Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross 7)

“Kyle has a six-team surveillance on the magicians around the clock,” I told her. “They won’t lose them again. Kyle guarantees it.”

“The FBI thinks they’re definitely the killers?” she asked. “No doubt about it? Lock ’em up, throw away the key?”

“Some doubt, I suppose, but not much. You never know exactly what Kyle is thinking,” I told her. “But yes, I think he does. The techies at Quantico do. So do I.”

She studied me over the lip of her bottle of beer. “Sounds like the two of you are pretty tight, huh?”

I nodded. “We’ve worked a lot of cases together in the past few years. Our success rate is good. I can’t say that I really know him.”

“I’ve never had much luck working with the FBI,” she said. “That’s just me, though.”

“Part of my job is to make sure police relations with the Bureau run smoothly in D.C. Kyle is definitely smart. He’s just hard to read at times.”

She sipped her beer slowly. “Unlike somebody else at this table.”

“Unlike two somebodies at this table,” I corrected her, and we both laughed.

Jamilla glanced at the stage. “What’s the holdup? Where are they? Should we start stamping our feet for them to come out and show us some magic? Show us what they’ve got?”

We didn’t have to. A moment later one of the magicians walked out onto the stage.

It was Charles, and he looked like a killer.

Chapter 61

CHARLES WAS wearing a skintight black bodysuit and thigh-high patent-leather boots. He had a simple diamond earring and a gold nose stud. He stared contemptuously at the audience. He did this for several uncomfortable moments, his eyes full of hatred and disdain for every case he encountered.

At least twice, I thought that he looked directly at Jamilla and me. So did she.

“Yeah, we’re watching you too, asshole,” she said, raising her beer in mock salute. “You think those two pitiful creeps know we’re here?”

“Who knows? They’re good at this. They haven’t been caught yet.”

“I hear you. Hopefully, they both have stomach cancer and will die slowly and painfully over the next several months. Cheers.” She raised her bottle again.

Charles leaned down and spoke to a college-age couple at a table near the stage. He was miked.

“What are you two airheads staring at? Watch out, or I’ll turn you into a couple of toads. Upgrade you on the food chain.” He laughed, and it was deep and throaty. To my ear, it was also unnecessarily unpleasant, way over the top. The kids in the audience laughed and cheered him on. Civility seems to be dead at the moment. Nasty is chic; nasty is so cool and real.

I looked over at Jamilla. “He sees them as food. Interesting how his twisted mind works.”

The second magician sauntered out onto the stage a couple of minutes later. No magic gimmicks to announce the entrance, which surprised me. I had heard this was a real light-and-sound show, but not tonight. Why the style change? Was this for us? Did they know who we were?

“For the uninitiated, I’m Daniel. Charles and I have been doing magic shows since we were twelve years old and living in San Diego, California. We’re very good at magic. We can do the ‘Vanishing Performer’—Houdini’s personal favorite; the ‘Sword Cabinet’; Carl Hertz’s ‘Merry Widow’; DeKolta’s ‘Cocoon.’ I can catch a bullet fired from a Colt Magnum in my teeth. So can Charles. Aren’t we special? Don’t you wish you were us?”

The crowd howled and cheered. The rock music from the speakers had been lowered. Only the beat droned on.

“The illusion you are about to witness is the same one Harry Houdini used to close his show in Paris and New York. We’re using it to open our show. Need I say more?”

The lights suddenly flashed off. The stage was in total darkness. A few women in the audience screeched loudly. Mock fear. Mostly there was laughter, some of it nervous. What were these two really up to?

Jamilla nudged me with an elbow. “Don’t be scared. I’m right here. I’ll protect you.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Then tiny pinpricks of light appeared everywhere on the stage. The main spots came on again. Nothing happened for the next minute or so.

Then Daniel, riding a spirited, prancing white stallion, came out onto the stage. He was dressed in royal blue glitter from head to toe. He wore a matching top hat, and he tipped it to the cheering audience.