Read Online imperfect by Tina Chan - Free Book Online Page A

standard model all local jails use. As for the
guards, if we time our moves right after a patrol passes, then we
have about ten minutes to get in, which is more than
enough.”
    “ Ghost will take care of
the cameras?” Kristi asked to make sure she heard Chelsa right. She
tried to imagine how a droid-cat could disable four security
cameras.
    “ You’ll see.”
    Kristi took a deep breath
in. She had spent less than forty-eight hours with Chelsa and was
already breaking laws. Chelsa was not a good influence; but she was a
good friend. “Let’s do this.”
    Kristi closely followed Chelsa as they
skirted the edges of the jailhouse by keeping in the shadows,
ducking behind foliage and running low to the ground. Just when she
was getting the hang of it, Chelsa stopped; Kristi stopped herself
from crashing into Chelsa. The window that was to be their entrance
was about half a football field’s length away.
    “ Ghost, go take care of
that camera.” Chelsa pointed to a surveillance camera mounted on a
tree.
    Ghost climbed up the tree and using his
paws, turned the camera so that it was facing the trunk. Then Ghost
leapt down, purring with satisfaction of a job well done.
    “ Come on, we’re going to
make a dash for the trash bins,” Chelsa said.
    They dashed for their temporary cover and
waited for a patrol to pass. Shiny, polished boots marched by in
unison. The guards swung their flashlight around, searching for
anything out of the norm. They didn’t spot Chelsa and Kristi hidden
behind the bins.
    Chelsa whispered to Ghost, “Get the two
cameras hanging off the rain gutters.”
    Ghost flicked an ear to show he heard and
scaled the building and onto the roof. He crept, belly close to the
roof, then along the gutter until he was directly above the camera.
As before, he knocked the camera askew so that it was pointing
downwards. Then he repeated the procedure with the second
camera.
    “ Good. Everything’s going
according to plan,” Chelsa whispered. “We just have to hurry up
before the people monitoring the cameras notice all they’re
monitoring is a patch of dirt and the building wall.”
    Ghost bunched up his hind legs and prepared
to leap down. Suddenly, a beam of light from the watchtower landed
on him, blinding the droid with its bright light. Ghost froze, as
still as an ice sculpture.
    Kristi held her breath anxiously, heart
pounding like a sledgehammer beneath her ribs. Then to everyone’s
relief, the searchlight swung away. Ghost leapt down, looking
shaken for once.
    “ That was a close call,”
Chelsa murmured. “They must’ve mistaken Ghost for a runaway
droid-cat. Okay, the next obstacle is the laser. Think of the laser
as an invisible trip wire. If you pass through it, it will trigger
an alarm.”
    “ Where exactly is the
laser?” Kristi skimmed the ground around them but nothing hinted
the presence of an invisible trip wire.
    “ About a foot off the
ground, a yard in front of the window we’re entering through.”
Chelsa directed her gaze to a small, black box positioned along the
wall of the building. “That’s where the laser trip wire is coming
from. There’s one last camera right above the black box. The camera
can’t see us though, since we’re in its blind spot. I don’t think I
want to risk Ghost being spotted disabling a camera again,
therefore we’ll have to be sure to stay close to the walls of the
jail.”
    “ So all we have to do is
step over the laser, open the window wide enough to get through and
stay in the camera’s blind spot?”
    “ Yep. I’ll
lead.”
    Chelsa took a huge step over the laser and
hugged the wall of the building. Kristi imitated her, shimmying
along the wall. Once they reached the window, Chelsa tried to pry
it wider. “Give me a hand, will you? It’s heavier than it
looks.”
    Kristi slid along the wall and grasped the
metal-framed window with cold fingers. Through their combined
strength, the window lifted easily and smoothly.
    “ After you.”