While Cadence wanted to ask Brandon why he was on the IAC during the meeting, she held her tongue. “Okay,” she said as she allowed her sister to message her. The conversation continued around her, and though she could hear that they were speculating about where everyone else disappeared, and Aaron pulled out his phone, she couldn’t focus on both conversations at once. “Cass? What’s up? We’re in a meeting.”
“I know. Sorry,” she said. “I wish I was there.”
“Me, too. Is it important?” She was trying to hurry her sister up, hoping that this wouldn’t turn into a pity party of “why can’t I be there?”.
“Yeah, so I was doing my best to try to listen in on the Vampires just now. And I thought, maybe I should try seeing how far away this stuff works, right? So I really honed in on Philadelphia. It took a lot of concentration, but eventually, I was able to pick up chatter that seemed to be Philly related—like the Eagles, the Liberty Bell, whatever. Well, then I did something I’d never really done before, and I sent a question out to the other Vampires.”
“That’s daring,” Cadence admitted. “What did you ask?”
“I asked if they had any idea where the Jogging Path Killer, or Gibbon, was.”
She paused, and Cadence found herself hurrying her along again. “And?”
“And, well, at first, I didn’t think anyone was going to answer, like they knew I was a spy or something. But just as I was about to give up, I got one really clear, one-word answer. And I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything or what, but I thought you should know.”
Cadence sighed, assuming this entire conversation was a waste of time. “Okay. What was it?”
“Klondike,” Cassidy replied.
Cadence knew she was making a face that the rest of her team would find alarming. She was both confused and annoyed at this point. “Klondike? Like the ice cream? Or the really cold place in Alaska?”
“The Klondike is in Canada, Cadence,” Cassidy said, in a tone that insinuated she believed her sister to be an idiot, “and I don’t know. That’s all I got.”
Ignoring her sister’s attitude, Cadence said, “Okay. Well, then, thank you. I will pass this information along to the rest of the team.”
“You’d better,” Cassidy threatened. “Brandon will tell me if you don’t.”
“I will,” Cadence assured her, “not that I’m scared of you. Or Brandon.”
“Well, maybe you should be….”
“All right, sassy pants. Thank you. Talk to you soon.” Cadence disconnected her and tried to tune herself back into the conversation. “I’m sorry. What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Aaron said with a shrug. “I sent Watson a text to see if she could tell me what the museum was, but she said the reports she’s received aren’t very specific since this is out of her jurisdiction, but she’ll try to get that information to me.”
“And we looked at a map showing where the shelter is located that the men didn’t show up to, where the professor works, though he and his wife disappeared on a Saturday, and the historian’s home,” Christian added.
Cadence looked up at the map. The points were all fairly close together but still encompassed a wide metropolitan area. “What about the kids?”
“We don’t have any idea where they were headed the night they disappeared,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “They all lived in this area.” He used a laser pointer to highlight the neighborhood, which was clear on the other side of town from the rest of the red dots. “But they could’ve been at a party or another event anywhere in town.”
“None of their parents knew where they were headed?” Elliott asked.
“No,” Aaron replied. “They all said they were spending the night at one of the other friends’ houses.”
Cadence knew that scheme. “So… we just go up to Philly and see what information Watson has without knowing exactly where we are headed?”
“I guess that’s our best option,” Aaron nodded. “What did your sister have to say?”
“Yes, Cadence. What did your sister have to say?” Brandon asked, and if Elliott hadn’t been sitting between them, she would’ve smacked him.
“She said she did her best to contact some Vampires in Philly, but she didn’t know if she was able to get anything important back from them,” she began.
“Did she get anything at all?” Elliott asked.
“Only one word, and I have no idea how it could possibly be helpful.”
“Well, let’s hear it,” Christian insisted. “You never know. I’m pretty familiar with the area.”
“Unless you’re also secretly Canadian or heir to an ice cream fortune, I don’t think it will matter,” she muttered. “But I don’t mind telling you. She said, ‘Klondike,’ whatever that means….”
Before she even finished her sentence, Christian and Aaron both said, “I know where he is!” and then stared at each other for a second, as if they were waiting for someone to declare a winner.
“I beat you! Damn it, I beat you this time!” Christian insisted.
Aaron waved him off. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get to Philadelphia now. This could be bad. Really bad.”
“Absolutely,” Christian agreed.
The rest of the team alternated looking from one of them to the other as if they were watching a tennis match. “What the hell are you talking about?” Elliott finally asked for all of them.
Before Aaron could answer, his phone dinged, and he read the reply from Watson. “Eastern State Penitentiary.”
Christian nodded. “Yes, that has to be where Ms. Riggins disappeared.”
“What does that have to do with ice cream?” Meagan asked, clearly confused.
“Nothing. Not that Klondike,” Christian explained. “Klondike was another name for the cell where inmates served time in isolation. It was also known as The Hole.”
“So you think Gibbon is hiding in a prison? Wouldn’t that be the last place he’d want to go?” Aurora asked.
“It’s not a prison anymore,” Aaron replied. “It’s a museum. The prison closed in the 1970s, and the buildings all fell into disrepair. Recently, there’s been a large movement to try to save the buildings, and now it’s a museum.”
“And one hell of a haunted house at Halloween,” Christian added.
“Great. We get to run around chasing a Vampire through a dilapidated prison, dressed up to look like a haunted house. Count me in,” Meagan said sarcastically, her arms crossed against her chest.
“It’s only dressed as a haunted house at Halloween,” Christian clarified.
“Oh, good,” Meagan sighed.
“But it’s one of the most haunted places in the world,” he continued.
“Oh, crap,” Meagan said, returning to her former disposition.
“You hunt Vampire’s for a living, Meag,” Aurora reminded her. “How can you possibly be scared of ghosts?”
“That’s different. I’m not a Ghost Hunter!”
“No, but if you were you’d have a heck of a show on A&E,” Elliott chimed in.
“I would like for all of you to accompany us on this hunt,” Aaron said, looking at his friend but ignoring his remark, “but if you honestly feel too uncomfortable, you don’t have to go.”
“No, I’ll go,” Meagan assured him. “I want to see this through.”
“This is going to take a very large team to pull off,” Aaron continued. “Eastern State is massive. We are going to need a lot of boots on the ground.”
“I’m sure we’ll have lots of volunteers. Lots of people would like to have a hand in bringing in Gibbon,” Cadence offered. She knew her sister would be one of those people, and while she didn’t want to bring it up to Aaron now, she was hopeful they could bring her along this time. She might be in a bit of danger, but she could potentially track Gibbon in a way no one ever could before. If she could pinpoint his location from Iowa to Pennsylvania, who knew what she could do when she was in the same state.
“Cadence and I will put the team together and let you know as soon as we have an ETD. I’m guessing it will be some time tomorrow morning,” Aaron assured all of them.
“Well, all right then,” Elliott said, slamming his hands down on the table. “Until then… I’ve got some football to watch and some Cheetos to eat.”
“God, you haven’t changed at all, have you?” Aurora asked as the team began to funnel out.
“I like to think not,” Elliott answered, following Brandon toward the door, “although I swear I am a little taller.”
“And a little more obnoxious,” Cadence yelled after him, though her smile revealed she was teasing.
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” he admitted. “I will tell you this though,” he said pausing just before the exit, “when I meet this Gibbon guy, he’s gonna wish I’d never come back from the dead.”
