The weather was unseasonably warm on Tuesday and had been for the last several days. Cadence had parked a few blocks away from the place where she was supposed to meet Jack so she could walk up and do some observing. Most of the team had been in or near their assigned positions for hours so that they could keep a lookout. When Cadence was about a block away, she got confirmation from Elliott that Jack had arrived on foot from the west. He was lingering in the shadows near the pharmacy building.Cadence could see him from a distance. He looked like Jack, at least from there. Already, she was ha

Cadence felt herself dying. She had no idea what had just happened, but the pain in her chest was unbearable. Once Giovani had dropped her onto the pavement, she almost lost consciousness. If it hadn't been for Jamie's eyes locked on hers, she would have faded away."Cadence, stay with me! You're okay!" he was shouting at her."What the hell happened?" she asked aloud. "Did Elliott shoot me?

Leigh and Eric Grau lived in a nice two-story house in the outskirts of Omaha. The lawn was nicely manicured, despite the tragedy the family had just experienced, and from the outside, it appeared as if the couple had made a nice middle-class life for themselves with not a care in the world.As Elliott and Cadence made their way to the front door, dressed in professional black suites, Cadence couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of sadness, not only for the poor girl who had died but for the reluctant monster who had claimed her life.

The pain in Laura Comer's right eye was excruciating. Despite the fact that she had been taking prescription strength numbing drops for the last few weeks in a failed attempt to somehow deaden the incessant stinging, it still felt like a sharp object was wedged in the back of her eyeball. Blinking seemed to send a razor blade deep into recesses of her vitreous. Regardless of the fact that Cowboy Sam had assured her that his own eye had healed within a week, she was now convinced that the only way to stop the pain was to have her eyeball removed. She was considering just such a move, drastic as it may seem, and contemplating why she had ever allowed some backwoods Guardian to remove it. At least, without her IAC, or Intelligence Assistance Communicator, a small computer that was implanted into ea

Seated in a large booth in a relatively quiet diner, Cadence could still feel her ears ringing. Meagan was physically rubbing her temples, while trying not to ogle the good doctor too noticeably. She couldn't help but snicker at her friend next to her. Only Meagan could try to make a migraine look sexy."Basically, the reason we wanted to meet with you," the Guardian doctor was explaining while waiting for the waitress to arrive and take their order, his voice hushed, just in case the other four or five patrons cared to eavesdrop, "is to get your take--possibly your assistance-- regarding a ba