| Wolves in Sheep's Clothing Chapter Five Sabotaged Sabotage |
"I'm going to call it a day," said Lawrence, scooting his chair back and stretching his arms exaggeratedly. "You guys staying longer?"
Arami nodded. "I'm still not completely happy with my report… I'm going to stay a little longer, doing touch-up work."
"I've got some additional observations I'd like to make, too," agreed Musako. "I noticed an anomaly in the R sector. I'd like to look over that to reassure myself. Tomorrow's a big day."
"Funny, I don't remember having seeing any anomalies," said Lawrence, looking a bit puzzled.
Musako shook his head. "Epsilon Fragment," he said. "I wasn't sure myself at first, except it seems to have grown larger this past week." He bent back over the microscope.
"I don't want you to touch that anymore," said Lawrence, his voice taking on a different quality all of a sudden. Musako's eyes widened slightly and he stiffened imperceptibly as he felt something hard, cold, and metallic nudging against the back of his neck.
"What do you think-" he began, but was interrupted.
"Did you think I'd just leave you alone in the lab, tonight of all nights?" asked Lawrence, smiling coldly.
Arami reached for her purse. Even though the Taishaku Kaiten was too big to carry around here, the Fukyo Waon was nice and portable. But an unseen person behind her prodded gently at her neck with another gun.
"I wouldn't do that," came a voice. Henson's voice… "Drop the purse."
She obeyed, and he slid his foot through the strap, lifting it. Without ever moving the gun from its position, he rifled through the purse, expecting to find a weapon of some sort. He was surprised at not being able to find one. "Do you always carry musical instruments around with you?" he asked with a short laugh, and tossed it aside to one of the counters in the laboratory.
"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Arami, her voice quiet and calm.
"How long did you think you would fool us?" smiled Henson. "You've overstayed your welcome."
"This isn't particularly hospitable," pouted Musako. "Don't tell me that I've worked so hard for the Montfort Corporation… and this is how you thank us." He patiently allowed Lawrence to pat down his pockets in search of weapons. Of course, Lawrence found none.
"Shall we say, this is our retirement plan for those who would wish us badly?" inquired Henson. "And you don't have to continue with this playacting. We've had your apartment bugged for the last two weeks. Long enough to know you're not who you claim you are. Neon. Joker."
"Silly," laughed Arami. "Those are pet names for each other. I call him Joker because he's such a tease… so playful…" She smiled cheerfully, trying to bluff her way out of the situation.
"And I call her Neon because she lights up my life like a big, vampy neon sign on the sleazy side of town," agreed Musako.
A little vein throbbed on her forehead, but she refrained from saying anything.
"That may be, and if so, how cute," said Lawrence. "And I assume you also joke about sabotaging our project so it fails?"
Arami laughed. "We only speak Japanese at the hotel," she said. "Your translator was having fun with you."
Henson smiled. "Maybe so," he said, "But if you genuinely want to see this project succeed… then you'll forgive us for what we have to do. Walk this way."
It was best to cooperate now, Musako thought, disconsolant that his identity had been cracked. He had rather enjoyed being an engineering genius. Even if he could easily take on Lawrence any day of the week, he had little doubt that he'd be able to do anything but worsen Neon's situation. His Uruha training told him to take care of his own situation, and let Neon deal with hers… but he didn't feel like it.
He wanted Neon to return to Kurei in one piece after this mission was completed.
They allowed their hands to be tied behind their backs. Lawrence was especially vicious in trying to pull the ropes tightly around Joker's wrists, and they cut into his skin painfully. Then their feet were tied together, and they were made to hop into a narrow storage closet.
"We'll see what how the Board will want to handle spies," said Lawrence, looking maliciously at Joker. He cast a somewhat-less malicious glance at Arami as Henson gagged and blindfolded her. "Too bad it didn't work out between us," he said, giving her a playful squeeze.
She gave a "Mmmmmfff!" of outrage through her gag.
Musako was blindfolded and gagged, too. The door was shut behind them and locked.
"Sit tight!" said Henson, smiling. "It's only fourteen hours until the board meets… and I hope you had your dinner and went to the bathroom beforehand."
The sounds of their laughter faded into the distance.