imperfect by Tina Chan Read Free Book Online Page B

porch lights. Maria and Don’s solar-car was still parked
outside though, so her parents should be home.
    She pressed her thumb onto the scanner to
unlock the front doors, but it rejected the thumbprint. Frowning,
she tried again. Same results.
    What the heck?! Is the scanner
malfunctioning?
    Kristi resorted to old-fashion pounding on
the door. She waited for someone to let her into the house, but
nobody responded to her knocking.
    “ Jaiden!” she shouted.
“Maria, Don! Can someone unlock the door for me?”
    No reply.
    Kristi stepped down from the front door.
Something small and white peeked out from the corner of a sculpture
of a frog. She squatted and tipped the ceramic statue over to
retrieve the object. It was a note written on a piece of paper.
That was strange; who’d use paper when they could just leave an
electro-note or send an instafication? Paper kills trees and
therefore, the Earth.
    Kristi had to squint to read the barely
legible handwriting scrawled across the index card:
     
    Find Jaiden and locate the others.
    --M & D
     
    She reread the note once,
and then twice, making sure she didn’t misread it. “Find Jaiden and locate the others.”
    “ Ha-ha. Real funny joke
Jaiden. Stop messing around with me.” Kristi stood up, brushing the
dirt from her jeans. “That was a really lame prank. What did you
want me to do? Run around screaming?” She waited, hoping to lure
Jaiden out from wherever he was hiding.
    A branch above her shook and a plump,
black-capped chickadee angled its head at Kristi.
“Chicka-dee-dee-dee,” the bird whistled. On the last “dee” it
flapped away.
    “ Jaiden, this isn’t funny
anymore! I admit you scared me, okay? Are you happy now? Please let
me into the house.” Her voice sounded painfully small.
    A silence settled over the
area; no Jaiden, Don or Maria appeared. Kristi’s mind began jumping
to conclusions. Wilson’s gang wouldn’t
dare harm my family, would he?
    “ The stables,” she said.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” But Kristi did know why she hadn’t
thought to check the stables for her family; Maria and Don never
rode droid-horses and Jaiden should be assisting Professor Smetana
at this time of the day.
    Kristi dashed to the barn, praying that the
horses were still in their stalls and unharmed. She briefly crossed
her fingers then unlatched the barn door.
    The droid-horses were gone. She was the only
person in the building. Or so she thought. Two shadows loomed over
her. Kristi tensed her muscles, ready to sprint in an instant if it
was Wilson’s gang.
    “ Are you ready to
go?”
    She relaxed, recognizing Chelsa’s voice.
Ghost padded to Kristi’s right shoulder and nuzzled her. She
squirmed, the droid-cat’s inch-long fang grazing her earlobes.
    “ You followed
me?”
    Chelsa nodded. “I’m too curious for my own
good. I guess something bad happened from the looks of it.” She
handed Kristi the paper note she had dropped.
    “ Thanks.” Kristi crumpled
the paper and shoved it deep inside her pocket. “I think that—
”
    Chelsa cut her off, “No, I highly doubt
Wilson’s crew kidnapped your family. This doesn’t seem like gang
work. Trust me, if it was Wilson’s crew that caused this mess, they
would’ve already sent you a message asking for a ransom.”
    Kristi didn’t bother to ask Chelsa how she
knew this. “What do you think happened? I can’t think of any other
reason why my family would suddenly disappear.”
    Chelsa thought for a minute, then said, “Why
don’t we try locating your brother—er, Jaiden? I think he might
have an idea of what is going on, judging from the note.”
    “ I suppose you’re right.”
Kristi stood up and left the empty stable. Chelsa seemed to be a
very smart and logical person—exactly the type of girl she needed
to be around right now. “Let’s go check the learning center. Jaiden
might be there.”
     
    Kristi had Chelsa and
Ghost wait outside while she went inside
the learning center in