Skipping the pleasantries, Annabeth said, "I've got news."
"Have you found my sister?" Tristan rushed to ask.
"Oh, hey Tristan. Why does your voice sound scratchy?"
"Oh, I, um, had something stuck in my throat."
Cade rolled his eyes at the cheeky reply but received only a grin and a wink in response. They were still plastered together, and he forced himself to ignore, for the moment, how his body hummed in response to Tristan's proximity.
"No, I'm sorry, but we haven't found her yet. I'm still working on this fucking encryption, but I've got news on the warehouse. Rodriguez and Taylor reviewed all the footage and found the same van visits a couple times a week. No specific days, but it does always come between nine and midnight. It pulls into a bay, and the door closes behind it. Within twenty minutes, it pulls out again."
"So you think they're transporting the girls?" Cade surmised.
"It's our theory, yes," Annabeth said. "The plan is to surveil the warehouse starting tonight. When the van comes again, we'll follow or track it."
Tristan's expression turned eager. "Maybe that will lead us to my sister."
While he hoped it was true, Cade didn't want to get his hopes up. "Maybe," he answered noncommittally. "Is that it?"
"Yes, that's it for now. I'll contact you with any other developments."
"Thanks, Annabeth."
"Bye, Cade. Bye, Tristan." Annabeth said his name in a normal tone but chirped Tristan's name cheerfully before disconnecting, and Cade experienced a stab of jealousy that Annabeth had taken so quickly to the other man. But he supposed he had done the same himself; the redhead just had that effect on people.
"We need to find that van. That's probably where they took Natalie, so that's most likely the van they used, right?"
Tristan peered at him with his big golden eyes, as if he could solve all his problems, could fix everything, could make everything right, and Cade's heart stuttered with the realization that he wanted to be that person.
"We don't know, but there's a chance, yes."
"A good chance, right?"
"Don't get your hopes up."
When Tristan's face fell, he wanted to take it back.
"Why not?"
The tangle of emotions Cade experienced made him so uncomfortable that he wanted to crawl out of his skin. He didn't want Tristan's hopes dashed to shreds, didn't want him to suffer. This need to protect and shelter another person felt alien and knocked him off-balance.
"Just don't get ahead of yourself," he said more gruffly than he intended.
"Fine, I get it. I just wish there was something I could do to help."
"That's how it is in this job. You spend a lot of time idling while the tech people search for actionable intel. It's boring, but sometimes there's nothing you can do but wait."
"Doesn’t that frustrate you?"
"Me? No."
"It would drive me crazy. I would want to jump into action, not stand by and do nothing."
"I've noticed," Cade snarked.
"Why do you say it like that? There's nothing wrong with going after what you want," Tristan argued defensively.
"Sometimes. But …" He leaned down to brush his mouth against Tristan's ear and whispered the rest. "Sometimes it's better to let things unfold, to savor the journey. Sometimes it's more satisfying if you have to wait for what you want."
