The contents of the email didn’t comfort him nearly as much as he might have hoped. Richards’ assistant had sent over a long, detailed, orderly list of names for Rico to review. While Rico appreciated the level of dedication to make sure her boss’ alibi was airtight, it was more work than one person could handle on their own. Rico had passed the names and information along in chunks to the officers assigned to work the hotel with him and waited.

The reports from the officers pinged his email in a near frenzy of alerts. Rico hadn’t necessarily been hopeful the interviews would come back to point the finger at Jett, but it certainly would have given him a clearer path to navigate. Every single interview confirmed Jett’s alibi. There were still a few more to go, but he wasn’t going to hold out to see if they’d condemn Jett.

“Damn it all,” Rico grumbled, shoving the phone back into his jacket and glowering at the nearby crowd in the casino.

The man’s alibi was tight, and he would guess the magician had been on stage when the murder had happened anyway. Rico was still waiting on the reports of both the coroner and the tech guys, but his gut told him Jett was free and clear, which led him to consider Jett’s offer. While he loathed the idea of working with the man, no one would bat an eye if he were to bring Jett in as a consultant. From the looks of things, the murderer had a few tricks of their own up their sleeves. Someone just as tricky might be useful in catching the killer.

Sighing again, Rico stepped away from the pillar he had been leaning on and begrudgingly made his way to the theater. He’d kept an eye on the magician in case he needed to speak to him again on a moment’s notice. Rico knew he would find Jett in the theater, hard at work.

Finding the doors to the back of the stage wasn’t hard and Rico stepped into the cool darkness. Tension rose and fell over his shoulders as Rico glanced around, his eyes adjusting. He had expected better lighting for the men and women backstage to work in but he didn’t spot anyone immediately. There were soft voices coming from somewhere in the dark. Rico couldn’t tell where they were precisely, as the various objects backstage deflected noise. He didn’t like it and his nerves were taut, preparing him to strike at the first sign of danger.

He was spared from having to call out at the sound of approaching footsteps. Rico battled his instinctive reaction to what felt like a threat. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when Jett wandered from behind what looked like a large, intricate ladder with sheets of metal overtop of it. Jett’s face was illuminated by the backlight of a phone, glancing up when he spotted Rico standing just past the doorway.

“Mr. Richards, good, I’ve found you without having to wander this maze. I need to speak to you, if you have time,” Rico said, glad to hear an even tone in his voice.

Jett blinked at him, slowly locking his phone before sliding it into his pocket. “Do you? Unfortunately, I don’t really have a lot of time.”

Something was off, but Rico couldn’t quite place what it was. The look Jett had initially given him had been odd, looking at Rico as if he were a foreign object and he had no idea how it functioned or how it had gotten there. The cocky smile spreading across Jett’s face was familiar, though Rico would swear the man looked more uneasy than when they had first met.

Thinking perhaps Jett was nervous about seeing Rico more than once in a twenty-four hour period, Rico shook his head. “I’m not here to question you again, Mr. Richards. I just need a moment of your time to discuss your offer.”

Jett laughed. “Look, whatever you came here to talk to me about, I’m sure it can wait ‘til later, okay? Unless it’s official police business…?”

Rico raised a brow slowly. “Well, it is police business, but it’s not so urgent that it should stop you from whatever it is you’re doing if you haven’t the time.”

Jett brightened, digging in his suit jacket pocket. “Good, then do me a favor. Why don’t you call me later and we can arrange a time to meet up?”

Rico held out his hand, taking the card from Jett. “Of course.”

“Good. Give me a ring and if I’m not in my meeting or whatever I’m getting up to later, I’ll answer,” Jett told him cheerfully as he brushed past Rico without a second glance.

Rico stood in the shadows, watching Jett’s retreating back with a look of bemusement. He looked down at the card between his fingers, snorting softly as he slid it into a pocket for safekeeping. It hadn’t surprised him in the slightest to see the card featured a black background with a flourish of strong crimson along the borders, its air of mystery and pizazz fit him. Magenta letters spelled out Jett’s name, his occupation, and his number. Rico thought it fitting the man would choose such an ostentatious design, even for a personal card.

Rico’s heart thudded in his chest, his hand slapping the pocket where he had placed the card. The magenta lettering rose up in his mind and he understood what he had been missing all along. He had been so busy looking at Jett’s face and the odd expression he had initially given him, Rico had missed the obvious. He had been able to see Jett’s face clearly and without having to squint because the aura that had been there before was absent.

For a moment, Rico almost chased after Jett, if only to confirm his suspicion, but he was certain of his memory He kept himself in place, hand still clasped to his pocket. Not once in the five years since the strange ability had come to him had Rico ever seen the aura disappear. No matter how many times he would see a fated couple, or what happened between them, the aura always existed when they were around each other.

Something had to have gone wrong somewhere, but the question was what? Had the original sight of the aura been a false flag, something in his radar askew? Or had something gone wrong in the second meeting, his mind somehow no longer seeing the aura despite it having been there before?

For the first time since making peace with his strange new sight, Rico felt a sliver of unease slide into his heart. Never before had he experienced something that made him doubt his ability. Then again, he had never seen anyone glow with such a fierce magenta aura, either, and especially had never seen it encircling someone who was near no one but him. He had just experienced two nevers and the unease in his chest grew. He preferred reliability, bothered by too much mystery in his own life, preferring to keep it to his career.

With trouble brewing in his thoughts, Rico hesitantly followed in Jett’s footsteps and left the back of the stage.