Read Veil of Civility: A Black Shuck Thriller (Declan McIver Series) for Free Online Page A

into the side of Liberty Mountain, underneath the university's gigantic hillside logo, the building was an impressive sight. The Barton Center, as it would likely be nicknamed by the students and faculty, was as ambitious an architectural project as the university had attempted to date. Not known for shying away from a challenge, the university had designed the building to look like a larger scale version of a retreat once owned by Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.
    Octagonal in shape, the Barton Center was three stories high, with two floor-to-ceiling windows on each level of the eight sides. Like Jefferson's former plantation, Poplar Forest, the building was capped at both the front and rear entrances by a white gabled portico supported by four marble columns. A one story rectangular hall jutted off the east side in the same position as the servant's quarters at the original property. At the base of a set of steps extending from the front portico, a circular hedge surrounded a mock carriage court paved with cobblestones. Wrought iron benches were positioned every ten feet in a wide circle. In the center of the court stood an imposing bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson, holding a feather pen and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. He looked down on everyone who approached the building, his soft but knowledgeable gaze conveying the seriousness of the task he had undertaken two hundred and thirty six years earlier.
    Walking through the carriage court to the base of the steps, Declan and Constance entered a tent that had been set up as a covered valet. Several limousines were unloading their tuxedo-clad occupants, who strode into the entrance as if they were late for an important meeting.
    "See what I mean?" Declan asked wryly as they approached the security team at the front door and one such tuxedo-clad man strode past the security without a second look.
    "Name, please?" a guard seated at a gray card table announced.
    "Declan and Constance Mc—"
    "I said name , not names . Unless she's mute, she can speak for herself in a moment."
    "I see the manners haven't improved much over the years," Declan grumbled, before repeating his name loud and clear. "Declan McIver."
    The guard made a tick mark with his pen and motioned towards two other guards standing at the base of the steps. "Remove your coat and stand with your arms and legs open wide, sir," one of the guards said as Declan approached.
    Declan took off his coat, as instructed, and handed it to a guard who patted it down and searched through the pockets. Meanwhile, as he stood spread-eagled, the second guard ran a metal detector over his body. As he endured the security screening, he took note of his surroundings. Inside the tent, in addition to the guard checking the list of names and the two currently dealing with Declan, there were several young men in black raincoats guiding cars into and out of the tent, and holding doors for the occupants as they exited their vehicles and entered the building. A white Ford Crown Victoria sedan sat parked at an angle behind the card table with a full set of clear LED emergency lights on its roof and bright red lettering down the side of the vehicle reading s ecurity .
    "Good to go, sir," the guard with the metal detector said as he moved onto Constance, who had successfully stated her name and was next in line. Declan stood waiting for his coat, but the guard handed it to a woman in a black raincoat instead. She wrote a number on a ticket and tore it in half, placing the first half on a hanger along with the coat.
    "Don't lose my coat," Declan said to her, as she handed him the stub. "I like that coat."
    The woman flashed him a quick smile then took Constance's coat from the guard as Declan was joined by his wife. "C'mon," she said. "Quit giving them a hard time."
    "What?" he asked, as she took him by the arm and led him up the stairs. "I like my coat."
    Ahead of them at the building's front entrance, two