Chapter 82: Chapter 82

Aaron pulled Cadence’s apartment door open abruptly, causing Eliza to stumble forward, as she had been attempting to eavesdrop. He sighed in disgust and headed back to his apartment. She followed, wondering just how much damage was done and if she could repair it.

She got her answer shortly. As soon as Aaron entered his apartment, he turned to look at her, an expression of outrage on his face. "What in the world possessed you to answer my door--dressed like that--and let Cadence believe she had interrupted...something you know we weren’t doing?"

“What? You can't even say it, Aaron? Do I repulse you so much that you can't even think about the possibility of us having sex again? The words won’t even form in your mouth?” she spat, her temper preventing her from employing the damage control technique she had intended to put into practice.

"Eliza," he began, one hand on his forehead as he took deep breaths and tried to keep his pulse from racing. "Don't you think I know what you did? What you've been trying to do for the last month?"

"Sleep with you?"

“Use your abilities as a siren to seduce me!” he corrected. "Explain to me why--why--would you want to be with someone under false pretenses that you created? Did you think that what we had was real? That it could ever be?"

Her expression changed to that of a wounded puppy as her mouth protruded and her eyes drooped. "I thought you wanted to be with me..." she pouted, sticking her bottom lip forward in an expression he knew all too well.

"You know that's not true," he replied in an exasperated sigh. "You know what you're doing just as well as I do. There’s no reason for either one of us to pretend we don’t know the truth."

"But, if I was using my talent, it would be working, wouldn't it? Isn't the fact that you're not sleeping with me proof that I'm not being underhanded?" she attempted.

He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. "While I applaud your use of backward logic, no, it's not proof. The fact that I have taken precautions against your special skill might be a reason."

"What!" Eliza exclaimed. "Who..." suddenly, she had a realization. "Hannah! That bitch!"

"Eliza..."

"She told me she would never meddle with love! She wouldn't do anything for me when I was ready to kill myself the first time you broke up with me."

"She didn't change anything. She just counteracted your own attempts. She didn't make me uninterested in you. She just allowed me to keep making my own decisions. And, Eliza, you know--you've known all along--I don't want to be with you."

The tears were falling from her eyes now, big splashy raindrop sized tears that cascaded down her face and landed on her folded arms. "How can you say that?" she asked quietly. "After I was the only one... the only one who told you the truth?"

"The truth?" he asked. Though he hated to see her cry, or to see any woman cry, for that matter, and had been avoiding this conversation for weeks partially for that reason, he had done a bit of his own investigating that afternoon after leaving Cadence's apartment. "I met with Christian today," he explained. "I tried to tell you earlier--before you took your pants off. I saw the entire recording, including the last fifteen seconds you omitted. It makes much more sense now that I have seen Cadence pushing him off of her and ordering him to stop."

Eliza swatted at her tears. "I never saw that part," she lied.

"I don't believe you," he said calmly. "Now who is lying to me?"

"I'm telling the truth!" she proclaimed, though it was obvious by the exaggerated expression on her face she was continuing to tell stories.

"Eliza, you manipulated the recording and the situation to make me break up with Cadence. You know what you did..."

"But you broke up with her for lying to you! Remember? It had nothing to do with making out with Christian; it was the fact that she didn't tell you!" she reminded him.

"Eliza, you set it up so that I would be angry at her and find an excuse to break it off..."

"That's not true!" she screamed. "You broke up with her on your own because you can see what a lying, manipulative, little bitch she really is!"

"God, I can't keep having this same conversation," Aaron said looking up at the ceiling. "Eliza, let's say you're right. Let's say I don't date lying manipulative bitches; there's the door. Would you like your pants back before you go?"

Panic was beginning to settle in as Eliza realized she might actually be losing him for good this time. "I'm going to kill myself!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Aaron had heard that threat many times before. Picking her pants up off of the floor and tossing them at her, he calmly said, "Please do it in your own apartment. I really don't want to clean up the mess."

"I'm going to kill that bitch!" she shrieked, catching her pants and shoving her legs into them.

"You can't," he reminded her.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"You already are. Get out, please. Just go," he implored.

"You are going to be very sorry!" she screamed walking toward the door. "When you have my blood on your hands, you'll be sorry."

He followed her to the door. "I suggest you go have a conversation with Hannah. She is a psychologist, after all. I'll let her know you're coming." He opened the door and guided her out as sternly as he could without actually pushing her.

"You'll regret this," she continued as he slammed the door in her face.

Resting his head against the barrier, he sighed, "I already do. "If you only knew...."

***

The brisk knock on the door alerted Cadence to who was on the other side more so than any visual even could have. Pulling it open, she smiled at Elliott who was leaning against the doorjamb, her phone in his hand. "Mornin' kid. You ready to do this?"

Taking a deep sigh, she nodded, stepping out of the way so he could fit his large body through the door.

Handing her the phone he said, "So, do you want me to stay then?"

Once again, Cadence nodded. It was about 10:00 in the morning, but she was feeling exhausted. After the conversation she had had with Aaron much earlier that morning, she hadn't fallen back to sleep until about 8:00. Though the walls between their apartments were rather thick, she was still able to hear what sounded like shrieking of some sort, and she wasn't sure if that was good news--or bad. When Elliott had told her he was on his way over about a half-an-hour ago, she finally managed to pull herself out of bed. "So, what's your plan? What are you thinking?" she asked, sitting down on the couch and studying her own phone like she'd never seen it before.

He lowered himself down beside her. "My plan?" he asked, emphasizing the "my." He chuckled. "I didn't realize I was the one coming up with this."

"I told you; you're running it," she reminded him.

"I know, but I thought it was your plan, and I was just giving the orders," he replied. "Let me think. Well, sooner is better than later."

"I agree."

"And some place public, obviously, but not in the middle of an amusement park either."

"For sure."

Elliott seemed to consider their options for a few moments. "The Plaza maybe?"

"It had occurred to me," Cadence agreed. "I'm not as familiar with it as I should be," she admitted.

Elliott pulled up a map of the popular Kansas City location on his IAC and shared it with her. "Well, last I checked, you've only lived here for a few months so.... What about over here by Mill Creek Park? There's a pharmacy over there, so late at night there shouldn't be too much traffic. There's a hotel there, but it's not as popular as some of the others, and the view of the highway may deter people from actually looking out their windows."

Cadence zeroed in on the location he was referring to. "That could work. There are enough restaurants within walking distance from there that it would make sense that I might ask him to meet there and then walk somewhere else, I guess."

Elliott nodded. "Okay, so once you give Jack a call, then we need to talk about your plan and how you are actually going to go through with this."

Cadence exhaled loudly. "One thing at a time, my friend. One thing at a time. Where's the number?"

"Christian added him to your contacts."

Cadence pulled up her contacts and checked the obvious location. Nothing under Jack Cook. She looked at Elliott, a confused expression on her face. "Keep scrolling," he said, a slight smirk on his face. She found it under "Vampire Jack."

"Is that supposed to be funny?" she asked rolling her eyes. Although it was a bit humorous, she wasn't exactly in a joking mood.

"Hey, if you don't laugh, you'll cry, right?"

"Touché," she replied. She reluctantly clicked on the name "Vampire Jack" and hit the call button. With another deep breath, she put the phone to her ear. He answered on the second ring.

"Cadence?"

She closed her eyes. The familiar voice was almost too much for her to take. She felt Elliott's hand on her shoulder and continued. "Hey, Jack," she said, as nonchalantly as she could muster. "What's up? I've been waiting for you to call me."

He giggled nervously. "I've been waiting for you to call me," he replied. "Sorry, I guess that was a misunderstanding."

"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed. "What have you been up to?"

There was a lengthy silence before he said, "Well, we were on vacation for a while. Now we are back in Nebraska."

"Oh, where did you go?" Cadence asked, as if she didn't already know.

Jack hesitated. "Uhm, just to the beach. I'd really like to see you now that I'm back," he said, quickly changing the subject.

Cadence let the fact that she knew precisely where he had been go. Likely, he knew that she was aware. "I'd love to see you, too," she replied. "Would it be possible for you to make it to Kansas City soon?"

"I'm not sure..." Jack responded. There seemed to be some conversation between him and what Cadence could only assume was Giovani. "What if you came here?"

Cadence looked at Elliott and shook her head. "I don't think I can get away in the next few weeks or so. We've been super busy."

"Well, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to show up so close to..."

"Jack, do you not trust me?" Cadence asked in a voice that could only read as offended.

"It's not that," he exclaimed. "I trust you. I don't trust those other people. That guy who shot me..."

"Is an asshole. Don't worry, Jack. I promise I can get away without him knowing. I just can't make it all the way up there without the team realizing something is up. It's not like they don't have a tracking device embedded in my eye, you know? But I can make up a story about going shopping at The Plaza. They'll buy that, and it will give me a chance to get away."

He seemed to consider her request. There was some more chatter, but Jack seemed to be pretty emphatic when he responded to Giovani. She heard him say, "Let me handle this," to his brother before coming back to her. "Okay, Cadence. I trust you," he replied. "What about Saturday?"

"Uh, well, Saturday is usually pretty busy for us. I was thinking more like a Tuesday or Wednesday," she said, still looking at Elliott who was nodding. They needed a time when there were less likely to be crowds at The Plaza. She gave Elliott a thumbs up to let him know the conversation was headed in the right direction.

Again, Jack was quiet. "Okay, well, I can't get down there until next Tuesday. Will that work?"

It was Thursday so that would be a few days, but Cadence would rather have something scheduled and an end in sight then continue to go back and forth. "Yes, next Tuesday is fine. Why don't you meet me in front of the Bioscrip Pharmacy building across from Mill Creek Park, and we can figure things out from there? There are several restaurants within walking distance."

"Okay, what time?" Jack asked.

It sounded like he was taking notes. "I don't know. Eight o'clock?" she asked.

"How about 9:00?" he replied.

That would actually work better because there would be less people out, but she hadn't suggested it because it seemed a little late for a regular date to Cadence. Nevertheless, she said, "All right! It's a date. I'm so excited to see you!"

"Me, too," Jack replied, and Cadence could almost hear him smiling over the phone.

"All right, babe, take care, and I'll see you soon," Cadence said trying to keep her voice as natural as possible.

"Okay," Jack replied. Then he added, "I love you, Cadence."

Cadence squeezed her eyes shut. She did not want to hear those words. "Love you, too," she forced herself to say before quickly disconnecting the call. Elliott was rubbing her back now, and she let her breath go in a long exhale. "God, I can't believe he just said that," Cadence said looking at her friend.