Life Designed (Life Plan Series Book 1), Eliza Taye [great novels .TXT] 📗

enough by saying it’s something I can’t get on my side of the city.”

“Is it something bad? Are you in trouble?”

“Not exactly, but I don’t want you implicated or in trouble.”

A beep from Garrett’s interwave caught his attention. Seeing the time, he realized he needed to hurry back to the Decided sector. It was getting late. If he spent any more time there, the story he’d told his parents wouldn’t hold for much longer before they got suspicious.

“I’m sorry, April. I’ll see you later. I have to go back home.”

“Okay, Garrett. Be careful and get home as soon as you can.”

“I will.” Garrett nodded and left.

Once Garrett returned to his side of town, he headed straight for the edge of town. The streets were dead as the night. Garrett’s footsteps seemed to echo into the black expanse as loud as possible. Feeling slight apprehension, Garrett briefly considered turning back and going home, but with little more self-persuasion, he pressed on.

Lurking close to the scant shadows of the buildings, Garrett remained focused on the city hall building looming at the end of the walkway, the steps disappearing into the black shadows cast by the building itself. With a solid resolve, Garrett passed the front of City Hall and rounded the back.

In his research, Garrett discovered a maintenance door in the back that had slightly lower security than the front door. It would also put him closer to where the council representative’s quarters were.

Finding the door with ease, Garrett placed the lockaway device next to the panel and waited for it to work its magic. Several seconds ticked by and he began to wonder whether he’d just wasted years’ worth of birthday money and allowance on buying it.

Before he could curse the man he’d purchased it from, the light by the panel turned green and he heard the sound of a lock being disengaged. Yanking open the door, he found himself in a dark corridor.

Swallowing hard, Garrett wondered if there were motion sensor lights here and if he should have thought about disarming them before breaking in. Taking a tentative step into the hallway, Garrett released a breath when he realized it wasn’t under motion-sensing lights.

Not wanting to risk being discovered, he stood there quietly until his eyes fully adjusted to the lack of light. Although Garrett was never the brightest kid in class, he did have a knack for remembering almost everything he’d seen once he’d studied it long enough. Remembering the blueprints of the city hall building, Garrett walked to the end of the hallway and took a slight left. There he walked past what he knew to be storage closets and supply rooms.

Meandering through the dark halls using only his memory of the blueprints as his guide, he found himself in a remote part of City Hall. The blueprints he’d memorized hadn’t been complete to the point of showing him where the council representative’s quarters would be, but he suspected they’d be near the submission room.

The corridor before him led to a solitary door. Garrett was about 90% sure it led to the council representative’s chambers. When he reached the door, he discovered it, too, was locked with a panel similar to the one outside. He reached in his pocket for the lockaway device and then softly smacked himself on the forehead, emitting no sound.

He’d forgotten the lockaway device outside beside the door panel he’d entered from. Furious with himself, he stopped to consider his options. He could either try to hack the panel himself or retrieve the lockaway device and use it instead. Both would waste a considerable amount of time, but trying the lock himself would be a greater risk of failure and alerting someone.

Deciding against trying his luck, Garrett ran back to the door he’d entered from, retrieved the lockaway device, and placed it by the panel next to the door. By now, he was sweating and becoming more nervous by the second.

As the light turned green, he slowly opened the door and found himself in a living-dining-kitchen room combination. The lights were off here, but a small sliver of light shone from beneath a door in the back. Taking a step forward, Garrett couldn’t wait to talk to the council representative and his steps quickened.

All of a sudden, he felt immense pressure against his back as he was thrown to the ground, a heavy weight atop him.

“Who are you?” shouted a voice

Dumbstruck, Garrett didn’t say a word.

“Who are you?” repeated the voice, an elbow pressed into Garrett’s back, causing him pain.

“What is going on out there?” came the voice of a woman from the back room.

The small sliver of light grew in intensity as a figure became silhouetted by it.

“An intruder, ma’am. I tackled him to the ground before he could enter your room.” The man pressed his elbow deeper into Garrett’s back, pinning him harder into the floor.

Finding his voice, Garrett shouted, “I just wanted to speak with the council representative. I didn’t want to harm her. I just had a few questions about how to become one. I’m a pre-submitter!”

Garrett hoped his words would make a difference, but silence hung in the air for several long seconds.

“Remove him from my sight,” came the voice of the woman as she spun on her heels and returned to her room, shutting the door.

Suddenly, a light came on in the room and Garrett found himself being hauled to his feet by two different guards, dragged from the apartment, and back into the corridor.

“You have a lot of explaining to do. What is your name?”

Feeling defiant, Garrett spat, “I don’t have to tell you anything. All you guys do is keep everything secretive around here. I wouldn’t have had to break in if the council representative—if she—had been willing to meet with us common people and