Absolution: The Clandestine Saga Book 4

by ID Johnson

  Christian, who was the tech expert of the team, stood before her dressed in a similar outfit to the one he had worn on the hunt the night before, just a few hours ago. He had a goofy grin on his handsome face, and Cadence was tempted to see how many times she had to slap him to wipe it off. “It pinged!” he exclaimed, practically jumping up and down in the hallway. “Can you believe it? After all of these months, we actually got a ping!”

  “What the crap are you talking about?” Cadence asked, shaking her head. She fumbled with the tie of her pink silk robe. “What pinged? I ought to ping you for waking me up.”

  “Is Aaron here?” Christian asked, leaning over her shoulder to look into her apartment, clearly ignoring her question and subsequent insult.

  “No, he’s not here. He doesn’t live here,” she reminded him, leaving out that he did stay over at her place most nights, at least until she fell asleep. “You mean you haven’t shared your great pinging news with him yet?”

  But Christian had already made his way over to Aaron’s door, and as he began his knocking again, he replied over his shoulder, “No, I wanted to tell you both at the same time.”

  Cadence followed the few steps down the hall, leaving her apartment door open, hoping she would be climbing back into her own bed in just a moment. “What are you talking about, Christian?” she repeated.

  He didn’t answer her, however. As a clearly wide-awake, well put together Aaron, pulled open his door, Christian proclaimed, “It pinged!”

  “You’re kidding!” Aaron replied, a look of shock and excitement on his face. “That’s fabulous! Where?”

  “Some little town in Texas, near Dallas,” Christian explained. “I’ve got the coordinates. We should be able to be there in a couple of hours if we fly.”

  “That’s incredible. Let’s just hope that it’s our man,” Aaron said, slapping Christian on the back.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Cadence repeated, taking a few steps closer. “What pinged, and who’s our man?”

  Aaron looked at her for the first time, and Cadence tried to ignore the shocked expression at her messy hair and disheveled appearance that briefly crossed his face as he formulated his response. “Sam,” he finally explained. “His phone--it pinged.”

  Realization set in pretty quickly for Cadence once she had this pertinent information. “Oh! That pinged!” she remarked. “Well, why didn’t you say so? That is important!”

  “I know,” Christian replied, already on his way back to the elevator. “I’ll contact our people in the area and get things moving.”

  “Not Alex,” Aaron warned. Sam had a good relationship with one of the Hunters in the Dallas region, so it was important to make sure that he was not tipped off.

  “Right,” Christian confirmed. “I’ll try to avoid that at all costs. You mobilize the team here?” he clarified as he stepped into the elevator, holding the button to keep the doors open as he waited for a response.

  “Already on it,” Aaron replied. “Meet you at the hanger in twenty?”

  “I’m there,” Christian stated as he let go of the elevator button and disappeared from sight.

  “Twenty minutes?” Cadence asked, remembering that she had just climbed out of bed.

  “You’re right. Better make it fifteen,” Aaron replied as he opened his apartment door.

  “No,” Cadence replied. “I’m not sure I can be ready for a hunt of this proportion in twenty minutes.”

  “Cadence,” Aaron said, turning to look at her, “this is Sam. If we can finally get him, after all of these months of looking… this is huge.”

  Nodding, Cadence said, “Okay. I understand that, but--what are the chances this is actually him? Who keeps a cell phone that can be tracked?”

  “Old people,” Aaron replied, realizing this had more to do with her fear of failure than her appearance. “Maybe it’s not him, but we’ve got to find out. If we can finally get vengeance on the person who….”

  He hesitated, and Cadence nodded, assuring him that he didn’t have to finish the sentence. Sam had killed Elliott, and even if there was just a slight chance that they could actually find him based on this ping and bring justice for their friend, she knew it was worth it. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” she confirmed.

  He nodded, disappearing into his apartment as she did the same, her mind finally wrapping around the significance of this moment. As she threw on an appropriate hunting outfit, she couldn’t help but wonder--given the opportunity, would she take Sam out or bring him in? She wasn’t sure, but she was hopeful that she would find out shortly.

  ***

  Sam had procured much better accommodations in the last few months since he had been working steadily at the local school district. Rather than hovelling in a burned out trailer home, as he had started his new life, he now lived in an abandoned shotgun a few miles outside of town. It was apparent when he moved in that the last squatters did not care about the property nearly as much as he did, and while he didn’t concern himself with the modern conveniences of the twenty-first century, he did appreciate that there were no holes in the roof and the fireplace worked.

  Like most Hunters, he didn’t sleep much, but other than working on the house and yard, he didn’t have too much to do to keep himself amused, so most nights he did spend a few hours on the dusty old bed in what was likely the previous owner’s master bedroom. His shift at the school didn’t start until 2:00 PM, but most mornings he was up and at ‘em near the crack of dawn. This morning was different, however. He had been up late working on the house and it was late into the morning before the old cowboy stretched and pulled himself out of bed, finally ready to start a new day as Danny Yokes, custodian. Glancing at his watch, he could see it was almost ten o’clock. Four hours of tinkering around the old place before he’d have to be off to work.

  The fireplace worked perfectly for putting on a pot of coffee. It reminded him of his former life out on the range at the turn of the last century. As he waited for the percolation to begin, he returned to the bedroom and pulled on his jeans and a flannel shirt. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he slid his feet into his boots and then reached over to the nightstand for his wallet, school ID, and phone.

  That’s when he realized something was terribly wrong.

  At first, he was sure he had just misplaced it, but as he scanned the floor around the nightstand, under the bed, and behind the furniture, he could plainly see it was missing. He desperately grabbed at his pockets, sure it was not in there, but needing to double check. He had but one spare pair of pants, and he hurried to where they hung in the closet to make sure he hadn’t left it in there. After that turned up nothing, he proceeded to tear the house apart, undoing months of work, searching desperately for the lost cell phone, the one apparatus that could potentially lead LIGHTS right to him. It didn’t seem to be anywhere.

  He flew out the door, throwing open the door to the 1964 Ford F100 he had bought for cheap and fixed up when he’d first arrived. He kept his cab immaculately clean, so it was easy to see the phone was not anywhere in plain sight. He felt beneath the seats, scoured the glove compartment, and searched anywhere and everywhere the phone might have fallen. Again, it was nowhere.

  Sam sat down on the running board, his hands running through his gray hair as he desperately racked his brain trying to think of where it might possibly be. Had he gone anywhere besides work and home? No. Had anything unusual happened that may have caused him to take the phone out of his pocket? Not that he could recall. After all, he never used it for anything and only kept it as a last resort incase he needed to get ahold of Alex or someone else in an emergency. He went over the events of the day before in his mind, remembering arriving at school just before the kids left for the day, avoiding the little bastards as much as possible. He’d made his way to the janitor’s closet, checked in with the daytime janitor to see if there was anything he hadn’t gotten to during the day, and then began his daily routine. Nothing unusual ha
d happened, nothing out of the ordinary.

  And then he remembered the landslide in Mrs. Lawrence’s classroom, the pile of crap that had fallen to the floor. Was it possible that when he stooped to clean up the mess his phone had fallen out of his pocket?

  “Shit,” he exclaimed quietly in his baritone voice. For the first time in a long time, he used his superhuman speed and rushed back into the house to grab his truck keys. Within seconds, he was peeling down the drive on his way back to school, cursing under his breath the entire time, desperately hoping that no one had turned on that cell phone.

  He didn’t bother to pull into a parking space when he reached the elementary school, but taking some deep breaths, he resigned himself to walk into the building at the same rate he normally did when he was pretending to be Danny Yokes, human, custodian.

  The receptionist was a spunky, petite brunette named Patty who always had a smile on her face. This morning was no different, and as soon as he entered the office, she jumped out of her seat to greet him. “Good morning, Mr. Danny. Are you here to help Juan move those desks off the stage for the first grade play?”

  “Mornin’, Patty,” Sam replied, trying to keep his voice even. “No, ma'am. Not now anyway. I was wonderin’ if anyone might’ve turned in a cell phone this mornin’. Seems I misplaced mine, and I’m expectin’ an important call from my daughter,” he lied.

  “Oh, no!” Patty exclaimed, the concern in her voice clearly genuine. “Well, no. No one has turned anything in up here. Do you want me to call it and see if we can find it that way?” she asked, already reaching for her phone.

  “Well, that’s the thing,” Sam continued, his eyes darting around her desk and the rest of the office, despite her assurances. “I’m purty sure it ain’t on right now. I don’t keep it on too long ‘cause it don’t hold a charge much anymore.”

  “Oh, well, that’s no good,” she replied, glancing around the room herself in case she had missed something.

  “No it ain’t,” Sam continued. “You know, I was thinkin’ on my way over here, though, I remember hearing a thunk last night when I was sweepin’ up Ms. Lawrence’s room. I didn’t see nothin’ at the time, but I’m a’ wonderin’ if maybe it didn’t fall out in there. I know the kids is a tryin’ to learn right now, but do you think it might be all right if I was to go check with her right quick?”

  Patty seemed to consider the request for a second before nodding her head. “Sure, I think that would be fine. Just go on back and see if she’s found it and just hasn’t had a chance to turn it in yet. I’d hate for you to miss your daughter’s call.”

  Before she even finished her sentence, “Danny” was out the door and headed toward the fifth grade hallway.

  ***

  The Cessna Caravan wasn’t the fastest plane in the arsenal, but when Aaron selected it for their current trip, he had good reason. He wasn’t exactly sure how close the nearest airport was, and there was a possibility catching Sam might take more complicated measures than usual. He wanted to make sure his team was prepared for anything.

  That’s why he had decided to fly the plane himself.

  He had selected basically the same team as had been involved in the Sierraville Incident, less the member they were trying to avenge. Cadence, Meagan, and Aurora were the only Hunters on the plane, along with Hannah, Christian, and Jamie to guard them. While he had considered increasing the numbers in order to have a better chance at being successful, he was confident that this team could take Sam out if they were able to find him. He would also have three members from the Dallas area meeting them on the ground with motorcycles, a four-wheeler, and an SUV.

  As they began to near the DFW metroplex, Aaron checked the altitude, which was approximately 3000 feet, and began to address his team. “Christian, can you give us a rundown of the location?” he asked, using the IAC to make sure he was heard clearly over the sound of the engine.

  “Sure,” Christian began, standing and assuming the small space between the cabin of the plane and the passengers, even though that wasn’t truly necessary since they could all hear him through their IACs. He spoke aloud as well; he had a slight English accent that Cadence had noticed immediately but had never been able to place and had never bothered to ask about. She was sitting next to Jamie and Aurora, and despite her desperation to concentrate on what was being said, thoughts of actually catching up to Sam at last had her both nervous and excited. As her thoughts began to drift back to Sierraville, she felt Jamie nudge her, and she locked in on Christian’s words, wondering what she had missed. She seemed to have caught him midsentence. “... Elementary School has about four hundred students age four through twelve, Pre-Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. There are also about forty staff members present. We know Sam has been using the alias Danny Yokes and has been working here as a custodian since right before school started in early August. He’s gotten himself identification cards, a driver’s license, etc., somehow, and while all of our contacts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area claim they have had no communication with him, we have reason to believe that he may have been in contact with Alex Sanchez, though he claims that is not true.”

  “We’ll be flying over the school in about five minutes,” Aaron chimed in.

  “Where’s the closest airport?” Hannah asked from the row behind Cadence.

  “Caddo Mills is a small airport about fifteen miles away. The initial plan was to land there, but we’ll have to play it by ear,” the Guardian Leader replied as he flipped what seemed to be random switches to Cadence. “Three members of the DFW area team are on their way with bikes, a four-wheeler, and an SUV. They should be arriving about the same time as us.”

  Christian continued spewing information, but now Cadence was momentarily distracted by how sexy her fiancé was when he was flying. She was so impressed that he knew what all those switches and buttons did, and it seemed like he knew precisely what to do without paying the slightest bit of attention. Biting her bottom lip, she shifted her eyes back to Christian and instantly regained her composure. Jamie was looking at her out of the corner of his eye, which made her uncomfortable, like he knew she wasn’t listening, so she adjusted in her seat and crossed her arms, her eyes glued on Christian. “We’ll just need to be prepared for anything.”

  As they neared the school, Aaron brought the plane closer to the ground. Cadence wasn’t near a window, but she could utilize his IAC to see a few houses and country roads below them. Eventually, they reached a small town with clearly defined neighborhoods bordered by squared-off streets, and then she spotted a school. Even from the air, she could see children running around on the playground, like so many little laughing ants, and the nervous feeling in her stomach began to take over. She had to make sure nothing happened to those kids.

  “Is that our truck?” Aaron asked as he did the flyover.

  “Looks like the one matching the bill-of-sale I found in the records this morning,” Christian confirmed.

  “Then he’s at the school right now!” Jamie surmised for all of them.

  “I think that changes our plans,” Aaron sighed as he reached the outskirts of town and began to circle back around. “Christian, we’re switching to Plan-B.”

  “Whatever you say, boss,” Christian agreed, a crooked smile on his face.

  Cadence didn’t like the sound of that.

  Chapter Three

  Sam rapped lightly on Ms. Lawrence’s classroom door before pulling it open. She was sitting on a stool near the front of the classroom, a chapter book in her hand. The kids seemed to be listening to a story, and while he should be concerned about interrupting, at this point, his only interest lay in retrieving the phone. “‘Scuse me, Ms. Lawrence,” he began as soon as he had her attention.

  “Mr. Danny!” she acknowledged, a wide smile on her face. “It’s so nice to see you! Everyone, say hi to Mr. Danny.”

  As the class rang out, “Hi, Mr. Danny!” Sam felt his face turning red with both embarrassment--and anger. He really just n
eeded to find that phone.

  “Howdy there, kids,” he replied, nodding his head. Ms. Lawrence had popped down off of the stool and took a few steps in his direction, so he met her halfway. “I’m real sorry to interrupt your teachin’,” he began.

  “Oh, it’s no problem! We were just getting in a few chapters of Out of the Dust before we go to PE. How can we help you, Mr. Danny?” she replied, holding the book in front of her with her arms crossed, the chipper smile still on her face.

  Sam’s patience was wearing paper thin. “Well, ma'am, I think I mighta lost my cell phone in here last night when I was sweepin’ up, and it’s real important that I get it back right quick before my daughter calls. She ain’t feelin’ too good. I’d hate for somethin’ to happen to her before she could reach her old man.”

  “Oh my goodness!” Mrs. Lawrence exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth. “I didn’t know your daughter was sick!” She reached out and put her hand gently on his arm. “Poor dear!”

  He saw his mistake too late--he had shared too much. In an effort to make his story seem believable, he had given too much information. He tried to retreat. “Oh, no! She’s fine. Just a little tummy bug. She’ll be all right. Still, she is my daughter…. So, it’s real important that I find that phone.”

  Ms. Lawrence’s expression seemed to shift back a bit from overly-empathetic to general concern. “Well, I haven’t seen anything…” she began, turning from him and glancing around the classroom.

  Before she could even finish the sentence, Sam began to walk to her desk as slowly as possible without alerting her that something strange was going on. “I might have dropped it over here.” He crouched down on the floor near her desk.

  Within seconds, Ms. Lawrence had joined him, but even with her help, the cell phone did not appear. “Hmmm,” Ms. Lawrence said, pushing herself back so that she was sitting on her feet, her knees still on the floor, one finger pressed against her lips. “Class, class?” she called out without even turning to look at them.