Fire & Ice

ch. 22

DANIEL 

About six months after Mom's death, I decided to skip training and start searching through the file that Dad had on his computer back at HQ. It was originally encrypted, but Adrian and I had finally gotten to a point where we thought we could get it open. Last night we'd left it loading, and this morning it was finally ready to open.

Jamie and I sat down at the computer in the house, sifting through the information. All we knew so far was that there were 8 total stones, and four had been discovered. The other four weren't exactly lost, but their locations were listed as unknown. Two were last possessed by the Franklin family at the Northeastern Division in D.C., and two were supposed to be in the hands of a Chu family in Chicago at the Central Division, which was the original and largest division of ELITE.

"So how are we going to find them?" Jamie asked after reading. 

"I'm not sure. I don't know if it'll be wise to walk into a different division demanding sacred stones that aren't supposed to exist. But we need them on our side." 

I remembered my mom saying that after graduation from the Academy, all new graduates would have a chance to choose which division we wanted to serve at for the rest of our lives. Transfers were rare because of the long standing histories at each of the divisions. If I'd graduated, I would've stayed right here. Well, not here, but in the city.

So if we could locate the Chus and the Franklins...maybe we could convince them to help us. The problem was, I had no idea if Jordan had succeeded in getting to them already. What if they'd already been convinced to join the other side?

"I wish I knew if Jordan was dead or alive," Jamie said listlessly. 

"I wish we knew if everyone else was dead or alive. We could be wasting time trying to find them. But if I had to bet money, I'd say that Jordan's evil plan isn't over, no matter whether he's dead or not."

Even though we were fully recovered, we were going to need plenty of reinforcements to find the rest of the community and destroy the remaining Stormtroopers. I just hoped it wasn't too late.

"Danny! Jamie! Hannah's here!" Nat called from the kitchen. I shut the computer down before going with Jamie to meet her.  

Emily's mother, President Lester, had come to retrieve Jamie, who would begin her new secret training in a few days. Hannah would be taking her to the airport in Puerto Rico, where she would fly out to the secret location where the training would be held. I still wasn't 100% behind this whole idea, but I trusted Hannah and I finally trusted Jamie enough to let her go. 

As Jamie said her goodbyes, I watched her for a moment, realizing how grown up she looked. It felt like she'd matured overnight, and I was so proud of her. 

"She's going to be a legend like you one day," Nat whispered in my ear. 

"For sure," I nodded, smiling as Jamie finally approached us. 

"Enjoy yourself," Nat said, giving Jamie a hug. "You deserve it." 

"Thank you, Natalie," Jamie said back. Then she stepped over to me. 

"So..." she started. 

"So..." I laughed. 

"I never thought saying goodbye to you would be this hard," she admitted quietly. "No offense, but you used to be annoying." 

"None taken. You used to be unbearable." 

She grinned. "I think we've both changed a lot. And...I really wish you could come. You definitely deserve this opportunity."