FrAcTuReD (Part One) (Completed continued in Part Two)

Chapter. 25

The burly man shrugged. "No skin off my back, besides you're apart of this town we know you and Detective Liebert do good by it."

"I'm glad to hear it." He said only to pause when the front door opened and in stepped an individual he didn't expect to see. Charla? He thought with slight narrow eyes.

"Charla?" Will said aloud as she made her way further into the place. "What are you doing here? And this late even."

She looked to Will and gave a faint confused look before answering. "I need a phone number, but I couldn't find the stupid thing when looking for it in the phonebook."

Will gave her a slight surprised look. "What number are you looking for?"

"The vet," she said sounding almost strained as she looked around, Claud noted how she seemed almost different, her stance, her composure, even the way she seemed to carry herself.

"The vet?" he repeated. "You came all this way just to get the number for the veterinary clinic? You do know that's what the internet is for right?"

She shrugged rather nonchalantly. "Yeah, but do you have the number?"

"Why not just ask your uncle?"

Another shrug. "He seemed busy, besides doing this gives me the chance to stretch my legs that's all. You have a problem with people getting exercise?"

"Okay, okay I get it hold on," he looked behind the bar where the phone numbers were kept but came up empty, Will then looked to his uncle. "Do you know where the number is?"

"I do, stay put Will I'll get it."

Will looked back to Charla noting how she seemed to be checking the place out, her eyes moving about as if trying to remember everything. "Nice bar," she said before looking back to Will. "Though you look a little young to be tending it."

"Hey I'm not that young, besides its not like I can serve alcohol, I'd get an earful from my parents if I tried."

"Planning on getting your licence for it when you finish school?"

"Something like that." He looked to Claud who was now watching Charla intently. "I know we don't talk much but uh... what do you think of the town so far?"

"It's fine," she said pausing to look at a magazine that had been left by a pervious patron and looked to the index. "Could be better without all those thugs around..."

"You mean the ones who do the illegal fighting, yeah I can understand that. Some of them like to cause a damn mess here on occasion. Thankfully with police like Claud here it makes things a bit easier."

Her eyes then flicked to look at Claud, they locked eye contact from where they were across the bar from one another. "Is that so?" she then looked back to the magazine. "That's good, cops who do their job with an admirable spirit are always those who are looked up too. Those who don't skit the line between being good or dirty."

"Dirty?"

"She means a cop whose uses the badge for his or her own benefit." Claud said from his seat as he took at notebook and began to make notes. "It's a common thing, even if it's something many people don't wish for. I've had to arrest a number of people who had fallen to becoming corrupt."

"I sure hope it wasn't anyone you knew Claud." Will said with an almost hesitant voice before looking to Charla who cursed faintly.

She said nothing as she read the article, eyes narrowing in anger as she did so, she made a faint sound when finishing it. No wonder...