The Plume: The Second Anthology Read Online Free PDF Page A

had to
avoid him. “That’s so nice of him. I’d like to try something
different, though.”
    “Okay.” There was more typing. “You’ve done
bar duty and room service. Hmm. The Count is looking for some
pussycats.”
    Louise had no idea what that meant.
“Great!”
    “See you in a couple of hours then.” The
woman ended the call and Louise turned off the cellphone. She held
it between her knees, incredulous at her success. It had almost
been too easy. Louise closed her eyes and thanked the universe for
Call Display.
    She wiped the cellphone carefully, then
turned it in to the front desk for their lost and found. She knew
exactly where to look for a wig and nearly laughed out loud as she
left the hotel. She was on her way to the Plume!
    But she had to get inside the club before she
could really feel triumphant.
     
    * * *
     

Two
     
     
    Louise got out of her cab at the door beside
the loading docks where Tess had left the building. She took a deep
breath and strode to the door, trying to look as if she came here
all the time, and rang the buzzer.
    “Yes?”
    “Tess Martin.” She smiled for the camera,
hoping they didn’t have any kind of iris-matching security system.
“Back for more.”
    “Good. Come on in.” The lock clicked and
Louise opened the door.
    Beside her, a limousine pulled up to one
loading dock door. The driver pointed a remote at the door and it
slid upward. Inside, Louise saw that the one loading dock disguised
a ramp. They must have an underground parking garage. The limosine
disappeared down the ramp as the loading dock door closed behind
it.
    The first part of the Plume looked like an
office. Louise’s heart continued to pound with the conviction that
she would be discovered before she even got inside. The
administrative person on the other side of the glass barrier was on
the phone as well as on the computer. She waved Louise on, putting
her hand over the receiver. “Bin Nineteen is yours, Tess.”
    To the left of the check-in was a wall of
numbered bins, each about the size of a recycling box. Louise found
a bodysuit with a furry tail in number nineteen, as well as some
boots and a hood. She supposed this was part of being a pussycat.
She saw another woman carry her entire bin down the hall to another
door. Louise followed, as if she did this all the time.
    Behind the door was a locker room, evidently
just for the women. They could have been at a well-appointed gym.
It was all clean and white, and it wasn’t cheaply done. The lockers
had tiny keys. Louise watched surreptitiously as the other woman
finished dressing and slid her key into a slot in the back of her
boot’s heel. Sure enough, Louise’s boot had the same little
gap.
    Brilliant. It was organized and it was
brilliant. Exactly the way she’d always hoped the Plume would
be.
    Once dressed, Louise closed her locker, hid
her key, then followed the other woman. Presumably the other end of
the locker room opened to the Plume itself. She passed through a
shower area, then a guard – dressed in black leather dominatrix
gear and wearing a black leather mask – checked her costume. The
guard even had a checklist for the costume.
    She frowned that the bodysuit was a bit loose
around Louise’s bust, her lips tightening. “Another screw-up in
sizing,” she said with displeasure. “Why can’t they get the
simplest things right? You’ll have to wear it as it is tonight, but
give it back to us for alterations when you check out.”
    “Of course. I did lose a bit of weight,”
Louise lied. It was clear that Tess was more buxom than she
was.
    The guard glared at her. “Didn’t you change
your personal data on the file?”
    Louise shook her head. “I forgot.”
    The guard inhaled. “Well, then, it’s your own
fault that you look less than your best.”
    “What do I do with the tail?” Louise held it
up with uncertainty, although the rubber plug on one end gave her
an idea of how she was to wear it.
    The guard smiled.