"During the intermission, we asked you to write down your current bank balance and seal it in an envelope."
Eva stepped up besides Merritt and gestured for the crowd to participate, "Pull out those envelopes and shout out your name!"
Voices overlapped each other as names trickled out from close by and far away. Merritt held his hand up to his ear as a way to tell them to be louder. He repeated names as he heard them sparsely thrown out.
"Clement Frannick?"
Someone from the top tier of seats stood up and announced themselves. Eva waved back at them as Merritt shouted out another name.
"Dina Robertson?"
A lady stood up as well.
"Josepha Hickey?"
Another lady stood. Merritt decided on staying with that choice and he focused on her for the moment, giving instructions on the next steps. Eva mostly tuned it out since it was mainly a stall to get to the real point.
As she waited, she looked back over her shoulder to see Danny and Henley waiting behind the curtain with a giant check. Jack was besides them and he gave her a thumbs up.
She smiled and turned back to Merritt, who had gotten the whole audience to stand up for the next part. She motioned for the other three to come on stage.
"Unfortunately, every single one of you are wrong about what's in your accounts."
Eva whispered in Merritt's ear to remind him about Arthur Tressler. But she stepped away as the man did the ass kissing for the rest.
"Come on down for the finale, Art!" Henley encouraged.
The spotlight focused on the man, urging him to participate. He eventually conceded with a hearty grin and he joined them on the stage. Eva and Henley escorted him to the front, motioning for Jack to bring the man's bank envelope.
Jack came on stage with a giant flashlight and a check in his hands. Henley and Eva took the check and showed it to the crowd.
"Now Art, I took a guess on your balance. I'm saying about north of 140 million."
"But Merritt, how can you be right about his balance and everyone else is wrong?" Henley questioned.
"I think it's because he is also wrong."
Eva let Danny take her side and she moved to the front. She gestured for the audience to participate in the instructions she gave.
"Everyone pull out your envelopes! And using the flashlight under your seat, you need to start to warm up that paper."
Flashlights were pulled out and shaken across flimsy pieces of paper. Eva smiled as the excitement in the room grew.
"Your correct balance will begin to appear."
Murmurs confirmed her statement.
"Don't worry, Art, we didn't forget about you," Danny assured. He motioned for Jack to begin warming up the paper with the large flashlight. Soon enough, the numbers began to change and gasps erupted.
"A second ago, it said $144,576,651. But now it says $70,000 less."
Merritt pointed out to one of his first examples, "Josepha, can you please stand up and tell us your new balance?"
The woman trembled in disbelief and her voice shook as she spoke, "$70,562 now in my account."
Sparsely scattered claps came from the crowd.
"Is it possible that Josepha's balance went up the exact amount that Art's went down?"
The older man began to slowly frown. He glanced at the magicians for any hint that it was simply a game.
"Hey, look!" Jack exclaimed, "It's happening again."
They watched the large check change again.
"Art's balance has gone down another 280k!"
Eva shouted up to their second example, "Dina Robertson, what's yours say?"
"$281, 477!"
Arthur's frown stayed permanently as he began to understand the reality of the situation. He watched as the Horsemen gathered up front in a line.
"We have a confession to make," Henley began.
"She's right," Jack agreed, "We lied about something."
Eva smirked, "Which is something we like to do a lot. But most people just call it magic."
The audience chuckled uneasily.
Danny playfully rolled his eyes at the witty comment. He took over the continuation, "None of you were chosen at random."
"All of you have one thing in common," Merritt added, "Every one of you was a victim of the hard times that hit one of America's most treasured cities."
Eva was reminded of how she lost a majority of her things as a kid because of a house fire. Of course, she never told anyone about it but it was the primary reason she'd gotten into magic in the first place. She practiced in order to get away from the disaster.
"Some of you lost your houses or your cars," she stated, "Maybe you lost your businesses."
"Your loved ones," Jack added. She nodded in agreement.
"But all of you were insured by the same company."
The horseman accusingly pointed their fingers and glared at the eldest man in the center.
"Tressler Insurance!"
Eva smiled and glanced at Jack. They could each feel each other's satisfaction after the long waited period of ass kissing was finally over.
"You were abandoned!"
"You were loopholed!"
Arthur turned to Eva and Henley. He attempted to smile politely since he was still facing the audience.
"This is all for show, correct?"
"'All" meaning we're doing it onstage in front of a paying audience?" Henley questioned rhetorically, "Then yeah, it's all for show."
Henley have Eva a high five as she backed away from the man.
Suddenly, a man from the crowd stood up and shouted loudly. He claimed that large amounts of money had been transferred to his bank account. Everyone began to check their phones, seeing that their bank accounts had expanded greatly.
As the money grew, the audience stood up in a giant roar of applause and cheers. This made Arthur enraged, causing him to yell at his former partners.
"Did you do this?" he shouted accusingly at Merritt.
"How could we, Art?" Jack asked, "We don't have your password."
They all began to walk to the back of the stage to their final positions. They each passed the old man before going back.
"We'd need access to information we could never get our hands on," Henley hinted. She flourished her hands in a jazz-like motion.
"Yes, security questions like your mother's maiden name or the name of your first pet," Danny added. He stayed behind the group so he could be the last to leave.
"Where could we get that information, Art?" Merritt asked, "You would certainly never tell us."
Merritt smirked and moved passed him. Arthur tried to jump at him but was abruptly stopped when his foot got caught on the chain that wrapped around his ankle. He was prevented from moving but it didn't stop him from trying to reach out.
Eva leaned back and whispered to Danny excitedly, "Can I say it?"
He was about to say no but he saw her giddy look and conceded. He sighed and gestured for her to continue.
She clapped her hands and got as close as she could. She smiled mischievously and spoke confidently.
"You just got tricked, old man!"
She laughed loudly in his face. The other horsemen smiled at her enjoyment as she flipped her hair and waved goodbye to the man. They liked seeing her in moments of genuine happiness, which happened most often after she fooled somebody.
As her and Danny walked back to the rest of them, the other three gave them high fives and fists bumps. They watched victoriously as the crowd started to turn from happy to angry, directing the emotions towards Arthur.
But none of them were focused on that for long. They found Agent Rhodes running down the aisles of the chairs, weaving through people.
"Freeze!"
As soon as he made it onto the stage, the people from Merritt's trick suddenly became activated.
"Quarterback!"
The numerous participants that had been hypnotized ran forward and chased after the agent. As he got closer, the magicians grabbed the ropes they'd connected themselves to and waved to the crowd.
"We are the Five Horseman! Goodnight!"
As Rhodes almost reached them, they were pulled upwards and out of their reach. He hesitated to stop and in doing so, the hypnotized people tackled him down.
The horsemen watched as the man was taken down and dog piled on. Eva let loose a loud laugh and celebrated.
"I told you that was a great idea!" she shouted, directing it towards Danny. They all nodded in agreement and Merritt gave her a high five. He had been proud of the trick ever since she proposed it during one of their planning sessions.
They couldn't see the fiasco anymore as they were pulled out of view. The ropes stopped right beside an open railing. They stepped onto the platform and began to run out the emergency exit.
The door opened up into a fire escape, which they used to sprint down. They ran on rooftops and hopped over ledges just to get down to the ground.
Once they were down, they split up. Eva and Jack stayed together as they ran down the crowded street. They reached an alley where they briefly paused.
Jack pulled out a duffel bag that was hidden behind a dumpster. He began to strip out of his professional show clothes and pulled on the new fake police uniform.
Meanwhile, Eva was hunched over panting with her hands on her knees. She huffed and puffed with a small gleam of sweat on her forehead. She wiped it off with the back of her hand and scrunched her face.
"Have I mentioned that I hate running?"
Jack smiled and pulled on his button up, "Only a few times. You should've came to the gym with me when I offered."
She waved it off and straightened up, hands reaching out for him, "Carry me."
He scoffed and neglected to respond.
She was so preoccupied that she didn't even notice Jack was still in his boxers. She gestured to his whole body as he rushed to pull on his pants. He noticed her staring but did nothing but smirk. She finally got her bearings and picked up the duffel bag.
She pulled out the hat and tie that went perfectly with the cop's uniform. She tossed the tie to him and slapped on the hat. She tapped it down and smiled in satisfaction.
"Good to go, officer," she joked.
He rolled his eyes and finished buttoning up his shirt. He winked and boldly kissed the corner of her lips quickly. He playfully saluted and began to run back out into the crowded streets.
Eva scoffed and picked up the bag now filled with his show clothes. She zipped it up and slung it over her shoulder.
She checked her watch as she walked towards the end of the alley. Jack and her were right on time; they only spent about a minute changing before they went back to their distractions.
She sighed and took a deep breath, internally complaining.
"I should've worn sneakers."
She began to run in the opposite direction as Jack, feeling the sharp pain in her feet from her heels. She kept running for a few minutes, dodging and weaving through the celebrating crowds.
She was about to slow down but she noticed that an agent was chasing after her. She huffed angrily and began to pick up the pace.
She was unfamiliar with the streets of the quarter, even though Danny made them learn every route. It was much harder to find everything in the dark and with so many people. She also got hit with flying beaded necklaces.
Eventually, she ran down an alley with a gate. She was supposed to meet Danny there but there was no evidence of the man anywhere.
"Oh, perfect," she grumbled.
She stumbled to a stop and turned around, looking for another way out. But the agent stopped in front of her with his taser held out.
"Don't move!"
She panicked and reached down for her heels. She quickly slipped them off and chucked it at him. He grunted and ducked to cover his face from the dangers of the stiletto.
She used the distraction to face the gate again. She used all her strength to jump up and grab the ledge. She shimmied her body over and fell off.
She landed roughly on her feet, still causing pain to jolt up her bones. She tumbled for a few steps but eventually got her balance, continuing her running.
She went to the second rendezvous point, which was only to be used for emergencies. Luckily, it wasn't very far and Danny was already there when she arrived.
She sighed in relief and slowed to a stop once she saw the car he leaned against. He recognized the angry look on her face and held up his hands in surrender.
"I hate you," she rasped, still catching her breath.
He rolled his eyes and opened the door for her. She thumped down in the seat next to Merritt, instantly leaning against him in exhaustion.
"I should've gone to the gym."
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