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It wasn’t that Henner didn’t look spiffy on the normal, it was just that he tended to prefer casual and comfortable attire and I’d never seen him in anything but. The change was a little eye-catching.
Henner smiled, wide enough that the corners of his eyes wrinkled. “You look amazing.”
I was pretty sure that was my line, but I still did a little twirl to make the throw and wide leg of my glad rags flare a little. I’d taken some time with my makeup, too. Nothing too bold, everything tasteful and understated, to go with the gold jewelry. It wasn’t exactly my own style, the old money look, but that was what a disguise was supposed to be, wasn’t it? Make you look like not you?
Can we get going already?
I didn’t exactly ignore Cain, but I didn’t answer him either. Instead, I made sure his class ring was turned so that only the band was showing, and I grabbed up my coat.
“Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” I took the arm Henner held out to me, and let him lead me to the car.
“Wowzers! Where’d you get this number?”
The sleek black sports car was not what I’d been expecting at all. I’d never seen it before. Usually, the car Henner drove was a mid-eighties, black Lincoln Continental—something a lot more down to earth.
He winked at me as he opened the passenger door. “It’s probably best if I don’t tell you.”
I had to laugh. Yes, we were maybe heading into danger. But at least we could have a little fun while we were doing it.
***
Calliope was as good as her word and had texted me the address as soon as she got it herself. I didn’t really have much to go on about the location itself. I tried looking the place up online, but there didn’t seem to be any information available, which was probably on purpose once I thought about it.
It meant that I was pretty surprised when, after Henner parked a few blocks away in case we needed to am-scray in a hurry, to find us walking up to a ritzy looking movie theater.
A few people were drifting in, looking like fancy people out for an evening of entertainment. The box office was all lit up, and there was a woman in a white shirt and black vest manning the booth. Instead of selling tickets, she had a clipboard.
One guy in a t-shirt and jeans with his arm around a girl in leggings, tried to buy tickets for a show, and he was told politely that the theater was closed for a private event. At least we knew we were probably in the right place.
Henner nudged me with his shoulder. “I guess we ended up going to the movies tonight after all.”
It startled a laugh out of me. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until I relaxed. This all wasn’t like anything I’d ever done before, but Henner was with me, and Cain, too. Really, it was an act. I could do that. I could be ‘Lillian Gold’, who had more money than she knew what to do with and a love of beautiful things she wanted to horde away from the world.
I squeezed Henner’s arm where I’d threaded mine around it. Then I tilted my head back and lengthened my stride. Put a tiny bit of a roll into each step, until it was almost a strut. Lillian Gold didn’t creep, she moved like she had lots in common with Moses—like she expected the seas to part in front of her.
Henner matched me, stride for stride, but somehow, he managed to feel like he was a half step behind me. Like he was there as set dressing for me. There to carry my things and escort me, but otherwise blend into the background.
“Don’t look now, but there are three cameras directed towards the front entrance. Act like you don’t notice them. I’ll make sure they don’t get a good image of us.”
I gave Henner a grateful squeeze but didn’t look at him. Lillian Gold wouldn’t have looked.
Though, I couldn’t resist a comment to Cain.I told you he’d be useful.
He grunted, which was his way of admitting I was right without actually having to say it.
The woman in the booth was all smiles as we approached, but I caught sight of her hand hovering close to a discrete black button. Whoever was behind all this, they weren’t playing around.
“I’m so glad you could join us tonight,” the young woman chirped. “Miss…?”
“Gold.” I looked away, like I was bored. “Lillian Gold.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl give her list a discrete look. She looked back at us, and if anything, her smile was wider. She could have done toothpaste commercials, with chompers like that.
“It’s lovely to have you with us. Please enjoy the show.”
We sailed through the front doors and into the lobby of the theater. Modern theaters tended to have easy to clean carpeting, big posters on the walls, with the smell of buttered popcorn and burnt sugar hanging in the air. Not this place. The rugs were deep red with a subtle gold pattern, and all the doorways had heavy red velvet drapes blocking them.
The whole lobby looked like it had been stripped of posters, and instead there were stands set up with little cards placed on them. I managed to catch a glance of one as we joined the small crowd of people waiting for things to shake a leg already. In beautifully neat calligraphy, the card said,white and blue porcelain vase, Ming dynasty.
