I drive back to the apartment. I figure it's safe, they won't check it until the next day; they'll be too concerned about the show tonight and the classified Elkorn file found in the burning car. Hopefully someone pulled the papers from the car before it exploded into flames.
The private security contractor called Elkorn has been hiding a ton of money in a vault in a warehouse in Queens. This vault is our final target. Elkorn has been known to skimp out in the quality of their safes by cutting corners and using cheap steel. So, the logical response is to steal their money from their cheap safe in the warehouse.
I turn on the TV and start to pack up the belongings I left here. I also have to make sure there's nothing important for the FBI to find.
Channel 8 News has a helicopter above my accident. It says live in the top corner of the screen. The car is still burning? All I can see is a cloud of smoke and backed up traffic. As the helicopter moves around the wreckage, it becomes easier to see the burning upside-down car. I walk to the other room to grab my sleeping bag and spare clothes while I listen to the TV.
"Today, the unfolding story of a popular and controversial group of magicians who had been fast capturing the public's imagination, took a dark turn when a police action that began in Chinatown developed into a dramatic, high-speed chase across the 59th Street Bridge, which caused a fatal collision that took the life of Jack Wilder, one of the so-called Four Horsemen. The whereabouts of the other three Horsemen remain unknown at this time."
I reenter the room with my clothes over one arm and turn off the TV. It's surprisingly disturbing to hear that I died. I thought I'd be okay, but I don't want to hear it.
After I get my toothbrush from the bathroom, I throw everything that's mine in the suitcase. I pause as it sinks in that I'll never be back here. I can never go back to my old apartment either; the landlord will put it up for rent again. He'll be happy to actually get paid rent. My stuff will get cleared out by my parents or maybe by strangers who'll sell it. I didn't leave anything good in there. Everything I care about is in this suitcase.
I comb over the apartment one last time, starting from the entrance. It's the same entrance I picked open to impress the other three at the beginning. Feels like a lifetime ago.
I walk down the hall; the walls are covered in completed plans for Las Vegas and New Orleans.
I peek into the bedroom. I slept on that couch for most nights over the past year.
I wander down the hall some more to the bathroom. Henley hated that bathroom. It was never clean enough for her.
The dining room is a mess from the fight. Now meaningless paper is scattered across the floor, the chairs knocked over, and ashes from the fireplace sprinkled over it all. The fire's pretty much dead. I scan the table, finding the remaining plans and pocket them. I find my card as well. The death card. I should probably keep that.
The main room is chaos. I look over the debris for anything of worth, coming up with nada.
The kitchen. The sink still has a jacket sticking out of it. I know it's not really funny, but who am I kidding? I trapped an FBI agent in a sink. I smile to myself and leave with my suitcase, sleeping bag, and the papers under my arm.
I'm waiting in a different car (one that I didn't steal) in the parking lot across from the Elkorn warehouse. This time, I am waiting for the FBI to come and leave. The file they found should lead them to believe that we're going to try something here. Which I will.
This mission requires different attire. I can't have anyone recognize me a few hours after I'm supposed to be deceased, not to mention I'm going to break into a safe, so I'm wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, welding goggles, and gloves. In the seat beside me, I have a sledge hammer and a blow torch thingy.
There are chain link fences all around this place. The brick building looks like a typical warehouse, but with more security. A security booth stands outside the door. On the other side of that, a couple of large garage doors are framed in yellow caution pattern.
Alone with my thoughts, I recall the other three mentioned making a YouTube video. I bring out my iPad and search 'four horsemen'. First hit: a new video, posted a few minutes ago. I play it.
Henley, Daniel, and Merritt are sitting on a couch somewhere, talking to the camera. Daniel's eyes are red around the edges, like he's been crying.
"We can't ignore what happened," Henley says into the camera. Her voice trembles a bit. "We're no longer the Four Horsemen. If you haven't heard, Jack Wilder was in a car crash earlier today and," She looks at her lap, speaking quieter, but I could still hear every word. "He didn't make it. The car exploded. He had no chance." When Henley looks back up at the camera, her eyes are shiny with tears.
"We just want to say a few words in Jack's memory before our show tonight," Merritt says more monotone than usual. He's not the emotional type.
"Jack was the youngest of us. His life was just getting started. Jack gave our group that youthful energy even though he was asleep most of the time." Daniel chuckles a little without smiling. "Not only that, he was a bit of a peace-keeper. This group didn't always get along, but Jack saw the best in us. I remember the first time we met he was happy just to be accepted alongside us… More than anything in his life, Jack wanted to be the most famous magician who ever lived. And I can't say he achieved it, but I do hope wherever he is, it is full of magic. But the point is… Sorry," Daniel gasps, putting his hand to his mouth. He tries again, "The point is…"
Merritt picks up for him, "The point of why we're here is to say that we are not… We cannot quit now. We've started something bigger than all of us. We have to finish it."
Henley says, "Remember the name Jack Wilder when you see us live, 5 Pointz, Queens, 7 o'clock."
As the video ends, I realize I've been holding my breath. I let it out. It was so real. They all seemed so upset. Almost like they let themselves believe that I'm actually dead.
Distracting myself, I turn on the radio and turn my attention to the brick building. After about fifteen minutes of that, a parade of black vans park on the street. To be safe, I count the men in black suits as they enter the building. A few minutes later, right on schedule, I see a black semi truck leave the compound, with FBI agents in pursuit, which I count again. There's one agent still in there, but I should be okay. Awesome. Now for the fun part.
I put the blow torch equipment in a backpack and swing the hammer over my shoulder. Security is taken care of. They'll be busy worrying about the safe they believe was stolen, just like the FBI. I'm able to just let myself in.
I enter the safe room. I hesitate when I spot the last FBI agent… who's playing an invisible violin. Thank you, Merritt. A subconscious trigger must have been activated. Assuming the hypnotism was triggered only a few minutes ago, I have a good fifteen minutes.
The room is long and a blinding white. Luminescent lights hang from the ceiling, making the room seem even brighter, but there's no safe. However, that's the trick. I take the hammer from my shoulder and swing it away from me, letting it fly into the far end of the room. And the glass mirror covering the second part of the room shatters and falls to the ground in a chorus of clinks. There's the safe.
I step over the broken mirror shards (that's a lot of years of bad luck, good thing I'm not superstitious), taking out the equipment. I trace the safe door with some fluid that erodes the steel. Then I light that with the blow torch and step back as it crackles like a firework. The door falls out in front of me, revealing the largest amount of money I've ever seen.
I throw back the hood and pull the goggles on top of my head. "Holy shit," I say. I give myself a minute to recover from the shock of the quantity. That's a lot of green. I take the folded duffel bags out of the backpack and start shoveling the money in. It takes six duffels, but I finally manage. I pull the hood and goggles back on.
Walking out, I'm using all my strength and balance to carry it all. I have to set everything down to open the trunk of the car. It all fits, but just barely.
Here's the retribution part. I go to 5 Pointz. The Four Horsemen show will just be starting now. Without me. I'm looking for a black Land Rover with a certain license plate number. TNQ-8930. I drive around for a while before I find it in a parking garage, right next to the exit. It's Thaddeus Bradley's Land Rover. I park next to it. I carefully pick the driver's door without tripping the alarm. One bag at a time, I empty the money inside, ripping the bundles apart so it'll all fall out when the doors open. I also rig the car to open all doors when the car's unlocked by remote. It's going to be so awesome.
Unfortunately, none of this brilliance was my idea. The Eye again. Bradley's good and framed for this one and no one will suspect a dead man. But, that was the last of it. "They" haven't given me any other instructions but to go to Central Park tonight.
The final Four Horsemen show is still happening. I can't actually show up, so I decide to park the car somewhere else to watch the news on my iPad. Every news station seems to have covered the show. On Channel 8, it's on live.
I can tell they're about halfway into the show. 5 Pointz is just this old three-story building covered in graffiti. Projections have been set up around the walls, seemingly warping the side of the building with shifting squares and our symbol. The overall effect looks really cool. The crowd is all around the building and on top of it. Suddenly a platform on the roof lights up and I hear Henley's voice.
"Hello, New York!"
The Three Horsemen walk out from the bright light and wave.
Henley smiles at the audience and says, "Thank you for the magic and thank you for being such an incredible and dedicated audience. Unfortunately, like all good things, it must come to an end."
"And so, we would like to start our show tonight…" Daniel says.
"…By saying goodbye," Merritt finishes.
"All we wanted was to bring the world to a magic show," Henley says.
"And thereby bring a little magic back to the world," Daniel states. The three of them join hands. The light behind them flashes bright and then they're gone.
The platform on the other side of the roof lights up and Merritt's voice rises over the cheers of the crowd.
"This has been one hell of a ride for all of us, but it's time for us to disappear."
"Good night, New York," Daniel says.
"And thank you for believing in us," Merritt adds.
They all run for the edge of the roof and as soon as they make the jump, it looks as though they transform into money. The green bills fall from the sky and the crowd goes crazy for them.
The screen flips back to the newscaster. She turns away from the building and smiles at the camera.
"It seems as though that is the end of the Four Horsemen. Even though it's clearly an ending, we'll forever have the myth and mystery of their shows." A cameraman hands her a couple bills and she looks at them.
"These are quite the souvenirs," She holds them up to the camera. It looked just like a hundred dollar bill, but where the president's face should've been, was Merritt's. She flipped through them each. Henley, Daniel, and me. Cool.
"Each bill has a Horseman on it," She puts them in her pocket and says, "This has been some night. Let's go back -" I turn it off.
And I go to get me one of those.