RECLAIM

Chapter 22. Suspicion

~Arden~

"Better do as she says. We are in the middle of friendly talk's right? I'm sure everybody can keep their civilize mask for a while longer." Arden points his chin towards their discarded weapons and other belongings. "Or maybe our words mean nothing to you?"

"You know," Trevor mused as he lifted their weapons one at the time before putting them back. "I looked into the backgrounds of the three of you and came up with some conclusion on my own. He acts exactly as I suspected." He points at Alex. "But, the two you, Reclaimer Wolf and Enforcer Rush, confused me a little."

"That's rich coming from a guy so confident in his business model, he believes Renata Grim disappearance got nothing to do with him." Laith clicked his tongue.

"Unlike Reclaimers, we tend to keep a rather strict anonymous policy." Now it's Ely turn to speak. "See and hear no evil."

"In other words, secrecy is a bliss?" Laith shot back.

Ely smile never falters. "In certain areas, sure."

"We hate to be involved in some pointless, unprofitable games." Trevor repeats his view on the matter once again.

Arden heard Laith snort at the other man's choice of words. He narrows his eyes at her and for once she shut her mouth. One of these days, that tongue of hers will get them in trouble, if it doesn't already. Better move things along before disaster strikes. He focused back on the Scavengers.

"Let's get back to the main topic here. Our weapons?" He pressed.

Trevor puts back all their belongings. He then leaned on the crate side and proceeds to once again look bored. Arden glanced at the guns and back at him. He watched as the guy actually yawns before finally picking one gun and extends the weapon to him, handle first. Straightening himself, Arden moves forward to take it.

"I trust you, somewhat. Not something I do very often." Trevor released the gun to Arden hand and gesture them to take the rest of their belongings. "But, for the jammed communication lines, I'm afraid we have to maintain that."

Arden nodded faintly as he and the others begin collecting their weapons and belongings. But, as they continue to do so, he can't help to realize that more souls came to join the party. Not a single one makes an entrance, although he can feel their presence hovering nearby. The three of them move back the moment they finished.

"Thank you," Arden said as he takes his place. Laith chose to lean her back on a big crate and Alex stands straight, the three of them still close together but disperses all over the room. Good, he thought, the positions fit them. It makes them look relaxed and confident.

"We should not waste more time." Trevor soon opens up the conversation.

"Then, let us start. Tell us everything you know about Renata Grim." How the other man keeps his blank voice and expression begin to intrigue Arden. "Don't worry. We won't disclose any information you gave us. It's going to be used only to find her." Arden continues.

Before the other man could answer, Arden hears a soft click of tongue. Half turning, he gave Laith a hard questioning look. She just smirked at him and said nothing. He gave her one last warning look before turning back.

The other man swiped backs some of his hair. "Ely, tell them."

Ely nodded and jump to sit on one of the small size crate. "We meet her for the first time about a month ago," the psycho kid begins.

"That's around the time she got her kidney," Alex jumps in, a measure of his worries reflected in his voice.

"We know. We check her background and conduct several non-invasive tests. Her kidney was brand new and she's healthy. She got a good paying job. In short, she sure as hell didn't need a loan to cover her rent fee." The girl shrugged. "At first, we got really suspicious. But, further inquiry came up clean so we decided to accept her loan request anyway."

"We didn't get to see her kind around here that much," Trevor added halfheartedly.

"What he means is our potential clients usually came at the lowest time of their life." The girl smile was distant. "And usually stays that way." When Ely looked at them again, she already ditched the distant expression and all rays of sunshine now. "Except for selected few we take as our esteem clients, of course. We take good care of them. Anyway, when dealing with us, money will always make everything smoother. We take her case simply because we see it as easy paycheck."

Arden frowns. "And?"

"And that's it. We told you, all checks came back clean. So, we figure out, maybe she's one of those nervous first time renter desperate to secure her kidney. We didn't think much of it." Ely shrugged. "She signed a loan and was escorted back. Alive and kicking."

"Yet, here we are. Your presence alone is enough reason for us to get curious." Trevor narrowed his eyes.

"Curious? At us?"

Trevor stared at them. "When we caught you snooping, we've originally thought nothing of it. It's not like we encounter your kind for the first time. We thought we can give all of you a little warning and send you off."

"Until you told us about Renata that is." Ely joins the conversation.

"We take a second look at her loan request just now. It's air tight. Then something hit me." Trevor leaned forward. "Not to mention, somebody must have send you on our way."

Ely raised both of his legs and put her chin on her knees. "He thinks you guys found her connection to us way too fast. Ignoring whether or not it's true that we're the one creating this mess, it sure as hell won't be linked to us that easily. Then we thought maybe she works for you and this whole missing person scenario is a ruse to draw us out." She paused to put her feet down. "There's a little problem with that theory though. Sure, we got our share of hardships, but none of them have the time to create a mess like this. Scavengers tend to prefer a more direct approach."

Trevor eyed them. "The Enforcers will never be able to cook such simple yet brilliant method. They like to complicate things. Reclaimers are a pain, but they tend to steer clear unless we provoke them." A ghost smile play at his face. "That leaves us with a third option."

"Somebody else is pulling the strings."

Feet dangling, Ely repeatedly hit the crate she's sitting on with the back of her legs. "Bingo. To what ends though, we still not sure."

They paused again. At which moment Arden head begins to pound. They were walking in circles. Just when he thinks they're finally given a break, it turned out to be another dead end. Worse, it turns out they already involve this game, walking in complete darkness all this time.

Think, damn it. Think. Arden focused his attention to the Scavengers. From what he gather so far, its looks like they weren't working for Queen. Is she working with somebody else then? If so, why the puppet masters lead them here? What is their intention? This kind of development leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

"One thing is sure." Ely tilted her head; eyes flashing with what Arden guessed as a flare of excitement. "The way I see it, rather than blaming us, it'll be more accurate to say someone on your end may be related somehow."

"We know," Arden kept his voice low, but it rumbles with pent up frustration.

His head is now pounding with persistent rhythm, taking advantage of his overworked mind. Is it him? Arden had asked himself this question for some time now. He got a nasty past, but it's not something that warrants a long lasting after effect. The only other alternative also didn't sit well with him. Because if it is true, then they got a work cut out for them. At the heel of the thought, he shares a fleeting eye contact with Laith. What he saw in it might as well be a shot to the head. Shit. Now, they need to get out of here ASAP. What he saw just now needs to be confirms, fast. Laith soon moved slightly closer to him, her body tense. When Alex saw what she did, he moved too. They got everything they need. Now, it's time to get out of here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for giving this book a chance. I would love to hear your feedback, so feel free to comments. If you like this book, please do vote and add it to your library. Thanks again and read on!

Video : EYES SET TO KILL - Infected