hand over his shaved head.
“Let me explain,” I began, my voice pleading, but he cut me off again.
“Tell me I’m wrong. Please tell me you did not come here to steal what he couldn’t buy.” He pointed at Higgins.
“I didn’t know you were working for Devereaux,” I said. “You wouldn’t tell me, remember?”
“That’s not the point,” Rico said. “You can’t just— Ugh.” He dropped into the chair and stared at the desk.
“I didn’t know what else to do, Rico. We’re—”
“I can’t even talk to you right now.” He looked at Higgins. “And you. You arrogant ass. This is why no one in magic wants to talk to you. You don’t care about the craft; you don’t care about the performers. You just want to collect things.”
“That’s not true,” Higgins said, sounding like a scolded teenager.
Rico folded his arms. “I should call the cops. I really should.”
I looked at Dad, hoping he would step in to negotiate—but his jaw seemed wired shut.
I couldn’t believe this was happening, couldn’t believe we’d been caught. After everything we’d done, after how far we’d come—it couldn’t be over. I had to do something. I had to get Rico back on my side.
“Please don’t,” I said, forcing my voice to break, and finding it was easier than I’d expected. “Our RV is totaled. We’re broke.” My eyes grew hot; I wasn’t faking it anymore. “We didn’t have any other choice.”
Rico pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look. I’m sorry you’re in a bad place. I really am. But what do you expect me to do?”
I tried to take a deep breath, but that lead X-ray vest was compressing my chest again. I needed to act quickly—I could already feel the rush of adrenaline slowing to a trickle. The wheels in my mind were grinding down, finally succumbing to friction. But if I could just hold on a little longer, delay the downslide for another hour—I might be able to keep us out of jail. There was still a vague tingle of mania in the back of my mind. I grabbed onto it like a life preserver.
“There’s a way.”
Rico leaned forward. “I’m listening.”
“Pretend to give us a tour of the facility. We touch nothing. We say nothing. We’re not magicians; we’re just your friends from back home, visiting Las Vegas on vacation, and you decided to give us the VIP experience.” I was improvising, riding on pure instinct, flying with no visible means of support. I didn’t know what I would say next, and I didn’t know how we were going to get our hands on the flying rig. I only knew I had to keep Rico from calling the cops.
He scowled. I was losing him.
“At the end of the tour you escort us out, and we never come back.”
He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, and the fist in my guts tightened its grip. If he agreed, we’d stay out of jail—but how would we get the rig?
Rico sighed, shook his head, looked at Higgins. “Keep your face down. I don’t want you recognized.” He turned to Dad. “I’m doing this because you meant a lot to my father.” Then to me. “Don’t make me regret it.”
Rico stood. We followed him out of the office, down a long hallway, and through a wide steel door.
Devereaux’s warehouse was cavernous. Fluorescent bars cast a greenish pall over a forest of misshapen lumps—big props, I assumed, covered by black shrouds. Against one wall, I spotted an enormous rack of road cases; it would have taken a forklift to reach the ones on the highest shelves. My heart sank; even if we gained unhindered access to this room for an hour, we might not find what we were looking for.
Still, my heart beat faster as if aroused by the lengthening odds; I supposed this was what kept gambling addicts at the table even when they were losing big.
Rico made a grand gesture as if to say, Feast your eyes—this is all you get. Higgins stared around like he had just landed in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. He took three steps toward the nearest covered contraption, but Rico grabbed his arm.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said.
We moved through the warehouse quickly, slaloming among the giant cloaked props. At the end of a long black corridor, a twenty-something guy wearing a headset stood guarding a steel door. He glanced nervously at our group.
“Hey, Dougie,” Rico said. “I’m going to take these VIPs into the wings for a quick