The slight change in expression on Laura's face at the word fiancé was not lost on Cadence, and even though Laura tried to hide it from her, as she did her growing fear, Cadence was willing to exploit it. "Oh, you didn't see my ring? He's got fine taste, that one." She held her ring up to the light so Laura could have a better view.
"You're engaged to... Aaron?" Laura asked.
"Sure am," she replied, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "Surely you didn't think you could get him back now, after what you've done."
"I didn't want him back," Laura said, looking at the wall, her tone betraying her true feelings.
"Sure you did," Cadence replied. "You're just such a sick, twisted bitch you had no idea how to go about it. So you thought a murder spree would teach him a lesson, huh?"
"Go to hell."
"You first," Cadence replied, aiming the gun at Laura's head and cocking it.
Laura turned back to look at her. "You're not going to shoot me in the head," she said, as calmly as she could.
"Maybe not," Cadence repeated. "But I will shoot you in the foot." Without blinking, she shot Laura in the right heel.
The small blonde woman screamed in agony as blood splattered against the wall, the crimson liquid quickly spreading across the sheets as she groped for the wound, trying to contain the bleeding with her thin blanket. "What the hell?" she screamed. "Oh, my God! Why the hell did you do that?"
"Tell me the truth, Laura," Cadence said calmly.
"I have been telling you the truth!" she grimaced.
"Well, you've got another foot," Cadence sighed, taking aim again.
"NO!" Laura implored. "Fine--my uncle made the bullets for me. But only because he thought they would be stronger weapons against Vampires."
Cadence wasn’t sure she believed all of that, but she had part of the information she needed. She continued to probe. "And?"
"And what? Please, God, don't shoot me again. I need a doctor..."
"Luckily for you, there's a Healer right outside of that door. Of course, I'm not sure he's gonna want to help you, what with you arranging for his demise and all, but if you wanna keep talking, maybe I'll let the good doctor in," Cadence said calmly.
Laura was crying, the pain so severe she could hardly stand it. "I don't know anything else. I'm telling you, this was Sam's idea."
"Titanium hurts worse than a regular bullet, or so I hear. What do you think, shall we see if twice the amount of titanium is twice as painful?"
"JAMIE!" Laura screamed. "Please help me!"
"I'm so sorry, but Jamie's not going to come through that door until I ask him to," Cadence explained calmly.
"Aaron! Please don't let your psycho girlfriend shoot me again!" Laura begged, realizing that Cadence's IAC had to be on.
"Uhm, that's fiancée," Cadence reminded her, taking a step forward and pointing the Glock directly at her left leg. "Gotta be careful not to hit the shackle," she clarified.
"Please, no, please," Laura begged.
Cadence pulled the trigger, and there was another shriek of horrific pain as blood covered the wall again. This time, the bullet ripped through her lower calf, and shredded muscle hung off of the shattered bone. "Laura, shoot straight with me here. I've only got three more titanium bullets left. That's all I brought with me. Come on now, where's Sam?"
"I'm going to pass out," Laura whispered, gasping for air.
"Okay, better talk fast then." Cadence readied another bullet. "Are you left handed or right handed?"
"Please--no more. Please, let Jamie come in," she pleaded.
"You know, you're tougher to crack than I thought you'd be."
"You're insane--you fucking bitch!"
"Possibly. Losing your best friend can do that to you," Cadence replied. "His pleas fell on deaf ears, too."
"Fine--fine, I'll tell you. Okay," Laura gasped. "It was my idea. Sam agreed with it, though. He did most of the footwork. I just worked on manipulating Eliza, which was easy. I honestly don't know where Sam went. We decided not to tell each other, just in case. I think he probably went to Mexico, but I don't know. His family is in Texas. Finn said he wanted to go to California, but he thought it would be too risky since that’s where he’s from. So I think he probably went to Montana, to the mountains. He said he knew the area around Billings or some place. That's all I know. Please! Just help me, Cadence. Please!"
Cadence decided that enough was enough. She put the safety back on and shoved the Glock back into her waistband. "Jamie," she said quietly. In a second, he was through the door, surgical bag in hand. However, Cadence couldn't help but notice he had on thick gloves. Laura would get a doctor, but she wouldn't get a Healer.
Once she was out in the hallway, Cadence steadied herself against the wall, fighting the bile that was rising in the back of her throat. As much as she hated Laura, that was the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life, and she wasn't sure she would ever be able to forgive herself. Now she understood why Aaron hadn't let her shoot Camilla.
He was waiting for her at the top of the stairs when she finally made it that far, sitting on the top step. She couldn't tell by his expression if he was angry, disappointed, or just sad. She dropped down next to him, waiting patiently for any sort of acknowledgement.
It took a few minutes before he finally asked, "How are you?"
"I think I'm going to vomit," she admitted.
"Good," he nodded. "If that didn't make you sick, I'd be worried about you."
She looked at him nervously. "And since it did?"
"I'd be worried to be on the other side of an interrogation table from you," he replied. "But as difficult as that was, you got what we needed."
"Through torture," she mumbled.
"We're not the UN," he reminded her.
"I know," she acknowledged. "But, maybe I shouldn't have..."
"Don't start questioning yourself, Cadence," he said, putting his arm around her. "You did what you needed to do. She deserved it. I'm just sorry you had to go through that."
She put her head on his shoulder as the tears started rolling down her face. "I wish it wouldn’t have been necessary," she replied.
"I know," he agreed, smoothing her hair. "I know."
He held her a few moments as she struggled to pull herself back together. Once she had regained her composure he said, "Listen, you own that when you walk out of here, okay? Our IACs are off--no one knows you were crying just now except me. Don't let them see you hesitate on this one, okay?" She nodded and absently swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. "One thing is for sure, everyone who just witnessed that will never question your balls, sweetheart."
She couldn't help but laugh, and he kissed her before pulling her to her feet. "Come on, I think you have blood on your clothes. And we've got a lot of work to do."
"Can I turn my IAC back on to see how she's doing?" she asked as she followed him down the hallway toward the exit.
"Nope," he replied. "You don't care."
She nodded, holding tightly to his hand. "Okay. Can you turn your IAC on to see how she's doing?"
"Jamie took the gloves off," Aaron replied, spinning to look at her.
Cadence was both relieved and a bit disappointed to hear that. It meant that Laura would get the benefit of a Healer after all. "Well, I guess that's part of his Hippocratic Oath, or something," she justified.
As he turned to continue down the hallway, he muttered, "Yep. And I guess your balls are bigger than his."
"Well, I could have told you that...." she teased. ”Seriously, though, it takes some pretty big cojones to fix someone who tried to have you killed even after you already saved their life."
"I agree," Aaron replied, pushing the exit door open. "And that's why I'm glad he's on our side."
