Most of the team members looked around at each other, waiting for someone to speak up. “Ah, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” Meagan sighed. “But I’d cheer for you!”
“Well, before we get too distracted by the karaoke, did anyone get any useful information?” Aaron asked, running a hand through his hair as if the thought of singing in front of everyone made him more anxious than facing a legion of Vampires on the battlefield.
“No,” Shane said, “none of them wanted to talk.”
“They kept shying away,” Meagan agreed.
“I made eye contact with a dude in the back,” Eliza chimed in. “I might be able to get something out of him.”
“I spoke to one of our usual informants,” Andrew said quietly, and everyone quieted to listen. “He said he knows the insider. Kid by the name of Dalton Ford. He said he stopped by here last night, bragging about how he helped pull off the job. But no one has seen him since. Now, they’re all scared that Giovani knocked him off for having a big mouth.”
“Did he say where Giovani might be hiding?” Christian asked.
“If he did, my informant refused to say. Claimed not to know,” Andrew replied.
“What is Jeweler’s Row?” Cadence asked, hoping she wasn’t the only one left in the dark.
“It’s an area in Center City where a lot of jewelry shops are located,” Andrew replied. “Why do you ask?”
“The guy I was talking to mentioned it. Does it have any significance?” she continued.
Andrew shrugged. “Not that I know of. It’s kind of far from where the helicopter disappeared last night, I mean, on foot anyway.”
“Do you know anything about it, Christian?” Aaron asked.
“Not really,” he replied. “When I moved away from here, it was still row houses. But it might be worth checking out.”
“Let’s put that on our list for tomorrow,” Aaron said to Andrew.
“All right, anything else?” Cadence asked, looking around.
“No, but I really think you and Aaron need to get up there and sing us a duet,” Jamie said, a mischievous grin on his face.
“I don’t think so,” Aaron replied, shaking his head.
“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!” Cadence exclaimed, pulling on his arm.
“It’s really not my thing,” he said, throwing his hands up.
“Tell you what—if Cadence can answer a history question with no help from any of us, you have to do it,” Christian proposed.
“How am I going to know she didn’t get any help from you?” Aaron asked, a bit unnerved.
“Honor system,” Meagan offered.
“Oh, come on!” Aurora pleaded. “It will be fun!”
Aaron looked around at his teammates faces and could plainly see how much they really wanted to see him make a fool out of himself. “Fine,” he finally sighed. “But make it a hard one, Christian.”
As everyone cheered, Christian thought about what he would ask. After some careful consideration, a twinkle lit his eyes, and he confidently asked, “Who led the US Cavalry charge at the Battle of Little Big Horn?”
Cadence’s eye widened. She wasn’t sure she’d even studied that part of history. She really had no idea, and everyone seemed to be respecting the honor system, no one offering her any sort of an answer via their IAC. As she continued to think about what might be a decent guess, she heard Aaron tell her, “Custer. General George Armstrong Custer.”
She looked at him, a questioning expression on her face, and he nodded so minutely only she could see it. “Custer?” she said slowly.
Christian looked shocked. “Who told you?” he asked, looking around at his teammates.
“No one. I’m just that smart,” Cadence shrugged, trying to look as confident as he had when he’d asked the question.
“Is she right?” Meagan asked, clearly just as clueless.
“Yes,” Christian replied, as the table began to cheer.
“All right, but I get to pick the song,” Aaron said. He grabbed the shot of whiskey sitting in front of Jamie, and downed it before approaching the stage. Cadence was so elated, it took her a minute to follow.
With the opening notes, Cadence recognized the song “Closer” by The Chainsmokers and Halsey, and when Aaron actually started singing, she was very impressed. His gesture at their table of friends when it got to the part about hoping he never saw her friends again elicited an uproar of laughter. Even though Cadence had never been much of a soloist herself, she was happy to belt out Halsey’s part while staring into the eyes of the man she loved, so thankful to have this experience with him. It wasn’t often that he let his shield down, but when he did, he was a lot of fun. Clearly, their team needed this, and so she knew why he had told her the answer. At the end of the song, she wrapped her arms around him, and stepping away from the microphone, she said. “Thank you! I love your serious, organized, take-no-prisoners side, but I also love it when you’re silly and crazy with me.”
“I love that you let me know it’s okay to be silly and crazy with you,” he said kissing the top of her head. “Now, why don’t you say we blow this popsicle stand? I think our work here is done.”
Looping her arm around his waist, she followed him off the stage, back to their adoring fans. She agreed, there was nothing else to find out from this crowd. She may as well go back to the hotel room and get some rest so they could try again tomorrow; after all she was exhausted, and she wasn’t going to be any good in a battle against Gibbon and Giovani if she didn’t get some rest. Tomorrow meant daylight, and daylight meant her team had the upper hand on those who preferred to dwell in the dark. With any luck, they would find Giovani and his ward, and all of this would be over by the time the sun set tomorrow night.
