What Do You See?

Maps with colored Xs created a tablecloth over the conference table, and by the look on her fiancé’s face, Cadence gathered he’d been staring at them for far too long. She’d gone back to their apartment and showered, eaten, even taken a little nap, while he stayed here in the office contemplating what it all meant. Now, with the rest of their most trusted inner circle sitting around looking at the same Xs, they weren’t making much progress. Aaron had suggested everyone take some time to look everything over before anyone said anything at all, and fifteen minutes into their contemplation, the only utterance anyone had made was Elliott who insisted on saying, “Hmmm,” very loudly every once in a while as he moved to a different map. The rest of them tried not to snicker as they were certain it would only encourage him to continue the annoying behavior.

“All right. You all look sufficiently cross-eyed.” Aaron hadn’t bee