I had never been sent to murder someone in a cave before. A shopping mall, an alleyway, a garden even, but never a cave. I was pressed up against a thick tree near the entrance. My team was with me, shielded by the other trees in front of me.

Our supervisor hadn't told us who we were being sent to kill, or why, but in our line of business those just weren't the types of questions a person asked. Especially when one was getting paid such a pretty penny as we were about to.

Minute after minute passed as my breath hung like smoke in the winter air. Scout should have been back by now. We'd sent him in to take a look ages ago, or at least the cold air made it seem like ages. Where was he? I untucked some of the hair that was up in my beanie so it covered a bit more of my ears. The others had to have been getting restless by now.

"What should we do?" A quiet voice came through my earpiece. It was Faun. "Scout doesn't usually take this long."

"I know." I whispered back through my walkie. "We'll wait a minute or two more. If he's not back, then we approach the scene on my signal. Copy?"

"Copy." Faun replied.

"Iris." A new voice came through, deeper than the first. "Is there anything I should prepare before we move forward?" Fletcher sounded anxious. I could tell he was just looking for a distraction from the cold.

"All we can do now is be patient. If you really want something to do, though, you can help Cheats get ready to go."

"No need for that just yet." Yet another voice said, out loud this time, from the direction of the cave.

"Scout!" Faun called out, trying her best to contain her voice. "What took you so long? I was worried sick!" She wrapped him into her arms, black clothes blending with black clothes. She must have gotten cold too, because her long, dark hair had been released from its ponytail and was now cascading down her back. Her tan, coconut cream skin and almond hazel eyes offered quite a contrast to scout, who was pretty much an albino.

All I could do was smile. If opposites really did attract, Scout and Faun were the prime example, and they made it look so good.

"I'm fine, darlin." Scout's southern drawl quaked a bit through his chattering teeth. "The cave is just really deep, that's all."

I finally stepped out from my hiding place. Fletcher followed my lead, pushing Cheat's in front of him. Normally Cheats could get himself around without any help at all, but the wet snow had created a bit of a roadblock for his high-tech wheelchair. Or "The Vehicle", as he liked to call it.

"Where do you want us this time, Iris?" Fletcher asked, swooshing some snow from the top of his head (even though his close-cropped black hair didn't allow for much swooshing).

"Yeah." Cheats interjected, adjusting his ski cap. "This weather is not being kind to my lady." He stroked his armrests.

I turned to Scout. "That depends. What did you find out?"

"Well, from what I could tell this cave is empty. I'm not sure why HQ would send us here without a target, though, so I'm assuming they must be in one of the side tunnels. It was hard to be sure without our tracker." Scout's eyes trailed off to the side as Faun smiled softly.

"I'll do my best." She said.

"How do you want us to move forward, Iris?" Asked Fletcher.

I looked to the cave, curiosity still my biggest motivator. "Together." I said. "We move forward together." Turning back to my team, I pointed at each one in turn. "I'll take my position at the helm. Scout, Faun, you will walk on either side of me and direct us. Cheats, you will take your usual defense position in the center, and Fletcher will take up the rear.

Fletcher looked down to Cheats. "Do you think The Vehicle will be able to hold up on its own once we're inside?"

"Aw, yeah." Cheats confirmed. "She'll be smooth as a melty popsicle."

"Perfect." I checked my fingerless gloves and made sure they were secure. "Alright, gang, time to move. Take your positions."

They followed the order, getting into place and doing their personal gear checks like a hundred times before. Cheats prepped his wheelchair. Faun took out her hearing aids and handed them to Scout for safekeeping. It wasn't every day we received a kill mission, but when we did it was kind of a relief. On other missions we were required to retrieve items, return items, interrogate for information. These missions were always so much more complicated, and took a lot more planning, not to mention more paperwork. Kill missions allowed for more improvisation.

I lifted two fingers and signaled to move forward. It was time to work for a living, and the fun had just begun. All five of us stepping in sync, we entered the cave.

Tracking was a slow process, but Faun was one of the best in the business. She could hear pretty normally with her hearing aids in, but she was basically deaf without them. Because of this, her other senses were heightened. She had the best sight and smell of all of us, and she could even feel vibrations in the earth like a type of sonar. That's why she always took out her aids on missions. It was how she turned on her super power.

We crept forward, and I worked to match Faun's footsteps. About twenty or thirty feet into the cave Faun stopped suddenly. We all stopped with her. Instinctively, our heads turned to Scout.

He lifted his hands and signed "What do you see?" It was a sign we were all used to. The rest of the signing after that, though, would be rough to translate for all of us except Scout. Being the mental map and sense of direction in our group, it had been majorly important for him to be able to communicate with our tracker. That's why I requested that Faun give him lessons in sign language whenever we weren't on missions. Scout had gone into it a little begrudgingly at first, but he and Faun had started dating just a few months later, so it turned out well. His quick learning and ability to sign with her fluently during missions had saved our butts many times.

After a brief conversation between Scout and Faun, Scout whispered into his walkie. "Scuff marks on the ground. Slight tremors coming from a distance. She's going to follow the tremors."

I nodded to him, and as a group we began moving forward again.

***

None of us knew quite what to expect. We had encountered some pretty crazy missions in the past. Missions that had gone down in filing cabinets and marked all of us with scars and various wounds. This felt… different somehow. Colder. Maybe it was the silence. Most of the time our missions lead to very heavily populated areas, which were extremely hard to work in. So many eyes watching.

But as we crept forward in that cave, my mind was suddenly struggling to decide which I preffered. Populated, or silent? It was a toss up.

On the one hand, we didn’t have to worry about civilians getting injured in the line of fire, so that was nice. But on the other hand, sneaking up on someone in total stillness, in the middle of the woods, was much more difficult. Not to mention the maze of tunnels we had to work through in order to find…whoever this was. Filing a failed mission report due to getting lost in a labyrinth of tunnels in a creepy cave would definitely be a first.

Faun and Scout continued to lead us forward, stopping every now and then to discuss what Faun was feeling and seeing. Then the signal came. Two fingers pointed straight in the air, and directing us forward with a flick of the wrist. Target up ahead. Time to move.

As was expected, the tunnel up ahead that Faun had signaled to was extremely dark, and also more condenced. There was no way all of us would fit in there together. We needed a new plan. I gave everyone the signal to huddle up.

Barely raising my voice at all, I spoke my thoughts out loud. “We need a change of formation. At best, only two of us will be able to fit at once. I vote that Fletcher and I move forward, with the expectation that we will signal for backup if we find that the target is more difficult than we can handle. Is everyone in agreement?”

Several nods ensued throughout the group.

“Good. Wait here. If the target is simple, and alone, we should be back shortly.”

“Wait, Iris.” Scout whispered, causing me to turn. “Faun has something to say.”

Faun began signing very quickly, a sense of urgency in her eyes.

I looked to Scout, and he interpreted. “She said the vibrations felt pointed, like high heeled shoes. So, a woman maybe.”

“Ok, is that all?” I asked.

Suddenly, Faun’s eyes grew wide, and she signed more slowly, taking time to pronounce each word with her hands.

“No.” Scout replied. “She says there was a sudden, large vibration just now, and then the motion ceased entirely. No more movement at all.”

My breath caught for a moment. “You mean… She passed out or something?”

More signs from Faun.

“Yeah, or worse.”

I shook my head. “That can’t be. We’ve been staking out this cave for hours and no one has come or gone. We know we came through the only entrance.” I looked at Fletcher, finding the same look of urgency in his eyes. “Fletcher, we need to move. If someone’s stolen our kill, it’s all over.”

He nodded. “Let’s go.

Then, not wasting any time, we entered the smaller tunnel.

The air grew thick very quickly, as though laced with insense. One look at Fletcher was all I needed to tell that he was thinking the same thing I was, and we put on our mouth breathers. Small devices that purified the oxygen in the air. Better safe than sorry.

It wasn’t long before a flicker of fire light appeared in the distance. It seemed larger than a torch, much larger as they grew close. And the flame appeared to be grounded, so maybe a fireplace of some kind.

My heart started racing. Something was beginning to trigger my nerves, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Something wasn’t right here. The only thing a little out of the ordinary was that Fletcher’s breathing seemed a little heavier than normal, so I slowly extended my arm to stop him. Then, leaning as close to his ear as possible, I whispered, “did you remember to take your insulin this afternoon? You ate something, right?”

He nodded. “I’m just a little anxious.”

I smirked. “Hey, anxiety is my thing.”

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me.”

Then we continued forward.

Once we were close enough to confirm that it was definitely a fireplace, we pressed ourselves up against either wall and peered into the next section. The small tunnel expanded, opening into a wide sitting room of sorts. Bookshelves lined the entire room. In the center right in front of the fireplace, two comfortable looking chairs were planted on a Bohemian style rug. It was simple, warm, and entirely odd. Who would create a room like this out in the middle of nowhere?

The lack of movement in the room made me very uneasy all of a sudden. This was not how it was supposed to be.

“Pst…” A short sound from Fletcher caught my attention, and he nodded toward a certain corner of the room.

It was dark in the corners, but if I squinted I could make out what had troubled him.

The target was most definitely a woman. She had bouncy, ash-blonde hair and business attire. There was a familiar air about her, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. She was holding a book, so she was probably very intelligent. And of only one other thing I was absolutely sure…

She was very much dead.

Before I could stop myself, a sigh of disappointment left my lungs without breath. “Oh no.”

Fletcher took his pistol out of the holster and held it readily in attack position. Together, we entered the room. No one else seemed to be there, which, again, seemed impossible.

First things first, I checked on the victim. Blood was draining to the floor from a large slash in her throat. It was fresh; not dried yet at all. Whoever had killed this woman must have left in an extreme hurry. Meanwhile, Fletcher was checking out all the book cases. I took the woman’s pulse, just to confirm she was really dead, then turned back toward the room.

I approached Fletcher slowly. “What are you looking for?”

“A pattern. Whoever was here got out another way. They never ran past us, so they must have known about another exit strategy.”

“It’s not possible.” I said. “Whisper did advanced checks on this area. We would have known if there were another entrance or exit.”

“Well, believe it or not, Iris, our supervisor doesn’t know everything.” Fletcher reached up toward a certain book and traced the spine with his finger. Then he pulled. The book wouldn’t budge. “This one’s stuck.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Wish I was.” He pulled even harder, but to no avail. Finally, he placed careful fingers on the side of the book shoved it over.

A large cranking sound echoed through the tunnel. Rock scraped against rock, and suddenly there was a new passageway where that particular bookcase had once stood.

“No way.” I said. “That was awesome.”

“I try, I try. Fletcher stated nonchalantly. “I’m going to signal the others. Are we heading back up to the front of the cave, or should I tell them to come here so we can check out the passageway?”

My eyes unmoving from the new tunnel, I answered in a daze. “Passageway, definitely passageway.”

“Sounds like a plan, boss.” Fletcher said. Then he walked a few steps away, a couple fingers to his ear as he communicated with the rest of the team.

I, on the other hand, took this opportunity to find out who our target was. After a quick check, I found a wallet and a set of keys. Bingo. These would come in handy. Maybe if Whisper wasn’t pleased with us missing our assassination opportunity, she would be happy with some insider info on the lady, whoever she was.

By the time I stuffed the mystery woman’s personal items in my backpack the others had entered the room. Moments later we were all standing in front of the new passageway. My nerves began to kick in again. Breathing got a little heavier, my eyes darting every which way, and suddenly finding myself struggling to focus on anything. So many unknowns. So many things that could go terribly wrong. Putting my team and closest friends in danger never got any easier. I sent a pleading glance in Fletcher’s direction. “Truth or dare?”

As always, he smiled calmly and nodded. “Who goes first this time, you or me?”

“Just pick. I don’t care.”

“Alright, then, I’ll go first.”

He took a slow step forward into the new tunnel, and I followed suit, trying not to think about it. Scout, Faun, and Cheats were close behind us.

“Truth or dare, Iris?”

“Truth.”

“You always go for truth!”

“You always pick stupid dares!” I retaliated.

“I do not.”

“Yes, you do. Remember that time you made Cheats eat an entire watermelon all by himself and then hula hoop afterwards?”

Cheats piped up from the back. “Ooh, can we not talk about that please?”

“Fine.” Said Fletcher. “Truth it is. Give me a minute to think of a good question.”

“Nope, you gotta just go for it, remember? No pauses, or it does nothing for me.”

“Right, you’re easily distracted. Ok, then… Who was your… Who was your first kiss?”

I made sure to roll my eyes hard enough for Fletcher to sense in the darkness. “That doesn’t count, you already know the answer. And, besides, I really don’t feel that a first kiss counts when you’re three years old anyway.”

Fletcher acted entirely shocked. “It counted for me! Or does our whole, pre-k love affair mean nothing to you.”

“Enough with the drama. Give me a real question.”

“Fine. How old were you when you had your first anxiety attack?”

Oh….a serious turn for once. I definitely was not expecting that. “Um…I was in a dance class when I was eleven. For part of the routine we were supposed to do a certain lift. And I, being the lightest, was automatically nominated to be lifted. The first time they tried it, I just couldn’t explain I felt. Everyone’s hands were on me, my brain started to freak out on me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my team, but I just couldn’t cope with being surrounded by so many people at once. It was too much, and I ended up squirming so much that they dropped me. I was so embarrassed that I never went back.”

“Wow.” Fletcher scratched the back of his head. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It was quite a while ago. How about you? When did you find out you had Type 1?”

He sighed. “I was nine. We got the news on Christmas Eve, so yay. You know, merry Christmas to me.”

Trying to lighten the mood a bit, I sent a small smile his way. “Well, those pieces of us are what lead us here. So thank goodness, right?”

He smiled back. “Yeah, thank goodness. I still miss the ability to binge-eat candy bars though.”

“Yeah, well, talking to people is a struggle, so…” My words trailed off as Fletcher became suddenly distracted by something in the distance. “What do you see?” I whispered.

He held a finger to his lips and then pointed forward.

The end of the tunnel was in sight, and someone was moving just beyond it, loading several unidentifiable objects into a burgundy SUV. This day just kept getting more and more curious. It was time to investigate what was really going on around here.

“I’m not sure how to proceed.” I admitted. “Any ideas?”

Cheats rolled forward. “Oh, I got this. Being in a wheelchair has its perks. Watch and learn.”

So, we did. Cheats cruised forward until he reached the end of the tunnel. Then he turned off his automatic control mode and started wheeling through the exit by hand. What did he think he was doing, just waltzing up to a murderer like that? In the next moment I heard the click of my ear piece turning on. Cheats must have switched his walkie to ongoing so we could hear the whole thing. He was about to give us a show.

“Excuse me, sir?” Cheats voice came through, sounding smaller and shakier than his usual cocky behavior. “Are you the one I’m supposed to find?”

Another voice came through, sounding more gruff and carrying a slight accent. “I don’t know, who are you supposed to find?”

“The boss sent me. He said I was supposed to help you with moving the body.”

“The body?” The man said. “The whole plan was to leave the body here. This place is a secret, no one knows about it. She’ll never be found.” He scoffed. “And besides, why would the boss send me a cripple to help me? How much help could you be?”

Oooh, if only I was close enough to punch that guy. I could see in Fletcher’s eyes, along with Faun’s and Scout’s, that we all felt the same way on that note.

“I’m afraid you’re wrong, sir.” Cheats said way too politely. “The plan has changed. Identities have been compromised, and your needed by the boss right away.”

The man’s voice was starting to get angsty. “Compromised? I took the utmost care in planning this operation! Compromised by who?”

There was a short pause, and I saw Cheats roll a few inches closer to the man. “Me. That’s who.” A thin rod shot out from his wheelchair, and I could hear a zap of electricity. Then the killer was out like a light. Cheats turned around, lifted two victorious thumbs in the air and exclaimed, “We’re all good, peeps!”

I turned to the others, gave a nod, and the rest of us picked up the pace to reach the end of the tunnel.

After giving Faun back her hearing aids, Fletcher and Scout decided to take the killer’s van to pick up our own van on the other side of the cave, and I didn’t mind waiting behind one bit. It gave me the opportunity to look through our dead woman’s and our unconscious murderer’s belongings. Part of me wondered if Whisper would be ok with that, since she usually didn’t allow us to know the identity of our target until after the mission was complete. But these were extremely unique circumstances, and I wanted to know who we were dealing with.

After analyzing both of their wallets and several other things that we had taken out of the van’s glove compartment, there still wasn’t a ton to go on. I found out that the woman’s name was Maria Valdez. Whether or not that was her real identity was to be determined. I had left my forgery identification kit at home, so that part of the investigation would just have to wait.

The killer’s name was Henry. Henry…also Valdez. Real husband and wife? Real brother and sister? Just a cover? Again, to be determined. The vehicle’s purchase agreement was under both of their names, so they were close. I just wished I knew how close.

Maria’s wallet was totally empty other than a couple forms of identification and a coupon or two. Henry’s, however, was barely closeable due to a massive wad of cash. Had he stolen her money after he killed her? Why wouldn’t he just take the whole wallet then? His fingerprints would have been all over that wallet if he did steal the cash, so why would he leave it with the body? Either he was an idiot, first time killer, or he had instructions on the matter farther than the strategy I could see. My bet was on the latter.

While we continued waiting for Fletcher and Scout to return, we decided to make ourselves useful. Faun was the best knot tier in the business, and the criminal’s van was kind enough to provide us with some very nice rope to tie him up with. Just to make sure he didn’t escape, I placed a clamp on his wrists and ankles that would alert us if he moved at all. Then we all headed back into the cave.

In just that short amount of time the rancid smell of blood had taken over the entire library. I aimed my watch at a few potential points of interest and snapped a few pictures. I also took pictures of the body, unpleasant as they were. I was just thankful that my line of work had made me less squeamish than I used to be. We also fingered through the books, picking out a few that we thought might give us a clue into Maria’s life. She definitely wouldn’t be needing them anymore.

It was about that time Fletcher and Scout returned with our van, so we left the cave and returned. I hadn’t gotten any alerts from my watch, and sure enough, when we got back Mr. Valdez was still passed out in the snow.

“Well, what should we do with him?” Fletcher asked. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to just leave him here.”

“I don’t either.” I agreed.

“Maybe call Whisper?” Scout interjected. “She might have an idea how to handle this mess.”

Suddenly, everyone winced. A shrill whine rang in their ear pieces, ending with a new voice. “Don’t do anything.”

“Whisper?” I said. “How are you even doing this? Aren’t you back at the base?”

“It’s not important.” She chirped. “Just listen to me. Do not interfere. Turn a blind eye. Let the man go free. Forget you saw a thing. It’s crucial that you follow my instructions.” Then she was gone. The fuzz in my ear piece clicked off, and it was as though she had never spoke.

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Fletcher said. “Shouldn’t we call the police? If he gets arrested right away it puts them off our tail. Otherwise he could report us for a crime we didn’t even commit just to save his own skin.”

“I think you have a point, Fletch. But I’m not sure what to do. This is a totally new situation.”

Cheats rolled forward. “I think Fletcher is right. Something’s fishy about this, and after all the crazy things we’ve done I’m not about to get arrested for something we didn’t do.

“Everyone calm down.” The possibility of that was slim, but I thought I would try anyway. “We can’t go against orders, we’ll just have to think of something else.” As I spoke, I pulled a small notebook from my back pocket and wrote a note on it. I slowly handed it to Fletcher.

If Whisper was really listening in on everything we were doing, we couldn’t let her know what we were about to do.

Fletcher nodded in understanding, and disconnected his walkie-talkie. “Can I borrow your phone, Iris? I’m going to check on a good location to stop and get some rest on our way back to base.”

“Sure thing.” I nodded and handed him my phone. “You might want to disconnect your walkie for the phone call, otherwise you might get static.”

“Will do.” He said, looking more serious than I’d seen him all day. Then he walked off toward the road that lead to the front of the cave. He was gaining distance so our walkies wouldn’t pick up on him while he left an anonymous tip about a mountain cave murder for the police. I hated lying to my superior, but I didn’t know what else to do. These people were my family. Each one of them a team member who had given their life for me at least once. There was no way I would allow them to get arrested on my watch. The criminal side was not a side we played for.

“Is there anything we can do, Iris?” Faun asked softly.

“Not at the moment. I guess you could start taking off your gear and putting it in the van. We won’t be needing them anymore today.” And that’s what we did. It was silent for a very long time. I showed the others the message I had written for Fletcher so they knew what was going on, but other than that we just took off our gear piece by careful piece and placed it in the van.

When Fletcher finally returned we were just starting to lower the ramp for Cheats’s wheelchair. “How did your phone call go?”

“Good.” He replied. “I got the information I needed, and we’re good to go! I just have one thing I think we should do first.”

With Scout’s help, Fletcher removed the wrist and ankle clamps from the still very unconscious Henry. They stuffed the man in his own van, locked it from outside, and left the keys hanging from the windshield where the police could easily find it. I had never thought of myself as a vigilante before, and I knew we’d had been coming here to kill Maria anyway. But for some reason locking that man inside the vehicle just felt good.

After that we all loaded into our large, white van. Fletcher usually drove, but he wasn’t feeling the greatest, which I figured was from the large pool of blood he’d seen by the victim. Whenever we were faced with an assassination mission we usually tried to get the job done without it being too messy. Fletcher got a little woozy sometimes. So, while Fletcher rested in the passenger seat, I took the wheel. Faun curled up and fell asleep next to Scout. Cheats had a screwdriver, and was fixing something on his “lady.”

And then we left.

We were at a gas station filling the van and grabbing some coffee when we got the phone call. I never heard a word of what was said – Fletcher had answered the phone – but the look in his eyes told me something definitely wasn’t right. Next thing I knew we were being rushed out of the gas station, back to the vehicle where Cheats was waiting for us. I quickly handed him his coffee.

“What’s with the rush?” He said, looking just as confused as I felt.

“We need to go.” Fletcher said, climbing into the driver’s seat. “We need to go right now.”

He pulled out of that gas station parking lot like a shot out of the barrel. We all held on for dear life, wondering if it was really a good idea for Fletcher to be driving. I was in the passenger seat, and our large van’s ability to careen like a pirate ship at sea was definitely starting to make me dizzy.

“Uh…Fletch. What are you doing, and where are you taking us?” I tried to make my voice steady, but a little nervous trembling definitely showed through. “You’re making me anxious.”

“Sorry, Iris. I’m not trying to, I promise.” He said. “Look out the window if you have to. Take deep breaths. You’re safe, I just need to get us somewhere.”

“Ok, got it, but where’s somewhere?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there. Do you have your headphones? Those usually help you destress, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they do. But right now I think I’m fine. Just keep talking to me. Distract me.”

“Ok… Do you want to play one of those word games, like Story Time, or Truth or Dare? Or would you rather I just ramble?”

I cringed as the van bounced over a rather large bump in the road. “Ramble! Please, please ramble!”

“I will, I just have to figure out a topic.”

“How about the topic of what the literal heck is going on?”

“You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Just…be patient with me.” He glanced my direction. “You trust me, don’t you?”

I was gripping my seatbelt so hard it was starting to cut into my skin, but I nodded anyway. “I do. I trust you, Fletcher. Just don’t give me a reason to change my mind, ok? My trust is hard to come by.”

He nodded, his expression solemn. “I know it is. And I promise I wouldn’t do anything to break that trust. You just have to sit tight for a little while, ok?”

“Ok.” I took a deep breath. “I can do that.”

I looked down at my lap for several seconds, trying to think of a way to calm my racing thoughts. Everything felt so loud, and my senses were on overload with worry. I remembered an exorcise that sometimes helped me calm down. Holding my hands palms up in front of me, I clenched my hands into fists, squeezing as hard as I possibly could. Then, slowly releasing tension, I began opening up the thumb on my left hand. I took my time, releasing it bit by careful bit. One by one, I opened up my other fingers as well, doing it slow enough that I had to really concentrate. I counted as I went, trying to make each finger take a full ten seconds to totally uncurl.

By the time I finished uncurling the thumb on my right hand, my heart rate had slowed and I could think clearly again. I tried to keep my deep breathing going, though, so I didn’t get worked up a second time. Two anxiety attacks in one day would not be a good idea.

“Feel better?” Fletcher asked, breaking the silence in the van.

“Yeah, I think I’m all right. You?”

“Feeling a little lightheaded, but I should be fine.”

“Did you take your blood sugar recently?”

“Yes, Mom.” He winked. “I took it at the gas station. I’m doing good. I think my brain is just on overload. It’s been a weird day.”

“I know the feeling.” I said. That was the end of the conversation. I looked out the window, and tried to count out my breathing second by second.

Wherever we were headed, I hoped with everything in me that we would get there soon. As the leader in the group I was used to always being informed of what was going on. This not knowing was not good.

Fletcher had some explaining to do.