22. Aus
AUS
“What is it, baby?” I ask as I stroke Thea’s beautiful hair.
Is it too soon for pet names? It just spilled out of me.
She looks up, sniffs a few times. “One of your employees… He’s dead, Aus.”
I nod slowly. “I know. Kin. I just got off the phone with Leo, one of my waitstaff. He’s been trying to tell me all day, but my phone was off.”
She wipes a tear from her eye. “They think… They think I did it. That I killed him.”
I drop my jaw. “No fucking way. Why on earth would they think it was you?”
“Because I had a pair of his shoes on me.”
“You what?”
“I snagged them from Wick’s living room this morning.
I had lost my heels last night—one of them broke off in a sewer grate.
I couldn’t show up to work with no shoes on, and I thought the broadcast wouldn’t show them.
But the shot was wider than I thought, I guess, because all of Chicago saw me wearing his shoes this morning.
” Her face twists. “And I slept separately from Wick last night at his house, so I can’t even use him to corroborate my alibi. ”
I close my eyes as I process all this information.
Thea spending the night at Wick’s house is the most inconvenient truth of all.
I have to swallow that. She chose to bring me to this gala tonight. But she can’t erase the past.
I certainly know that better than anyone else.
Thea gets to her feet, grabs a small tissue from her bag, and blows her nose. “Do you know how it happened?”
I lift an eyebrow. “How what happened?”
“Kin.”
I draw in a slow breath. “It’s pretty morbid. Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“If these people think I did it, I should at least know what they think I’m capable of. In case I have to fight this.”
“It won’t come to that, baby.”
She looks up. “You don’t know that.”
Those words hit like tiny poison darts in my heart. It’s true. I don’t know that. I don’t have the influence in this city that some of the elites do. Elites like Rouge Montrose, the woman who landed me in this situation in the first place.
I don’t know how to respond to Thea’s curt words, so I wrap my arms around her as she begins to shake with sobs again.
“Shhh, baby. It’ll all work out.”
She sniffs again, looks me in the eyes. “Tell me what happened. To Kin.”
I sigh. “Okay.”
“Well?”
I wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Apparently the murderer stole a big tractor from a nearby construction site.”
She blinks a few times. “Go on.”
“They then carried a huge boulder from the same construction site and waited in a nearby alley. Kin walked by and they dropped the boulder on him. This happened around three in the morning, but his body wasn’t discovered until a few hours later. Couple of guys on their way to work.”
“Christ. That’s an awful way to start your day.”
“No kidding.”
Thea takes in a shaky breath. “So that’s why they were asking me if I ever used heavy machinery on the farm.”
“They asked that?” I rub at my forehead. “Shit. They really do think you’re a suspect.”
“You were right. I shouldn’t have said anything without a lawyer present. I don’t want them using this information—or my past—against me.”
“Did you ever use a tractor growing up?”
She thins her lips. “Yes. I started when I was fifteen.”
I narrow my eyes. “Fifteen? That’s way too young to be operating a tractor.”
“It was just me and my stepmother, Emmy, on the farm. So it was up to me… For a while, at least.” Her gaze grows distant. “Eventually, she… She remarried.”
The color drains from Thea’s face at those last words.
Why? I’m not sure.
One thing is clear, though.
There’s more to this story. And I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have a happy ending.
But now is not the time to dredge up Thea’s past.
I tighten my hold on her shoulders. “Borrowing a pair of shoes you didn’t even know belonged to the guy is hardly enough evidence to put you away. Any lawyer worth his salt will know that’s circumstantial.”
“I don’t know…” She crosses her arms. “The way that detective looked at me… It just seemed like she had more on me. But once I stopped answering questions, she couldn’t go any further.”
“No matter what, I’ll support you and help you get through this.”
She cocks her head. “You’re offering to put your head on the chopping block for a woman you just met?”
I shrug. “I guess I like you, Thea.”
Her cheeks pink. “I like you too, Aus. You’re very sweet to help me out. But I hate to put so much pressure on you, especially so early on in our…” She sighs. “I’m not exactly sure what it is we’ve got going on here. But whatever it is, I don’t want to put any undue burden on it.”
“It’s hardly a burden.” I lean in and brush my lips against hers. They’re salty from the tears, but no less warm and soft than they were the first time I kissed them.
I’m about to go in for a second kiss when I catch a clock on the opposite wall. It’s nearly ten. The Jade Sanctum is about to open.
Once again, I’m running late.
But I can’t leave Thea. Not right now.
“Can you excuse me for just a second?” I ask. “I need to make a quick phone call.”
She nods slowly. I take out my phone and dial Leo’s number.
“Yeah?” he answers.
“Hey. In light of everything, let’s just close down Jade for the night.”
A pause. “Are you serious, Aus?”
“Yeah. It’s too late to get a sub barkeep for Kin, plus it wouldn’t be fair to ask Wick to come in after what happened to his brother.”
“Can we afford this? I’ve seen the ledgers. We’ve been in the red for months.”
“You leave that to me. Your job is to wait tables. Or rather, tonight, your job is to sit on your ass at home. Think you can manage that?”
“To tell the truth, Aus, I need the money from tonight. Rent just went up again. I’m barely making ends meet.”
“The waitstaff and bartenders will still get their wages for the evening, and I’ll throw in another twenty percent to account for lost tips.”
“Again, are you sure you can—”
“For God’s sake, Leo. Shut the fuck up. Everything will be fine.”
“But we’ve never closed Jade before. Not even when all that news about Rouge Montrose came out—”
“Then we’re all due for a fucking break. Tell the other staff they get a free night off. Enjoy it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay. If you’re sure…”
I glance at Thea. “I’ve never been more sure of something in my damned life. Talk later.” I end the call and cross toward Thea, who is fixing her makeup with a small compact.
She frowns. “You don’t have to close the club on my account. Please, if you need the business, you can leave me alone. I’ll be okay.”
“The Jade Sanctum is in perfectly good shape. We can afford a dark night.”
“Are you sure?”
“Some things are more important than money.” I sit back down next to her and caress her cheek. “And like I said, one night of lost profits won’t tank the business.”
“It won’t help it survive either.”
“It’s already done. I can’t reverse it.” I help her to her feet. “This has been a busy night for both of us. A busy day and night. Not to mention the night before. We both need some rest, and more important than that, I need to make sure you get home safe.”
She looks at me, her eyes narrowed. But then she smiles. “Thank you, Aus. You’re quite a guy.”
She doesn’t know the half of it.
I’ve done a lot of bullshit in the past, and this is a good chance for me to make up for it.
Because I know in the deepest recesses of my heart that Thea did not kill Kin.
How do I know that?
Because Thea isn’t a killer.
She’s nothing like them.
I know, because I’ve met real killers.
Tonight’s the night.
The night I’m supposed to make someone disappear.
I’ve had a rock in my gut all day. This doesn’t feel right.
But Rouge Montrose is a powerful woman. I looked her up after our meeting two weeks ago, and she’s a big deal in Chicago.
Rubs elbows with all the higher-ups, including powerful politicians and bigwigs.
She’s by far the most influential person to ever see my show, and she can mold me into the next Copperfield.
I get to the theater. Everything is how I left it. My stage manager has placed all my important set pieces on the stage.
But everything looks a little cleaner. There are no crumbs on the floor of the house, no dust on the stage. I look up. All the flickering lightbulbs have been replaced.
Who did this? Certainly not the people who own the theater. They couldn’t give a shit about how they present themselves. In Vegas, space is a premium once you’re this close to the Strip. As long as the money is coming in, appearance is the last thing they care about.
“Enjoying my improvements, Mr. Waverly?” a cool voice glides into my ear.
I turn around. It’s Rouge, dressed as lavishly as before, this time in a gold evening gown complete with a white fox stole—its head and paws still attached—around her neck.
I raise an eyebrow. “You had the theater cleaned?”
“Of course.” She runs a gloved finger over a piano tucked into the wings. “You couldn’t imagine the dust back here. I thought I was going to asphyxiate during your last show. I want everything to be perfect for our guest of honor.”
“Yes. Who is she?”
Rouge tousles her hair. “Her name is unimportant. But she’ll be wearing a light-green gown. She’ll be easy to spot among the more commonly dressed patrons.” She frowns. “People used to dress for the theater, you know.”
“Yeah, well…” I have no idea how to talk to this woman. It’s like she’s from another planet. “Anyway, she’s the woman you want me to select for the house act.”
“Correct.”
“I’ve made the adjustments you requested. There will be a path for her to follow leading out of the theater.”
“I did a preliminary investigation of the set piece this morning.” She grins. “You did some good work. I did take it upon myself to make a few other adjustments. It won’t affect your act at all.”
I widen my eyes. “I really don’t feel comfortable with you messing around with my—”
She holds up a hand. “I was just telling Moe about you…”
I swallow. “Moe?”
Her grin expands. “Moe Bimley. I’m sure you’re familiar.”
“The Great Bimboni? That Moe Bimley?”
“The very same. He’s an old friend, and he’s very interested in your house act. How you showed the whole thing from all angles. Once I described it, he was immediately able to discern, just like I was, how it worked.”
I hang my head. “Oh.”
“But he said to me, and this is a direct quote, that we need more brains like that in the magic world. He’s interested in attending one of your shows, but I only intend to connect the two of you if—and only if—you do exactly as I direct you this evening.”
Damn. If Bimboni comes to see my show, it could do wonders for my career.
But something about this isn’t sitting right.
I look to Rouge. “What will happen to her?”
“To whom?”
“The woman I choose for the house act. What will happen to her after I make her disappear?”
Rouge’s eyelids twitch, but beyond that her expression doesn’t change.
“You don’t need to worry about that, darling.
Just do your act, and everything else will be taken care of.
” She grips my shoulder, digging her nails into my flesh.
“Everything. With some luck, this could be your last night in this dingy theater.”
I close my eyes, inhale slowly.
“Will the woman… Will she be in danger?”
“Whatever makes you think that?”
“I just have a…feeling.”
She smirks. “A man in your field should know that most things are not as they seem, Mr. Waverly. The world itself is an illusion. Only a select few see it as it truly is.”
I furrow my brow. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
“Stick with me, and it might.” She smiles.
“But you have my word that no harm will come to this woman. She’ll simply walk on the stage and then walk off.
And more importantly, you will be standing on the precipice of a fine career the likes of which this city of sin has never seen.
And if this disappearance should come back to you, you have my word I will do all in my power—and I have a lot of power, Aus Waverly—to protect you.
” She pulls a pocket watch out of her bosom.
“Nearly showtime. I look forward to the act, especially its new twist.”
The show goes on as scheduled. The crowd is the best I’ve ever had.
Rouge must have invited some extra guests to fill out the space.
I have nearly a hundred patrons. They’re reactive, and their energy fuels me.
Every trick has some extra pizzazz. Finally, the time comes for the house act, and I ask for volunteers from the audience.
Nearly every hand rises, including a lovely young lady wearing a light-green gown.
She’s quite pretty, with sandy-blond hair down to her shoulders and a splash of freckles on both cheeks.
A great figure, though I’m surprisingly not very attracted to her.
Maybe because I’m too focused on the task at hand.
“The lovely lady in green,” I call out.
She smiles as she stands and walks to the stage.
Normally I ask the volunteers for their names, but Rouge specifically forbade me from doing this, so I simply guide her to the tent. “Sit in here, my dear.” I lean into her ear. “Just follow the light when it comes on.”
She nods with another smile.
I give a nod to my stage manager to start the turntable. The audience gasps as the house falls down on the tent, crushing it flat.
And for the first time, I’m nervous too. Because I don’t know what I’m going to find when the door to the house opens.
But Rouge told me to proceed as I normally do, so I will.
“Ladies and gentlemen, be not alarmed! For some things”—I flourish my cape with each word—“are not…as they…seem!”
The door to the house opens, and I’m expecting it to be empty.
But it isn’t.
Instead of the lady in green, Rouge Montrose stands there, her arms outstretched and a dazzling sparkler in her teeth.
I’m shocked. She was just sitting in the audience, right next to the woman in green.
And now she’s on the stage.
A magician is never supposed to reveal his secrets.
But what does he do when even he doesn’t know how the trick is done?
Rouge takes a bow, and the crowd goes wild.