The True One

Chapter 10 Part 1

Alek

I checked the trail and the obvious entry points into the woods. No sign of Chip or anyone else. No creatures lurking either. Whoever, or whatever Flora saw, it had either fled, gone into hiding, or had never been there to begin with.

Bracing myself for the attitude Verity and crew would unleash when I came back emptyhanded, I took my time walking back, flashlight in one hand, gun in the other. When I arrived, I discovered my four clients sitting around a campfire they'd surprisingly figured out how to light, their demeaner calmer than expected.

"Are you all high or what?" I slid my gun into its holster and sat on a log across from Verity. "I figured I'd come back to find you in a panic."

"Wouldn't you like that?" Macy said. The other girls nodded their approval of her snippy comment.

"No, Macy, I would not like that. There's nothing out there to worry about. Flora, I don't think it was that Chip guy. Isn't he supposed to be in jail?"

Flora shrugged. "I thought it looked like him, but you're right. How could it be? It was almost dark, and he wasn't that close." She wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. "I'm so relieved it wasn't him."

Not exactly the response I'd expected. In the time I'd been searching for this supposed lurker, they'd all seemed to have swallowed an entire bottle of chill pills. "So, it would be better if it was some random dude instead?"

"No, she's saying it wasn't a random dude." Verity shot me her customary dagger-eyed glare. "You know what we're implying."

"Honestly, I have no idea. I couldn't find anyone though, and we know it wasn't Chip, so... another highly improbable explanation, but one we should discuss: sometimes cartels have hidden grow fields way back in wilderness areas. You don't want to cross paths with them."

"Here we go." Verity waved her hands in the air for emphasis. "What did I tell you guys? Gotta keep the suspense up, am I right?"

"What are you talking about?" I looked around the group for a sympathetic face but found none. "There are no known fields anywhere near here. We're likely in no danger. Whatever suspense you think I'm attempting to manufacture, it's actually just common sense. If it can't be Chip, it's either a false alarm or it's someone else."

"Well..." Verity's father, Martin, cleared his throat. "It could be Chip. Someone paid his bail yesterday."

"What?" Flora dropped the bag of trail mix she'd been eating. Chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and peanuts went rolling towards the fire pit. "Why would someone free that scum?"

Marvin shook his head. "No clue."

"Dad," Verity said, "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?"

"I only found out when we were in route here. Seen as though we were out of the city by then, I didn't think the issue was pressing. And I didn't want it to interfere with your... recovery."

Chill all gone, Flora leapt to her feet. "How is she going to recover if her deranged mate is in the woods ready to snatch her from her tent in the middle of the night?"

"I'm not that worried about it." Verity placed a hand on Flora's leg. "Sit back down. If it's him, fine. Chip is harmless."

"He's not harmless!" a chorus of voices, including my own, sang out to her.

None of them knew the half of it. If Chip was what I though he was, he could trigger her. That was a dangerous scenario, even if it was also what Aurum Venari wanted to happen.

Shit.

I tapped Martin on the shoulder. "Who did you say paid Chip's bail?"

"I didn't say," he answered, "because I don't know."