Mitzy from Lincoln wouldn’t normally have been one of the first people Aaron would expect to hear from after awaking from surgery, but under the circumstances, he wasn’t surprised. "Just wanted to make sure you're aware that we've got a newbie in Lincoln. He's hooked up with Giovani, and a couple of free agents are attempting to relocate them now. Think they're headed toward Omaha. I saw him earlier and was about to call him in myself, but I heard you were a little under the weather and didn’t want to bother you. But these two Independents were persistent."
Aaron had been attempting to rest, but with everything going on, he was not having a whole lot of luck and had ended up turning his IAC back on pretty quickly after he came to. "I was aware of the newbie, but this is the first mention of Giovani. Has anyone got a visual?"
Though he didn't express his concern to Mitzy, Aaron knew this made Jack more dangerous than he had initially realized. On his own, Jack could cause some problems, but hooked up with a notorious Rogue, the trouble could easily get out of hand. Giovani had a reputation of taking whoever he wanted, whether they were approved prey or not, including the occasional child or victim in broad daylight, both huge no-nos. Aaron was aware that Laney and Laura had tracked him across most of the country. It made sense to Aaron that Giovani would be in the area since Holland had been there just a few weeks ago. In fact, he had been surprised that Giovani hadn't shown up at the Eidolon Festival. Perhaps, the two sisters had been close enough on his trail that he had to find some cover. Either way, if Jack was with Giovani, chances were he would violate a rule sooner rather than later and that would make matters even worse for the newly-born Vampire.
He also realized that Mitzy, a former member of LIGHTS who now operated on her own, was playing messenger between the two parties because Laura didn’t want to talk to him. Assuming Mitzy was checking back with Laney, he awaited her answer.
Laura was driving much faster than the posted speed limit, weaving the Charger in and out of traffic, yet drawing little attention from the other drivers as she did so. Just as Laney was about to answer Mitzy's question with a negative response, the two girls spotted a familiar Corvette about a quarter mile ahead of them traveling almost as fast as they were. "Affirmative," Laney said to Mitzy, the smile on her face almost detectible in her tone. "We are in pursuit."
Mitzy passed on the information. "Laney and Laura have visuals," she informed Aaron. “You got a message for the ladies?”
Upon hearing the annoyance in Mitzy’s voice, Aaron sighed. He hated that she was in such a position because of his past. Pushing his personal feelings aside, he tried to focus on the task at hand. Though Aaron would appreciate the women doing whatever it took to take out Giovani, Jack had not done anything wrong, not yet anyway. Therefore, he fell under the protection of the Guardians. "The newbie's name is Jack Cook, and he's not a Rogue, not yet anyway. If they should happen to engage Giovani, tell them to keep that in mind. Jack needs to be brought back here unharmed."
Mitzy relayed the message, making sure they knew not to harm Jack.
Laney snickered. "Do you honestly think either of us would come back there, for any reason?"
"Well, I can tell him that if you want, but I don't think he means you have to bring him back yourself," Mitzy replied. She had been a Hunter for a very long time and retired from the team about forty years ago, before Aaron had taken over. Nevertheless, she found this game of telephone exhausting. She let Aaron know that the girls refused to bring Jack in themselves.
Aaron would have rolled his eyes if she could have seen him. "No, I suppose they won't. I can arrange a pick up if necessary. My point is, Jack Cook is to be apprehended unharmed."
"I'll pass it along," tag-team Mitzy assured him before going back to Laney.
"Okay," Laney agreed. "We'll do our best. But if he gets in the way of us taking out Giovani, sorry, but the new guy gets it."
"She said they will do their best not to harm him, but they're after Giovani. Period."
Mitzy’s tone let him know that the conversation was basically over. "Understood," Aaron replied. "Let me know how it goes."
"You know I will," Mitzey stated, emphasizing the I.
Laney had no personal qualm with the Guardian Leader, and she didn't particularly like to have to use an intermediate. But she wouldn't interact with Aaron if she could help it, especially not with her sister present. She knew, as soon as she let Laura know the conversation was over, she would be interrogated. What did he say? What do you think he meant by that? How did Mitzy say he was breathing? Do you think he was thinking about me? Not that I care if he was thinking about me. But still, is it possible he was thinking about me?
"Reported," Laney said aloud, addressing her sister. "He said that newbie is to be apprehended unharmed. He's not a Rogue. And that's all he said, so don't ask me anything else," she added, hoping to quash her sister's questions before they were even formed.
Laura looked offended. "I wasn't going to ask anything else," she said smartly, still weaving around the other cars. They were beginning to close, and she was thinking about how to sneak up on Giovani without him noticing while still traveling just as quickly as he was. It would be almost impossible for him to miss the Charger.
"Whatever," Laney replied. "He wants Jack Cook brought into LIGHTS unharmed."
"Ha," Laura said smartly. "Then perhaps he should get some of his own team members out here trailing Jack Cook. I'll bring him in--in a vacuum cleaner," she added, referring to their method of cleaning up the ash disappearing Vampires left behind right after they were destroyed.
Just as Laney was about to reply, it became very apparent that Giovani had spotted the familiar vehicle behind him. He took off, shooting through traffic even more deliberately than he had been before. The sun was setting, making it even more difficult to keep an eye on the fast-moving Corvette and making the chase even more dangerous. Giovani was squeezing the car through openings between semis and passenger vehicles so tight, even a Smart Car would have had difficulty making it through.
Laura followed as closely as she could without causing an accident. Most of the time, humans didn't even detect the quick moving vehicles of Hunters, Guardians, and Vampires as they moved through the slower moving traffic seamlessly. This evening, however, because of Giovani's recklessness, others seemed to be taking notice. If Laura wasn't careful, she could potentially cause some of these innocent humans to be injured, or worse, and she didn't want that on her conscience. As much as she wanted to catch Giovani at last, she didn't want to do so at the expense of others.
"We're losing him," Laney said, bracing herself against the door, her trigger-happy left hand physically moving back and forth between the dash and the Glock at her hip.
"I know that," Laura replied tartly. Of course, she realized her caution was causing them to slip farther behind. "I don't want to cause a wreck."
Laney sighed impatiently. "Okay, but if he gets off in Omaha and we're not right behind him at the exit, we'll never see where he went."
Laura pulled the car around a charter bus, using the shoulder for more than its intended purpose. "I'll try to catch up. The traffic should thin out a bit as we get further away from Lincoln."
"Yay, but it will intensify as we get closer to Omaha," Laney reminded, squinting a bit as the car veered a bit too close to an SUV. "Hey, if we're going to live on the edge, may as well jump."
The older, more responsible sister tended to disagree. "Just... let me drive," she replied, attempting to concentrate on the road and ignore her younger sister.
