Magic Tricks 🔮 Book 2 || gxg

La Magie Pure

Ada's much needed day off was not as restful as she had been hoping. It started off well; she was up early and made breakfast for her and Sam, she got in a bit of studying, and was just about to shut it down to go shower when her phone rang. She thought it would be Sam on her lunch break to vent some of her bad-day blues, but was startled to find it was Hillebrandt. A video call, no less. After a quick sigh, Ada answered, checking her face in the camera before the call connected.

Honestly, Ada had forgotten about him. After Charles and Jocelyn had appeared on her doorstep, he was gone from her mind. She figured if he was calling now, it was for nothing good. His sullen scowl confirmed as much.

"You're tan," Ada noted en lieu of a greeting. And he was, his hazel eyes now lighter than his complexion. "What's up?"

The scowl deepened. "Forced vacation, apparently it's been a year already." His eyes roamed the screen. "You look like hell."

"Thanks, you're too kind. Where did you go?"

"Florida, saw my parents." He shook his head. "That's not why I'm calling. Tell me you didn't have anything to do with that fucking arson case."

"Okay, I didn't have anything to do with that fucking arson case." Ada stifled a snicker as his cheek twitched. "Seriously, I didn't."

"Good enough. The captain was asking, he made the town connection. Now I can tell him you swore you didn't. Just don't say anything otherwise, I'm obligated to turn you in if you do."

Ada nodded. "Got it. I wasn't there."

"Do you have an alibi?"

She glanced at her monitor for a second. "Yeah, I do."

Noah would vouch for her. Not only was it in his best interest, she trusted him to. After all, it wasn't his first time doing so.

"Good, you should probably sort out your story between you, just in case."

Ada's brows rose. "In case of what?"

"I haven't heard yet if your local police have any leads or suspects, but if they do, you want to be ready to be questioned, whether or not you had something to do with it, and I'm not saying you did."

Ada could tell by his expression he knew she did. Smirking, she started to respond, but got only a syllable out before he cut her off.

"No, nope, don't say anything, just nod if you understand. I swear to God, I'm not losing my job over this."

His hard persona was cracking despite his best efforts; Ada offered a smile and a nod. "Got it."

He rolled his eyes. "Have you heard from them?"

"Charles and Jocelyn?" Ada asked, and he nodded. "Big time. They showed up at my door."

"Is that how you got ..." He drew lines across his throat with his finger.

Ada swallowed hard, still able to feel the dim ache of the nearly-healed bruise. She thought better of telling him the truth and said, "Yeah, but I got him back for it. I punched him as hard as I could in the jaw."

Hillebrandt grinned. "Well done. Knock any teeth loose?"

"Not this time, but he was wearing makeup to cover the bruise, so it must be pretty bad."

That got a laugh out of him. "I bet he hated that."

"He did," she smirked. "He hid it well, though. I think he was just surprised I even hit him back. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Do you know anything about a pot dealer by the name of Simon P?"

Hillebrandt frowned. "You're not talking about Simon Prentiss, are you?"