In the apartment where Laney was being held, Shane and Meagan were not only providing assurance that she didn't attempt to escape and free her sister, they were also present as she watched the interrogation of her sister, Laura, the result of which was more than a few tears being shed by the younger of the two.
When Cadence entered the room, followed closely by Aaron, it was evident that Laney had been crying. She began to formulate an apology, but then remembered what Aaron had said and hardened her expression instead. This was no time to show weakness. She hadn't seen Laney since arriving back at headquarters the day before so she began with a simple greeting to see where the other Hunter's allegiance lie. "Laney, how are you holding up?" Cadence asked, peering at her from the entryway.
Laney sat on a fading leather sofa. The apartment was much smaller than Cadence's. It was in the building where those who were coming only to Transform and train would stay before they went back out into the world in a few months. Therefore, it was more like a studio apartment, and Cadence stopped short of entering the living room space, lingering behind the counter in the tiny kitchen near the door instead, Aaron beside her, with Meagan and Shane sitting next to Laney across the enclosed area on the couch. It took Laney a moment to answer. Finally, she wiped away a tear and said, "I'm not going to lie. That was brutal."
Cadence pressed her lips together tightly and chose her words carefully. "It had to be done," she insisted.
"I guess so," Laney shrugged, whipping her long blond hair behind her shoulder. She had the remains of a tattered tissue in her hand and she dabbed at her eyes one more time. "It's just so hard to believe she would do something like this. I mean, I've seen the footage. I get it... I just.... She's my sister, you know?" Cadence and the rest of the team listened sympathetically without interrupting. "We traveled across the country--the world--for over a decade looking for Giovani. And while I knew there were times she was beginning to lose it, I just never thought...."
"None of us did," Aaron assured her.
Laney looked at him for a moment, as if she was examining his expression in order to tell whether or not he had any inkling of the disappointment she felt in her sister. Of course he did. He had cared deeply for her at one time. Eventually, she said, "What will happen to her now?"
Aaron looked at Cadence in deferment. After all, if she was elected as Hunter Leader soon, and it appeared that she would be, she would be in charge of disciplining Hunters when they got out of line. "Well," Cadence said, leaning on the counter with her elbows, "I know this is an unprecedented case. I mean, when Skelton shot my grandfather, he disappeared, and no one ever heard from him again." She glanced at Aaron to make sure that her story was accurate and his nod confirmed this. "I honestly feel like we should elect a tribunal, have her go before them, and let them decide her fate."
"But there are really only two possible outcomes, right?" Laney asked, leaning forward a little bit. "I mean, they can either decide to put her to death or lock her up for the rest of her life--which could be a hundred years."
"Yes." Cadence's reply was short and matter-of-fact. It had a jarring effect on the other woman, who clearly was still having trouble accepting any of this.
"I think she would rather be dead than locked up for all of those years," Laney thought aloud, looking down at the ground.
"Then I hope they decide to toss her in prison and throw away the key," Cadence said coldly. "Whatever happens to her, Laney, she chose her own path. She had every opportunity to do the right thing--twice--and she chose not to. "
Laney clearly considered her words. A long pause was followed by a change in subject. "What about my uncle. He didn't really admit to any of those things, right? He's not here?"
"No," Cadence assured her. "He's still feigning innocence."
"We do need to do something about that, though," Aaron reminded her.
Cadence agreed. "I think we need to shut down the whole operation. We're capable of that, aren't we?"
"The entire titanium mining business?" Shane clarified, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"Yes," Cadence confirmed. "Temporarily. At that location. At least until we can gather enough evidence to take him into custody as well."
"We don't even have to take him" Aaron reminded her. "He's a human. We can let the government take care of that."
"Even better," Cadence stated. "Do we have a team in Sierra Leone?"
"We do," he confirmed, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter, "but it's not much. We'll have to call in some reinforcements. We can get it done."
"Perfect," Cadence nodded. "Anyone who knows these bullets even exist needs to be under constant surveillance or confined."
"Would you trust me to do it?" Laney asked, her elbows resting on her knees.
Cadence and Aaron both looked at each other, surprised, before returning their attention to her. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
"Look, my family started this whole mess. Surely, you know you can trust me. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to help. It's just... hard to see my sister in pain, that's all. But this I can help with. Let me pull a team together and go down there, shut them down, direct the authorities to take my uncle into custody, and we'll go from there."
Once again, Cadence and Aaron exchanged glances before Cadence replied, "Okay. Sure. I'm willing to give you a chance to prove your loyalty."
"Great--you won't regret it," Laney assured her.
"I hope not," Cadence mumbled. She'd had enough regrets to last a lifetime.
Later that evening, Cadence, Aaron, and Jamie met with Christian in his lab. “I’ve got some of the blood samples Jamie took earlier today,” Christian explained. “I know he’s running some tests, and I will do the same to see if we can figure out exactly what happened once you took the two vials of Transformation serum.”
“The sooner the better,” Aaron advised, leaning on the lab table near where Christian had his vials and other tools lined up. Cadence was sitting in a chair across from Christian, looking intently at the vials, wondering what they might possibly reveal.
“I know Dr. Morrow is eager to hear what we have to say as well,” Christian added.
“I’m sure he is,” Aaron replied, absently. Then, changing the subject, he asked Jamie, “Did you get a chance to follow up with Sharon?’
“Yes,” the Healer confirmed, pulling his eyes away from Christian’s experiment for a moment. “Ms. O'Braonain wasn’t very forthcoming with information at first, but eventually she opened up. She admitted she had been talking to the renegades, that they had given her a cell phone to stay in contact, and that they had asked her to filter misleading information through other Guardians and Hunters so as to throw us off of their track.”
“Why would she do that?” Cadence asked shaking her head. “Surely she can’t still hate you for what happened with her father that many years ago.”
“Honestly,” Jamie replied, “she said she didn’t realize everything that was going on, and I tend to believe her. She’s a pretty old woman,” he added.
“Regardless,” Aaron began, “she needs to be held accountable for her part in this. We’ll make sure that happens eventually. Did she say she still has the phone?”
“Yes,” Jamie confirmed. “I had Teresa pick it up, and she’ll get it to Aurora and Hannah when they go down to visit customs.”
“Perfect. We can use her phone to find the phone the renegades were using to contact her. If we can get a ping on the phone Sam and Laura were using, perhaps we can figure out who has it and where he is,” Christian stated.
“If I had to guess, Sam probably has it,” Cadence thought out loud. “And I doubt he’s stupid enough to even turn it on.”
“If he gets desperate enough he might,” Aaron replied. “And when he does, we’ll have him.”
