Every Missing Piece

Chapter Five

When the girl is gone, I stare up at the eye and arrow on the wall. All of the snow has melted into a puddle at my feet by now, but I don't move to get more. The mark is staying. It feels strange, not completing one of my blocker assignments, though I shrug away my misgivings. If there's no one else I can trust, then I might as well avoid becoming one of the Keeping's enemies.

And what more can the Assembly do to me? I've skipped the pill two nights in a row now. I should be dead, or I should be waiting for them to kill me. An oversight on one assignment won't change that fate.

With a sigh, I pick up my folder and walk towards the door. There's no point in staying here any longer and no point in returning to the blocker's department. An eager gust of wind greets me when I emerge onto the quiet streets.

And so does someone else.

I've seen him before. I know this, even though his face is hidden as he leans casually against the building across the street, because I remember every detail of that morning. I know this because every second is seared into my mind with a red-hot brand and I have to fight to keep from reliving it every time I close my eyes. I'll never forget returning from the blocker's department, my thoughts a whirlwind of uncertainty, and the dread of realizing that the leftover trigger didn't exist.

I can't forget him waiting for me, clearly sent by the Assembly, on the street of my unit.

I have to run, quick, anywhere, before he sees me and—what? Tells me the game is up? That I'm under arrest? That the Assembly wants me? There aren't any guards with him, but they could be just around the corner and this is too coincidental to be anything good and why won't my feet move?

It's too late. He sees me.

Even as he walks toward me, I'm imagining ways I could slip away like a snowflake through his fingers. But there's no escape as he comes closer, closer, closer, and then I'm looking right into his steel gray eyes.

He smiles. "They sent me to make sure the situation is taken care of. Looks like you've got it under control. I should have known."

I stare at him in confusion, wondering what this situation is and whether it's me, but he makes no motion to try to take me back to the Assembly headquarters. After a moment of silence, he nods at the factory behind us, and I realize he's been sent to make sure all of the triggers have been removed.

And that's just the most pitiful excuse I've ever heard.

"We both know very well that they didn't send you here for that," I spit out. I try to shove past him but he follows. "Because they are the Assembly, right? And why would the Assembly need to check on what they can just order to have done? I don't know why you're really here, but I want no part of it."

Brave words, Carra. Brave enough that I can almost forget that this stranger can make my hands shake uncontrollably and my mouth go dry as breathing comes too quickly. That can't be the real reason he's here, it just can't be. It's too transparent. So this Assembly puppet either came for the Keeping...

...or he came for me.

"It doesn't have to be like this," he says, still refusing to be left behind no matter how quickly I walk. "I'll admit it, I work for the Assembly, but that doesn't mean you have to hate me for it. I'm Mason. Mason Sahar."

At this, Mason stops and holds out his hand, like he expects me to shake it. As if I would fall for one of his Assembly tricks. As if I can't see right through his entire act. I stare at him and he sighs, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"It's traditional to tell me your name at this point of the introduction," he prompts.

"Please. You already know my name. Don't play me like I'm dumb."