Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (best interesting books to read txt) 📕

fleeing onlookers through the Waterfront, he had other things to consider. Bringing the Spymaster out in the open might be simple enough, but the fact that he was surrounded by over a dozen armed soldiers of the City Watch hardly made him an accessible target. At least now he knew well enough to recognize him on sight.

The man he was following hustled inside a Waterfront bar and leaned over a table where four men were seated. Within seconds all four men jumped up and the man closest to the onlooker shoved the man out of his way as he rushed to the door. That man was accompanied by one other and they went out the front door and made a straight line to the pier where two of the Lukasi ships were docked, each flying the flag of Caldori. The other two men left just as hastily out the back of the tavern. Cooper already knew which ships came from Lukasi and the onlooker was no longer important. It was the other two men he chose to follow.

They walked at quick pace along several streets of the Waterfront, and on further into Batter’s Field. They stopped at one house for less than four minutes, Cooper used that time to memorize the location of the house. When the men emerged, they’d been joined by a third man. They turned directly south and took the most direct route to the South Bridge. They paused only long enough to observe both ends of the bridge and the walkway on the other side of the river before they briskly crossed the Whitefoam. As they walked through the Trade Quarter they looked neither left nor right as they continued south. In a few minutes, it became obvious where they were going, the house in the Dregs. He felt a moment of concern for the Dregs kids who were watching the house. These men, in their current state of agitation, might harm any of those kids if they noticed them. His concern passed as he recalled his own experiences as a House kid. If he ever saw a group of people in a hurry, two thoughts would enter his mind. First, was there any chance for profit or windfall? And second, was the risk too great to try and take advantage of it? Those kids would see these men and immediately recognize that it was time to disappear.

He allowed the men to get further ahead as they reached the boundary between the Trade Quarter and the Dregs and he took a more leisurely route to arrive nearby and watch from a distance. The sun had dipped below the horizon completely and there was little residual light remaining. He tried to imagine the conversations that would be taking place inside the house. Would they stop production for a few days and wait to see what happened? Are they simply informing the men in this house that one of the warehouses had been raided and not to deliver anything further to that location? Were they inquiring about the quantity that was stored in that warehouse so that they could assess their losses?

As much as he wanted to know, it wasn’t worth approaching close enough to try to overhear it. He’d know from their activity over the next couple of days, anyway. He knew of three other storehouses being used to stockpile Apex. Mardon might know of more by now. Still, Cooper had other matters of his own to tend to that would occupy his time during the next few days; putting a little additional pressure on the drug peddlers was the easy part. He made his way west through the Dregs and into Miller’s Flats.

He had just entered the House when Miss Camilla approached and asked, “How much time will you need to arrange transportation? Nice clothes, by the way.” Cooper swept his hand from his shoulder to his thigh, “This ensemble? It’s something I just picked up.” He paused a moment and answered her question, “About four hours, if I had to guess. Maybe less, but to arrive in a rush and request assistance in three hours or less somehow seems unprofessional.” Miss Camilla smiled thinly, “Four hours should be more than adequate. They might all be well enough to move as early as tomorrow, but one or two might be served better by recovering for an additional day. I’ll know by tomorrow afternoon. I’m assuming you’ll want to move everyone at night?” Cooper nodded then smiled widely, “I worry less about moving through the town, it’s climbing down from boardwalk to longboat, then the movement across water and climbing from longboat to ship that concerns me most.” Miss Camilla opened her mouth to speak, closed it, then opened again, “Climbing? No one said anything about climbing!” Cooper shrugged, “So…not tomorrow then, Miss?” He winked. Camilla looked a little flustered as she replied, “No. Not unless you were inclined to divide the group and move a few of them later.” Cooper shrugged, “I suppose we could, but I’d rather not. A second trip doubles the risk.” Camilla nodded, “Perhaps the day after tomorrow, then. I’ll let you know.”

Mister Ysel’s complexion had mostly returned to normal, as had his demeanor. He had waited patiently for Cooper to finish his conversation with Miss Camilla before he approached, “Have you made any progress in procuring an example of the seal to be placed along the signature line of the deeds?” Cooper let his head hang forward, “No, sir. I have not. I had completely forgotten about it. We may need those documents quickly, but out of necessity that might have to wait until we get everyone moved to the Ruins.” He raised his head, and his eyebrows, “How do they look? The deeds?” Mister Ysel leaned back, hooked his thumbs in his waistband and smiled, “Considering the materials and conditions, I think it’s some of my best work. With the appropriate affixed seal, I