Zoe was lying in bed on her side, staring at the wall. She rolled over and found herself facing Effie, who smiled at her before kissing the tip of her nose. Zoe blushed and tried not to laugh. Effie pulled Zoe's head closer to hers and held her close, kissing the top of her head, and Zoe relaxed into her chest, feeling peace for the first time in what felt like weeks.
"You doing anything today?" Effie asked. "Allie wants to have lunch, and we might practice something, but otherwise not really," Zoe said, "you?" "I have a set sometime tonight, but that's about it," Effie said. Zoe nodded. She didn't know why Allie wanted to have lunch, but lunch was better than their last few meetings, so she was trying to take it in stride. After a while, the girls got up, took showers, got dressed and Effie drove Zoe over to the place Allie had said to meet at before heading over to the casino herself. Allie was already there, in jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair messily pulled back into a ponytail. Zoe approached the table and seated herself. "I already ordered, I hope you don't mind," Allie said as she took a bite from her sandwich. "Not at all. I've never understood the weird societal condition that you have to wait for your entire party to show up to eat. Why are we forcing people to starve themselves?" Zoe asked, and Allie nodded in agreement. "Well," Allie said, chewing and putting the sandwich back down on the plate, "Get whatever you want, it's on me." "How generous of you." "You know me, I love to give." Zoe smirked, which made Allie smile. It was nice to finally be able to put everything behind them and go back to just being professional partners and friends once again. These past few weeks had been terrifying and nerve wracking, somehow simultaneously, and both women were so happy to finally be over it all. Sunny's body was gone, Jenny wasn't squealing, Claire wouldn't say a word and overall, it seemed like it had all blown over. Whatever evidence might've existed was no longer existing, and they finally felt safe. Zoe ordered an iced tea and a large breakfast plate before looking back across the table at Allie. "So," Allie said, "...I think I'm gonna leave town." "Going on vacation?" "...no, I mean leave leave," Allie said softly, wiping her mouth with her napkin, surprising Zoe with this admittance as she added, "Vegas has been terrible for me. I mean, at the start it was great, but after the accident on stage with Domino, yeah. I can't recover in a place that continually encourages me to be the worst version of myself." "Where are you gonna go?" Zoe asked. "I don't know. I thought I might move back home at first. I need to talk to Nick about it, maybe I could convince him to go somewhere with me. After all, with his credentials, he's certified to work as a hospice nurse anywhere, so," Allie said, cupping her hands on the table and sighing, "...I just wanted to say that I'm really really sorry about everything. I didn't wanna just up and leave without telling you what you've meant to me. You've been the best friend I've ever had, and I'm so sorry I got you dragged into this nightmare. I thought I was doing the right thing, at least in the moment, but...in hindsight there must've been a better way to go about it." "You couldn't have known what it would've led to, you had no way of knowing who his family was," Zoe said softly as the waitress set down her iced tea. She picked it up and sipped as Allie kept talking. "This is true, but that doesn't make what I did right," Allie said, "and now I've done even worse. Stealing evidence, accidental near manslaughter, like...it's this place. Vegas is built on debauchery, and no matter how much they may try and clean that up, that's a stink that won't wash off. You can't erase your past. All you can do is try and make a cleaner future. That's what I wanna do. I wanna leave and make a cleaner future." "...but...my work is entirely dependent on your person," Zoe said. "I think you're talented enough to go it alone, quite frankly. If anything, I'm holding you back," Allie said, smiling warmly, "you're the most talented person I've ever worked with, outside my cousin, and I think you're perfectly capable of outright replacing me, not assisting me." Zoe wanted to cry. Nobody had ever spoken this way to her before about her attempts at magic. She'd been doing it for so long, but her parents, her friends back home, nobody...they'd never once said a kind or encouraging word about what she was able to do. But now she'd not only gotten to work with her childhood hero, but also be praised by her, and told she was better than her. What more could a girl really ask for? "...I understand if you need to leave," Zoe said, "I don't wanna stop your attempts at recovery." "It's just a thought, at the moment, nothing concrete yet. Besides, I promised Molly I'd help her with something first. But I wanted you to be the first to know," Allie said, "so here's to a brighter, less convoluted future." Allie raised her coffee cup, Zoe raised her iced tea glass, and they clinked the two together. "To the future," Zoe repeated, smiling. *** Jenny lay in her hospital bed as her doctor sat beside it on a stool, sifting through the pictures she'd given him. He licked his lips and furrowed his brow in confusion. He finally took a long sigh and put the pictures down on his lap before looking at her gauze covered face. "You're sure this is what you want?" he asked. "Positive," she said. "Because with this kind of surgery, I can make you look like anyone. A lot of people don't go back to their old faces, if anything they see it as a way to become a whole new person, and you didn't even do this willingly, so think of it as a freebie. Some choose celebrities, some choose their parents, some choose a girl they admired in high school. But you want this?" he asked, holding the photos up and waving them slightly. "...yes," Jenny said, "I want that. I know it must seem weird, but that's what I want." The doctor shrugged and handed the photos back to her. "If it's what you want, then that's what we'll do," he said, smiling, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I'm here to help you, not belittle you for your decisions. Other doctors might, but not me. I just want you to be absolutely certain, that's all. If you ever wanna change it again, you're gonna have to pay for it yourself as it'll be considered elective surgery that time around. I'll be back with some paperwork in a few minutes." The doctor turned and exited the room, leaving Jenny by herself. She picked up the photos and looked at them, smiling. A nurse entered with Jenny's lunch and set it down on a small wheeled table beside the bed before looking at the photos Jenny had. "Well she's pretty," the nurse said, "...I know her, that's that woman from TV, she's a magician here." Jenny smirked and nodded, adding, "Yeah. That's gonna be my new face." *** Molly was sitting at her draft table, trying to come up with some plans for the vault when Allie entered the room. She sat down on a chair in the corner and pushed her cane against the wall before clearing her throat. Molly waved over her shoulder at her and Allie just shrugged. "...I don't know that I can do this," Molly said through her gritted teeth, "this is so goddamned frustrating. I can't do something that requires such...such...slipshod work. I'm a professional." "All you gotta do is make it so someone else besides him has access to it. He trusts you. He doesn't know we're friends," Allie said, "If we create a backdoor access, we can turn that over to anyone who might come after us again as evidence that he's at the top of the food chain. If Tony's the one they're actually after, then we'll be able to hand him right over and secure our freedom." Molly turned around in her chair and looked at Allie, putting her pencil behind her ear. "But nobody's been following you since you crashed your car, right? You haven't had any feelings of being watched or tracked or whatever, right? So what makes you think they're gonna even come after us again?" Molly asked, and Allie shrugged, picking up an architecture book from a nearby table and thumbing through it. "It's a precaution, Moll, that's all. A 'get out of jail free' card if you will. I just wanna always be one step ahead," Allie said. Molly nodded, then turned back to her table and continued looking over her drafts. She chewed on her lip and tossed her curly bangs from her face before groaning and putting her face down onto the drafting table in exasperation. "Everything okay champ?" Allie asked, not even looking up from the book. "I wanna die," Molly said muffled. "In due time," Allie said, which, sick as it was, made Molly laugh. *** Agent Siskel and Agent Tropper were in Tropper's house. Siskel was getting her gun loaded and strapped into her belt, before pulling her jacket over it. Tropper entered with his wife right behind him, who waved politely at Siskel. Siskel had never spent much time around Tropper's wife, but she seemed like a pleasant woman, and she loved her husband to death and back. "How do I look?" Tropper asked. "Oooh, like a man about to take down a hardened criminal," Siskel said, leaning back on the couch and grinning, "Give us a twirl." Tropper laughed and did a little spin, making both Siskel and his wife laugh. He then pulled his gun from his holster and made sure it was loaded before putting it back in and looking at his wife, Robin. He approached he as he tossed the car keys to Siskel so she could get the car warmed up. As Siskel exited, Tropper put his hands on his wifes hips and kissed her. "I love you," he said, "I'll be back in a little bit, and I'll bring dinner, okay? I know you always tense up when I go out to do these sorts of things, but don't worry. This woman isn't a threat. She's slippery, but she's nothing compared to Siskel and myself. Besides, she's got my back. She'll ensure I come home." "After this is over, we should take a vacation," Robin said, "I wanna go somewhere that's not Vegas." "How about Reno?" Tropper asked, chuckling at her disapproving smirk as he added, "What, it's not Vegas." He kissed her again before adjusting his holster and then heading for the door. Robin watched her husband climb into the car with Siskel, who was driving. She leaned against the door and waved, as the agents waved back, and then pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road to finish the job. Robin was nervous, but she tried to relax. After all, after tonight her husband would be done with the case, and be a hero. And she knew Siskel would make sure he came home. Siskel was nothing if adamant on keeping her promises. "You sure you're ready for this?" Siskel asked. "Are you?" Tropper asked, "I mean, shit, we've been dealing with this case for weeks now, over a month even, and you don't seem all the least bit excited to be finished. You're finally gonna back her into a corner and close it out." "It'll be rewarding when it's over," Siskel said, taking a long deep breath before adding, "but it ain't over til it's over." *** Allie was heading up to her penthouse when the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Tony stepping inside. Allie smiled at him, and he smiled and nodded at her before hitting his offices floor on the panel. Allie cleared her throat and leaned in. "I never really got to congratulate you on your new places success," Allie said, "A shame what's happened, but you still deserve the congrats nonetheless." "I appreciate that," Tony said, chuckling, "Yeah, it's been a shitshow. I'm starting to regret ever building a second place. But that's part of owning a business, I guess. The trouble that comes with it. Even if it's trouble from someone else. I just can't imagine who would bury a person like that." "It was pretty sick," Allie said, "I saw it on the news and it made me retch." "I just want you to know I'm proud of you," Tony said, surprising Allie completely as he rubbed his nose and nodded, continuing, "you got sober, you've mostly stayed sober, and you haven't made a big fuss about working with this girl and in fact you seem to like her now even, and I just wanna say how great it's been to watch you do that turn around. You were real young when we met, and after learning about your family and stuff, I don't know, I guess I always sort of felt like a father figure to you." Tony shrugged, and Allie felt the pit of her stomach groan. "Anyway," he continued, "I just wanted to say that. It's been great seeing you get sober, get back to being successful. You're a great magician, Allie, and a great person, and I'm proud of you. We should get together soon. I'm having a BBQ for my birthday in a few weeks, so you should come and attend. I'd love to have you there, as part of the family, not as a worker." Allie wanted to cry. Tony smiled and patted her on the shoulder before the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. He walked out, said goodnight and headed down the hall to his office. Allie leaned against the elevator wall as it continued its ascension towards her penthouse suite. She looked at the head of her cane, which had been outfitted with a fake crystal ball and she saw her reflection. "aw hell," she whispered. *** Siskel and Tropper stood in the hallway, waiting, listening. Siskel looked at Tropper and nodded, and Tropper pulled his gun. Siskel pulled hers and together they approached the door with caution. Tropper took a long deep sigh, then pushed his shoulder against the door and forced it open. "Federal ag-" he began, before the first shot went off and he stumbled back against the wall and immediately crawled to hide behind the bar near the kitchenette. Siskel screamed a little, completely surprised that they'd been expected, but she quickly joined him. Kneeling down and looking at him, he grimaced but nodded at her. "Are you okay?" she asked, sounding worried. "I'm fine, it's in the shoulder, it's fine," he said. "Nicole Sykes!" Siskel shouted, peeking out over the bartop before more shots came and she quickly retreated, "Nicole, we just wanna talk with you!" "Nobody comes in guns blazing just to talk!" Nicole shouted back, "I know why you're here! He sent you didn't he?!" Siskel and Tropper exchanged a curious glance. "Who?" Tropper asked, "Who sent us?" Silence. Agent Siskel stood up and put her gun down on the countertop of the bar, seeing Nicole standing by the window in a sleek, form fitting black dress, her hair a mess, her makeup running, a gun in one hand and a bottle of gin in the other. She looked like the worst kind of a rich party girl. Agent Siskel put her hands up and stepped away from the bar. "I'm not armed, okay? I'm not here to hurt you," she said slowly and surely, "you have nothing to worry about. We're not here on the orders of anyone, but of our own reasons. Why don't you tell me who it is you think sent us for you?" "...my father," Nicole whispered, tears running down her face, now stained with eye makeup, "he sent you to kill me, or take me in. I'm the fall guy, aren't I? I knew he would. I knew he would, the bastard!" She raised her gun and Agent Siskel stopped in her tracks but Nicole just fired into the couch a few feet away and screamed more. Agent Siskel continued approaching, cautiously. "We don't even know your father," Siskel said, "but maybe we could help eachother out. We're looking into your stepbrothers death, yeah? Remember we came and met you before? If you think your father has something to do with it, which we suspect, then we're more than willing to cut a deal." Nicole leaned against the glass door to the balcony and sobbed, sliding down it until she hit the floor. "...there's no deal, you don't get it," she whispered, "he'll make sure I never see the outside of a prison again. He'll do anything to ensure his own freedom. He'll kill you too...." She lowered the gun and took a long swig from the alcohol bottle as Siskel turned and headed back to Tropper. She pulled her cell phone out and dialed the office, lifting the phone to her ear. "This is Agent Rebecca Siskel, my partner's been shot, a minor wound, but we need an ambulance here immediately," she said, before giving them the address. "Agent," Nicole said, and Siskel turned back to face Nicole as she said, "...in my office, there's a locked drawer. The key is in the pinstripe suit in my closet in my bedroom. Inside the drawer are all the financial records that I've doctored to hide his money, to alleviate him of guilt. It's all there in black and white. But..." she wiped her nose on her arm and sniffled, "but it won't be enough, because he isn't at the top, you won't take him down by just taking him in, you need both." "Both what?" Siskel asked. "...both parties involved. Him and the casino owners. Specifically Ephram, Tony Ephram," Nicole said, "he's the biggest benefactor and, as a result, gets the largest tax cut. He's the one you're gonna need to bring in too, otherwise you won't have much. My father is so powerful, and he's got such great lawyers. You need to turn them on one another. But getting to Tony won't be easy. You'll need to gain his trust. You need someone close to him." Siskel furrowed her brow as Nicole looked at the gun in her hand and took a long breath before lifting the gin bottle to her lips and taking the longest sip Siskel had ever seen someone take of straight gin. "...there's a woman on TV, in commercials for his casino," Nicole said, "She's a magician." "Allie Meers, yes. She works at his casino, she's been there forever apparently," Siskel said, "Why are...why are you telling me this?" "...because," Nicole said, "he's not gonna let me go, but if I'm gonna go down, I wanna see him go down too. You're gonna need to get to Tony to turn him against my father, and to do that...you're gonna need Allie Meers." Siskel and Tropped looked at one another before looking back at Nicole. "You're gonna need Allie Meers," Nicole repeated before putting the gun to her head and pulling the trigger, her brains exploding out onto the fiberglass balcony doors behind her, shocking both Tropper and Siskel. Siskel stood up and raced over to Nicole, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her, as if it would do any good. Her eyes were already rolled back, her jaw slack, she was gone. She'd been gone the second the trigger had been pulled. Siskel screamed and stood up, kicking the shit out of a nearby table. Tropper watched in absolute disbelief at what he'd just witnessed. Siskel dropped to her knees and screamed, pulling at her hair. Nicole's body slid down the door to the side and collapsed on the floor entirely, her hand still gripping the gun tightly. In one swift second, she'd both given them everything they'd need to beat this case, and taken away their main source. Everytime, Siskel thought, every single fucking time it seemed like she had it on lockdown, she somehow had another new wrench thrown into the mix that only further complicated things. Outside the sound of the ambulance approached and the lights filled the room even from down on the street. Siskel leaned against the couch on the floor, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Nicole was right, she knew. Not about her father, or about driving a wedge between Tony and her father, but about what they'd need. They could have all the papers and evidence in the world, but there was one thing they needed above all else... ...the Astounding Allie.
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ABOUT
Allie Meers is what she dreamed of being since she was a little girl...a successful Vegas magician. The only problem now is she can't make all her problems disappear; Allie grapples with her strained relationship, crippling addictions and FBI agents on her tail, all while trying to stay at the top of her career. Archives
December 2023
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