In Deep Shitake Part 11

Getting in couldn't have been any easier if they'd used his celebrity status to gain easier access. Mo and Ross walked directly to the front of the line of conventioneers waiting to get in and then the female security guard, who seemed to know Mo, ushered them forward. A ticket or pa.s.s was unnecessary. At a door that read "Security Personnel Only", Mo barely paused before entering.

Inside, the guard glanced in their direction.

"Hi, Mo," the guard greeted and then turned his gaze back to the bank of television monitors, each of which displayed an area of the enormous building and its grounds. Most monitors showed the throng of costumed people crowding the main halls.

The only other occupant was a young man, in a blue dress s.h.i.+rt and khakis, typing on a computer keyboard at a desk in the corner of the room.

When he spotted them, the young man jumped up before moving toward them with a smile. "What are you doing here?" He grabbed Mo and pulled into a hug.

Ross appraised the stranger as he would if he were casting an actor for a part. The young man was tall, tan and muscular. He had short brown hair and green eyes that sparkled. This man could easily be cast as a male model or professional athlete.

"Hola, Leo." Mo kissed him on the cheek.

Ross had an instant dislike for the stranger who seemed so friendly with Mo.

"How's my baby brother today?" She pulled away and then smiled back at Leo.

Baby brother? Ross liked him better already.

"I'm here to get a favor from my favorite sibling," Mo said, lightly punching Leo in the arm.

"I'm your only sibling," Leo replied.

"A mere technicality." Mo laughed. "We're trying to find someone in this horde." She motioned to the monitors. "You know Clarence from the agency?"

"Yeah. Squirrelly guy. And who's he?" Leo asked, looking at Ross. Sudden recognition struck. "Hey, you're-"

Ross felt himself inhale and stiffen for the blow.

"Ross Grant."

He exhaled in pleased relief.

Leo held out his hand and then Ross clasped it in a firm shake.

"Yes, that's right," Ross said.

"I thought your portrayal of that doctor battling drug addiction in High Medicine was inspiring."

Mo's expression was pricelessly surprised.

"Thank you," Ross said with what he knew must be a sillysmile. "It's very refres.h.i.+ng to have someone mention any of my work apart from the Stephen Dagger character."

Leo grinned. "Oh. The Stephen Dagger character. I remember a certain poster..." He looked archly at Mo who glared in return.

Her expression said "Don't you dare."

Ross wondered what she didn't want her brother to say?

Mo knew she would have to kill her brother if he kept this up. He could tell she was squirming and he thought her discomfort was oh so funny. Leo knew very well that Mo wouldn't want Ross hearing about the Stephen Dagger poster she once had. No doubt, if he wanted to, Leo could phrase the disclosure of the information for Mo's maximum discomfort.

With a gleam in his eye, Leo opened his mouth.

"Dammit." The old guard at the monitors swore and stood up. "Those animal characters in the j.a.panese anime room are at it again. They seem to think this is some kind of plushy convention." The guard grabbed a walkie-talkie from the desk. He marched toward the door and then threw it open. "And those temporary guys we hired are on break again. Great. Just great. This is the fifth time today that I've had to break up a furry orgy," he groused.

"Go ahead," Leo said. "I'll keep an eye on the monitors."

"Stupid fur b.a.l.l.s," the guard muttered as he pulled the door shut behind him.

"Where were we? Oh yes, I was reminiscing about the Stephen Dagger poster," Leo said. "I remember seeing that poster-"

"Never mind that. We need to find Clarence," Mo interrupted. "He probably arrived about an hour ago."

Leo allowed himself to be diverted. Mo knew she was going to hear about this later. He would claim she owed him big time.

"It shouldn't be hard to find him if he's here." Leo returned to his computer to sit down. A few keystrokes later, he brought up a digital image of the line of conventioneers at the entrance to the center. At the front of the line was a Freddie Kruger look-a-like. Behind him stood a wookie. And behind him was...son of a buscuit!

"Is that a live image?" Mo asked.

Leo nodded.

"Why? What do you see?" Ross asked coming closer. "Is it Clarence?"

"No. It's nothing," Mo answered, waving at Leo to continue running the cameras.

A click of the mouse and the images moved to fast rewind. The line of conventioneers moved backward. Should she tell Ross she'd seen Milton waiting to get in? No. Such a revelation would open a whole new set of issues. She would just have to make sure they avoided the reporter.

Leo glanced over his shoulder. "Are you Mo's boyfriend?"

"No," Mo shouted. Lowering her voice, she said, "He's not my boyfriend."

"Lover?"

"Leo. Shut the duck up."

Peering over Leo's shoulder, Mo scanned the crowd. After a few seconds she spotted what she was looking for. "Stop."

Leo clicked the mouse and the image froze.

"There he is." Mo pointed to the screen. Between Dracula and a Vulcan stood Clarence in his Stephen Dagger costume. The outfit consisted of a body hugging black s.h.i.+rt tucked into tight black leather pants. On his feet were black biker-type leather boots. Clarence had even styled his hair like the super spy. The black shoulder length hair had been slicked back, except for the front bang, which fell in a curl on his forehead. Signature Dagger.

Now that he was wearing the garb, and with that hairstyle, Clarence did have a decent resemblance to Ross acting as Stephen Dagger. Of course, the gawky and lank Clarence didn't have the muscular build to fill out the clothing the way Ross would have.

"Whoa. That's a really big gun he's got there," Leo observed.

Clarence did indeed have a replica of the trademark super spy gun tucked in a holster at his side.

Ross pressed against Mo's back and peered over her head at the computer screen. She glanced over her shoulder at him. Ross's expression was impa.s.sive. Whatever his reaction to seeing a Stephen Dagger doppelganger, he was hiding it. He stared coldly at the image of Clarence that was still paused on the computer screen.

Now that she noticed his nearness, Ross was having a significantly detrimental effect on the regularity of her heartbeat. Could he see the speed of it in the pulse at the base of her neck? Mo straightened and found herself eye-to-eye with Ross. There was barely three inches between their lips. The temptation was strong to lean forward and press her mouth to his. Kissing him would be so easy, but at the same time to difficult. Taking that kind of action would tell him clearly she was attracted to him. She couldn't reveal such potentially humiliating information and put herself at a disadvantage. She had to stay in control.

A tense silence stretched between them.

"Is your gun that big?" Mo taunted trying to break the tension.

"It's..." Ross stared into her eyes and then glanced down at her lips and winked as he said, "bigger."

"Watch it. That's my sister you're talking to," Leo inserted.

Fortunately, Ross was amused. "Yes, sir." He gave Leo a mock salute with two fingers to his forehead.

"Let's see where Clarence went from there." Leo brought their attention back to the computer. He typed away on the keyboard and abruptly the image was replaced with one of an interior corridor just inside the entrance to the building. Clarence fast-forwarded across the screen.

Leo manipulated the computer images, clicking from one camera to the next, following Clarence as he progressed double-quick toward the main hall. Then Clarence stopped at a booth stocked with movie weaponry.

"It looks like he's at Booth 113." Leo tapped the screen. "This camera shot is live."

The image zoomed in on Clarence examining an evil looking sword. He ran his finger along the edge and then brought it to his mouth and sucked as if he'd drawn blood. Still, Clarence examined the weapon covetously.

As far as Mo could recall, Stephen Dagger hadn't used any swords in SpyMatrix. Maybe the receptionist was thinking about branching out into another character. Clarence the Barbarian.

"Let's get him," Mo said.

Ross nodded as he hurried out of the small room.

Leo placed his hand on Mo's arm, stopping her from following Ross. "Sis, why don't you lay off the witty comebacks? I can tell you like this guy." Leo's expression was serious.

"I just met him," Mo sputtered, trying to tug out of his hold.

"Yes, but you use a tough, snarky exterior as a s.h.i.+eld and that's intimidating to a guy. From the way he looks at you, I can tell Ross likes you too." Leo squeezed her arm.

"How does he look at me?" she asked, wis.h.i.+ng she didn't want to know "Like he's...like he's licking you with his eyes."

Ooooh. That was evocative.

"Well, props to me that the big celeb wants to lick me. But with his eyes? Ew," Mo joked.

"There you go with the snark. All I'm saying is ease up a little and give Ross a chance."

Yeah right. Famous last words. "A chance to cut my heart out?" Mo tugged her arm and, this time, Leo let go. "I gotta find Clarence."

"Just think about what I said."

She definitely didn't want to think about his advice, but she probably would anyway. Right now she had other things to worry about. Like finding Clarence.

The main hall area had been set up in aisles with booths offering every sort of cinema related product or service. From the expected booth offering DVD movies for sale to the unexpected booth offering a product described as extraterrestrial munchies, it was all there. Mo and Ross headed toward the weaponry booth-intermittently visible through the pa.s.sing cl.u.s.ters of costumed conventioneers-about seventy feet away from the entrance to the hall.

"There's Clarence." Mo pointed to their target as he continued to examine the sword.

Ross charged forward.

"Wait." Mo tugged on the back of his s.h.i.+rt and they stopped near a booth with a sign that proclaimed: Costumes for Rent. Clarence was now brandis.h.i.+ng the sword experimentally fifty feet away.

"I think I should talk to him alone," she stated.

"What is it now? Client confidentiality again? Don't you recall that I'm the client now?"

Mo shook her head. "No, it's not that. We don't know how Clarence will react to seeing you. He obviously had a fixation on Stephen Dagger. He could freak out when he comes face-to-face with the real Dagger."

Ross turned an evil eye on her. Before he could respond, she said, "I know you're not Dagger, but you're as close to the real Dagger as there is in this universe. I don't think it would be a good idea for two Daggers to meet because..." She searched her mind for some persuasive argument. Inspiration struck. "Isn't there some kind of rule that two Kirk's can't meet face-to-face without a matter and antimatter explosion destroying the universe or something?"

"What the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l are you talking about, woman? Who is Kirk and what does he have to do with this?" Ross squawked. "Are you saying that it could cause an explosion if I question this Clarence bloke? I don't see how that is possible given the laws of physics."

Mo resisted the urge to check whether the word geek had suddenly appeared on her forehead. "Bad a.n.a.logy. Just something from the television reruns of my childhood." Mo glanced at three pa.s.sing youths dressed in futuristic military uniforms. "Must have been the surroundings that got to me. Forget it."

He stared at her in wonderment. "You really are a nutter." He shook his head. "We're wasting time." Ross started forward again. One megastep, then two. Mo trotted along behind him.

A group of young men dressed as pirates crossed in front of them and then stopped, blocking Clarence from view. The swashbucklers began to argue boisterously with one another about whether the second Pirates movie was better than the first. "I think we should go to the back-to-back movie showing they have here in the Continental Room to settle this once and for all," one youth dressed as pirate captain said to the group.

"Yeah," another one, also dressed as a captain agreed.

They were all Captains. Captains with very heavy eyeliner.

"Excuse us," Ross said, pus.h.i.+ng his way through the group.

The group parted and Clarence became visible again. He wasn't holding the sword now. The sword had been placed back on a rack on the wall of the booth. However, Clarence was holding something else. The hand of a tall blonde. The woman turned.

"Heather," Ross gasped.

Ross and Mo lurked near the costume rental booth observing Clarence and his companion from behind a rack of what looked like cartoon animal hides. The heads, with their enormous gla.s.sy eyes, hung back as if someone had broken their necks.

"That's Heather, my girlfriend-I mean ex-girlfriend," Ross mumbled.

"Can't decide if she's an ex or not?" Mo couldn't help the arch in her eyebrow. Was that jealousy in her tone? She'd better watch that. She didn't want Ross to get the wrong idea. But she did have to admit to herself she was jealous.

Peering at Heather over the rack of fake animal skins, Mo found herself digging her fingernails into the bunny head in front of her. The beauteous Heather chattered to a nodding, but solemn, Clarence. Heather twirled a golden curl with one hand partially obscuring her face. For fries' sake, the woman had to be at least six feet tall, with legs at least five of those feet. And talk about thin. She was probably only about one hundred pounds.

"She doesn't eat, does she?" Mo commented.

"What does that matter right now?"