imperfect (10 page)

“
Jaiden, does the phrase
‘follow the truth hunter’ sound familiar?” Kristi asked.

“
Isn’t that the name of
the poem Maria used to read to you when you were
little?”

She sat upright. “Yes, I remember it now.”
She closed her eyes and recited the poem:

“
One who defies

the lies and deception

sees through the mask

hunting out

the truth.”

“
It’s the Revealers,”
Chelsa said. “The ‘truth hunter’ is the Revealers.”

“
The Revealers?” asked
Jaiden.

Kristi briefly gave Jaiden an update about
Maria and Don’s case.

“
I feel like I don’t know
my parents—Maria and Don—anymore. They were freaking spies for the
Revealers and I never knew it,” Jaiden said. “And now they want you
to contact the Revealers. Does this only sound crazy to
me?”

“
Makes sense to me,” said
Chelsa. “Yeah, maybe a little crazy, but overall, everything makes
sense.”

“
Chelsa, do you think you
can snoop around town for any other information involving Don and
Maria? I’ll do more research on your electro-slate,” Kristi
said.

“
I know just the place to
go. But it doesn’t open for another two or three hours.”

“
Where exactly is the
place you’re talking about?” Jaiden asked.

“
Troll’s Tavern. You can
get almost any information there at the right price.”

“
You’re not planning on
going there alone, are you?” He cast Chelsa a questioning
look.

“
No, Ghost will be with
me. I’ll be fine.”

“
Ghost is a
cat.
”

Ghost shot Jaiden an evil look.

“
I’ve been to plenty of
pubs before. This one will be no different,” said
Chelsa.

“
Except for the fact
you’re looking for undisclosed information this time. At least let
either me or Kristi come with you.”

“
Have you already
forgotten? You two are wanted people.” Chelsa spoke the last part
slowly, making sure Jaiden didn’t miss her point.

“
I refuse to let you go by
yourself to a shady sounding saloon.”

“
Don’t tell me what I can
and cannot do,” Chelsa said. She drummed her fingers against the
desk. “I’ve been living on my own for long enough to know what I am
capable of.”

“
You just saved Kristi’s
life. Do you really think I’m going to allow you to risk your life
for some stupid task Maria and Don left behind?”

“
Fine. Kristi, will you
come with me?” Chelsa asked.

“
Okay,” Kristi said.
“Jaiden, will you stop shooting daggers at Chelsa?”

Jaiden dropped his gaze. Kristi handed
Chelsa’s electro-slate back to her, but she refused to take it.
“Use it to do some more research.”

They had pathetically
little information
to show for the three
hours of hard-core research. Sadly, all of their notes about the
Revealers combined barely filled half a page.

• Established for 15 years
  

• Declared that they are an independent spy network
  that only has their headquarter located somewhere in the South
  Union—not part of South Union
  

• There has only been two public case in which the
  Revealers were directly involved:
  

• The United Region government accuse the Revealers to
  be a spy group for the South Union in disguise as a do-good
  organization
  

“
The tavern should be busy
now,” said Chelsa once they finished reviewing the notes. “Here,
wear this and keep your head down.” Chelsa dug through some clothes
and offered Kristi an oversized hoodie.

Kristi pulled it on and drew the hood over
her head. “Can you see my face?”

“
Only if you tilt your
head,” said Jaiden. “Just keep your eyes on the ground and you
should be fine.” He spoke to Chelsa, “Are you sure you don’t want
me to come with you?”

“
Yes
.” Chelsa made an impatient sound in the back of her throat.
“You’ve just broken out of jail; the local law enforcers are going
to be on the lookout for you.”

Jaiden crossed his arms but didn’t try to
convince Chelsa otherwise. Ghost stood up and nudged open the door
connecting the TV room to the main room. The two girls silently
crept outside. The cobblestone roads were slick with water, as it
was drizzling.

“
It’s about a twenty
minute walk to the tavern,” Chelsa said out of the corner of her
mouth.

“
Do you think the
weather’s going to worsen?”

“
I don’t think
so.”

Chelsa trudged on ahead with Kristi
following her like a lost puppy. They met almost no other people
out on the streets; the citizens either opted to stay indoors or
travel by car. In a short span of time, Kristi’s sweatshirt was
downright waterlogged. The heavy fabric hung awkwardly on her and
the hood started to slip off her face.

“
Hold on a second,” Kristi
said and readjusted her covering.

“
Hang in there,” said
Chelsa. “We’re almost there.”

“
How far is ‘almost
there’?”

“
Close.”

It turned out “almost there” meant ten
minutes later. They finally arrived at the Troll’s Tavern. The
tavern itself was located underground and only its sign and
stairway leading down to its entrance was located at street
level.

“
Don’t forget, your name
is Kelly and mine is Taylor,” Chelsa reminded Kristi of their cover
names before entering the tavern.

“
Got it. Let’s go
inside.”

People were crammed into the Troll’s Tavern.
Some customers were travelers; others were workers having a drink
to celebrate a day off from work. Many were merchants, thieves and
sailors. The sole bar girl was kept busy mixing drinks behind the
counter. Kristi wondered if Wilson’s gang was around

The moose head mounted above the pub’s
entrance swung its head from left to right. Several fireplaces
roared merrily, casting strange shadows on the walls covered with
knife marks. Rickety wooden chairs, tables and stools were
scattered throughout the room without any apparent organization.
Card games were being played everywhere and gambling for spending
points seemed to be the main activity happening. The government had
banned gambling three years ago; they deemed it to be
“uncivilized.”

Chelsa nudged Kristi out of her daze. “Keep
your eyes and ears open for any useful information. Tongues tend to
start wagging after a few drinks.”

They stationed themselves in the corner and
listened to the conversations around them.

“
North Lane was blocked,”
said a traveler to another. “Bandit activity was going on, I
heard.”

“
Wonder when the
government’s going to stop the bandits for once and for all. I lost
my droid-dog to an ambush,” the other traveler replied.

Both travelers looked weather-beaten and
tired. A merchant wandered over to the two travelers. He had an
odd-looking scar on his left cheek that resembled a fish. His eyes
were coal-black, so dark Kristi couldn’t distinguish his pupil from
his iris.

The merchant joined the talk. “I heard the
number of bandits is growing. A lot of people want easy work and
end up joining the bandits. I lost five hundred points worth of
goods passing through Bald Head Rock trail.”

“
Traveling isn’t safe
anymore,” said the first traveler.

“
Rumor is that the bandits
are targeting the South Lanes as winter approaches. The South Lanes
are always jam-packed with travelers heading to South Region to
spend the winter. It’s going to be chaos along the roads if the
bandits are indeed ambushing people along the South Lanes,” said
the second traveler.

“
All this worrying is
making my head hurt,” muttered the first traveler.

“
I know how to fix that
problem,” the merchant said. Then he yelled, “Three
beers!”

A harried looking girl brought over three
bottles and turned to Kristi and Chelsa. “Would you like
anything?”

“
We’ll take two mugs of
cider,” said Chelsa.

The merchant overheard Chelsa ordering the
drinks. “What’s a fine girl like you doing in an underground
tavern?” he asked.

“
That is none of your
business,” said Chelsa.

“
Are you looking for
something?”

“
You wouldn’t have what I
need.”

“
At the right price, I can
give you what you want.”

Kristi tugged on Chelsa’s sleeve and said
into her ear, “I don’t trust him.”

“
Me neither,” Chelsa
replied in a low voice.

The merchant’s eyes lit upon Kristi for the
first time. “What is this? Two underage girls in a pub?”

Ghost appeared besides Chelsa’s feet and
bared his fangs. The merchant tried to kick the cat away, but Ghost
evaded his foot and scratched his leg. Glaring at the protective
droid, the merchant mumbled some curses under his breath and turned
his attention back to the two travelers.

“
Here are your drinks.”
The serving girl reappeared. She frowned at Ghost, then looked at
Chelsa and said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t allow droid-pets in
here.”

“
What droid-pet?” asked
Chelsa. Ghost had vanished without a trace.

The girl blinked then shook her head. “Never
mind. It’s been a long night and I think I’m starting to imagine
things; I could’ve sworn there was a cat by your side just a second
ago.”

Chelsa made a show of looking around. “Nope,
I’m pretty sure you imagined it. I don’t see any droid-pets. How
much for the ciders?”

“
Four points.”

“
Want to move to a
different place?” Chelsa asked after paying. “There’s a free spot
by the bar counter and another by the table beneath the moose
head.”

Kristi nodded and got up. “I’ll take the
spot by the counter.”

“
Alright. Don’t get in
trouble or else Jaiden might end up killing me.” Chelsa slipped
through the crowded room; soon Kristi lost sight of her among the
mass of people.

She left her empty mug on the chipped table
then slowly shuffled to the unoccupied bar stool. After
establishing some personal space from a leering sailor, she tuned
into a soft discussion being held by two men dressed in dark
clothing. Both had their faces covered and nobody seemed to be
paying them any attention aside from her. She strained her ears to
make out their words.

“
They were caught. I still
can’t believe it, that our best two members got caught.”

“
I know. We need to find
new recruits. Our numbers are dropping. Kelvin was badly injured
three days ago. He barely escaped the bandits that attacked him.
He’s still in the hospital recovering from three broken ribs, a
concussion and a bad knife wound.”

The other man replied, “How many active
members do we have left in the East Regions?”

“
Fifty members, more or
less. We need to ask the headquarters for replacements. Either that
or we need to start recruiting more members, like I said before.
The loss of Kyle and Shelly really hit us hard. They were so close
on making a breakthrough on their case.”

Kristi perked up at the mention of Don and
Maria’s real names. She debated whether she should make herself
known to the two men, but decided against it. It was too risky to
do so. She listened to their conversation with renewed
interest.

“
Who’s going to be taking
up Shelly and Kyle’s case now?”

“
I don’t know for sure,
but I assume Tiffany will. She worked closely with Kyle and
Shelly.”

Someone stumbled into Kristi, almost
knocking her off the stool. She leapt off the chair as the person
struck it with enough force to break bones. Kristi calmed her
heartbeat and resituated herself, then refocused her attention back
to the conversation. But her slight movements were noticed by one
of the men.

“
Hush up. We’re being
observed.”

“
Let’s go,” said his
partner. They both stood up and exited the tavern.

Kristi silently cursed for not being more
discreet. Nevertheless, she had gathered enough information to make
the trek through the rain worth the trip to Troll’s Tavern.

Two off-duty law enforcers took the seats
left by the men in dark clothes. Kristi beat a swift retreat; the
last thing she needed was to be caught.

Time wore on; the tavern progressively grew
rowdier and rowdier. More people filed in, seeking retreat from a
stressful day. Kristi searched through the crowds for Chelsa, but
was soon swallowed up by the mob.

“
Where are you?” she
mumbled to herself. She checked the spot beneath the moose head,
but Chelsa had already left the area.

“
You looking for
me?”

Kristi held back a small shriek. It was the
merchant with the fish-shaped scar. “No—no, I’m not.”

“
You’re looking for
information, aren’t you?”

Kristi’s face betrayed her answer. The
merchant grinned, knowing he had guessed right. “I have many
connections. Perhaps we can work out a deal…”

“
Kelly, let’s go,” said a
voice behind her.