Free Mystique Rogue by Diane Taylor Page A

performance so I can get back to doing what I was hired to do, eh?”
                  The cat apparently agreed, showing her by rubbing his head all over her hand. Reaching up to unlatch the handle, she stood up and waited for him to come out. As if choreographed, they paced up behind the Rogue like two wraiths in the night. Reaching up, she stopped his performance with a soft hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw the two who waited. “And who are you, to have magically appeared before me?”
                  The panther showed his teeth in a snarling menace, before Carmen laid a hand on its head. “I am the Lady of the Night which you seek.”  She grinned and pushed back the hood of her cloak, revealing herself to the audience.
                  The Rogue knelt and gave the cat a big belly rub before standing and taking her hand, kissing it like a true gentleman he was, then presented her to the audience. “Give this woman a round of applause. She’s earned it.”  He pulled her down into a bow as the audience stood and began to applaud wildly. 
                    As she raised her head, Carmen noticed one person who looked out of place in the front row. Not only was she not applauding, she seemed to be scowling. But the glimpse was brief as the Illusionist swept her off the stage and back into the anonymity of her job. He paused briefly to get a big gulp of Gatorade before heading back out to do his next piece of mystery for the audience.
                  Paul silently handed her equipment back and vanished into the chaos to get everything set up for the rest of his show. 
                  Carmen donned her gear and activated the mike, “Okay kiddies, we’ve had the laugh at the boss’s expense, shall we return to work?”
                  Snickers and a good hearty laughter met her ears, then everyone checked in.
                  “Michelle here. Everything’s fine on my end, nothing going on except the normal hustling around.”
                  “Logan calling. We’ve caught a few attempts to sneak in through the side doors. Mostly kids trying to get into the show for free, or fans trying to get a forbidden peek at his dressing room.”
                  Carla’s voice enter the conversation, “Louis and Carla are on the job. There are several camcorders out in the audience and at least one digital transmitter sitting out there, logging it for a website.  Logan? You on it?”
                  Logan sighed. “The only thing they’ll be getting is a bunch of static and white noise.”
                  Carmen nodded. “Pinpoint everything for the guards and let them handle the physical part of it. Michelle, soon as you think it’s safe, backtrack to Rogue’s dressing room and guard it. Louis, Logan, I want copies of  the front row audience on disk and time stamped after the performance finishes.”
                  “You got it boss.”
                  Moving through the performers and the rest of the props, she kept checking.  Slowly, she worked her way over to Michelle. “How’s it going on this end?”
                  “Fine. But I have to say, you two looked so hot out there.  Even I could see the chemistry.”  Michelle arched an eyebrow. “You sure you two didn’t do anything when you were in Scotland? Ian mentioned you called him and checked out of your room the same day we talked. Something about you two looked pretty cozy out there.”
                  Blushing, Carmen looked away and turned off her mike, but left the earphone on. “You have an uncanny way of making me feel like a kid with a porno magazine. What do you want me to say? The man has a primal quality about him. Believe me, the chemistry is there, but I won’t break my cardinal rule about getting emotionally involved.”  Yet her eyes wandered