“All right, I’ve got pants on. This better be good,” Elliott said as he folded his large frame into the seat next to Cadence around the conference room table. She couldn’t help but think how extremely normal it was for him to be sitting in the same chair he’d always sat in before, like nothing had ever changed.
He’d had the opportunity to say hello to each of them earlier in the day, before the meeting, since these were the Guardians and Hunters he’d also worked most closely with right before he died. All of them were at Sierraville except for Shane. Meagan had been particularly emotional since Elliott had been shot trying to save her.
“You’ve got orange fingernails,” Aurora pointed out from her seat across from him.
As if to mock her, Elliott stuck each finger in his mouth and used his teeth to dig out the remains of the Cheetos. “Better?” he asked when he was finished.
She laughed. “It’s nice to have you back.”
“All right, if we’re all done with our… snacks, let’s get right into it,” Aaron said, shaking his head at his friend as if to say, “some things never change.”
“Did you say that was Det. Watson?” Jamie asked from his seat right across from Cadence.
“Yes, and I’m more than a little shocked to hear what she had to say,” the Leader confirmed.
“What’s going on? Haven’t you been getting regular updates from Andrew, the Philadelphia Area Leader?” Christian asked. He was from Philadelphia originally, so he was invested in the safety of the current residents.
Aaron nodded. “However, I guess I must have somehow been asking the wrong questions.”
“What do you mean?” Cadence asked, her knee bumping into his beneath the table as she leaned forward.
With a sigh, Aaron elaborated. “I’ve been asking Andrew for updates on bodies for months. Occasionally, something would show up that seemed like it might be Gibbon related, but there was never any trail, nothing for us to follow or track him with.”
“And now there is?” Hannah asked from her position at the other end of the table.
“No,” Aaron replied, confusing them all. “But it turns out that Andrew wasn’t telling me there’ve been a staggering number of missing person reports in the last three months.”
The members looked around the table at each other for a moment, before Elliott asked, “Staggering as in a few, or staggering as in my drunk uncle trying to exit granny’s house after Thanksgiving dinner?”
Cadence covered an inappropriate laugh with a fake cough, but Brandon, who was sitting next to his father couldn’t hold it in, and soon there were snickers all around. “All right, let’s try to keep this serious,” Aaron said, though he was also smiling. “Like ten, possibly twelve.”
“That is a lot,” Meagan agreed, looking at Shane who nodded at her.
“Why possibly?” Brandon asked, leaning forward.
“Because two of the missing people are Japanese tourists who may or may not have actually disappeared in Philly. They were touring several US cities, and their family stopped receiving messages from them somewhere between NYC and Philadelphia.”
“Didn’t you say we had a body?” Jamie asked, confusion written all over his face.
“Yes. Det. Watson said that the body of one of the missing people was discovered in a ditch a few hours ago, and while, to her best determination, the death did not appear to be Vampire related, the fact that they had a potential murder victim’s body in an unexplained location—and all of these other missing persons—made her decide it was time to check in with me,” Aaron explained.
“She was wondering what the hell we were doing?” Christian clarified.
“Precisely,” the Guardian Leader nodded.
“Stupid Andrew,” Aurora mumbled.
“Who is Det. Watson?” Elliott asked, trying to catch up to speed.
“She’s one of the detectives who originally took Steven Gibbon into custody when he was the Jogging Path Slayer,” Cadence explained. “Her partner was killed by Giovani, but not before he helped me destroy Zabrina. She saw the Vampires take Gibbon from the hospital.”
“She also saw her sister murdered by a Vampire when she was younger,” Aaron offered.
Elliott nodded. “So Philly’s dropped the ball. What do we do?”
“And who are our other missing persons?” Hannah asked.
“Both good questions,” Aaron said. “First of all, we’ve got four missing teenagers, a local historian, a university professor and his wife, two elderly gentlemen who never checked in at the shelter they always stay in during the winter months, and an elementary school teacher.” With each description, Aaron showed them pictures he’d had emailed to him earlier from Watson on the large projection board hanging near them on the wall.
“Anything linking them?” Cadence asked.
“Not that we know of.”
“And where did they go missing?” Christian asked.
“Again, with most of them it’s hard to say for sure,” Aaron replied with a sigh. “Some of them were traveling alone in the city on the day they disappeared and failed to check in or return. The only one we know for sure is Ms. Marley Riggins, who was on a field trip with her class. Several classes visited three locations that day, and it wasn’t until they returned to the school that the other teachers realized she wasn’t on any of the buses with them. So that narrows it down a little bit.”
As Aaron explained, Cassidy requested a conversation with Cadence. Though she hated to ignore her sister, she decided she would talk to her later. She needed to focus on this meeting right now. “Where did they go?”
“Their first stop was a park not far from the school. Then, they visited a local bakery, followed by a museum. No one knows for sure when she was last seen, but one of the other teachers insists she was with them when they arrived at the museum,” Aaron explained.
“What museum?” Christian asked.
“I don’t have that information, but we can get it,” Aaron replied.
“Cadence,” Brandon said, reaching around Elliott and putting his hand on her shoulder. “I hate to interrupt, but Cass says she’s trying to get ahold of you and it’s important.”
