Torn and Restored

Chapter 12 - Six of Hearts

"Wait", Olivia cried.

Will did not want to stop but managed to bring himself to a halt.

He turned back and spat," What?"

"No, what is it? Why are you so excited?"

Will hesitated.

"I think Kane wasn't after the bullet catch. He wanted to know the secret to our third trick", he told.

As he turned to get back into the house, Olivia asked," Then why did he volunteer for the bullet catch and come home to shoot you?"

That caught Will's attention.

"Yes, you're right. He should've volunteered for the third trick. But, we chose the volunteer, didn't we?" he asked, puzzled.

That was when it struck Olivia. The thing that had been haunting her for days. She did not have the courage to open it up to Will. She never thought that it would have any serious consequences. She had been so wrong.

"Anyway, I'm going to call Ernie. It's getting cold. Do you want to come in?" Will asked.

Olivia nodded. She followed Will into the house and helped Will find his phone. She wanted to tell Will everything she knew. But she was scared.

They entered the dining room. The thick musty smell still hung heavily around them. The house had been locked away for decades after all. 

Will tried calling Ernie but couldn't reach him. Frustrated he asked," Did he tell you where he was going?"

"No", she replied grimly.

Will scratched his head wondering where Ernest could have gone.

Finally, Olivia decided to tell Will. She hoped that he wouldn't take it too seriously.

"Will, I've been trying to tell you something for quite a while now", she said.

Will didn't bother to ask. There were other serious problems. He just looked at her and gestured her to continue.

"I think I know why he volunteered for the bullet catch", she said.

"WHAT? How did you figure it out? You did not know it yourself a few minutes ago"

She knew that it would be hard. This wasn't an easy confession. But she mustered all her courage and continued," You had this idea of choosing volunteers at random while issuing tickets and I never thought that it would work at first. But I was wrong. There was such a craze when we told the people that there would be a draw. It was all going so smooth then. But one day, two people came and bought tickets. After filling the coupon for the draw, he asked me what his chances were for getting selected. I told him that it was pure luck and that I chose the winner at random. I told him that everybody had even chances. He pulled some money out and handed it over to me. Then, he asked me the same question. Again. I got angry and shoved the money back into his hands. He apologised and left. A lot of people started doing this in the following days. One day this happened when Tarquin was around. He accepted the money and told them that he would do everything they had asked him to. I was shocked at first and shouted at him. But later he convinced me that it wouldn't harm the show in any way as they were just fans who wanted to have a closer look at the trick. Since then, we've been doing this. The show wasn't the first place I saw Kane. I remember him coming to the office to buy the tickets personally. That was when he gave the money. Tarquin wasn't around then but I remember Kane's face."

She was expecting Will to throw her out of the house or to shout at her. But what hit her was something even worse. A sharp, penetrating stare. He said nothing but she could see the anger in his steel blue eyes.