Description: The Last Magician THE THIEF December 1926--Upper West Side It wasn''t magic that allowed Esta to slip out of the party unseen, the bright notes from the piano dimming as she left the ballroom. No matter the year, no one ever really looks at the help, so no one had noticed her leave. And no one had noticed the way her shapeless black dress sagged a bit on one side, the telltale sign of the knife she had concealed in her skirts. But then, people usually do miss what''s right in front of them. Even through the heavy doors, she could still faintly hear the notes from the quartet''s ragtime melody. The ghost of the too-cheery song followed her through the entry hall, where carved woodwork and polished stone towered three stories above her. The grandeur didn''t overwhelm her, though. She was barely impressed and definitely not intimidated. Instead, she moved with confidence--its own sort of magic, she supposed. People trusted confidence, even when they shouldn''t. Maybe especially when they shouldn''t. The enormous crystal chandelier might have thrown shards of electric light around the cavernous hall, but the corners of the room and the high, coffered ceiling remained dark. Beneath the palms that stretched two stories up the walls, more shadows waited. The hall might have appeared empty, but there were too many places to hide in the mansion, too many chances someone could be watching. She kept moving. When she came to the elaborate grand staircase, she glanced up to the landing, where an enormous pipe organ stood. On the floor above, the private areas of the house held rooms filled with art, jewels, priceless vases, and countless antiques--easy pickings with everyone distracted by the loud, drunken party in the ballroom. But Esta wasn''t there for those treasures, however tempting they might have been. And they were definitely tempting. She paused for a second, but then the clock chimed the hour, confirming that she was later than she''d meant to be. Tossing one more careful glance over her shoulder, she slipped past the staircase and into a hall that led deeper into the mansion. It was quiet there. Still. The noise of the party no longer followed her, and she finally let her shoulders sag a bit, expelling a sigh as she relaxed the muscles in her back from the ramrod-straight posture of the serving girl she''d been pretending to be. Tipping her head to one side, she started to stretch her neck, but before she could feel the welcome release, someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the shadows. On instinct, she twisted, holding tight to her attacker''s wrist and pulling it forward and down with all her weight, until he let out a strangled yelp, his elbow close to popping. "Dammit, Esta, it''s me," a familiar voice hissed. It was an octave or two higher than usual, probably because of the pressure she was still exerting on his arm. With a whispered curse, she released Logan''s arm and shook him off, disgusted. "You should know better than to grab me like that." Her heart was still pounding, so she couldn''t manage to dredge up any remorse for the way he was rubbing his arm. "What''s your deal, anyway?" "You''re late," Logan snapped, his too-handsome face close to hers. With golden hair and the kind of blue eyes that girls who don''t know better write poems about, Logan Sullivan was a master of using his looks to his advantage. Women wanted him and men wanted to be him, but he didn''t try to charm Esta. Not anymore. "Well, I''m here now." "You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago. Where have you been?" he demanded. She didn''t have to answer him. It would have pissed him off more to keep her secrets, but she couldn''t suppress a satisfied grin as she held up the diamond stickpin she''d lifted from an old man in the ballroom who''d had trouble keeping his hands to himself. "Seriously?" Logan glared at Esta. "You risked the job for that?" "It was either this or punch him." She glanced up at him to emphasize her point. "I don''t do handsy, Logan." It hadn''t even been a decision, really, to bump into him as he moved on to grab some young maid, to pretend to clean the champagne off his coat while she slipped the pin from his silken tie. Maybe she should have walked away, but she hadn''t. She couldn''t. Logan continued to glower at her, but Esta refused to regret her choices. Regret was for people who dragged their past along with them everywhere, and Esta had never been able to afford that kind of deadweight. Besides, who could regret a diamond? Even in the dimly lit corridor, the stone was a beauty--all fire and ice. It also looked like security to Esta, not only because of what it was worth but also for the reminder that whatever happened, she could survive. The heady rush of adrenaline from that knowledge was still jangling through her blood, and not even Logan''s irritation could dampen it. "You do whatever the job requires." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah, I do," she said, her voice low and not at all intimidated. "Always have. Always will. The Professor knows that, so I''d have thought you would have figured it out by now too." She glared at him a second longer before taking another satisfied look at the diamond, just to irritate him. Definitely closer to four carats than she''d originally thought. "We can''t afford any unnecessary risks tonight," he said, still all business. Still clearly believing he had some sort of authority over their situation. She shrugged off his accusation as she pocketed the diamond. "Not so much of a risk," she told him truthfully. "We''ll be long gone before the old goat even notices it''s missing. ?And you know there''s no way he saw me take it." Her marks never did. She leveled a defiant look in his direction. Logan opened his mouth like he was going to argue, but she beat him to it. "Did you find it, or what?" Esta asked. She already knew what the answer would be--of course he''d found it. Logan could find anything. It was his whole reason for being--at least it was his whole reason for being on the Professor''s team. But Esta allowed him his triumph because she needed to get him off the topic of the diamond. They didn''t have time for one of his tantrums, and much as she hated to admit it, she had been later than they''d planned. Logan''s mouth went flat, like he was fighting the urge to continue harping about the diamond, but his ego won out--as it usually did--and he nodded. "It''s in the billiards room, like we expected." "Lead the way," she said with what she hoped was a sweet enough expression. She knew the floor plan of the mansion as well as he did, but she also knew from experience that it was best to let Logan feel helpful, and maybe even a little like he was in charge. At the very least, it kept him off her ass. He hesitated for a moment longer but finally gave a jerk of his head. She followed him silently, and more than a little smugly, through the dim hall. All around them, the walls dripped with paintings of dour noblemen from some bankrupt European estate or another. Charles Schwab, the mansion''s owner, wasn''t any more royal than Esta herself, though. He''d come from a family of German immigrants, and everyone in town knew it. The house hadn''t helped--built on the wrong side of Central Park, it was an entire city block of overdecorated gilding and crystal. Its contents might have been worth a fortune, but in New York, even a fortune wasn''t enough to buy your way into the most exclusive circles. Too bad it wouldn''t last long. In a handful of years, Black Friday would hit and all the art lining those walls, along with every bit of the furnishings, would be sold off to pay Schwab''s debts. The mansion itself would sit empty until a decade later, when it would be torn down to make way for another uninspired apartment building. If the place weren''t so obviously tacky, it might have been sad. But that was still a few years off, and Esta didn''t have time to worry about the future of steel tycoons. Not when she had a job to do and less time than she''d planned. The two turned down another hallway, which ended at a heavy wooden door. Logan listened carefully before pushing it open. For a second Esta worried he would step into the room with her. Instead, he gave her a serious nod. "I''ll keep watch." Grateful that she wouldn''t have Logan breathing down her neck while she worked, she slipped into the scent of wood polish and cigars. A thoroughly masculine space, the billiards room wasn''t filled with the over-fussy gilding and crystal that adorned the rest of the house. Instead, tufted leather chairs were arranged in small seating groups and an enormous billiards table anchored the space like an altar. The room was stuffy from the fire in the hearth, and Esta pulled at the high neckline of her dress, weighing the risks of unbuttoning the collar or rolling up her sleeves. She needed to be comfortable when she worked, and no one was there but Logan-- "Get a move on it," he demanded. "Schwab''s going to start the auction soon, and we need to be gone by then." Her back still to Logan, she searched the space as she forced herself to take a deep breath so she wouldn''t kill him. "Did you figure out where the safe is?" "Bookcase," he said before closing the door and sealing her int

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