Chapter 6
Rayne looked at Seto as if he was her number one enemy. His secretary probably told him all about her, so he could be considered as much. All she knew was, if he told Yugi and Bakura about her, everything was going to go to Hell in a hand basket.
"Well, Yugi. Bakura. To what might I owe the pleasure of you being here?"
"Listen, Kaiba. It's extremely important that we be here." Yami said in a serious tone.
"I'd like to hear your reasoning," Kaiba replied in a dark voice.
"I can't explain it. All you need know is that we're just about to leave anyway."
"You may be, but your new little friend behind you won't be so quick in joining you."
"What? What would you need with-"
"It's okay, Yugi." Rayne said suddenly. "I feel I need to have a nice long chat with Kaiba."
Yami gave her a quizzical glance, but she didn't notice, as she was staring at Seto with considerable attitude.
"You and Bakura can just go. I'll be down with you shortly," she said, never once taking her eyes off of Kaiba.
"Are you sure, Rayne?" Bakura asked her.
"Yeah. I won't be long."
"All right. We'll be downstairs in the lobby," Yami said making his way to the door, Bakura following close behind. Kaiba remained in the doorway as Yami approached, smiling slightly as Yami gazed at him with a look bordering on hatred. Kaiba's smile simply widened and he stepped out of the way to let them pass. Bot Yami and Bakura shot him a last withering glance as they passed and walked down the hall.
"You'd better go with them, Mokuba. Just to make sure they don't get in any other places they have no business being in."
Mokuba looked a little shocked at his brother's suggestion, and opened his mouth to protest, but then saw the look in his eyes as he gazed at Rayne, and thought the better of it. He simply turned, and with a quick glance behind him, followed Yami and Bakura to the elevator.
Kaiba looked over his shoulder to make sure the others were out of earshot, and closed the door.
"Now, Miss Misaro, I think we should have a little chat."
***
Yami, Bakura, and a slightly peeved Mokuba stood in the elevator going back to the bottom floor. Yami was thinking about the looks that Kaiba and Rayne were exchanging before they left.
"Kaiba knew something about Rayne that we don't," he thought. "More than likely, it's something that Rayne would keep secret with her life, so how would Kaiba know?"
Bakura looked over at Yami and noticed he was thinking hard about something.
"Yugi? What is it? You seem to be a bit lost in thought."
"I am. There's something Rayne's hiding that I believe is very important."
Mokuba heard Yami's comment and looked over at him.
"I heard my brother say something about that girl," he said aloud. "It was really a mumble, but I know I heard him say something about the government."
Yami and Bakura looked in shock at Mokuba's statement, then at one another.
"The government?" they said in unison.
***
Rayne was seated on the couch in front of Kaiba's desk fixing him with a stare that would normally make a man wilt. Kaiba sat back in his chair smiling nonchalantly at her rocking back and forth slightly. He then stopped and rose from his chair. He walked over to a small cart with a few beverages on it and began pouring himself a glass of water.
"Can I get you anything, Miss Misaro? I wouldn't want to be a rude host," he said in a calm voice.
"Cut the crap, Kaiba." Rayne replied haughtily.
"What? I'm just trying to be nice," he said turning to face her smiling.
"You know who I am, I know who you are, so why not knock off the nice guy act and be straight with me?" she said glaring at him. The tone she'd used just then had such an icy edge, Kaiba swore he felt a chilly draft blow through the room in the back of his mind. His smile dissipated, and he quickly returned to his seat and returned Rayne's grim stare.
"All right. You want me to be straight with you? Why shouldn't I have both you and your superior's badge for coming in here and running a search without a warrant?"
"Simple. This is a very important case that's time-sensitive and I didn't have the time to run it through the courts. I figured you wouldn't mind."
"You figured wrong."
"Well, like I said, I'm involved in a time-sensitive case, and I need to get in here to look for a clue that could make or break it, so I really couldn't give a damn whether you mind or not."
"You might not, but the courts would. Coming in here without a warrant is an invasion of privacy, last time I checked."
"Look. This kidnapping case is extremely important. The lunatic said the next clue to finding him would be here, so we came here. And why am I telling you all this? You have nothing to do with it. I'm out of here."
"You walk out, the next call I make is to my lawyers."
Rayne stopped in mid-air as she was getting up from her seat, and glanced up at Kaiba. If looks could kill, he'd be about six months gone. She slowly sat back down, knowing that with someone like Kaiba, from what she gathered, he meant every word. The last thing the government needed was someone like this guy on their backs.
"What exactly do you want, Kaiba?" she said in an even tone, trying hard not to lose her temper.
"I want to know why Yugi Muto is involved."
"Well, not that it's any of your business, but the kidnapped person is his friend, Joey Wheeler."
Kaiba looked a bit taken aback by Rayne's response, but quickly recovered from it.
"Why would whoever took him want Joey?"
"More than likely to get to Yugi. The suspect seems to have a vendetta against him."
Kaiba spun around in his chair to face the window and began to think.
"So someone's after Yugi, and is using Joey to get to him. Whoever it is will be in for a rude awakening if he believes that Yugi would take that lying down."
He then turned back around slowly and fixed Rayne with a calm look. Rayne returned his look with one of pure annoyance.
"Can you chill with the "James Bond" bad guy stuff? It's really starting to get on my nerves."
Kaiba chuckled slightly at her comment.
"So Tough Cop has a sense of humor," he said in a bemused voice.
"More than I can say for you. Are we done now?"
"Just a few more questions, Rayne. I can call you Rayne, correct?"
"Only if I can call you Dumbass."
Kaiba chuckled again and lowered his head to try to hide the fact that Rayne was beginning to ruffle his feathers. He failed miserably.
"Getting on your nerves, eh?" Now it was her turn to use a bemused tone.
"No, not at all." Kaiba replied lying through his teeth. "Just admiring that quick wit of yours. Just answer this. How did you become involved with this, exactly?"
"Well, the suspect left a letter saying that Yugi had a week to find him and Joey, and that he would leave clues behind to his whereabouts. It also said that Yugi could pick two people to help him, and I was one of the ones he picked."
"And you're just doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"
"Mostly. But I also believe that this guy may be the same one involved in a string of crimes that have surfaced recently."
"Ah. I've heard about those. They said they were getting the FBI involved in it."
"Well, it got transferred to us. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an investigation to get back to."
Rayne rose abruptly and began to take her leave when Kaiba began to speak again.
"I don't know what you expected to find here, or do expect to find here, if you're not leaving just yet," Kaiba called, "but I'll make sure my security personnel give you full access to my building."
"Appreciated." Rayne said over her shoulder.
"Oh, and Agent Misaro?"
"Yeah?"
"Here."
Rayne spun around just in time to catch a business card Kaiba had thrown at her. It seemed just like your ordinary car, with the Kaiba Corp. logo on the front. Rayne flipped it over to see that it had his personal phone line number written on the back.
"Feel free to call if you should need any help with your search."
"Heh. I'll do that." Rayne said slipping the card into her pocket and began to walk out.
"Or anything else, for that matter."
Kaiba looked at her as she stopped short for a split second, then continued on her way as if nothing had been said. Kaiba smiled slightly at her reaction to his last comment, and turned around to look at the city skyline from his window. He thought about how he should do some digging into Agent Misaro's background when he had the time, and look into these little string of crimes he'd heard so much about.
***
Rayne got off the elevator and walked out to the main lobby where Yami, Bakura and Mokuba were looking at something on the wall. Rayne got a curious look on her face and walked over to them.
"What we starin' at?" she asked.
"I think it's our clue." Bakura said never taking his eyes off the wall. Rayne looked at what had everyone so mesmerized and soon became mesmerized herself.
A poster that no one had seemed to notice before was hanging in front of them. It was an advertisement for a circus that had come to town a couple of weeks ago. There were acrobats and fire-breathers, all that stuff one would expect at a circus, but this was a bit different. All of the performers seemed to have a demonic look to them. Long, sharp teeth, evil looking eyes, the works. It creeped Rayne out a bit, but she'd seen worse to be honest, so she wasn't too freaked out. What she really noticed was the black circle that was in the left-hand corner of the poster. It seemed to surround an address.
"Check this out," she said pointing to it.
Yami and Bakura looked at the circle, and came to a realization.
"That's the address for the fairgrounds. I suppose he wants us to go there." Bakura said aloud.
"Well, then, that's where we're going," she said snatching the poster off the wall.
"Right." Yami said nodding. "I suggest we get going. It's around 4:00 now."
"You're right. We need to get a move on."
"I hope you guys bring Joey back safe." Mokuba said to them.
"You told him?" Rayne asked looking at Yami.
"He wouldn't leave us alone until we did," he replied.
Rayne sighed and shook her head. She then patted Mokuba on the head.
"Be good, kid," she told him.
She then walked off towards the exit with Yami and Bakura close behind, her mind set on getting to the fairgrounds, but also thinking about some other things. As she walked on, Bakura noticed her reaching to her pocket and taking something that looked like a card out, then throwing it in the nearest garbage can.
"What was that, Rayne?" he asked her.
"Just some old trash," she replied.
Rayne looked at Seto as if he was her number one enemy. His secretary probably told him all about her, so he could be considered as much. All she knew was, if he told Yugi and Bakura about her, everything was going to go to Hell in a hand basket.
"Well, Yugi. Bakura. To what might I owe the pleasure of you being here?"
"Listen, Kaiba. It's extremely important that we be here." Yami said in a serious tone.
"I'd like to hear your reasoning," Kaiba replied in a dark voice.
"I can't explain it. All you need know is that we're just about to leave anyway."
"You may be, but your new little friend behind you won't be so quick in joining you."
"What? What would you need with-"
"It's okay, Yugi." Rayne said suddenly. "I feel I need to have a nice long chat with Kaiba."
Yami gave her a quizzical glance, but she didn't notice, as she was staring at Seto with considerable attitude.
"You and Bakura can just go. I'll be down with you shortly," she said, never once taking her eyes off of Kaiba.
"Are you sure, Rayne?" Bakura asked her.
"Yeah. I won't be long."
"All right. We'll be downstairs in the lobby," Yami said making his way to the door, Bakura following close behind. Kaiba remained in the doorway as Yami approached, smiling slightly as Yami gazed at him with a look bordering on hatred. Kaiba's smile simply widened and he stepped out of the way to let them pass. Bot Yami and Bakura shot him a last withering glance as they passed and walked down the hall.
"You'd better go with them, Mokuba. Just to make sure they don't get in any other places they have no business being in."
Mokuba looked a little shocked at his brother's suggestion, and opened his mouth to protest, but then saw the look in his eyes as he gazed at Rayne, and thought the better of it. He simply turned, and with a quick glance behind him, followed Yami and Bakura to the elevator.
Kaiba looked over his shoulder to make sure the others were out of earshot, and closed the door.
"Now, Miss Misaro, I think we should have a little chat."
***
Yami, Bakura, and a slightly peeved Mokuba stood in the elevator going back to the bottom floor. Yami was thinking about the looks that Kaiba and Rayne were exchanging before they left.
"Kaiba knew something about Rayne that we don't," he thought. "More than likely, it's something that Rayne would keep secret with her life, so how would Kaiba know?"
Bakura looked over at Yami and noticed he was thinking hard about something.
"Yugi? What is it? You seem to be a bit lost in thought."
"I am. There's something Rayne's hiding that I believe is very important."
Mokuba heard Yami's comment and looked over at him.
"I heard my brother say something about that girl," he said aloud. "It was really a mumble, but I know I heard him say something about the government."
Yami and Bakura looked in shock at Mokuba's statement, then at one another.
"The government?" they said in unison.
***
Rayne was seated on the couch in front of Kaiba's desk fixing him with a stare that would normally make a man wilt. Kaiba sat back in his chair smiling nonchalantly at her rocking back and forth slightly. He then stopped and rose from his chair. He walked over to a small cart with a few beverages on it and began pouring himself a glass of water.
"Can I get you anything, Miss Misaro? I wouldn't want to be a rude host," he said in a calm voice.
"Cut the crap, Kaiba." Rayne replied haughtily.
"What? I'm just trying to be nice," he said turning to face her smiling.
"You know who I am, I know who you are, so why not knock off the nice guy act and be straight with me?" she said glaring at him. The tone she'd used just then had such an icy edge, Kaiba swore he felt a chilly draft blow through the room in the back of his mind. His smile dissipated, and he quickly returned to his seat and returned Rayne's grim stare.
"All right. You want me to be straight with you? Why shouldn't I have both you and your superior's badge for coming in here and running a search without a warrant?"
"Simple. This is a very important case that's time-sensitive and I didn't have the time to run it through the courts. I figured you wouldn't mind."
"You figured wrong."
"Well, like I said, I'm involved in a time-sensitive case, and I need to get in here to look for a clue that could make or break it, so I really couldn't give a damn whether you mind or not."
"You might not, but the courts would. Coming in here without a warrant is an invasion of privacy, last time I checked."
"Look. This kidnapping case is extremely important. The lunatic said the next clue to finding him would be here, so we came here. And why am I telling you all this? You have nothing to do with it. I'm out of here."
"You walk out, the next call I make is to my lawyers."
Rayne stopped in mid-air as she was getting up from her seat, and glanced up at Kaiba. If looks could kill, he'd be about six months gone. She slowly sat back down, knowing that with someone like Kaiba, from what she gathered, he meant every word. The last thing the government needed was someone like this guy on their backs.
"What exactly do you want, Kaiba?" she said in an even tone, trying hard not to lose her temper.
"I want to know why Yugi Muto is involved."
"Well, not that it's any of your business, but the kidnapped person is his friend, Joey Wheeler."
Kaiba looked a bit taken aback by Rayne's response, but quickly recovered from it.
"Why would whoever took him want Joey?"
"More than likely to get to Yugi. The suspect seems to have a vendetta against him."
Kaiba spun around in his chair to face the window and began to think.
"So someone's after Yugi, and is using Joey to get to him. Whoever it is will be in for a rude awakening if he believes that Yugi would take that lying down."
He then turned back around slowly and fixed Rayne with a calm look. Rayne returned his look with one of pure annoyance.
"Can you chill with the "James Bond" bad guy stuff? It's really starting to get on my nerves."
Kaiba chuckled slightly at her comment.
"So Tough Cop has a sense of humor," he said in a bemused voice.
"More than I can say for you. Are we done now?"
"Just a few more questions, Rayne. I can call you Rayne, correct?"
"Only if I can call you Dumbass."
Kaiba chuckled again and lowered his head to try to hide the fact that Rayne was beginning to ruffle his feathers. He failed miserably.
"Getting on your nerves, eh?" Now it was her turn to use a bemused tone.
"No, not at all." Kaiba replied lying through his teeth. "Just admiring that quick wit of yours. Just answer this. How did you become involved with this, exactly?"
"Well, the suspect left a letter saying that Yugi had a week to find him and Joey, and that he would leave clues behind to his whereabouts. It also said that Yugi could pick two people to help him, and I was one of the ones he picked."
"And you're just doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"
"Mostly. But I also believe that this guy may be the same one involved in a string of crimes that have surfaced recently."
"Ah. I've heard about those. They said they were getting the FBI involved in it."
"Well, it got transferred to us. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an investigation to get back to."
Rayne rose abruptly and began to take her leave when Kaiba began to speak again.
"I don't know what you expected to find here, or do expect to find here, if you're not leaving just yet," Kaiba called, "but I'll make sure my security personnel give you full access to my building."
"Appreciated." Rayne said over her shoulder.
"Oh, and Agent Misaro?"
"Yeah?"
"Here."
Rayne spun around just in time to catch a business card Kaiba had thrown at her. It seemed just like your ordinary car, with the Kaiba Corp. logo on the front. Rayne flipped it over to see that it had his personal phone line number written on the back.
"Feel free to call if you should need any help with your search."
"Heh. I'll do that." Rayne said slipping the card into her pocket and began to walk out.
"Or anything else, for that matter."
Kaiba looked at her as she stopped short for a split second, then continued on her way as if nothing had been said. Kaiba smiled slightly at her reaction to his last comment, and turned around to look at the city skyline from his window. He thought about how he should do some digging into Agent Misaro's background when he had the time, and look into these little string of crimes he'd heard so much about.
***
Rayne got off the elevator and walked out to the main lobby where Yami, Bakura and Mokuba were looking at something on the wall. Rayne got a curious look on her face and walked over to them.
"What we starin' at?" she asked.
"I think it's our clue." Bakura said never taking his eyes off the wall. Rayne looked at what had everyone so mesmerized and soon became mesmerized herself.
A poster that no one had seemed to notice before was hanging in front of them. It was an advertisement for a circus that had come to town a couple of weeks ago. There were acrobats and fire-breathers, all that stuff one would expect at a circus, but this was a bit different. All of the performers seemed to have a demonic look to them. Long, sharp teeth, evil looking eyes, the works. It creeped Rayne out a bit, but she'd seen worse to be honest, so she wasn't too freaked out. What she really noticed was the black circle that was in the left-hand corner of the poster. It seemed to surround an address.
"Check this out," she said pointing to it.
Yami and Bakura looked at the circle, and came to a realization.
"That's the address for the fairgrounds. I suppose he wants us to go there." Bakura said aloud.
"Well, then, that's where we're going," she said snatching the poster off the wall.
"Right." Yami said nodding. "I suggest we get going. It's around 4:00 now."
"You're right. We need to get a move on."
"I hope you guys bring Joey back safe." Mokuba said to them.
"You told him?" Rayne asked looking at Yami.
"He wouldn't leave us alone until we did," he replied.
Rayne sighed and shook her head. She then patted Mokuba on the head.
"Be good, kid," she told him.
She then walked off towards the exit with Yami and Bakura close behind, her mind set on getting to the fairgrounds, but also thinking about some other things. As she walked on, Bakura noticed her reaching to her pocket and taking something that looked like a card out, then throwing it in the nearest garbage can.
"What was that, Rayne?" he asked her.
"Just some old trash," she replied.