CHAPTER 21

OCTOBER 22ND, 5:15 P.M.

--LEO--

“Isn’t it the greatest thing you’ve seen in your life?”

Leo looked up at the grand entrance of The Palace. Marble, polished stairs led up to the front, where stone archways supported by large columns created an exaggerated awning. Vines wrapped the columns with trimmed hedges acting as railings at the top of the stairs. The roof was one, massive slate of glass, forming a dome that gleamed in the sunlight.

“It’ okay,” he answered. “Not really my taste.”

“Yeah, it’s not mine either,” Laurel agreed. “It’s nothing unique, very much inspired by ancient Greece. Which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“Then why did you ask me if it was the greatest thing I’ve seen?”

“It was sarcasm, Leo.”

“Right…” Leo said, with a touch of embarrassment in his voice.

“I forgot you were an alien,” she teased him “I need to say everything literally around you.”

“There was sarcasm on my home world,” Leo rebutted.

“Sure.”

He rolled his eyes as they began up the marble steps. At the top, the polished marble reflected the visage of the people who walked over it. The entrance was three sets of double doors, with a long red carpet leading up to each one. The glass on the doors revealed merely a glimpse of what awaited inside. The doors, however, were unguarded.

“No one at the doors?” Leo asked.

“Usually not,” Laurel explained. “This place, this whole city is treated like heaven. No one would dare disturb the paradise.”

“Does that make us terrorists?”

“If we get caught,” she said with a sly look on her face.

The doors opened automatically as they approached, finally revealing the heart of The Palace. The floors were the same, reflective polished marble all throughout. The ceiling went all the way up to the top, allowing sunlight to shine down through the glass a hundred feet below. In the middle of the glass ceiling was an inverted crystal pillar with rows and rows of ornate lights, like a long chandelier. In the center of the pillar was a helix waterfall the fell all the way down to the ground floor into a small pond. Despite cascading from ten stories high, the water rolled down slowly, gently flowing into the pond. Everywhere, on every corner of every wall, was gold.

“It’s a hotel,” Leo said.

“And, a club, resort, casino, theatre, everything,” Laurel clarified.

“Needle in a haystack.”

“That’s why we need to get that script-“

“Ahh! My friend you are here!” a voice called out to Leo. He quickly looked around to identify the source, observing a shorter man with a thick black mustache, overly slicked hair and perfect white teeth walking towards him.

“I am so,” the man said, pausing as he finally reached Leo to shake his hand, “so happy to have you here. Edward Thatcher, but you knew that already,” he introduced himself, obnoxiously chuckling at himself as he turned his attention to Laurel.

“And you must be the missus?”

Leo looked at Laurel to see her looking back at him, with an almost nervous look in her eyes.

“Yeah, the missus,” he confirmed, taking her hand in his. Her face alleviated as her cheeks began to blush.

“Laurel,” she said to him, holding out her hand to greet.

“A pleasure,” he grabbed her hand with both of his, “to finally meet you, Laurel. Tell me friends, how was the trip? I pray smooth, yes?”

“Yes, actually. Surprisingly uncrowded,” she said to him.

“Oh, wonderful!” Edward smiled. “I feared when Mr. Leo told me on our telephone conversation that you two lived in Michigan, that the travel here would be too much of a hassle, but it seems fate was on our side this day.”

“It sure was,” Leo said. “I’m very fascinated by… this. The artifact, that is. I wouldn’t miss it.” He said, trying to mock an enthusiastic personality.

“Well, you’re speaking with the right man,” Edward laughed at his own joke again. “I am quite the connoisseur of trinkets. This one, in particular, my personal favorite. I am delighted you share interest. It is to my knowledge that this is your first time in The Palace?”

“Yep, first time. Beautiful place,” Leo said.

“It is a wonder of this world, is it not?” Edward said while kissing his fingertips. “I make you a proposition: It was a shame we couldn’t talk more when we first met at the banquet, so I take you on a tour around The Palace, tell you a little bit about myself before we move on to the exhibit? What say you?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Laurel answered.

“Excellent! Excellent,” he repeated. “You will be blown away, I am sure. Right this way, I shall show you around.” Edward began walking, with Leo and Laurel following close behind. He pointed out various designs and sculptures, explaining their origins and significance to them.

“You talked to him on the phone?” Laurel whispered to Leo.

“Yes,” he whispered back. “How else was I supposed to set this up?”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I’m interested in the artifact, and I would like to attend the auction.”

“He knew we were in Michigan.”

“I had to make it seem like I was a normal person. I didn’t tell him anything important if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I’m worried that he’s going to try to pry himself into being more involved in our “trip” that he’s supposed to be.”

“He won’t do that.”

“He’s awful enthusiastic about you…”

“He’s not going to follow us home.”

“I know that,” Laurel said, giving him a light, irritated push on the shoulder. “What if he tries finding us during the heist tomorrow?”

“We’ll tell him we’re not planning on bidding.”

“Then why does he think we’re here?”

“To look at the artifact. People like him nuts about their hobbies. They bombard the first person they find that is also somewhat interested,” Leo said. Edward continued the tour, pointing out shops and amenities, but his words faded to the background of his company ears.

“You told him I was your missus.”

“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”

“You don’t want me to think about that?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“I know that’s not what you said. This is just the first time you’ve ever said anything about us.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

“You’ve never been clear about what it is you want out of this.”

“That’s something I have to tell you?” Leo started to get agitated.

“At some point yes. Did you think it just starts on its own?” Laurel returned the adversity back, their voices barely keeping to a whisper.

“Would you like me to slow down?” Edward asked them.

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“No, it’s okay,” Laurel suddenly put on a cheerful tone. “Lead on.”

“Sure thing,” Edward said, continuing the tour.

“What do you want me to say?” Leo whispered, resuming the argument.

“What you feel,” she answered. “About me. About us. I like you a lot, Leo. I’ve been trying to get you to finally say something for forever, but it always goes over your head. I’ve been trying to get it out of you even before the war, even after you disappeared from me for six months. Don’t pretend like there isn’t something happening between us.”

“I like you, Laurel,” he finally confessed, barely containing his voice into a whisper. “Okay? I really do. I didn’t think I had to say that for you to know it.” His tone was sharp, pulling down the loftiness of his words to Laurel. But they still drove home the message. Enough to make her drop the argument, as she turned away, face beat red.

“I’m sorry, Leo,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to grill you like that.”

“It’s okay.”

“How are we liking The Palace thus far?” Edward asked them chipper as ever, oblivious to what just happened.

“Incredible,” Leo said dryly.

“Right, so next-“

“I’m going to use the restroom,” Leo interrupted.

“Of course,” Edward said. “We’ll take a short break. While you’re at that, I’m going to check up on another guest. Mrs. Laurel are you okay to wait right here?” he asked her, gesturing to a nearby bar.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she answered.

“Great! I will be right back,” he said, starting in the other direction. They waited until he was a distance away before they spoke again.

“I’m going for the script,” Leo said.

“Do you know where you’re going?” she questioned.

“I saw something on the way here,” he mentioned, looking over at a large hallway breaking off from the main path. A group of men in suits with earpieces walked out of the hallway, dispersing in all directions. “Give me your shoe.”

“My shoe?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“Okay…” she obliged, albeit confused, but understanding that he had a plan in mind. She slipped one of her shoes off her foot, handing it to Leo.

“I’ll be back,” he said. Before she could say anything else, he began towards the hallway. He waded through pedestrian traffic, walking around kiosks and couches in the middle of the walkways as he reached the entrance to the hallway. With a subtle peak around the corner, he started down the side passage. At the end of the hallway was a set of heavy metal double doors. Locked.

He approached the doors, standing right in front of it, holding onto Laurel’s shoe behind his back. Suddenly, the door swung open. The guard walking through jumped, surprised by Leo standing right in front of him.

“Uh, sir?” he said. “You can’t be here.” The guard stepped forward, letting go of the door as it began to swing closed.

“This isn’t the restroom?” Leo asked.

“No. You need to leave.”

“Could you point me to the nearest restroom?”

“Look for the signs that say restroom,” he said annoyed, bumping Leo’s shoulder as he walked past. “Don’t have time for the bullshit,” he mumbled to himself. The guard stormed down the hall, turning at the intersection, and disappearing.

Leo smirked as he turned back around to the door, with Laurel’s shoe squished between the door and the frame, keeping it from fully closing. He reached down, tossing the shoe off to the side, hoping nobody would take it as he slipped into the restricted area.

Before Leo was a long, narrow hallway. The polished white marble of The Palace was suddenly a dark matte grey. On each side of the hallway was a pattern of one large windowpane and a door. Leo slowly snuck down the hall, peaking through the windows. Some rooms were conference rooms, with a round table and whiteboard. Others were rows of computers. Both generic work rooms that wasn’t going to have what he was looking for. The end of the hallway opened up to a large room, with rows of desks and consoles. The room descended with two sets of stairs mirrored on both sides, with a large screen at the bottom and a podium, just like a lecture hall. The room was completely empty, the screen currently displayed at the bottom was a blank blue home screen of a computer.

Leo took the set of stairs on the right, cautiously moving down and peering across the desks, looking for anything that stood out. What he was looking for was too important to be lying on a mid-level employees’ desk. At the end of the stairs, next to the large digital screen was a door. Quietly opening the door, he saw another set of stairs, this time much smaller, off to the left. It took him up half a floor before turning right for the rest of the way, leading to a large office.

The office was bland apart from a map of The Palace on the back wall. In the middle of the room was a dark brown, wood desk with two leather seats in front of it. A large monitor sat on the desk, still on. Leo went around to the monitor, only to find it locked.

“Shit,” he muttered to himself. The cursor blinked in the password textbox, awaiting input. He searched the desk, flipping through papers and folders, looking for any hint he could find. Looking down at the computer under the desk, he saw a flash drive plugged into it. It may have the script on it, but without knowing for sure, it wasn’t smart to take it and leave just yet.

ThePalace Leo typed in as a guess.

Username or password is incorrect.

He knew that he only had so many guesses before he was locked out. He turned around to the map behind him, scanning each corner. Upon further inspection, he noticed it was just a screenshot from a computer, printed out onto a very large sheet of paper. In the bottom left corner, he read the username: PalaceSecurity.

For his second guess, he entered that into the computer.

Hello, PalaceSecurity

Leo couldn’t help but snicker as the computer unlocked. He found on the desktop a folder named AuctionSecurity10/24. The script he was looking for.

He quickly uploaded the folder onto the flash drive, grabbing it and sticking it into his pocket, then hurriedly dashing out of the office. The longer he stayed here, the more he risked being found.

Leo slipped out the door back into the main audience hall, scuttling up the stairs, but only making it halfway up before he heard footsteps approaching.

“Shit, shit,” he swore to himself. He rapidly looked around, searching for somewhere to go. The footsteps grew louder, the people only seconds away from seeing Leo. Based on the noise, it was only two or three people, not a cohort of security. Meaning it was either upper-level management, or grunts going on a break. In any case, most likely they weren’t going to the desks in the auditorium.

Leo silently slipped in between two chairs, crawling underneath the desk, and hiding in the dark, staying perfectly still as the group approached.

----------------------------------------------

Laurel tapped her one shoe on the marble floor as she waited for Leo to return. She was the only one sitting at the bar, given the time of day, and that it was randomly placed in the middle of the shopping district of The Palace. It seemed to appeal to the husbands that were waiting for their wives to finish shopping. They must’ve been home today. She awkwardly looked around, hoping no one noticed she was missing a shoe. Neither him nor Edward had returned yet, and she was starting to get anxious.

“Change your mind on a drink?” a bartender asked.

“No, thank you,” she replied. “They should be back any second now.”

“Sure thing,” the bartender said. “Just shout if you need anything,” they said before walking back to the opposite corner of the bar.

“I won’t,” she mumbled to herself.

“Here, let’s stop here,” she heard a young girl say. Laurel turned to see a woman who looked like she could’ve still been in high school, alone, pushing a wheelchair with an old man with a deep scar over his right eyebrow in it. The man seemed not entirely present, as his face was expressionless and motionless. She sat on a barstool one over from Laurel, locking the wheelchair next to her. She planted her elbows on the bar, holding her face in her hands, obviously distressed.

Laurel couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She was young, alone, and seemingly on the verge of breaking down.

“Excuse me,” Laurel asked. The young woman dropped her hands, looking over at her. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah I’m okay,” the young woman answered. “Just stressed out.”

“You here by yourself?” Laurel asked.

“Yeah, I wanted to take my grandpa out for a little,” she replied, motioning towards the old man in the wheelchair. “He’s in a nursing home, and my family doesn’t seem to care for him anymore. About me either… I heard there was an art auction tomorrow, and he was really into art in his younger years, so I’m taking him around for the weekend.”

Laurel smacked her lips as her heart melted for this young lady.

“That’s so sweet,” she said to her. “What’s your name?”

“Tara.”

“How old are you, Tara?”

“I’ll be twenty next week.”

“Twenty? You’re too young to be here by yourself,” Laurel said.

“If I had a dollar for every person that told me that today,” Tara joked.

“I mean that as a compliment,” Laurel clarified. “You’re very mature for your age.”

“Thank you,” she replied. “I had to learn quick.”

“So, what do you do Tara? You still in school?”

“I am,” she said. “Majoring in finance at UCLA.”

“Oh, so you’re smart smart,” Laurel complimented.

“I don’t want to brag…” Tara started.

“Please do. You deserve it.”

“I am pretty smart, yeah,” Tara said as they both laughed. “What about you? Wait, before you answer that, what was your name?”

“I’m Laurel.”

“That’s a beautiful name.”

“Oh, thank you honey. I’m…” Laurel trailed off for a second as she thought of what to say. Technically, she was a sorceress, unemployed because she has no need for a job. But obviously, she couldn’t say that.

“I’m an artist,” she finally said.

“You’re an artist?” Tara said.

“Yeah. I travel a lot and draw the landscapes of the places I’ve seen.”

“Literally my dream job.”

“It’s not a bad life, I’ll tell you that.”

“So I take it you’re here for the auction as well?” Tara asked.

“I am,” Laurel answered. “No way I can afford any of them, but I like to look.”

“Exactly what we’re here to do,” she said, looking at her grandpa. His face remained blank. Unreactive. “I especially want to see this… golden pyramid sort of thing.”

“Golden pyramid thing?” Laurel played coy. “What’s that?”

“It’s some artifact that was dug up somewhere I think,” Tara began. “I was here a few days ago and this guy handed me a mini brochure on it. That’s how I got the idea to bring grandpa to see it.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting,” Laurel replied. She was sure Tara wasn’t up to anything, but there was no harm in playing dumb either.

“It’s gone,” the old man suddenly spoke.

“What was that grandpa?”

“It’s gone,” he said again, his voice weak and raspy. “The key leads to nothing. The weapon hasn’t been on Earth in ten years. It’s gone.”

“Okay, grandpa. It’s okay,” Tara said, trying to soothe the old man. “Sorry, he starts mumbling randomly things sometimes.”

“Oh…” Laurel thought about the old man’s words.

“Well, I gotta get going,” Tara said.

“Right. Well, it was nice meeting you,” Laurel said.

“Yeah, you too,” she answered, before pushing her grandpa’s wheelchair and heading off through The Palace.

That old man knew about the key. He knows what the piece really is. A weapon? It leads to nothing? Laurel wasn’t sure to make of what he said. He seemed barely in there in the first place. Did his rambling even mean anything? She decided most likely it meant nothing. After all, the man had nine toes in the grave. But she still debated if she should mention it to the others. Would there even be a point? They wouldn’t stop searching for the pieces anyway. The testimony of a senile grandpa wasn’t going to cut it.

“Hey.” A hand touched her shoulder. She jumped, startled by the sudden voice. She turned to see Leo standing behind her.

“Jesus, Leo. You scared the shit out of me,” she said. “Did you get it?” He responded by holding up the flash drive.

“Great. What now?”

“We get out of here,” Leo answered.

“And leave Edward?”

“He’ll live.”