Mystique Rogue Read Free Page A

wandered over to the fax and grabbed the paperwork which had finished printing. Finally, she sat down to finish her semi-warm food and glanced at the letters and sighed. “A Christmas card from Mom.” A quick swipe of a steak knife opened the envelope. “Will she never learn I’m not, nor ever will be the good little Christian she wants me to be?” A few cards were from past clients who had become good friends. The rest of the mail was junk.
    Finally, she reached for the package and pulled it to her. It had been expertly wrapped in a plain brown wrapper and sealed with wax. A quick glance at the stamps gave her the country of origin, Scotland. With anger boiling in her system, she cut the tape and removed the wrappings, setting them aside.
    Nestled inside the box, was a very dusty bottle of Glenmorange. The bottle was so old, the label was significantly faded . giving her no clue of its true age.  A handwritten note was tucked into the box beside the bottle.  Carmen arched an eyebrow at it, knowing how expensive watermarked parchment could get, then examined the calligraphy as she read the note.
     
    Dear Miss Marshall,
    In consideration  of my contract with your employer, Ms. Randall, please accept this gift.  I look forward to meeting you in Scotland.  I expect you in a few days, your tickets and hostel arrangements will be on your employer’s desk.  Have a safe journey and fair winds.
    Until we then,
    The Rogue
    Beneath his signature was an emblem of a theater mask, his trademark. 
    “ Damn him to fucking hell!” She yelled grabbing his promotional photo from the pile of printed paper she made a conference call.  Four people’s faces appeared on the big screen on the wall. Instead of trading their usual banter, Carmen held up The Rogue’s photo. “We haven’t gotten this job, yet because this man wants a meeting with me face to face.”
    “ You’re kidding.” Michelle winced, but made no further comment.
    “ I want the full package on this guy. Logan, you need to get all the information there is.   I want to know who he is and where he’s from. I want to know...”
    Logan interrupted.  “You want the works, right boss?”
    Carmen nodded to him. “Yer damned right . I do.  Louis and Carla, you two are info buffs and like finding good deals on travel. I’m going to go to Glasgow.  Find me an out of the way hotel which has a fireplace, at least in the main lounge.  You know what I like. Michelle.”
    “ Yes boss?” Michelle grinned.
    “ Keep these miscreants in line until I get back. But I want that package of information uploaded into my computer before my plane leaves the run way. Anyone have questions?” Carmen glanced at each person in turn.
    “ Just one.” Logan raised his hand. “You do realize, digging into the background of a celebrity will trip some triggers.”
    “ Be careful then.  Leave no traces.” Carmen held the photo up again and waved it. “This guy already has sent me tickets to go his way, and essentially told the boss I was a coward. That she should hire more men. He indicated that at least a man would talk to him face to face.”
    “ I guess he needs to be educated.”  Michelle rolled her eyes. 
    “ This morning, The Rogue sent this to me.” Carmen held up the bottle for all of them to see. “I can tell you right now, it’s a very old and a very dusty bottle of Glenmorange. Even the label has faded.  I won’t tell you what the note said, but I’m going to Scotland and poke a few holes in his ego.” 
    Carla began laughing and Louis chuckled too. “Oh... Oh gods!” she squeaked, “I would love to be there to see you do pull this off.” She howled louder, soon all four of them joined in. 
    Carmen smiled at her team. “I may consider taking this contract, just so you guys can torment him.” She tossed his photo down. “Okay guys, get to work and by the way, I’ve sent a large bonuses for each of you directly to your bank accounts. Twins, Daria