Also by Ruth Clampett
Animate Me https://amzn.to/2IlUMd5
Unforgiven https://amzn.to/2ICY5jd
Encore https://amzn.to/2rEScIS
Burn https://amzn.to/2GfcahM
Wet https://amzn.to/2GfusPG
Mr. 365 https://amzn.to/2rIDYFY
* * *
Work of Art~Book 1 The Inspiration https://amzn.to/2L49QgS
Work of Art~Book 2 The Unveiling https://amzn.to/2L4afjo
Work of Art~Book 3 The Masterpiece https://amzn.to/2KXeL3f
Work of Art~The Collection https://amzn.to/2IlmzdB
Illusionist Seeks Neanderthal
L.H. Cosway
Have you ever wondered what would happen when two characters from completely different book worlds collide? Well, wonder no more. Illusionist Seeks Neanderthal is a short story featuring Jay Fields (Six of Hearts) and Janie Morris (Neanderthal Seeks Human).
Copyright ? 2018 by L.H. Cosway All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
One
Some time ago, before there was ever a Quinn or a Matilda, two curious souls crossed paths…
Jay
This prick isn’t gonna see shit.
He’s all up in my grill, bald head a shining, beady little hawk eyes following my every move. They always have the same idea, thinking if they keep their focus on my hands they’ll catch me off guard. Figure out the trick.
Wrong.
It’s the ones who stand back, outside the gathered crowd, only vaguely interested, that you’ve got to watch for. You ever been hanging out, waiting for a bus, or I dunno, standing outside a store waiting for your girl to try shit on, your eyes disinterestedly scanning the street, when all of a sudden you randomly spot some motherfucker slipping his hand inside a purse and stealing someone’s wallet? The same rules apply to illusion. You’re far more likely to see what I’m really up to if you’re not actually looking.
I was in Chicago, one of my favorite cities. I had a couple night club shows lined up but today I’d taken to the streets, mainly because I needed some extra cash to pay for my hotel. I never really made a whole lot from my gigs, a couple hundred dollars at most, but I figured if I just kept performing, kept on hustling, maybe one day I’d make it to Vegas. That was where you earned the big money.
“You’ve got a card hidden inside your shirt sleeve, don’t ya?” said Baldy, perspiration collecting on his forehead he was concentrating so hard. A decent crowd had gathered but this dude was killing my buzz. I didn’t get why some people couldn’t just enjoy the show, they wanted to know how you were pulling it off. And they were always disappointed when you gave them the truth. That’s why I never did. I hated the look of disillusionment in their eyes, much preferred the glittering excitement of mystification.
Shuffling the deck, I slid it back in my pocket and stepped away from him. “That’d be telling, buddy.” His lips firmed in annoyance but I decided to ignore him and move onto another trick. “Okay, I need a volunteer for this next one, anyone interested?”
“Me! I’ll do it,” said Baldy but I pretended I didn’t hear him, eyes scanning the crowd.
“I’d like to volunteer,” a tall, pretty red head who was waving her hand eagerly in the air enthused.
I smiled and gave her a quick sweep up and down, a silent interview if you will. Right off the bat I knew she wasn’t gonna work. I had to admit though, she was smokin’. Intelligent eyes, too. She had that whole sexy librarian thing going on. From what I could see under her dark green sweater, she had a fantastic rack, legs that went on for miles and a face that made fools out of men. I’d certainly have some fun unbuttoning all that prim and proper.
“Sorry, darlin’, but I don’t think you’re right for this one,” I said, my tone apologetic. “Someone else.” I moved my attention over the crowd and found a short guy with his hand up. Unlike the red head, this dude was perfect. I was just about to call him forward when prim and proper spoke up.
“Why not?” Her brow was furrowed and she looked disappointed, like a kid who’d just been told she was too short to ride the rollercoaster.
I gave her another once over and reconsidered. There was something about her that made me feel bad, something that made me want to give her what she wanted.
“What do you do for a living?” I asked.
Maybe this could work. Maybe. I already had a fair idea of her profession, the top three possibilities being a statistician, an economist or an accountant.
What told me this, you ask? Well, a number of things, but we won’t get into those now.
“I’m an accountant.”
Booyah. Unfortunately, though, my first guess was correct. This trick just wouldn’t work with her.
“I’m sorry. I gotta go with this dude,” I said, nodding over to the other guy who’d volunteered.
She appraised me curiously. “Why?”
“Just the way the cookie crumbles.”
“I’d really like to know,” she persisted.
“Stick around and maybe we’ll talk,” I told her, then moved toward the man. I had no idea why I’d said that. People asked me questions all the time, but I never offered explanations. This woman, though, I liked the look in her eyes, if that made sense. Nevertheless, she didn’t seem too happy with my brush off, folding her arms over her chest. I didn’t really intend to reveal anything to her, but I did want to talk to her some more. Maybe she’d be open to joining me for a drink in one of the many bars that lined the street.
Pulling a pen and a piece of paper from my pocket, I handed them to the guy. “What’s your name?”
“Ben,” he answered, seeming a small bit nervous now that everybody’s attention was on him. It was perfect.
“Okay, Ben, think of an object. Any object. Picture it in your head. You got one?”
“Yeah.”
I watched him intently. “All right, not that one. Change it. Now change it again. One more time. Right, now you can safely say there’s no way I could know what it is, right? In fact, go ahead and pick a different one. This is the last time, I promise. You all set?”
He nodded. “Now, I want you to draw it for me. I’m gonna go stand over there with my back turned so there’s no possible way I could see.”
I walked away and he immediately started drawing. Turning, I counted to twenty in my head. “You done, Ben?” I called over my shoulder.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“All right, now I want you to fold that bad boy up and put it in your pocket, somewhere I ain’t gonna get my hands on it.” Once he’d tucked the paper safely inside the back pocket of his jeans, I pulled a five-dollar bill from my wallet and handed it to the red head.
“Do me a favor and go grab me a paper from the newsstand, would ya, gorgeous?” I asked and a small blush colored her cheeks.
She looked away and I could see that something I’d said caught her off guard; her response a squeaky, “Okay.”
I enjoyed watching her walk away, my eyes roaming that shapely behind. When she returned she handed me the paper, neatly folded in half. Her pretty eyes were alight with interest and I could tell she was getting a real kick out of all this. She might not have been a good candidate to volunteer, but she was the ideal spectator. I could tell she was bursting with questions but was holding them all back. Sometimes the human desire to be surprised trumped the need for knowledge, even in a woman as curious as this one.
I shook out the news rag then very carefully opened it to reveal a folded piece of paper inside the middle page. Some interested mutterings sounded from the onlookers while Ben swore under his breath, “What the hell?”