Though the messages from Aaron did make her feel better, Cadence was still extremely upset about the phone calls. It seemed so odd to her that this impersonator could call her from a Lincoln phone number at a bar, and then an Omaha number. Unless, of course, the second number was a cell phone and the caller was a college kid. That would make sense. Still, what kind of a sicko did things like that? As much as she tried to put it out of her mind and go to sleep, his words kept crawling through her brain. "I'll be there soon." If she could deal with the likes of Barbarosa, she could handle just about anything. Nevertheless, the idea that some psycho pretending to be Jack was about to show up outside of her door was extremely unsettling, and she suddenly wished she was not alone.
Sylvia Grau was taking a break from nursing school, waiting tables at a truck stop on US 34, far enough away from her parents in Omaha that they didn't stop by the dingy little apartment she shared with two other girls, but close enough that she could drive up and drop off a load of clothes every once in a while. Sylvia, named for her grandmother, was a beautiful, petite blond, much stronger than she appeared, in every way one could imagine. Over the years, she had learned to speak her mind, much like Grandma Sylvie, and most customers who dropped by the greasy spoon either loved her or hated her.
Sylvia knew all of the rules about going out to one's car at night. She had done the same thing hundreds of times, and nothing even remotely scary had happened. She knew not to dig in her purse, to have her keys ready, and to be prepared to hit the panic button if necessary. Unfortunately, her car was so old, there was no panic button. She had other ways of defending herself, however, and though she was a bit distracted, thinking about the difficult customers she had served that night, she wasn't completely unprepared.She was definitely caught off guard, however, when the force of a body slam
"It's been, like, two days," Laney reminded her sister, who was still endlessly circling the blocks where they had previously seen Giovani's car. "Maybe he's moved on. Can we please try to get some assistance?""No!" Laura exclaimed. "We do not need any help. We'll find him."Laney was exasperated. "Well, what about that other guy? What if I get some information on him? If we knew who he was
Eliza's attitude had changed. She had been lucky enough to spend some time with Aaron since they had left for Billings, and she was happy to have had the opportunity to do so without Cadence in the way. Before Cadence had come into the picture, Eliza thought that all he really needed was some time and, eventually, they would be able to give their relationship another try. Now that Cadence was here, however, she knew that it was going to be much harder to win him back. And the thought of the two of them spending the night together, which she knew they had the night before, made her physically sick to her stomach. Eliza had a few tricks up her sleeve, but for some reason, none of her special talents seemed to be working, and she wasn't quite sure why....
Cadence was suddenly aware of just how badly she needed to use the restroom. She also wanted to take a quick shower before going downstairs to let her parents know she was still alive. Hurrying to the adjoining bathroom and turning the water on, she thought back to the time she had walked out of the shower only to find Aaron standing in her room, and she secretly hoped that might happen again this time, though she didn't think it likely. Chances were that, if he was back, he would have let her know. And she was pretty sure he had a hunt that night.After her shower, she dried her hair as much
"I'm going to go check on Mom," Cadence said, standing. As an afterthought, she picked up one of the throw pillows on the edge of the couch and threw it at Elliott, hitting him in the head."What did I do?" he asked, shocked.She said nothing, just walked into the kitchen, a smile on her face. She had always wanted a brother.
Jack had never imagined he would be staying in a hotel in Shenandoah. It never crossed his mind that he would ever need to, what with his parents' house a permanent feature in his life and in this town. But he certainly couldn't show up there, not since his entire family and all of his friends thought that he was dead. He would have to stay out of sight. So, Giovani had rented a small room in an unimpressive hotel on the outskirts of town, hopeful that they could get to Cadence soon, possibly tomorrow, and then get out of town.Seeing his own obituary in the paper was extremely surreal. It was
Eliza wasn't having a very good night. The hunt had been long and boring, and she had spent very little time actually doing anything. Any chance she had gotten to speak to Aaron, he had blown her off. Now, he was in the thick of the pursuit, despite the fact that he was just supposed to be consulting, and she was back at the headquarters, weighing through a ton of data, trying to get a location on where one Rogue might be headed. If she was lucky, she might have one more opportunity to get him all to herself before they headed back to Iowa the next morning. If she couldn't find the time to let him know how she was feeling about him before they went back, she may have wasted her only chance.