Sam gave him a sideways look. “True, but if we get the meal out of the way, I figure we can find other ways to spend the evening.”
Jason smiled.
* * * * *
The steak dinner was delicious.
And the preparations for “other ways to spend the evening” were pleasantly underway when Jason suddenly gasped and sat up, brushing Sam’s hand aside.
“Jesus Christ.”
He must have sounded sufficiently horrified because Sam rolled over, reaching for his pistol. Jason barely noticed, barely noted the dangerous, glittering look in Sam’s eyes. Jason’s vision was turned inward, seeing the terrifying and inevitable unfolding of events that might be happening in Cheyenne at that very moment.
He said, “It’s not tomorrow ni
ght. It’s tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” Sam demanded.
Jason stared at him. “Sam, Friday night is the club’s official opening. But there’s a private show tonight. Tonight, it’s magicians only.”
Sam searched his face with a hard, blue gaze. “The magicians’ club? There’s a show at Top Hat White Rabbit tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? Why would no one have mentioned that? Nobody said a word about a private show.”
Jason pressed his fist against his forehead. How the hell had he forgotten? When Reynolds and Sam were discussing their trap for Terry Van der Beck, how had he not remembered then? How the hell had that skipped his mind?
“Because they’re magicians,” he said tightly. “Because their world is secluded, secret, separate.” He opened his eyes. “Sam, you’ve got to believe me. I was wrong about Dreyfus, and I might even be wrong about Kyser, but I’m not wrong about this. You think seventy-eight victims are too many? Every magician in Cheyenne is going to be in that club tonight.”
Sam reached for his phone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dinner for the six p.m. seating was being served, and the first show was already underway when Cheyenne PD and the FBI arrived at Top Hat White Rabbit.
The leggy receptionist from Ted Fields’ office gaped as uniformed officers and blue-and-gold-jacketed agents flooded the reception hall. No one even had to say the magic word. She reached beneath the tall wooden counter, pressed a button, and the hidden door in the bookcase swung open.
Jason stepped aside as agents and cops filed past through the narrow doorway. He studied the shelves of the bookcase. Of Legerdemain and Diverse Juggling Knacks by John Braun. The Encyclopedia of Stage Illusions by Burling Hull. The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin by Harry Houdini. The History of Conjuring and Magic by Henry Ridgely Evans had a bookmark sticking up.
Jason reached for the book and pulled out the bookmark. A tarot card. The Tower. A tower appeared to have been struck by lightning and was now burning. People tumbled from windows into the black sky, pursued by flames. Jason’s heart seemed to tumble with them.
He squeezed past the others filing through the door, jogging after Sam and Reynolds. He caught them up as they reached the dining room.
A woman spoke to the audience from the stage. “At no time will that bullet leave The Maestro’s hand until the moment he loads it into the pistol.”
Minerva Khan, dressed in what appeared to be a handful of strategically flung diamonds, stood at the end of the stage, smiling out at the packed room. Waiters and waitresses bearing trays of champagne, Oysters Rockefeller, and Brie crostini circulated through the tightly wedged tables and chairs, trying to avoid stepping on anyone’s cape or tripping over anyone’s sword cane.
Top Hat White Rabbit seemed to be a little more Black Rabbit Rose than Magic Castle. There did not appear to be a membership fee or a dress code, though everyone present was clearly a magician and dressed to the nines.
Minerva broke off her speech as a cadre of police officers mounted the steps to the stage. SAC Reynolds intercepted Doug Devant as he left the bar and came to inquire what was happening.
Jason showed The Tower card to Sam. “He’s definitely here. Or was.”
“We know we’re on the right track, then.” Sam took the card and frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”
“A bomb? Fire? At a guess, total destruction of the club and everyone in it,” Jason said.