Hot Trick (A Detective Shelley Caldwell Novel) Read Free Page A

emotions I couldn’t explain.
    Fans finally recognized the escape artist’s presence. They oohed and aahed and cheered.
    The applause became deafening.
    Sebastian took the stage and raised his arms for a dramatic moment, after which he put one hand over his heart and took a deep bow. The audience whistled and cheered as he stepped to the edge of the platform and took a microphone from Oriel, who remained glued to his side as if to take half the credit for the illusion.
    “Thank you,” Sebastian yelled over the applause. “And thanks to Harry Houdini for the inspiration.”
    More applause. An appropriate pause. He was good at controlling the crowd. All around me, spectators were riveted to his every word, every gesture.
    Except for the guys I’d identified as gang members earlier. They were going to be trouble, especially the one who looked older than the others. Undoubtedly the leader, he had eyes that were flat of expression and oddly pale against his caramel-colored skin.
    Snake eyes.
    An Hispanic kid whose bare arms were decorated in one continuous tattoo hung close to Snake Eyes. The other two—a skinny white kid with lanky hair and an Asian, who was obviously a body-builder—moved off together.
    “The donation buckets are still open,” Sebastian announced. “Tonight’s proceeds are going to help pay legal counsel hired by Benita Rivera, whose brother Pablo was murdered and whose killer walked free.”
    He indicated the young woman who sat to one side of the stage, a toddler in her lap. Her thick hair was pulled away from her face in a ponytail. Color tinged her broad cheekbones and her large dark eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
    Tension seared my muscles and quickened my breath. My case …he was talking about my case …and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was now looking directly at me.
    Donations were brisk, buckets traveling through the crowd filling up quickly. My mind whirled with questions.
    Why had Sebastian picked the Rivera case?
    Silke, no doubt. Probably outraged for me when Ruben Hernandez had walked, she’d brought Sebastian’s attention to the case.
    A sudden jostling and shouts snapped me out of my musing.
    The gang members had gotten hold of the buckets of money.
    Instinct propelled me after the closest duo. Snake Eyes wielded a knife, protecting Tattoo Boy, who was carrying one of the buckets. The crowd parted for them. And for me.
    Where the hell were the security guards?
    My hand slipped to the gun holstered at the back of my waist and pulled it free. My pulse tick, tick, ticked …faster and faster. The moment I put some distance between me and the crowd, I shouted, “Freeze or I’ll blow off your frickin’ heads!”
    Of course the last thing any cop wanted to do was discharge a weapon. Too much damn paperwork.
    Tattoo Boy stumbled and Snake Eyes turned and flipped the knife—blade in his hand—so that he could throw it at me. “Catch, bitch!”
    No hesitation, I rolled to the ground as the knife whizzed too close for comfort over the spot where I’d been standing. It fell harmlessly to the ground with a clatter, and someone nearby shrieked. Heart pounding, I came up to one knee, holding my gun with both hands.
    “Drop to the ground,” I ordered.
    Suddenly, the guy carrying the bucket threw it down, but before he and his partner could attempt a getaway, two beefy security guards were on them. Thankfully, because cops didn’t shoot to wound and I wasn’t up to killing anyone. A quick look across the crowd assured me another pair of security guards had stopped the other gang tag team.
    And I could take an easy breath, because a uniformed officer was heading this way. Since I really, really hated paperwork, I would be happy to let him make the collar.

Chapter Three
    Sebastian couldn’t take his eyes off Shelley Caldwell as she aimed her weapon at the would-be thieves. He knew exactly who she was…the reason he’d hired her sister.
    To get to her.
    “Omigod, Shell,” Silke