Through her IAC, Cadence could see Christian and Meagan were busy chasing Sam down what appeared to be a windy back road, and two members of the DFW team were searching the area near the school for Alex. However, a few minutes into their pursuit, the Highway Patrol had pulled them over, and they were currently attempting to explain how they were not involved with the incident at the school. Cadence hoped one of them was gifted with the same bullshit talent Elliott had been blessed with.
She also learned through the IAC that a short woman with shoulder-length brown hair was just about at their location with two motorcycles. She thought Aaron had referred to her as Pam earlier, and she was glad to see she wouldn’t have to run to the school to get a vehicle. Despite Jamie’s efforts, she was still leery of running on her knee since it had buckled under the weight of her standing on it only moments ago. Surely, she’d be able to make it onto the motorcycle.
Just as Pam pulled the SUV to a stop on the road in front of them, Jamie sat back on the ground next to her, a look of exhaustion on his face. “There,” he sighed. “That should do it.”
Cadence hated seeing him so drained and clearly out of the hunt now because of her inability to follow directions. “Thank you,” she said as she rubbed her knee. It didn’t hurt anymore, the swelling was down, and she was pretty sure it would hold. It felt like she had never injured it.
“No problem,” Jamie replied, swatting his hand in her general direction. “I’m not completely depleted,” he assured her. “I should be okay in a few minutes.”
One eyebrow raised, Cadence looked at him skeptically, but she said nothing, only nodded. After another moment of bending and straightening her knee, she decided to give it a try and began to clamber to her feet.
“Hold it there, darlin’,” Pam said as she jumped over the fence. “Let me help you.”
Before Cadence could respond, the stranger had her hands on her arms, steadying her. She was thankful for the help because, though her knee didn’t hurt, it did feel funny, and it took her a second to get her balance. Once she was on her feet, Pam let go of her, and she practiced taking a few steps. Her knee seemed good as new. “Thanks,” she said to Pam, nodding.
“Sure thing, sweetie,” Pam replied. “It’s awful nice to meet you in person!”
“You, too,” Cadence replied, though she realized it was a bit out of place; she’d never heard of Pam before while the other woman had certainly heard of her.
“I got your bikes out,” Pam began, gesturing back toward the truck. “Aaron wants me to head over toward Caddo Mills Airport, so I reckon I’ll do that. Jamie, you wanna ride in the truck with me?”
Jamie had his arms on his knees, his head buried between them. Without looking up, he said, “No thank you. I’ll just rest for a few minutes and then get on the bike.”
“Jamie…” Cadence began, thinking there was no way he was going to recover in time to get in the chase, but he didn’t let her finish.
“Cadence--go!” he insisted. “Sam--remember?”
Her eyes widened as the importance of this hunt came back to her. Without another word, she ran off, leaping the fence, headed toward one of the two F4CCs parked on the side of the road near a black Expedition. She jumped on the bike and started it in one fluid motion, leaving Jamie and their new friend, Pam, behind in a cloud of dust.
Hannah and Aurora entered the school building as if they were on important business, not as if they were rushing to a crime scene. FBI badges in hand, they pushed their way through the locked exterior doors and into the front office. That door had been locked, too, and the receptionist, who was under her desk peeked out momentarily to see who had made their way into their stronghold, ducking back under the desk as if she assumed she’d be shot.
“Excuse me,” Hannah said in as calm a voice as she could muster, “I’m Detective Hannah Roberts of the FBI, and this is my partner, Aurora Bowling. You’re perfectly safe to come out from under the desk now, miss.”
Almost immediately, Patty pulled herself out from under the desk and stood, a questioning expression on her face. “What’s going on?” she asked, hesitantly.
“I understand that one of your teachers reported an incident in the hallway and that your principal ordered a lockdown. Is that correct?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Patty confirmed. “We weren’t sure what was happening, but she said one of our custodians hurt a child and broke the glass door.”
“Right,” Hannah nodded. Just then, several other office workers stepped around the corner. “While we can see why you would think that was dangerous, it is actually nothing to worry about. That man actually didn’t work here. He was an actor from a television show that was filming in the area, remember?”
As Patty began to nod her head, one of the women from the back of the office stepped forward. “Oh, that’s right!” she exclaimed. “Remember me telling you about that?” she asked.
Hannah assumed this was the principal. “Yes, and the student was part of the show as well. Your staff and students are perfectly safe. In fact, it was a lot of fun for the kids to get to be part of a television show.”
“They did really enjoy that,” another woman chimed in, smiling. “This has been so much fun!”
Before Hannah could continue, several police officers entered the building using the door Hannah had forced open. Their guns were drawn, and they entered the office in a defensive formation. Aurora immediately turned and showed them her badge. “Good morning,” she began. “I’m Detective Aurora Bowling of the FBI….”
Sam could see the AgCat in the distance, but he was having trouble figuring out exactly where it was and where it might land. He didn’t know of any grass strips in the area, so he assumed the refueling would have to happen at Caddo Mills Airport, a place he was only vaguely familiar with. Still, he kept on eye on the AgCat as he made his way toward the small operation out in the middle of nowhere. He also kept his eye on the Cessna flying high above him, clearly watching his every move. He didn’t hear any vehicles on the ground behind him, but he was pretty sure that could change at any moment.