For the next hour, Jay proceeded to wow his audience with illusions and magic tricks that had us all scratching our heads trying to figure out how he’d achieved them. I snuggled closer to Jace and noticed he was a little tense. I studied him and began to wonder what had him so on edge.
The show was almost over, his part was finished, but he was chewing his lip as though there was more to come, but that couldn’t be right. Jay had just concluded his final magic trick, the audience was clapping and cheering, and the man of the hour was taking a final bow, retreating from the stage.
“Jace, what’s wrong?” I whispered, and his hazel eyes met mine.
“Don’t be mad, okay?”
I frowned. “Why would I be mad at you?” In my peripheral, I was aware of the show ending, people gathering their things to leave.
“Because I had to protect you from being involved.”
“Involved in what?”
Before he could answer, my attention returned to the stage, where Jay had suddenly reappeared. All those who’d been moving to leave sat right back down in their seats. Even the catfish victims looked surprised that Jay had come back out for some kind of encore.
“I lied to you earlier,” he confessed. “I didn’t invite the lovely people in the second row here tonight merely for a nice evening out. In fact, I’ve been hatching a plan to right the wrongs done to them for a while now. Those of you who’ve known me for a long time know that I have a little bit of an obsession with justice. I can’t just sit back and let bad people get away with their crimes, especially when it affects my family. So, I set out to find the person who needed to face justice.” He glanced at the second row again. “The one who’d caused you all so much hardship and pain.”
The catfish victims began muttering amongst themselves, speculating as to what was going on, just as what appeared to be a video recording was projected directly onto the screen at the back of the stage, the same screen Jay had used to create his pretty illusions at the beginning of the show. It was a still from someone’s webcam, showing a background of a living room.
“So,” Jay continued. “When you’re as obsessed with justice as I am, you collect some interesting friends along the way, friends who can help you with things you might not otherwise be able to achieve.”
“He didn’t,” I whispered, shaking my head. Jace’s fingers intertwined with mine, and I turned to stare at him. “He used Margie’s idea, didn’t he?”
Jace nodded, his expression apologetic. “I couldn’t let him involve you.”
I squeezed his fingers. “It’s okay. I understand.”
To be honest, deep down I was terrified of doing what Margie had suggested, mainly because I didn’t have a law-breaking bone in my body. I should’ve been more suspicious when Jay had never brought the matter up with me again, should’ve known he was making his own plans without my involvement
In her last email to me, Margie had detailed how Dixon had always wished for a reliable service on the dark web for hiring local goons who he could pay to intimidate his victims when they’d discovered his scams and threatened to call the police. Since his victims were located all around the world, it wasn’t possible for him to do this himself. Margie had suggested I build a website on the dark web purporting to offer such services, then make posts on various forums Dixon frequented under fake profiles recommending the site. Once he visited and tried to pay for the service, we’d be able to track his location.
It was a simple enough plan, but Jace hadn’t wanted me involved, and I understood why. If it ever came out that I’d done something like that, I could lose my job, my career. So, Jay had obviously enlisted the help of someone else who could easily throw up a website and process payments, someone who I suspected was his friend, Oliver King-Clark.
“One such friend of mine helped me to track the very man we’d been looking for. When we pinpointed his location, I was only too happy to inform Interpol, who had also beenhighlyinterested in finding this individual. And you know, I couldn’t just sit back and let them have all the fun, so I went ahead and asked my friend to get me a little feed to our boy’s webcam so that I could have a front row seat to karma working her magic.” Again, he addressed the second row. “I hope you all enjoy this as much as my son and I did.”
“Wait, has he been …” My voice trailed off as Jay hit play on the video, and suddenly, Dixon came on screen.
He sat down in front of his computer and seemingly began scrolling, occasionally tapping the mouse before there was a loud banging on the door. With a deep sense of satisfaction, I saw all the colour drain from his face as he quickly realised what was happening. In speedy succession, several people in official uniforms crashed into whatever house or apartment Dixon wasstaying in. Since it was only a webcam, we could see just one angle, and most of the action happened off screen, but we could hear the shouting and scuffling as Dixon roared the place down, resisting arrest.
Finally, I watched as two men and a woman carted him off, and then the screen went blank. Gasps and cries of emotion sounded from the second row, while the rest of the audience cheered.
“That’s right, ladies and gentleman. We got our guy in the end. He’s being carted off to America as we speak to face charges of fraud and identity theft. It’s the very least he deserves. So, this story has a happy ending.” He paused, his attention raking over the crowd while a mischievous glint shone in his eyes. “But wait, it’s not over yet.”
Jay motioned above the stage to the black-and-white countdown board. It had been a high number when we’d first arrived in the theatre but was now clicking down almost to zero. Five, four, three, two, one … as soon as the numbers flattened out at zero, several of those in the second row started to receive notifications on their phones. The buzzes and beeps echoed through the space. My chest whirled with exhilaration. What was happening? In my peripheral, I realised Jace wasn’t watching the stage. He was watching me, savouring my reactions, and at that moment, he reminded me so much of his dad.
“You might have noticed there was a number up there when you first arrived,” Jay explained. “Two hundred forty-five thousand, six hundred thirty-two point nine five, to be exact. That is the precise sum of money that our catfish stole from you all, and it has now been refunded directly to your accounts. Thank you, and good night.” With that, Jay gave a final bow before he turned and walked off the stage.
I blinked in wonder. Okay,what?More to the point,how?
For a brief second, the audience sat in astounded silence. I had no idea how Jay had managed to pull this off, especially since Dixon would’ve gone out of his way to hide the money, but I had a feeling Jay’s “friend,” a certain someone who was a financial technology genius, had had a hand in retrieving the funds. The crowd went wild, clapping and cheering filling the theatre while the catfish victims displayed shows of emotion, crying and hugging one another. My exhilaration turned to a strange kind of relief. I hadn’t realised until that very moment how much pain I was carrying for everyone who’d been scammed, including Jace. But in the space of a few short minutes, my faith in humanity had been restored, all thanks to Jace and his dad.
I turned and pulled him into my arms while his came around my waist, holding me as I gushed, “That was amazing. I knew you two were up to something.”
Jace’s low chuckle vibrated through me as he pressed a kiss to my neck. “Of course, you did. You’re far too clever.”
“Seriously, sometimes I think your dad might not be completely human,” Roan said, shaking his head. “How he manages these kinds of stunts is beyond me. Every time I think he can’t possibly top his last one, he goes ahead and does it.”
“He’s definitely human, his brain just works a little differently to the rest of us,” Jace replied before looking to me. “You really aren’t mad?”
