Chapter 16

Zane spoke politely to her dad as the two passed each other, and then Aaron sat down in his spot next to her. “You doing okay?” he asked, and Jo nodded, still trying to figure out what she was going to say. While it was a huge compliment to be asked to lead the mission, Jo knew she wasn’t really the right person for the job. Even if she was the most strategically minded--which she was pretty sure she wasn’t--and even if she was the best shot--which she was pretty sure she was--she wasn’t a leader, not like her dad was. Not like her mom had been. He was disillusioned as to her abilities because she reminded him so much of his wife.
“I’m okay,” Jo finally said. “Just… not used to dealing with so many people.”
“Yeah? You never really did like parties much. Even when you were little, you’d try to go hide somewhere, off in your room if we were at home, or in a quiet corner. One time, I found you in Elliott and Amanda’s closet, reading a book on your mom’s phone.”
Jo couldn’t help but smile. She remembered that. Mandy had been driving her crazy, trying to get her to play with dolls, and all she wanted was to read her book. “Dad, before you say anything, I just want you to know, if you were thinking about appointing me to lead this mission, please don’t. Think of someone else. I just… don’t think I’m up to it.”
He stared at her for a moment, that intense blue gaze penetrating beyond her exterior, and she knew he was trying to get a feel for her emotional state, which never worked really well on her, but then, he didn’t really need his superpowers most of the time to know how she was feeling. “I disagree. I think you’d do a better job than anyone else we have available.”
“Can’t you do it? Can’t you just stay… and get her, and then go back and look for Mom?”
The head shake started before her sentence ended. “I can’t do that, Jo. I’ve got to keep looking. Christian really feels like he’s on to something now, and I’ve already spent so much more time here than I intended to.”
“It’s been less than two weeks.”
“A lot can happen in two weeks.”
Jo sighed and ran her hands through her hair, wishing she had another beer. “I know you don’t want Cass leading because she’s a hot head, and she needs to be able to concentrate on her shields and shit. What about Brandon?”
“Brandon’s not a leader, Jo. He’ll be too focused on looking out for his wife and not paying enough attention to anyone else. Cadon has asked me to let him do it, and I’ve considered it, but I don’t know that his judgment is always the best. He gets flustered by the details and doesn’t always look at the big picture.”
While she’d never put it into those words before, she could definitely see that about her brother. He just didn’t know how to let things go. Putting Cadon in charge would definitely be a mistake, and that wasn’t just their sibling rivalry talking. “Cale?”
“No Healers in charge.”
Jo remembered he’d already said that. Scott would be out, too, then. Martin, the other Healer, was going with Elliott. On the Moscow team, that left Meagan, Shayna, that Dax guy, Leo, Fiona, and Hattie. The tech woman was out of the question since she’d have to concentrate on that. Meagan had lost it a little when her husband was killed, and Shayna was just an angry young woman with a bad attitude. Jo hadn’t been around Leo and Fiona for a long time, so she didn’t know their skill level. Maybe she was the best choice by default.
“Jo, I know you don’t want to do this. I get it. I remember the first time I led a mission, I didn’t like it either. But you can do this.”
Still not convinced, she asked, “Who’s meeting us over there?”
“Mikali, Mila and Sergio will meet you, along with some of their personnel I’m not as familiar with. Mila’s not the same since she was injured at Klet. Mikali’s not rational enough, and Sergio’s not intelligent enough. I’ve decided to send a few LIGHTS members in from China and Japan, but they’re all relatively new. Lin is pretty good, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience. Sun is a killer shot, but her English isn’t fabulous, which doesn’t matter if IACs are up, but if they’re not, it wouldn’t be good. Not that she has any experience leading at all.” He looked exasperated. “And the two Guardians, Nha and Ping, are only eighteen. Just Transformed last year.”
“This is a big team, Dad. I’m used to working solo or just with Zane.”
“I know. But I doubt you’ll be able to stick together for long. It might take you a while to pick up her tracks, but once you do, things are going to move fast, and you’re probably going to have to split up. Which is why I need someone in charge who can coordinate different groups in different areas and inspire other people within those groups to keep their shit together.”
“And you think I can do this why?”
“Jo, I trained you to do this. Don’t tell me you don’t remember that.”
She remembered. Once again, she found her hands tangled in her hair and a sigh exploding from her lips. How many times had he taken her to the simulator to watch hunts unfold and make decisions about what to do? It was an interesting device, that simulator. Christian had made it when Margie and Daniel were the Leaders because he thought they needed more practice, which was enough for her to kick him off the team for a few months. Jo had stood in there for hours with her dad, watching the holographic figures move and directing them where to go. Hunters and Guardians moving in on Vampires. At first, she’d been terrible, telling them to do things that had gotten them killed. Eventually, she’d gotten pretty good at it, much better than Cadon, and she knew now why her dad was trying to get her to do this.
But transparent blips on a table were not real people, and if she got someone killed in this venue, that was a different story altogether. “What about Dax?”
“Dax’s wife was killed in that Seattle raid last month. I’m not even sure why he’s here.”
Her eyes bulged at the news. Poor guy. No wonder he looked so pale and sad. “Did I know her?”
“Tara? Yeah, you knew her.”
A face came to mind. Brunette with an infectious smile. She’d been one of Cassidy’s friends before. It was astonishing her aunt hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe she’d grown used to losing friends. Jo knew two of her other friends, Emma, who had been commissioned by the government to work on tech for a while but managed to escape, and another one, Lucy, who had spent time on the island with Zane’s parents and Roar until she’d gotten away last year, would be meeting up with them in Russia. Those were the only ones Cass ever mentioned.
Returning her attention to her dad, Jo asked, “Can you let me think about it?” It was the best she could do.
Her dad’s hand clapped down on her back. “Sure, take all the time you need. Your plane doesn’t leave until 8:00 AM.” He fished an itinerary out of the pocket of his leather jacket and handed it over. She looked at it skeptically and then shook her head. It was already past midnight.
“Jo, you can do this,” he said again, looking in her eyes. “I know you can. There’s more of your mother in you than you recognize.” He leaned over and kissed her temple before he headed back inside, leaving her speechless with a paper in her hand and a doubt in her heart the size of Quebec.
Maybe he was right. Maybe she was the best person for the job. Or maybe she’d get all of the Hunters killed and all of the Guardians captured. She unfolded the paper and looked it over, seeing that she was flying with Zane, Cassidy, and Brandon on a jet owned by LIGHTS out of Montreal. It had been “sold” when everything went down a few years ago to keep it concealed. No one thought President Crimson was above shooting down planes based on the idea that there might be a LIGHTS team member or two aboard.
Perhaps a conversation with her aunt would help her decide whether or not she could do this. She knew her dad wanted an answer before she got on that plane, but he might just have to wait. Either way, he needed to come up with a backup plan, because if he wasn’t able to convince her to take the responsibility, she didn’t think anyone else would be able to either. Not Cassidy, not Elliott, not even her mom if she had been there.