Cadence watched Aaron exit the building completely before she headed over to where Aurora stood with her clipboard in hand, whistle in mouth.
“Aurora,” she called as she got within a few yards, “can I have a moment, please?”
“Sure thing,” the other hunter called, momentarily stepping away from her troops. “What’s up? You finally going to tell me what’s going on?”
“No, sorry,” Cadence said, her hands on her hips and her eyes momentarily on the floor. “I just need a favor.”
“A favor from someone who keeps secrets from me,” she teased. Before Cadence could respond, she blew her whistle and screamed, “Knees up, Campbell!”
“Listen,” Cadence began, once she had her attention, “I have to go out of town for a while. I’m not telling anyone where I’m going, and more importantly, I’m not telling very many people that I’m leaving.”
Her tone must have clued her friend in as Aurora asked, “Does that mean Aaron won’t know where you are?”
“Or that I’ve even left until he gets back from Connecticut on Saturday.”
Aurora’s green eyes narrowed. “Okay… is everything all right?”
“It will be,” Cadence said, confidently. “Anyway, I was supposed to work with my sister this weekend, and I won’t be here to do it. So, if Brandon will go and pick her up Saturday morning…”
“I’m sure he’ll protest that,” Aurora interrupted sarcastically.
Cadence chuckled. “Right? Anyway, when Brandon gets her, will you train with her? I think she works better with you than she does with me anyway. She seems to second guess herself when she’s with me.”
“No problem,” Aurora nodded as her eyes carefully scanned the recruits. “And when you get back, will you please tell me what the hell is going on?”
“You got it,” Cadence assured her. “All right. Keep up the good work. May I borrow Mr. Keen from your line of punishment for a moment?”
“I don’t know,” Aurora replied, seeming to consider whether or not she could let him out of the routine for a moment. “Since you’re the boss, I guess so.”
Cadence laughed, mostly because she never felt like she was the boss, and also because Aurora seriously considered saying no, and then called for Brandon to come meet her on the sidelines through the IAC.
They were working on a routine that involved sprints, high knees, and burpees, and when he dropped out of line to sneak through his colleagues to make his way over to her, she could see a bit of relief on his face.
That face. He looked so much like his dad. It was killing Cadence that she couldn’t tell him anything. In fact, she’d avoided him thus far because she was afraid she might actually slip up and tell him something he didn’t need to know yet.
“What’s up?” he asked, his dark hair slightly less of a mop due to the copious amounts of sweat pouring down his face.
“Got a towel somewhere?” she asked, trying not to laugh.
In response, he lifted up his shirt and dried off his forehead. “Nah, who needs a towel when you have a T-shirt?”
She resisted the urge to tell him he reminded her of his dad again, as he had heard it a million times before, and since he’d never had the chance to meet his dad before he died, he didn’t always appreciate it. “I need you to go get Cassidy either Friday evening after school or Saturday morning,” Cadence explained.
“Oh, gosh, I don’t know,” he teased, “I mean, I’m kind of busy….”
“Yes, I know. I’m sure you have a billion other things you’d rather be doing than spending alone time with my sister.”
“Can I fly?” he asked, a hopeful expression in his brown eyes.
Cadence considered the request. “I don’t care,” she said, watching him literally jump up in the air. “Make sure you request a plane ahead of time.”
“Will you approve it?”
“I think I just said I would,” she replied. They didn’t usually use planes for personal things like this, but at this point she didn’t care. She was asking a favor after all.
“Okay. Why aren’t you getting her?”
Sighing, Cadence crossed her arms. She didn’t want to ask him to lie to Aaron, but she also wanted to be as honest with him as possible. “Listen,” she said, lowering her voice, “the first thing I learned when I got here was that sometimes it’s better not to know everything.”
“All right…”
“Let’s just say I have something I need to do that no one else knows about except for a very small, select group of individuals.”
“And by your tone, am I to conclude that one of those people who doesn’t know is your betrothed?”
Cadence stared at him for a second before asking, “Why do kids these days sound like old people? Yes, yes. You can conclude that.”
Ignoring her first remark, he said, “Okay. I guess I won’t ask why.”
“It won’t do you any good.”
Brandon nodded. “All right. I’ll go get her.”
“Thanks.” She stopped herself before adding, “And keep her safe this time,” because as tempted as she was to give the reminder, she knew it was always at the forefront of his mind. He completely blamed himself for what had happened to Cass—just as Cadence blamed herself.
With a nod, he said, “I guess I should get back to the group before Aurora decides to make me do extra burpees.”
“You have fun with that,” Cadence replied, patting him on the shoulder, realizing he was sopping wet, and then wiping her hand on her pant leg in disgust.
She watched him jog back over to the group and didn’t envy any of them. Her training hadn’t been nearly as rigorous as what these recruits were going through, and she’d done most of it one-on-one with Aaron. Most of these kids didn’t have the natural ability and instincts she had, though, and in order to make sure they were ready to go, they had to be properly put through their paces.
