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“Now, we get into all these cars to give them a show, then I buy a couple, and we leave,” Dominic said, eyeing everyone around us.
“You don’t mind if I take pictures, do you?” I asked, pulling my phone from the purse.
“Why do you want to take pictures?”
“My brothers. They adore anything car related,” I said with a grin. “They’re going to be green with envy when they see this.” And I pulled up the camera app on my phone.
“Sure, Teddybear,” Dominic said, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was smiling. “Take pictures. Just stay close.”
I did stay close. And I recorded every single one of the fancy cars in that place. There were over 600, so it took a long time, especially since Dominic had to stop and get into every single one of them. Apparently, that’s what Noah Bennett had done every other time he’d been at these shows, and even though he pretended to hate having to stop by every car, Dominic was enjoying himself. He enjoyed talking to the representatives of every car company, asking them detailed questions about engines and tires and all kinds of things I’d never even heard the name of. You could see it in the glint of his eyes that were still blue. Sandra’s magic was impressive. I kept analyzing every detail of him, and nothing about the illusion had given yet.
There were people who talked to Dominic, thinking he was Noah, but the bodyguards never let anyone close enough to touch him. And the people acted like they were used to it, like they had never shaken Noah’s hand before, even when he was really himself and not just illusion magic.
A few hours in, I could barely stand in those sandals anymore. My album was full of videos and pictures of cars, and I couldn’t wait to send them all to my brothers, but I couldn’t take another picture if my life depended on it.
Dominic was in the process of admiring a Chevy, colored an army green, shining like it was just polished—it probably was—while I stayed at the back of it and watched the people walking by. There were all kinds of them here—mostly humans, businessmen, teenagers, elderly people, some with their friends, some with their families, and I even saw a couple of strollers being pushed past me earlier. No matter how hard I looked or how many faces I searched, nobody seemed suspicious. I recognized all the agents who were there to watch us, and they were damn good at their jobs. If I hadn’t seen their pictures, I’d have never guessed they were there for anything other than to admire fancy cars.
“Excuse me,” said a voice from my right, and I spun around to see a woman, possibly my age, with black hair that barely reached her shoulders and teeth covered in braces. “Hi!” she said and came a little closer tentatively, as if she wasn’t sure it was okay.
“Hey,” I said with a smile, and she came all the way to me the next second.
“So sorry to bother you, but I can’t look away from those sandals,” she said, pointing at my feet. “Can I ask where you got them and how much they cost?”
I looked down at her clothes—a black shirt and black trousers, black sneakers. She didn’t look like someone who wore these kinds of heels to me.
My suspicion radar went off immediately—and she noticed.
“Oh, I’m at work right now.” She turned around to show me the print on the back of her black shirt—Ford. “Hence the reason I’m dressed like a boy.”
I laughed, feeling silly for a moment. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to judge. And I have no idea where these came from—my boyfriend bought them for me.” I pointed back at the car.
“Maybe you could ask him then,” the girl said and offered her hand. “I’m Lindsay.”
“Hi, Lindsay. I’m Aurora. Nice to meet you.” Her hand was warm, her handshake firm.
“Nice to meet you, too,” she said, and just then, her smile faltered. “Were you here yesterday?”
“No, we just got in today,” I said, analyzing her face. Was it just my imagination playing tricks on me? Was it just because I was expecting to be played by people that had me feeling this uncomfortable to speak to a stranger?
Or was it really something about her?
“Thought so. I wouldn’t have missed those sandals,” she said. “Anyway, if you get the chance to ask your boyfriend, let me know, okay? I’m over there, at Ford’s.”
And she pointed her thumb back east. The Ford cars were being displayed on the west side of the show.
“Sure,” I said and waved weakly as she turned around and left, my mind buzzing.
Anyone here could be working with the people who killed Michael Bennet, even a girl with braces who worked for Ford and liked high-heeled sandals. I kept my eyes on her until the crowd swallowed her, but she never turned to even look at me again. I sighed. Paranoia wasn’t going to help me right now. I needed to clear my head.
“Who was that?” Dominic asked, coming from behind me. I hadn’t even realized he’d gotten out of the car.
Yeah, I definitely needed to clear my head.
“Just a girl who works for Ford. She asked about my sandals.” I looked down at my feet instead of at him.
“You’re bored,” he said, and I felt his eyes analyzing me.
“No, just a little restless. Any one of these people could be them, and we’ll never even know. It just feels like we’re wasting time.”
