Smoke, Mirrors and Demons (The Carnival Society Book 1)

by Kat Cotton

  I turned my head to look at her but even that made me swoony.

  “It is great. Did you see it? The bit before the fall? It was everything I imagined.”

  As usual, Nuno said nothing.

  Nuno handed Duke a bottle of water and Duke cradled my neck, sitting me up a little. He held the water to my lips. The cool sensation of it trickling down my throat connected me to reality.

  “I can’t do it,” I said.

  “Of course, you can,” Duke said. “You just did it and you did amazingly well. Next time we’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

  But I couldn’t do the trick without falling. I’d tried to limit my power but I’d been wrong. There was no way of just letting a trickle through. If that was possible, it was way beyond my capabilities. And there was no way I could let the whole rush of power hit me while I was on the hoop.

  Lilly gave me a warm coat to cover myself. “You’re trembling,” she said, tucking the coat around me.

  I smiled at her. Now that she mentioned it, I was trembling. The fall had shaken me but not really as much as that rush of power. I never wanted to go through that again. Not ever but especially not when I was suspended above the ground. Duke could be persuasive but he couldn’t talk me into that. I wasn’t here to impress him or to work this show. I was here to investigate them. I had to keep that foremost in my mind.

  Maybe it was residue from the fall but my head went woozy again and my breathing became labored. No. The coat. Something about the coat.

  “Who did this coat belong to?”

  Duke and Lilly exchanged glances.

  “Gretchen,” Lilly said.

  “She wore it the night she was killed.” That wasn’t a question. I knew it as fact.

  Again, Duke and Lilly exchanged glances. Then Lilly tried to grab the coat back off me.

  “Is it stained? But it was in the bag of stuff we got back from the police and none of that was evidence. It’d been stowed away in the corner.” She held up the coat, turning it to check all sides. “There’s no blood. I’m sure there’s no blood.”

  Tears welled in Lilly’s eyes. I’d thought the troupe had been unemotional, disinterested even, in Gretchen’s death. They rarely mentioned her and they didn’t seem to be in mourning but maybe they’d pushed away their grief. People cope in different ways.

  “I’m sorry,” Lilly said. “I didn’t think. I just grabbed the nearest warm thing I could find. Of course you don’t want this coat. We should throw it out. Why didn’t we throw it out, Duke? We shouldn’t hold onto Gretchen’s things.”

  Nuno took the coat off Lilly then put his arm around her. She sobbed quietly against his shoulder.

  The three of them stood around me as I lay on the sofa. I couldn’t move but it felt like I was intruding on a private moment. Something that should be shared just between the three of them.

  “She knew the person who killed her,” I blurted out. I wasn’t sure if it was the right time to say a thing like that but the words came out of my mouth as soon as they came into my head. “Only she didn’t know him. He wasn’t who she thought he was. He wore a different face? Or a mask? Something like that.”

  “How do you know that?” Lilly asked.

  “She knows,” Duke said.

  He didn’t explain but he gave me a strange look. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’d revealed myself too much. It was just that the vision of Gretchen had struck me so strongly. I didn’t see the face she’d seen, just that sense of recognition, then the feeling of shock when the awareness hit her.

  Being in someone else’s skin at a moment like that was far from pleasant. I’d sensed it all, the horror and the resignation. I wrapped my arms around myself, even colder than I’d been before but there was no way in hell I’d use that coat for warmth.

  “Take the rest of the day off,” Duke said. “You can’t go back up there again today.”

  “I’d rather stick around,” I said then tried to smile. “Anyway, I’d like a chance to see Nuno and Lilly’s acts. It’ll give me a sense of the entire show.”

  I didn’t want to say that, right now, I’d rather be here with activity all around me than alone in my house.

  Duke smiled at me. “Good idea.”

  “Are you okay to sit up?” Lilly asked.

  I tried raising myself. No swimmy head. Lilly put a cushion behind me then they left me to it.

  As I watched the others rehearse, I wondered why Duke had been so insistent on that juggling trick. Lilly thought it wasn’t essential to the performance and he knew I didn’t want to do it. Surely, it’d be better to have a performance that was spot on than risk screwing everything up with something thrown in the last moment.

  I’d been getting too focused on the show and not my investigation. They were under suspicion of a trail of murderers. Maybe Duke didn’t have my best interests at heart.

  The members of the troupe had all been ruled out as suspects in Gretchen’s murder. The three of them had been onstage. That gave them about five hundred people to use as their alibi.

  But, if Duke had used his persuasion powers, he’d have been able to get someone else to commit the murder while he stood onstage. It’d be the perfect murder.

  But, from what I’d learned of Duke, it didn’t gel. The one thing he cared about more than anything else in this world was Sequins & Daggers. Gretchen’s death had jeopardized that.

  Unless she’d discovered he was behind the other murders and he had to take her out to protect himself.

  That didn’t fit either.

  While Lilly did her dance with the fans, I noticed Nuno sneaking out holding a garbage bag. He saw me watching and put his finger to his lips. Ah, he had Gretchen’s stuff and wanted to throw it out while Lilly wasn’t looking. Maybe I shouldn’t let him. Painful as it was, reading her things was the best way I had of solving this case.

  I didn’t want to straight out ask him though. I’d find the garbage when I left for the day and fish that coat back out.

  What was I thinking? No way could I do that. As much as I wanted to solve this case, inviting in my powers was the last thing I wanted. I’d done enough of that today.

  I rested my head back down. There had to be other ways to do this. The investigations team had all the tests done. They were just waiting on some of the DNA results. And they were the best on the force. This murder would be solved without me needing to sacrifice myself.

  Then it struck me. There was a reason Duke had made me do that juggling trick. He didn’t want to harm me, he wanted to test me. He’d set me a challenge that no normal human could do. He’d goaded me into performing it because he wanted to out me.

  The bastard. I’d fallen straight into his trap. And then some.

  I picked up the bottle of water Nuno had left, then glanced at it. Was it okay to drink? I’d let my guard down around these people. They weren’t my friends or even co-workers. I had a job to do and I had to keep my wits about me. From now on, I’d keep my powers hidden. I’d be so normally human that there’d be no question of anything else.

  But probably the water was okay to drink.

  I took a swig.

  I hadn’t had much of a chance to watch Lilly or Nuno other than stolen glimpses during my own practice. I’d known Lilly was good but the way she moved was sublime. I’d never dance like that if I trained for a hundred years.

  She moved her body in a way that defied logic. Everything about her shimmered and shone. Her snaking hips became mesmerizing. Maybe that was a trick too.

  If Duke had powers, who was to say she didn’t?

  Lilly walked around, caressing the face of a pretend audience member. If most people did that, they’d look foolish but she made it so real. I almost felt at fault for not seeing the person she touched.

  Then the music changed and she belted out a torch song. The raw sexuality she’d been showing turned to something deeper, sadder but still equally sensual.

  Lilly started her routine again. This time she d
id the full number. I hummed along to the song she sang. It wasn’t one I knew but I’d heard her sing it so often while I did my own training that it got stuck in my head.

  Something cold pressed against my cheek making me jump and cry out.

  “Sorry,” Duke said, holding the offering out to me.

  “Ice cream!”

  “I thought it might help you get your strength back.”

  I took the ice cream off him and grinned. “Cookies and cream. My favorite. How did you know?”

  He lifted my legs and sat down on the sofa. I didn’t shy away from him this time. It’d seem ungrateful after he’d been so considerate. I tried to bend my knees up so he had room to sit but he grabbed my calves and rested my legs on his knees.

  “You look like a cookies and cream kind of gal. How are you feeling?”

  “Much better,” I said, not taking my eyes from Lilly. “How does she do that?”

  “Years of practice and a naturally high sex drive.”

  Lilly went to change while Nuno practiced his piano accordion. He played a jaunty song.

  I pulled the top off the ice cream tub and licked it like I always did. That had to be the first thing you did after you opened the tub. But Duke watched me with a strange look on his face and suddenly the whole process became awkward. Really awkward. Enough to make my entire body flush.

  “What?” I asked.

  He raised his eyebrows. “That’s sexy.”

  I put the lid down beside me. My tongue would stay firmly in my mouth.

  Chapter 14

  I MADE IT TO THE END of the week without death or major injury but every muscle in my body ached like it’d never ached before. Even during police training, I hadn’t been pushed this hard. I had callouses on my hands, the skin rubbed almost completely off everywhere I touched the hoop — not just my knees but my ankles and my elbows and my waist.

  Apart from that one afternoon off, Duke had been a slave driver. When I wasn’t going through my routine, with him shouting directions to make my lines straighter or my turns more fluid, he made me do strength training and Pilates and dance training.

  But then he hadn’t mentioned the juggling trick again which was something I was grateful for.

  And, if that wasn’t enough, I had Larry on my back wanting information.

  I really hadn’t found out much more about the troupe than I’d learned from the files. Larry wasn’t going to be happy with that. He demanded results and telling him I’d been busting my gut just trying to keep up with training wouldn’t cut it.

  I had to find out something today.

  The guys back at the office weren’t getting far on the Gretchen case and there were still the other unsolved murders. Larry called me every night on the burner phone he’d given me. He really wanted those murders solved, on both a personal and professional level. Kid murders always hit home with him.

  Even though Duke was the most likely suspect, I couldn’t rule out Nuno or Lilly. Or the three of them working together. That terrified me the most since my life was literally in their hands. All it’d take is a slip up with the rigging on the hoop and I’d plummet to my death on the floor below. There were a million things that could go wrong and look like an accident.

  But then, if they were behind all those weird murders, “accidents” weren’t their style.

  I needed to get up to that mezzanine to snoop around but I never got left alone in the warehouse. I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not. A couple of times I’d tried to get up there, saying I needed a pen or to recharge my phone. Every single time, Duke would send Nuno instead.

  When I arrived at the warehouse, Lilly handed me a bag.

  “Try this on,” she said. “You can go in the bathroom if you’re modest.”

  “Huh?” I looked in the bag, not sure what to expect.

  “The costume for your acts,” she said. “You weren’t expecting to perform in sweats, were you?”

  I wasn’t sure why she was the one giving me the costume. I’d planned on buying something, I just hadn’t had the time.

  “Try it and I can make adjustments if necessary,” she said. “I make all the costumes.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  I went in the bathroom and stripped off then tried to get into the fabric she gave me. At least it wasn’t a skimpy little bit of nothing like she wore. That’d be rubbish for the hoop anyway. Any skin contact with the hoop while performing burnt like a bastard and I was sore enough.

  Tiger stripes? I wasn’t sure what Lilly was thinking. Maybe she’d planned this with Duke but they hadn’t included me in any of their discussions. I wasn’t sure if there was anything tiger-like about me.

  I squirmed my way into the cat suit. Was it a cat suit? Maybe tiger suit?

  I’d never actually performed in public before. I’d been too young to actually go in the ring so having a real costume was new to me.

  When I got it on, I wasn’t sure if I could go out and face other people. This costume was tight. Really tight. It left nothing to the imagination. It wasn’t that I had a bad body. I trained hard every day to keep in peak fitness for work. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to share my body with the entire world. I hated even wearing a swimsuit.

  “Jayne, get yourself out here,” Lilly called. “Is there something wrong?”

  I tried to hide myself behind the door when I walked out.

  “It’s a bit tight.”

  Lilly grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the main room.

  “What did you expect?” she asked. “It’s a performance. Get used to it.”

  She walked around me, pinching at the fabric then stood back and clicked her tongue.

  “You’re supposed to take your underwear off,” she said. “Surely you know that much. You have a panty line.”

  “I know that but I’m just trying it on, right?”

  She went back to pinching then made marks on the fabric. “Definitely needs taking in at the waist.”

  I sucked in my breath. I knew I couldn’t argue with her. It wasn’t about showing off my body, it was a safety thing. This bodysuit might feel skin tight but when I was performing, any sagginess could be a danger.

  “You really shouldn’t have been training in that baggy t-shirt,” she said.

  I nodded again. I knew that but I’d been embarrassed.

  Duke raised his eyebrows when he saw me. “Nice tiger.”

  Even Nuno grinned but he didn’t say anything. I’d seen him have conversations with Lilly while I trained but I wasn’t sure if he actually said anything. He’d never spoken to anyone in my hearing since I’d been with the troupe. I wanted to ask about it but wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic without it being awkward.

  Nuno started setting up for the meeting.

  “I’ll change,” I said.

  I walked toward the bathroom but Duke grabbed my arm.

  “We’ll do it in the costume today,” he said.

  “Lilly said it’s not ready. She has to take in the waist.”

  “It is still better than the t-shirt.”

  I shrugged. “Why do we have the meetings down here?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “We could have them up there. Isn’t that the office area?”

  “Not enough seats,” Duke said. “We don’t want to drag the chairs all the way up there.”

  That sounded fishy to me but I didn’t want to seem too curious.

  We gathered around for the meeting, needing to work out the rundown for the performance. The clock was ticking to performance day and I wasn’t sure that I’d be ready.

  “Will Jayne be doing just the two acts?” Lilly asked.

  “Jayne will be ready to perform all four,” Duke said.

  I did a double take. I would?

  “I’m not doing the juggling act,” I said.

  He could say what he liked but I would not be talked into it. That act was way too dangerous in more ways than one.

  “No, you aren’t ready but I have an idea for s
omething simpler.”

  Well that’d been easier than I expected.

  Then he took Lilly’s chart and grabbed a pen. He wrote all over it, moving blocks from one place to another with an intricate web of arrows.

  “You know, it’d be easier using a spreadsheet for this. A lot less complicated.”

  Lilly glared at me. She was obviously proud of her paper plans but they were a mess now. Nuno nodded. He agreed with me? That was something.

  “Run up and get the laptop,” Duke told Nuno.

  “We could just go upstairs,” I said.

  But Nuno had already run off. I wasn’t winning a thing today.

  Once we had the run down sorted out, I got into training. Duke took me through the routine he wanted me to perform. He put on music, then Lilly complained because she wanted to practice her singing.

  “We need to get this right,” Duke said.

  I noticed that when Duke talked, Lilly might pout but she always gave in. Nuno, of course, never argued either.

  I picked up the basics pretty quickly but Duke wasn’t happy with that.

  “You can’t just go through the motions,” he called from the ground. “You need to feel it. Ramp up the sensuality. You’re not a robot.”

  I tried it again. I understood what he meant but I couldn’t just force myself into the kind of fluidity he demanded. In the end, he called it a day. After I changed back into my street clothes, I called out my goodbyes.

  “Not so fast,” Duke said, moving to block my exit. “It’s Friday.”

  “Drinks day!” Lilly sounded happier than I’d ever heard her.

  “Ah, that’s okay. I don’t drink and I’ve got a few things to do,” I said. I tried slipping past Duke but he moved faster than I did.

  “It’s not optional,” he said. “You’re part of this troupe, you drink with us.”

  My eyes darted around, trying to find an excuse to leave. But then, why leave? I needed some kind of lead on this case and if the others had a few drinks, they might let their guard down. This could be the perfect opportunity.

  Chapter 15

  “I CAN’T STAY LONG,” Lilly said. “I’ve got a date tonight.”