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“Oh, fun, the gang’s all here,” I said.
“We need to get it before they do,” Owen said.
Rod gave Owen a “What should I do?” signal, and Owen waved for him to stay back. Owen and I headed closer to Mimi. As we moved, I thought of ways to distract her. I wondered if I could signal Rod to drop my illusion disguise. Seeing me pop up here would certainly distract Mimi, but I preferred not to resort to that.
I picked up one of the flower arrangements that looked like it was meant to be a centerpiece and carried it toward Mimi. My plan was to “accidentally” drop it right in front of her so she could be distracted by the need to berate me. I figured I might even be able to shock her by not falling on my knees or begging her for mercy. If she was enjoying her newfound power over people, she might find open defiance disconcerting.
Oh, yeah, this was the best mission ever.
I was already anticipating sweet revenge when something stopped me in my tracks.
I smelled something familiar—a scent like a spice factory explosion in a pine forest. That was the cologne I’d used as a weapon in Macy’s. It came from the assistant to Mimi’s right—the same side as the pocket she kept touching. The smell was so strong that either the guy had marinated in it or he’d recently been hit in the face with a heavy blast of it. I suspected it was the latter.
The puritans had infiltrated Mimi’s inner circle. We didn’t stand a chance of getting close enough to her to make the swap.
Chapter Eleven
I tried to warn Owen to abort the mission, but he was so focused on finding an opportunity to pickpocket Mimi that I couldn’t get his attention without also drawing the attention of both Mimi and her puritan protector. All I could do was not create the diversion Owen was waiting for. I returned the centerpiece to the table and hoped Owen figured out that there had been a change of plans.
I watched helplessly as he edged closer and closer to Mimi. Once he was in position, he glanced around, looking for the expected diversion. When he finally saw me and gave me a “Well?” look, I shook my head. He frowned, shrugged, and then wandered casually back to me.
“What happened?” he asked when he was close enough that we could speak without being overheard.
“The assistant standing by Mimi’s critical pocket is a puritan.”
“How can you tell? Do you recognize him?”
“I smelled him.”
“Smelled him?”
“This guy reeks of that cologne I sprayed all over the guy chasing us in Macy’s. I mean, way more than ‘I don’t have time for a shower, so I’ll just put on some extra cologne’ levels. You know they’d have someone close to the brooch to be ready for making their grand saving-the-world show, so it all adds up. I doubt you’d have stood a chance.”
He glanced at Mimi and her minions, his brow knitted as he chewed his lower lip. Then he turned back to me and sighed softly. “You’re probably right. Good catch. But now what do we do?”
“I’m not sure we should do anything at the moment,” I said, nodding toward Sylvester and the elves, who were heading for Mimi.
He turned to follow my gaze, then he winced. “We should probably do something,” he said. “We can’t let them get to it first.”
I caught him by the elbow as he started to move. “No, wait. Those puritan guys aren’t going to let the elves take it, either. Maybe we could let them fight it out.”
He gave a grin that was so close to evil that if the people who were convinced he would follow in his birth parents’ footsteps had seen it, they’d probably have insisted on having him arrested immediately. “Nice thinking. Be ready to act once they’re distracted.”
But the elves walked right past Mimi. They acted like they were sniffing the air but hadn’t yet homed in on the scent—and I didn’t think they were tracking the minion’s cologne. “They don’t know who has it!” I whispered to Owen, clutching his sleeve where I still held his elbow. “They didn’t see her at the restaurant, and she’s not wearing the brooch. They must have sensed the brooch was here, but how accurate are they at close range?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” We went back to work messing with tablecloths but paying far more attention to what was going on with Mimi.
It turned out to be Mimi who approached the elves. “The band seems to be here,” she told one of her minions. “Check that off.” Then to Sylvester, she said, “Good, you’re here. They’ve got the stage set up over there.” She quirked an eyebrow as she took in an eyeful of Sylvester and Lyle’s vintage eighties attire and added, “I believe I mentioned on the phone that black tie would be required, so I hope you’re planning to change into your tuxes after you’ve carried in your gear.” When the elves didn’t move, she glared at them and said in a dismissive tone, “You can go set up now.” Without waiting for a response, she and her minions headed off to deal with the next item on her list.
Lyle turned and started to move away, obeying the order, but Sylvester caught the back of his shirt collar and kept him from going anywhere. Meanwhile, the Elf Lord’s eyes narrowed as he watched Mimi’s rapidly retreating back. One of his slanted eyebrows slowly rose, and he smiled slightly to himself.
“He’s figured it out,” Owen whispered to me as he pulled a cover off a chair and added it to a growing pile of rejected linens.
We both turned when someone new ran into the room. It was Earl. He skidded to a stop when he reached his supposed boss. “My lord!” he panted. “I got your message.”
Sylvester didn’t bother telling him to shut up. He merely raised his hand without turning to look at Earl. Earl made a face at the back of Sylvester’s head, then turned to us and gave a helpless shrug. “He is really on our side, right?” I whispered to Owen.
“He’s probably trying to keep his cover. At least, I hope so.”
