Chapter 133
“Well, it looks like we might be headed to Montana soon enough, so your sister might be out of touch for a little while. We’ve got a lead on Finn, so we’re going to see if we can track him down. I’m sure Cadence will fill you in when we get back,” Aaron said.
I remembered that Finn was one of Sam’s minions. That was good news, but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Nothing on Sam yet?” I asked.
“Not yet. We’re working on it, though.”
It went without saying that he wanted Sam as badly as I did, more even, if that was possible. “Okay,” I said.
“I’ve gotta go, but if you need anything, you can text me at this number anytime, okay? I rarely sleep, and it might take me a few minutes to get back to you if I’m tied up, but I’m usually pretty good about responding quickly.”
I didn’t know what to say at all. It seemed like he was treating me like an adult, sort of the way that Elliott always had, but it was slightly different since he was the boss. “Okay,” I said again and then had the forethought to say, “thanks.”
“Thank you for volunteering to help out,” he replied, as if my contribution was so significant. I had the idea that they probably had a lot of people who could be doing whatever it was Christian was going to show me how to do, but Aaron was making me feel like I was important, and I wondered if that was one of the reasons whoever picked him as the leader had chosen him. I was beginning to think perhaps I had been wrong about him, although I still remembered what he’d done to my sister. Letting things go is something I need to work on.
He said goodbye, and I hung up my phone contemplating what to do next. Other than a couple of texts, I hadn’t really spoken to Cadence recently. I assumed she’d been busy. I wondered if she even knew Aaron had called me and got the idea she would probably be oblivious to the fact that her friends were coming to see me later in the week. I was okay with it because I could imagine that what she was doing required quite an adjustment, but I also wanted to reach out to her, to share my excitement at being involved with someone who should understand.
It wasn’t her I called though. It was Lucy, who was at Wes’s party, no doubt, and I didn’t think she’d answer. She did though, and when she said, “Just a minute,” it was probably because of the loud music in the background. It seemed like she was headed outside and a minute later she asked, “Change your mind?”
“Uh, no,” I said, thinking the last place I wanted to be was at a loud party. “I just wanted to tell you that I just talked to Aaron, and he’s sending Jamie to take me to visit with my grandma about all of this on Thursday. Christian’s going to show me how to use whatever program they have to gather intel.” I tried to make it sound super important, but it wasn’t necessary. She was squealing before I got the second sentence out. I believe the exact word I said right before she lost it was “Aaron.”
“OMG, Cass! He is literally the hottest guy I have ever seen with my own eyes.”
I laughed but couldn’t verbally agree with her. Wouldn’t that be a little disgusting, considering he was going to be my brother-in-law one day? I tried really hard to think of another candidate but came up short handed. “It was kinda weird talking to him on the phone, though.”
“Why? He’s going to be your boss one day.”
She had a point, but then, if his prediction was correct, Cadence would actually be my boss, not him. That idea was sobering. “Anywho, just wanted to let you know.”
“That’s so awesome! It does seem weird that a stranger has to take you to your own grandma’s house, though. Why can’t she just come and explain everything to you?”
“Because Aaron wants someone there who can answer my questions. Since Jamie knows all about the IAC and stuff my grandma doesn’t know about, he thinks it’ll be better to have someone more up to date there with me.” I wanted to tell her that I already had nefarious plans to turn Jamie into my new ally, but I didn’t say that aloud on the phone for fear someone was monitoring my calls. I know it sounded silly, and maybe it was, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone had spied on me.
“What about Christian?” she asked, and I could literally hear that her nose was wrinkled.
“I’m glad he’s not coming by himself,” I replied. “Maybe Aaron was able to figure out that I wouldn’t be comfortable with him alone.”
“Have you figured out what Aaron’s super power is?” she asked, a topic we had discussed before. “He’s gotta have one.”
“No, and I’m not sure how I would even ask him that.” I sometimes thought it was mind reading. I wondered if that was possible. At this point in my life, it seemed like anything was possible.
“Well, I wanna get back inside, but thanks for calling me.”
“Sure. I hope you’re having a good time, but not too good.”
She laughed. “It’s been fun, but Jason is acting stupid. Hanging out with Wes and Milo is definitely harming his maturity level.”
“Boys,” I laughed, not sure what else I could say. All the guys in our high school seemed like toddlers compared to the guys I’d been hanging out with this weekend. I suddenly remembered who the closest guy to being “the hottest guy I’d ever seen with my own eyes” other than Aaron would be as an image of Dr. Cale flashed through my mind. Jason would look like a puny man-child next to him. Remembering that Lucy was waiting for more of a response, I brought my mind back to our conversation. “Be safe,” I said, something I’d taken to telling everyone I know now whenever I won’t be seeing or talking to them for a while.
“You, too. Call me tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I agreed, though I had no idea what I would have to tell her tomorrow, and then I hung up. With a sigh, I decided to try to watch my movie again, but I knew my mind would be endlessly going over what I should expect on Thursday. I had been right about nausea, that was certain. Thank goodness Jamie was a doctor….
