Mystique Rogue (4 page)

             
Five feet from her target, a snarling growl sounded from the other side of a chair nearest to the fireplace. Two things happened at once before Carmen could take another step. The first, and most dangerous, was the huge white tiger leaping to its feet, showing an impressive set of sharp teeth and rippling muscle. The second was a mere flicker of silver streaking through the air in her direction.

Reflexes honed by years of training saved her from being impaled.  The tip of the blade traced a burning path up and across the right side of her face to cut into the bandage over her left eyebrow.  Cursing, Carmen dropped to the floor and rolled, coming to a stop against one of the marble column which made up the mantelpiece of the fireplace, clutching the side of her face. In desperation, she pulled the butterfly knife out of her pocket, flicked it open to defend herself. With her other hand she grabbed the throwing knife and held it up by the point, ready to throw.

              The sight of her knife gave her assailant pause. It did nothing for the tiger as he went into hunting mode, belly crawling forward in the silent tradition of his species.  Carmen gave him a look. “Back off, fur ball, before I pull those claws and make them into a necklace.”

             
“Khan!” The word was a whiplash of command.

             
The tiger paused in his stalking and looked up at the shadows and made a whuffing sound.  “I know, Khan, but you can’t eat her. Go eat the dinner Lucy and Heather made for you.”

The huge white tiger sneezed, heaved himself up onto all fours
and stalked off to his plate of food.  The
shadow moved into the light, revealing the masked visage of
The Rogue
. “You have exactly ten seconds to explain yourself and why I just kept the
fur
ball
from tearing out your throat.”

             
Carmen rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Let’s not start with the awful clichés. I hate those things.” She sat up and put her back to the warm stone behind her, setting her knives down on the floor. “I believe you know Daria Randall? Owner of the Tarrington Security agency?”

             
His eyes narrowed behind the wine colored mask. As he turned his head, the gold inlays framing the eye slots winked softly in the firelight. “I know of her, yes.” The burr in his voice became more pronounced. “What has she got to do with an intruder in my home who might be here to kill me?”

             
Carmen kept a hand to her face to try and staunch the blood flowing from the cut and growled, “I’m the woman you so blithely called a coward to my boss and sent me a bottle of very old Glenmorange even before your arrogant ass thought I just might turn you down.”  Wiping her hand on her duster, she gave up trying to hold the cut and let it bleed down her face. “And if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have had to get this close to do it. A sniper with a silencer on the wall outside your house, a stealthy killer could have taken out your two assistants, then used a handgun at the door.  Your tiger may avenge your death, my friend, but you’d still be dead.”

             
“Miss Marshall?” The Rogue’s eyes widened showing his anger. “There were arrangements made for your arrival here. Anyone else would have welcomed the chance to meet
The Rogue
.”  He made a theatrical sweep with his hand.

             
Gods what an arrogant asshole!
  Carmen slowly reached into a pocket and hit speed dial. 

             
The phone was picked up on the other end, “Tarrington Security, how can we help you?”

             
Trust Daria to be at work at whatever time it was there. “Hey Daria, have you got The Rogue’s number handy?”

             
“Yeah, why?”

             
“Can you call him while I sit here next to the fire? I need you to confirm my identity. Just don’t hang up with me.”

             
A sigh of resignation. “What have you done, Carmen?”

             
“Testing his security measures and found out his suck.”

             
“My security measures do not suck, as you put it.” He took a step forward to loom over her “Khan has been my bodyguard since our first meeting!”

             
“Dialing now.” The phone started ringing near his right hand.

             
He picked up, his second dagger still pointed at her. “Hello?”

             
Daria’s side of the conversation echoed in her ear, “Rogue, this is Ms. Randall, Carmen’s boss.  You threw down the gauntlet when you called her a coward.  Now she’s doing her job so knock off the arrogant bullshit.  I know you’re doing it and, for God’s Sake! Get that cat out of the room before she makes another claw necklace!”

              He winced at the commanding tone in her voice. “I assure you Khan isn’t going anywhere, he’s currently asleep after eating a full bowl of the last person who thought they could intrude on my privacy.”

             
An ominous silence met her ear.  Carmen looked at her client before saying, “It’s a bowl of fresh meat, prepared by his cook, Daria. Before you pop too much of a cork, it was my fault. I should know better than to sneak up on a tiger. Should have remembered they like catnip.” She gave the masked man a meaningful look. “Just for alone, I may just demand combat pay.” She groused.

             
That got his attention as his eyes took in the bloody mess
on the side of Carmen’s face, and the
anger slowly died, replaced by concern. “Do it, Ms. Randall.  Her latest injury was due to my own paranoia, not my cats'.” He paused and added, “Thank you for having your company available to me.” He hung up his phone and left the room.

             
“Carmen, what in hell really did happen over there?” Daria asked softly.

             
Carmen sighed, then sat up a bit, keeping an eye on the tiger. “Oh nothing.  You know me and checking security before introducing the team to a client.  He pissed me off with the stunt he pulled at your office, so I figured I’d give him a run for his money.  Thing’s definitely are bad when you get within five feet of the man you’re going to be protecting, only to have him come at you with a dagger in hand, and a tiger out for blood.  Nothing in the files I got said his tiger ran around loose.” She wiped at her forehead. “And besides, I wasn’t really going to ask for combat pay.”

             
Daria growled. “Tough titties, Carmen. You spoke, he approved, it’s a done deal. Now, he didn’t hurt you did he? You’re okay?”

             
Carmen pulled a bandanna from a pocket, she blotted the cut on her face. “Nothing I can’t handle, Mom.” She teased. “I didn’t expect the knife. Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s serious enough for a hospital visit. It’s just a shallow cut. If it had been anyone else, let’s just say they’d need more than just a bandage and warm milk for comfort.  Look, what was the reason he gave for hiring my team?  The way those two attacked together,I’d say he was waiting for someone to come kill him.”

             
Daria sighed. “You didn’t read his file, did you? I should let you figure this one out on your own, but I won’t.  Mr. Tall Dark and Mysterious has recently been receiving threat letters and the home you’re in has been vandalized more than once.  He’s let all but two of his servants off the hook by giving them an extended vacation with pay to protect them.” 

             
Carmen closed her eyes. “Well, it explains why he was sitting in the dark with only the firelight to keep him company.  Does the team have his itinerary and where he’s scheduled to perform?”

             
“It should be in the package they sent you. I’ll ask and see if they have updates.”

             
“If they do, tell them this is a top priority package, meaning works.” A sound by the door had her tensing until he walked back through the door, carrying hot water and a first aid kit. “I’ll talk to you later, Daria. Mr. Mysterious just returned with the first aid kit.”

             
“He Wha…”

             
Carmen turned off the phone, cutting off whatever her boss was about to say just as he moved close enough to set everything down beside her. “You know... We all know you’re big and bad anonymous, Rogue
.
  But if we’re going to have a working relationship here, it’d be nice to know your real name without having to grope you in the dark.”

             
Clearly startled, Rogue dropped the washrag he was holding. “That was you on the train?”  He gaped. “But, you were supposed to be...”

             
“Jumping through your hoops, to your tune, to allow myself to be led around by a ring through my nose and see what only you were going to show me, not what I needed to know.  And besides,” she laughed, grabbing a clean rag, wetting it, then began to clean her face, “I was slightly pissed at you, if you’ll recall.”

             
The corner of his lip twitched with a hint of a smile before taking the rag from her. “Well, you have to admit. I was not expecting you to be on board.  When the train stopped, I merely went there to be away from prying eyes. Instead, I felt hands and a soft body run into me shortly after the door opened. Your boss never told me what you looked like, so I had no idea what to expect.”

             
Wincing, Carmen stared at the green eyes behind the mask. “Take a look at my face, friend.  Who, after seeing this face, would want to hire my team and me? No amount of reputation in the world would keep people from shying away from someone who looked like me. There’s a good reason I don’t do face to face meetings.  Most of the time, I run the show from my home so as not to offend the sensibilities of the clientele.”

             
Switching to gauze pads and bandages, he began taping over the cut. “I’m arrogant, argumentative, and most people don’t like me very much because I don’t share with anyone. When people tell me no, my attitude gets worse.  My manager does not trust women and had made it a point to smear Ms. Randall’s name, which.” He managed to look sheepish. “Made me want to look into it all the more, just to see what caused him to look down his nose at Tarrington Security.”

             
Closing her eyes, Carmen relaxed under the warm, gentle touch. “I hate arrogant men and even worse, prissy chauvinistic gay men.”

His green eyes reflected the firelight as he finished taping and offered her a hand up. “How did you know he’s gay?”

              “Because a manager who never trusts women, tries to smear my boss’s good reputation, and is as tight lipped as the rest of your roadies is either very good at his job or has no interest in females.”  Carmen took the hand, ignoring the jolt of heat branding her skin, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “Now, since I know from the file I have, you always treat your people fair and pay them top dollar, I’m betting he’s gay. Probably overbearing, over protective and overreacts to any situation which doesn’t fit a strict parameter set by him.”

             
A rich, melodious laugh escaped from lips which Carmen knew were oh-so-soft. “You have Sam pegged on the dot.  He’s more like a mother hen than a manager. He’s been with me since the beginning of my career and has kept the women at arm’s length. Even after the...” He looked away.  “Accident.”

             
“You want to tell me what happened? And you’re avoiding my question, you know. I can’t keep calling you
Rogue
or
The Rogue
every time I want your attention.  The moment people hear the name, you’ll have screaming women, fans big and small, not to mention potential killers mobbing you.”

             
“I was attacked by a tiger several years ago.”  He kept a hold of her hand. “The visual scars are not something I wish to inflict on the public. Unlike you, however, I must be seen. So I wear the mask to not only protect my identity, but to keep the scars from detracting from the performances.”

             
Carmen smiled. “Aren’t we just two of a kind now? A man who hides from the world while being completely seen, and a woman who isn’t seen, yet plays a major part in it.  Now, you are stalling. At least give me some sort of name.” Carmen didn’t need to see the pain in his eyes to know he didn’t want to delve any further into those memories, so she deliberately changed the subject to lighten the mood.

             
He grinned. “You are like Khan with a chew toy he doesn’t want to give up. When you need to, you may call me Sean. But please, it just between the two of us. Not even my manager knows this name. To everyone, I am just
The Rogue
. Master Illusionist and Magician.”
 

             
“Sean, then. Now, before the day gets too much farther along, introduce me to your furry beast who wanted a piece of me, then we need to go through this place and work on the private security.”

             
Sean pulled her close to his body and stared into her eyes. “And tomorrow?” He whispered softly.  He seemed unable to stop himself from holding her.