No Escape

by Meredith Fletcher

  “Do you remember when your grandmother told you she’d seen Abigail?” Lauren focused on Lydia.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Lauren waved an arm over the coffee table. Fire leaped from her fingertips for just a moment, blinding Heath for a second. When he blinked to clear his eyes, he saw that a small crystal ball had appeared on the table.

  The audience murmured in appreciation and there was scattered applause.

  “Please.” Lauren looked at the crowd. “This is not a spectacle. Do not offend the spirits.” She focused on one man in a loud Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. “You, sir, you know part of the date when Prudy Cranmer revealed to her granddaughter the conversation she had with Abigail. Tell me the month of your birth.”

  The man hesitated for just a moment. A stocky woman beside him slapped him on the arm. “Tell her, George.” She turned to Lauren. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, now you know what I have to deal with on anniversaries. His birthday is August ninth.”

  Lauren smiled and nodded her thanks. “August is the correct month, is it not, Ms. Cranmer?”

  As if dazed, Lydia bobbed her head. “August, yes.”

  “But the ninth is not the correct day, is it?”

  “No.”

  Heath kept an eye on Gibson, noticing the magician stood ramrod straight. Finally, he shook his head. “This is just cheap theater, Lydia. Don’t buy into this.”

  Agitated, Lydia glanced back over her shoulder at him.

  Gibson grinned and shook his head. “This is just a show. Vaudeville, nothing more.”

  “Is that what you truly believe?” Lauren locked eyes with the magician.

  “Yes.”

  “So you do not believe in the spirits?”

  Gibson grimaced and Heath wanted to grin. The magician had stepped right into that. “Of course I believe. I came here tonight to show these people the spirits that walk through this house.”

  “Then do so. Give me the date when Prudy Cranmer told her granddaughter of her visit from Abigail.”

  Shaking his head, Gibson grinned again, but there was no mirth in the expression. “You have the floor, Mistress Tereza. Why don’t you do the honors?”

  “Because I cannot do this thing without you.” Lauren stood and held out her hand. “Take my hand.”

  Gibson held up his gloved hands. “I don’t do that.”

  “Is there someone here that you trust?” Lauren turned a hand over toward Lydia. “Our hostess, perhaps?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “There must be someone.”

  Gibson jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Roylston. “Him. Him, I trust.”

  “Very well.” Lauren moved her hand over in Roylston’s direction. “Take my hand.”

  The bodyguard looked at Gibson, who nodded. Gibson watched everything as Roylston took Lauren’s hand. Heath tensed, thinking that the bodyguard or Gibson might recognize her from the other day, but she looked so different, and the lights were dim. Still, Heath’s hand wasn’t far from the gun holstered at his hip.

  “Now, take Mr. Gibson’s shoulder with your other hand.”

  A grimace twisted the magician’s face. Obviously he preferred “The Amazing” to “Mr.”

  Roylston looked at his boss, and Gibson nodded again. Gingerly, the bodyguard rested his hand lightly on the magician’s shoulder.

  Lauren looked at Gibson. “I need you to first clear your mind. Empty it of everything.”

  Gibson looked impatient and gave a quick nod. “Mind’s cleared.”

  “I do not think you have cleared your mind.” Lauren continued looking at him. “I will ask Abigail to speak louder to you.”

  He shook his head. “You’re not going to blame the failure of your little parlor trick on me.”

  “I will not fail because you will not fail Abigail. She will not allow it.” Lauren turned back to Lydia with a small envelope in her hand. “Ms. Cranmer, please take this envelope. Inside is a card. Write down the date that your grandmother talked to you about Abigail’s visit. Just the day, not the month.”

  Lydia reached into her clutch and took out a pen and wrote quickly.

  “Please put the card back into the envelope and await further directions.” Lauren turned to Gibson. “They say that you can touch the spirit world, that you too can know the unknowable. I only need access to your power for a moment.”

  Gibson didn’t say anything.

  Lauren handed him a card and envelope.

  Gibson immediately took the card out and examined it. “It’s blank.”

  “For now, yes, but you are going to write on it with your mind.”

  “I am?” Gibson smirked in disbelief.

  “You and Abigail will write on the card.”

  “Okay, what am I supposed to do with it?”

  “Hold it to your forehead and concentrate. Very hard. Use your abilities. You have the power. Talk to Abigail.”

  Gibson closed his eyes just for a moment while holding the card to his forehead. Then he opened the envelope and revealed the blank card. “I don’t see anything written here.”

  “Patience. Trust the spirits. Everything is as it should be. Please give the card to this man.” Lauren pointed to Roylston.

  Gibson didn’t move for a moment, and Heath guessed that the magician was thinking of refusing. But the audience was watching him, putting him on the spot. He had to play his part. The performer in him demanded that. He handed the envelope to Roylston.

  Lauren reached for the envelope, managing to get her thumb and forefinger on the envelope for just a moment before Gibson caught her wrist. The magician’s grip hurt because pain flickered through her eyes for just a moment.

  “I don’t think so, Mistress Tereza. That envelope stays right there.”

  With a nod, Lauren released the envelope. “As you wish.” She turned to Lydia. “Please use one of the candles and burn your envelope in the fireplace.”

  Lydia rose with the candle in one hand and the envelope in the other. The audience watched in quiet fascination. In a moment, the envelope was crumpled ash on the fireplace floor.

  “Now, Ms. Cranmer, I need you to take the envelope from this man and take it to the coffee table.”

  Lydia walked over to join them. Roylston looked at Gibson, who nodded, then released the card. The magician followed the hostess to the coffee table.

  Lauren walked to the fireplace and dabbed her finger in the black and gray ashes. She sat on the other side of the coffee table and looked at Lydia. “Open the envelope and lay the card on the table.”

  Lydia did.

  Gibson smirked and waved at the card. “It’s still blank.”

  Without a word, Lauren smeared the ashes across the card. “Blow the ash away, Ms. Cranmer.”

  Heath knew that Gibson realized he’d made a mistake. As careful as he’d been watching, he’d still been taken. He stood and walked through the crowd. Roylston and another man fell into step with him as they went out of the room.

  “The sixteenth!” Lydia held the card up in amazement. “The sixteenth!”

  Lauren spoke calmly. “Was that the day, Ms. Cranmer?”

  “Yes. Oh, my, yes, it was.” She looked at Lauren. “How did you know?”

  Lauren shook her head. “I did not. Abigail did.” She smiled and touched the other woman’s shoulder. “You have spirits that live here, harsh and unkind spirits, but you are under your grandmother’s protection.”

  * * *

  By the time Lauren returned to her hotel room, she’d partially come down from the nervous high from the performance, but her blood was still singing through her veins. She had noticed Gibson leaving the library at the end of the reveal. The man hadn’t broken stride quitting the premises. That still made Lauren grin.

  Chaos had erupted at the Agony House after that, and Lauren had demonstrated all the knowledge she’d picked up from the internet that afternoon. She’d always been a good student, able to absorb material quickly. Lydia Cra
nmer had been frazzled to a degree, gobsmacked by the “spirits talking,” and—to a degree—devastated that Gibson had deserted her.

  Heart still thumping, Lauren walked out onto the patio and looked out over the city. She hated being alone in her moment of glory. She and Heath had taken different cars from the Agony House to make sure they weren’t followed. Heath had tailed her for a while to make sure no one showed any undue interest. When he’d been satisfied, he’d called her and told her to return to the hotel.

  She’d expected him to follow her there. He hadn’t.

  Leaning on the balcony, Lauren thought about her performance. She’d always been reluctant to put on shows, though Morganstern and some of the other magicians who frequented the shop had urged her to. Megan had even begged her to try for one of the amateur nights in Chicago.

  Always before, Lauren had told her sister, her mother, Morganstern and everyone else that she was satisfied selling magic supplies, that she didn’t crave the limelight.

  After tonight, Lauren knew that was a lie. She’d never felt more alive than in front of that impromptu audience in the Agony House library.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  Lauren crossed the room and peered through the peephole, spotting Heath out in the hallway. She opened the door and let him in. “Hey.”

  He smiled at her, looking at her from head to toe, taking in the costume she still wore. She’d forgotten she still had it on. “I have to say, I didn’t expect this.”

  Lauren put on the accent again. “What? Mistress Tereza?”

  “So who is this?”

  Grinning, Lauren pirouetted. “This is a personality that I sometimes do in the magic shop. For private shows with friends. I told you, I like to do magic.”

  “You pack that everywhere you go?”

  “Actually, I brought it in case I needed to change my appearance. I figured I’d break the pieces up and use them with other outfits. Mistress Tereza wasn’t scheduled for an appearance.”

  “Good thing you brought it. You put Gibson in his place.” Heath frowned. “You want to tell me how you pulled that off?”

  “Which part?”

  “Let’s start with the envelope thing. You never touched the envelope.”

  “Correction, I touched it. With this.” Lauren dug in one of the hidden pockets of the hood she wore and produced a bit of wire that looked like a folded paper clip. The loop was just big enough to fit over her thumb. In the center of it was a small numeral 16. “I touched the card hard enough while Roylston was holding it to indent the card enough to leave an imprint that the ashes could reveal. Like your fingerprint kit you made.”

  Heath nodded. “I never saw that wire.”

  “Neither did anyone else. I’m good at sleight-of-hand.”

  “My wallet and I know this. So how about the guy with the August birthday?”

  “His wallet knows I know sleight of hand, as well, but he doesn’t. I had to pick the pockets of seven guys before I found one that would work.”

  “I never saw you in the crowd.”

  “You weren’t supposed to.”

  “If you’d been wearing this outfit, I would have noticed you.”

  “I wasn’t wearing this outfit.” Lauren sat on the edge of the bed while Heath took the wingback chair. She couldn’t help crossing her legs and watching the sharp attention Heath gave her. That pull that existed between them was back, and it was stronger than ever. She wanted him to come for her, and if he did, she wasn’t going to turn him away.

  “All right, how did you know the date?”

  “That was from research I found on the internet. When she was a little girl, one of her favorite singers died on that date. Prudy Cranmer told Lydia Cranmer that maybe Elvis would come talk to her the way Abigail came and talked to her. That was in an interview with the both of them back then.”

  “August sixteenth?”

  “August sixteenth, 1977.”

  Heath thought for a moment, then shook his head.

  “Seriously? You don’t remember when Elvis Presley died?”

  “I wasn’t even born then. Neither were you.”

  “My mom loves Elvis. Megan and I used to try to tease her about it, but she would never budge. When we got to be teenagers, we watched a few of his movies and the ’68 Comeback Special. We got it then. Bad boy looks and rock and roll.”

  Heath showed her a perplexed grin. “I don’t see you as an Elvis fan.”

  “Then what do you see me as?”

  Caught off-guard by the question, Heath shook his head. “I don’t know, Lauren. I’ve never met anyone like you. I think I know you, then you do something that I would have never thought you would do. Like tonight. You were incredible.”

  Lauren smiled at him. “Doesn’t seem to have gotten us any closer to catching Gibson, though.”

  “You don’t know that. Guys like Gibson, they’re used to operating by their timetable. You took that away from him tonight. You stole his thunder. He’s not used to that. Tonight could have been the crack that will trip him up somewhere along the way.”

  They were quiet for a moment.

  Heath looked at his watch. “I should be going.”

  That surprised Lauren. “Where are you going to go? Your hotel room is a shambles. The police are probably looking for you to talk to you about that.” She took a deep breath, discovering that the air in the room suddenly seemed thin. “You’re safer staying here tonight.”

  “I know, but you may not be.”

  Smiling, feeling a little more certain of herself, Lauren got up from the bed and walked over to him. “I can take care of myself.” She leaned in close and kissed him, felt the soft heat of his lips pressed against hers, his stubble raking her chin, then—as if by magic—she pulled him effortlessly to his feet and led him to the bed.

  Once he was on the bed with her, there was no turning back. He was insatiable, and his hands roamed over her body, stripped away the Mistress Tereza outfit and ignited a heat in her she’d never before experienced.

  She relished the weight of his body pressing hers down into the mattress, felt the hard certainty of his erection against her thigh. Gasping, longing, feeling her need growing stronger and stronger, she pushed his pants down over his hips. She grasped his erection in one hand while his lips pressed against hers and his fingers found the molten core of her sex.

  He stroked her and teased her till she was shivering and thought she couldn’t take any more. Then relief came, bursting the tension that had swelled up inside her. She shook and was lost in bliss. Then she opened her eyes and looked up to see him smiling down at her.

  Rolling to her side, Lauren pushed him over, pausing only long enough to reach into the nightstand for the marital aid kit that came with the room. She unrolled a condom over him, taking her time with the task, massaging and grasping till she knew she had him on the edge of control.

  She leaned down and kissed him, then looked into those green-flecked gold eyes as his senses spun into overload. “Not so calm now, are you?”

  He didn’t reply. He just pulled her over on top of him in an inarticulate growl. He slid in instantly and started trying to move. Lauren pressed her hands against his chest, stilling his movement. Then she began to ride, feeling his hard length fill her each time she rose up and sank back down. He struggled to hold back, but she knew he couldn’t, and she gloried in her ability to drive him past the point of control. She felt his release, felt him go stiff, then relax.

  She lay there, enjoying the feel of his body against her. She rubbed her hands over his shoulders, just wanting to be next to him. Instead, he lifted her up bodily and rolled her over onto her back again. Then he was driving into her, hard as ever, and this time the pace was relentless. Her senses shattered and spun and fell into a world she’d never before seen.

  Chapter 19

  The shrill ringing of Lauren’s cell phone woke her the next morning. Snuggled up against Heath, she didn’t want to answer it, but as s
oon as the cell quit, it started ringing again. Grudgingly, she rolled away from the warm man beside her, who still somehow managed to sleep blissfully unaware, and grabbed her phone from the nightstand.

  “Hello.” She glanced at the bedside clock and discovered it was 9:12 in the morning. Not many people had her personal cell number. She expected to hear her mom’s voice.

  “Tell me you are the Mistress Tereza that visited the Agony House last night.”

  “What?” It took Lauren a moment to place Warren Morganstern’s voice because she didn’t think she’d ever heard the man that excited.

  “Mistress Tereza. You know, spooky girl of magic and mystery. Your act.”

  “I don’t have an act.” Lauren sat up in bed, realized she was naked and felt self-conscious even talking over the phone. She pulled a sheet up to cover herself.

  “Well, lady, you better get one together because I think you’re going to need it.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You worked the Agony House last night in Kingston, right?”

  “I wouldn’t say I worked it.”

  “I’ve seen the video. I’m saying you worked it.”

  “Wait. What video?”

  “Somebody in the crowd was filming while you were supposedly channeling some ghost named Abigail. They uploaded the video to YouTube. It’s going viral, kiddo, and getting lots of attention. Piling up hits like you wouldn’t believe. It’s called ‘Mistress Tereza at Agony House.’ Some people are calling it ‘Mistress Tereza Out Magics the Amazing Gibson.’ Like I said, getting lots of attention. Professional magicians envy this kind of publicity.”

  Still not believing what she was hearing, Lauren climbed out of bed with the sheet wrapped around her. That, of course, woke Heath, and he gazed at her with sleepy interest. Even staying in bed till nine, neither of them had gotten much sleep. The night had consumed them.

  She picked her iPad up from the desk, sat down in the chair, and brought up the YouTube website. She entered Mistress Tereza, thinking that would be enough, and found videos advertising things that she would never have done. Although some of them looked interesting enough to think about doing with Heath. She added Agony House and Jamaica, just to be on the safe side, to the search.