Author's note: Ooh… two chapters in a row. Hope this one is better! Read on and don't forget to review review review!
Chapter 10:
The white limousine drove up towards the mansion and glided to a halt at the bottom of the grand stairway. A young doorman in a suit scurried towards the limousine and swung open the door with a flourish. Kira stepped out onto the granite setts and glanced up at the towering manor on its low hill. He tilted his head slightly at the doorman and extended a hand to Stellar. Then they stood side by side under the rapidly darkening sky. The doorman closed the door and patted the limousine twice on the hood. The car started off and glided around the roundabout.
They began the ascent up the grand stairway. At the top, they found themselves on a red carpet with gold trim, laid out on the marble of the front portico. The entire portico was swarmed with guests, standing in two lines. At the head of the queues was an unmistakable huddle of uniformed cops.
Kira felt a gentle prod at his ribs. He turned to cast a glance at Stellar. She was eyeing the police officers warily. They were checking IDs, patting down guests, rummaging through pockets and purses. She leaned close to Kira's right ear. "Security's quite tight," she murmured, "seems like Clyne is on his guard."
He nodded, skimming the crowd quickly with dark amethyst eyes. Rau had sent someone over with a floor-plan of the Clyne Mansion, snapshots of all the people who would be in the house that evening, a map with the police checkpoints neatly marked out, as well as their clothes for the event. Two days of detailed planning and careful analysis. And now, it was time for the performance.
Kira led Stellar towards the crowd and they joined the queue, Stellar on the right and Kira on the left. The two lines inched forward slowly. Stellar was right. Security was tight. Every single guest was searched and prodded and every single purse or wallet examined closely.
Siegel Clyne was being wary.
It was Stellar who reached the checkpoint first. "Evening, ma'am," a female officer, with long, scarlet red hair in pony-tails and a laptop in front of her, smiled. A polite smile, distracted and half-hearted. They meant business. "May I have your invitation and your ID?" she said, "And we need to search your purse." She gestured at the shiny clutch in Stellar's hands. "Of course," Stellar flashed a beautiful, charming smile as she handed over fake ID and invitation papers. The red-headed female officer began to type with her right hand, holding Stellar's ID in her left. Another female officer, also with scarlet red hair, this time shoulder-length, stepped up to Stellar and made a vague gesture to signal that she was going to touch her. Stellar smiled, spread her arms like an offering and the female officer went about her business.
Sisters, Kira thought, as he watched the faces of the two female officers closely.
A male officer with pale green hair emptied the contents of her clutch on the wooden desk and ran a hand through the stuff, sorting them. There was a lipstick, a make-up compact case, a gold pen, a bunch of keys and a small, dainty purse which he turned over onto the desk to find only coins. He picked up the lipstick and uncapped it, opened the compact case, tried the pen, examined each key and glanced through the coins. Talk about tight security, Kira thought. But he wasn't worried about the examination. He was more concerned about the ID check.
The red-haired female officer continued scanning through what she had on her screen, her index finger scrolling rapidly on the mouse. Then she smiled. "Ah, Miss Irene Thatcher... Here's your ID. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Kira smiled inwardly. Sting could always do miracles with the computer.
"No problem. I understand." Stellar smiled. The male officer replaced everything in the clutch and returned it, then gestured her forward.
Stellar had passed through safely. No problem.
It took another minute and a half before Kira was at the desk. "Evening, sir," the same red-headed female officer smiled. With that same distracted, half-hearted smile. "Your invitation, sir, and your ID."
Kira delved into his trouser pocket and pulled out a black wallet. Took out the fake ID from the plastic transparent pocket and tugged out the fake invitation papers. He passed them both to the female officer, gave her a charming smile and achieved the effect he wanted.
The female officer blushed slightly.
"May we see the contents of your pockets, sir?" The other female police officer asked. She looked a little sterner, a little more serious. Kira smiled. A little more difficult to seduce. The elder sister then. More experience, more mature. Seen her fair share of charming young men.
"Of course."
He laid his wallet out on the wooden desk and reached into his pockets again, retrieving a bunch of keys and a black pen. The male police officer stepped up to him. "We're conducting a physical check," he explained. Kira nodded his approval and the officer began to pat him down, starting from under his arms, down his waist, both legs, then up again and over his arms. He even ran a metal detector over Kira before nodding satisfactorily. Behind him, the female officer was rifling through his contents with the same kind of precision.
There was someone else besides the three police officers. A young man in a tux, leaning against the frame of the door, his arms crossed casually in front of his chest. He looked like a guest, but he wasn't in line, and he wasn't waiting to be checked. He was just gazing down the line and watching the officers examine the guests. Navy blue hair. Sparkling emerald eyes swept over the crowd, examining each guest thoroughly and intently, and came to land on Kira.
Kira smiled and nodded at him in acknowledgement. The stranger smiled back, but it was a smile that didn't quite go to his eyes. Those deep green eyes kept watching him closely. Kira knew that expression well. It was guarded. The smile was merely a form of politesse. He hadn't dropped his guard. A smart, cautious, wary kind of guy.
Kira knew people like that. They were trouble.
"Here it is, Mr Henry Alexander," The female police officer extended a hand to return his ID. Kira thanked her and reached for his card. He allowed their fingers to brush, then purposefully flashed an apologetic smile. He returned his properties to his pockets, cranked up the charm in his smile and stepped through the main doors of the Clyne Mansion.
He had passed through safely.
No problem.