Page 70 of Russian Roulette

“That my life is nothing but a carefully crafted illusion.”

“What does that mean? Your life is an illusion?” she asks. “You’re a famous magician with sold out shows in a huge theater. It would be hard to fake your life. You’re on stage every day, front and center in the public eye.”

“Faking a life isn’t hard,” I reply. “Not really. Just reveal what you want people to know and hide the rest. I told you my big secret. Now it’s your turn. I can handle the truth, whatever it is.”

She grows quiet, her mind whirling while she decides how much she’s willing to share with me.

If anything.

“What do you want to know?” she asks.

“Your real name,” I tell her. “And your cellphone number in case you run again. Even though I’m sure you’ll just dump your phone and grab one of your many burner phones. It would still make me feel better to have a number. And I want you to put my number into your phone in case you need me.”

“That’s two things,” she says. “I only agreed to one.”

“Okay, pick one.”

“Jade is my…” she starts to say.

I touch her lips with my fingertips. “Don’t,” I say, stopping her from lying to me about Jade being her real name. There’s no doubt in my mind, it’s not. “When you’re ready, you can tell me your real name. In the meantime, give me your phone number. Call mine and then I’ll have it.”

She hesitates, then reaches into her backpack to pull out her phone. What’s the harm in giving it to me? It’s not as if it’s a landline phone number that can be traced to her real identity.

“Okay, give me your number.” She punches in the numbers as I call them out. My answering phone rings, and I smile when her number pops up on the screen. “We’re making progress here,” I say, intertwining my fingers in hers. “There’s nothing stopping us now.”

36

SEVEN

I’m shocked Jade willingly gave me her phone number. It’s better this way. Otherwise, I would’ve needed to steal the number. Letting her disappear without a trace won’t happen. Not if I can help it.

When she ran from Kit’s, I realized it would be impossible to find someone without knowing their real name. Before the day ends, I’m determined to find out who she really is. Digging up the information will be easy if she’s carrying a driver’s license or some other form of identification on her. When we grabbed her at the casino, she wasn’t carrying anything except a credit card issued under an alias. She’d left all of her identification back at the hotel.

I glance over at her faded blue backpack with its many zippered sections. Somewhere inside one of those pockets is a driver’s license or a credit card with her real name. I need to take a quick peek without her noticing.

One of the many things Dad taught me over the years was how to be a smooth pickpocket. I can lift anything without detection. Jewelry, money, watches, cellphones. We lived for years from what I could swipe off people in crowds. Since I was a minor, it was always safer for me to do the petty crimes, while Dad watched my back.

We never got caught.

Not once.

I perfected my skills and worked tirelessly on them, becoming faster and smoother. I learned how to maintain eye contact with my targets while I lifted whatever I wanted from their pockets. If they were looking directly into my eyes, they couldn’t see what my nimble fingers were doing.

I never stopped trying to perfect my skills. How could I when overwhelming fear was my driving force? Nothing scared me more than the threat of being caught and separated from the only parent I had left. Dad never knew how terrified I was. I always hid my fear from him and tried to act as confident as he was in my abilities. After a while, the act slowly became a reality and one day I stopped being afraid.

It’s been years since I’ve used my pickpocketing skills for anything other than to entertain people. A twinge of guilt stings me at the prospect of using them on Jade. If she wasn’t hiding something and in so much fucking danger, I wouldn’t need to.

“Are we almost at our destination?” she asks. “I can’t believe you’re not giving me a hint. Tell me.”

“You don’t enjoy surprises?”

She lets out a small laugh. “Not always. I prefer being aware of what’s happening and when.”

“Sometimes it’s fun to be impulsive and go with the flow. Everything in life doesn’t need to be planned out to the last second. The best things in life happen when you least expect them to.”

“I’m beginning to realize that,” she says. She glances out the window and points to the barren desert on both sides of the highway. “Why are we driving way out here? Are you taking me back to Vulcan’s RV? Should I be worried?”

“No way,” I reply, giving her leg a gentle squeeze. “You’ll never have to go back there again. We’re almost at our destination. It’ll only be another five minutes. What happened out there with Vulcan, anyway? Kit believes the two of you have already formed a curious connection.”