of surprise, a bit of amusement on the part of the gentlemen who didn’t know me so well, and some annoyance from my mother.
“We will explain all of that to you later, Cass, I promise,” my sister said. “We need to get going.”
Biting off the sigh that threatened to come out of my mouth, I allowed them to keep walking and tried to focus on taking in the entryway. There was an atrium with soaring ceilings and live plants, which was pretty cool. Not very many people were milling around, and I supposed that was because most people were getting ready for the memorial. I wondered how large of a crowd Dr. Sanderson would pull together and imagined it would easily be in the hundreds.
Once we reached the elevator, Jamie said, “I’m going to go check on Hannah and see if she needs anything else. I’ll see you all over there.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Cadence said and hugged him again as the elevator doors opened. No one had actually pushed a button, and I thought they might also be controlling that with the little computers they had in their eyes, their IACs.
The doctor smiled at me, and then he headed off, the rest of us stepping into the elevator. The doors closed and the light for the top floor illumined without anyone pushing a single button. “Neat trick,” I muttered under my breath, and Cadence turned and smiled at me.
It seemed like the elevator ride took forever. When we finally reached the penthouse, the doors opened and we all stepped out. Our luggage was sitting in front of the two apartment doors, the majority of it by the door on the right, so I assumed that was Cadence’s apartment. I averted my eyes when she kissed Aaron and said she’d see him in a few minutes, and I grabbed my bag. My sister turned the handle on her door and held it open as the rest of us wandered in.
“You know, you really should keep your door locked,” my mother commented. “I’m sure you’re perfectly safe here, but you just never know.”
“It was locked,” my sister replied, and I could hear her fighting that exasperated sound both of us are guilty of making when we have to explain things to our mother from time to time.
“Well, I didn’t see a key.”
“I unlocked it with my IAC.”
I was only half listening to my mother comment that she always forgot about my sister’s “eye computer.” My eyes were too busy taking in the incredible artwork on my sister’s walls and the gorgeous view out her window.
“Pretty nice, isn’t it?” Cadence asked, coming up behind me. She whispered, “All of the art is real. That’s an actual Monet.”
I stared at her in shock for a moment and pulled my head away to further inspect the view. “That fountain is amazing.” There were actually a couple of fountains off in the distance, but the one I was gesturing at appeared to be a little girl and a raincloud.
“It is, I agree. I really like to look out this window. It seems so peaceful.” I wondered what all she had seen that would make her go longing for peace, but I was sure I couldn’t even imagine. “I’m gonna go get changed. You wanna bring your stuff to my bedroom?”
“Sure,” I replied, following behind her and taking in the rest of her apartment. It was really nicely furnished and well-decorated. I was impressed.
