Lemuria: The City of Mysts

Chapter 23: Father

A/N: Hi everyone. Am posting this a week early because it's February 14th and pushing that publish button would hopefully cheer me up right now. Am temperamental that way, I guess. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. Happy Valentine's Day!

Chapter 23: Father

Alfred Roucan watched a group of men accompany Louis inside his mansion. He drew away from the window and faced his new chief of security Smith.

“A civilian was with Louis”, Mr. Roucan processed what the man had reported.

“Yes, sir.”

“You used this ‘civilian’ to make my son cooperate.” He sorted the photos on the desk into two categories.

“Louis almost overpowered my men, sir. I had to use his friend as leverage.”

“With threats, I presume. Threatened his life, perhaps?” He folded his hands on the table and locked eyes with Smith. Confident and efficient as always, Mr. Roucan thought. A little overconfident, maybe. “If Louis didn’t act the way you predicted, what would you have done then?” What lengths would you have taken to complete this task?

Smith swallowed nervously, unsure of where he stood with his employer.

“There were no other witnesses?”

“None, sir.”

“No one followed you?”

An affirmative.

“Your identities were not compromised? That”, Mr. Roucan searched for a word, “spectacle won’t be traced back to me?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. You may leave.”

“Good day, sir.” Smith had his hand on the door knob, when Mr. Roucan called him back. “Sir?”

“Try to be more discreet next time.”

“Yes, sir.”

The chief of security closed the door behind him. He took a moment to compose himself. The dead fish eye look and toneless manner his employer had used unnerved him. No wonder half of his colleagues had pitying looks when they learned about his promotion.

It had only been several weeks since his rise from rookie to head of security after Mr. Roucan’s son slipped past security undetected. The former Chief had been stern and firm but respected by his men. He had held the position longer than most because of his loyalty to the family. There had been arguments between Mr. Roucan and him. Some of these were even direr than a troubled son who left home. What changed that the former Chief was dismissed? Mr. Roucan had offered an early retirement, but something about it didn’t seem to add up.

Smith turned to a corner, entered a room which he had come to dislike in the days that followed, and waited.

Louis strolled lazily. His hands in his pockets, he glanced at the men flanking him on all sides. They all wore the same stone-faced expression as they followed the slow pace he had chosen. They must be itching to get away from me. A corner of his mouth lifted then fell. These people had played the dirtiest trick of them all. Cowards! They used an innocent man when it was obvious who was winning the fight. If their orders had come directly from the former Chief, he could have predicted their next course of action. As it were, Mr. Roucan had been one step ahead of him all along. Louis determined to get the measure of the newly appointed Chief of Security before his escape.

They entered the gallery. Holograms of his ancestors were scattered around the otherwise bare dim lit room. They looked more like ghosts, translucent with the lower half of their bodies gradually thinning into nothing. Gloomy and creepy as ever, the ancestors appeared to stare disdainfully at the wayward son of Alfred Roucan. As an act of defiance, Louis lifted his chin at them. Let them stare.