Graceful Deception

10. Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Boss

I rolled my eyes.  “Whatever, Stella.  Whatever.”

“Seriously, though.  How John managed to keep his hands off you for so long before when you were dressed like that, fighting Knights and whatnot.  It’s every man’s dream…”

Just like on the trip before, my break-in outfit consisted of black skinny jeans and black tank top.  My leather jacket was slung over my bag at its place on the floor, my boots sitting beside them. 

It was just the two of us in the hotel room.  John and Ren had gone to the Kantei, the building we were going to be breaking into in only a matter of a few hours.  But with Ren’s program for the security system, it required a direct connection for the transmitter so that he would be able to be in a different location than right there in the security room.

So they were there then, breaking into the place already so they could pave us a way for an easier break-in later. 

And was I kind of in panic mode, hoping they didn’t get caught before the real thing?

Let’s just say that, since I had the television on one of the local news stations, waiting for a news story to break with John and Ren’s faces plastered all over the screen, yes, I was in panic mode. 

“You said that they’ve done this dozens of times before, right?” I asked Stella.  I needed to keep talking, even if it was about this, just so my mind wouldn’t run away with me. 

“Oh, yeah,” she nodded, her eyes on the television as she changed the channel from the news.  “Ren’s been with John on pretty much every break-in he’s been on.  He’s always been the tech guy on the major ones that required more than just that decoder of John’s.  Nothing’s every gone wrong before, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

But still.  I was worrying, even though she told me I didn’t have to.  I pretty much couldn’t help it.

“Alright, I sighed, sitting down on the bed beside her.  “Just to get my mind off of what they’re doing right now, tell me pretty much what’s going to go down tonight.  You’ll probably tell me more than John would.”

Stella grinned at that, knowing I was more than likely right.  “Okay, you’ve got it.  Since Ren’s going to be on his laptop instead of with us, he’s going to actually be in a restaurant down just one street over.  The transmitter will be able to reach where he’ll be, so he can look out for us from a distance.  We’ll still be able to communicate with him, of course, because we’ve got the earpieces that we showed you back in London.”

“Okay, and what about you?”

Stella’s grin grew as she stood, walking over to her suitcase to pull out a small, black plastic box.  “I’ll be with you and John, as a near lookout or whatever you want to call it.  I’ll keep a little ways ahead of you, making sure that our path is clear, of employees or otherwise.”

I nodded down to the box she placed on the bed just as she knelt down in front of is.  “And I’m assuming that whatever’s in there is for the otherwise?”

She nodded.  “Exactly.”

Popping open the two locks on either side, she lifted the lid, revealing the two handguns nestled in the foam padding.  Two knives were in another pocket of the foam beside them and the clips containing the bullets were latched into the lid. 

I shook my head as she pulled one of the guns from the case, stroking the black metal almost lovingly with a smile on her face.  “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  How you guys manage to get through airport security with those things is beyond me.”