Hi there! Hope everyone is ok. I didn't want to take too long over this update, as there is hardly any left of this fic to write now. I want to get it finished off soon if possible - hopefully before the end of the year.

To K: This was my half of the bargain! Get writing...

And to everyone reading this: I hope you enjoy it.

Myrtle


Chapter Thirty Three: Bullet With Butterfly Wings

Naomi

We were stunned. None of us knew what to say, none of us knew how to react.

"You see?" Insisted Cook. "I told you there was a fucking curse on the bullet catch trick!"

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh my God!" Emily stepped closer to me and took my hand. "That was going to be your trick! It could have been you!"

I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"But it wasn't me. And this was nothing to do with any curse – it was sabotage. This wouldn't have happened to me because I haven't done anything to get anybody that angry!" Involuntarily, I found my eyes drawn straight to Katie. She had been particularly pissed off with Freddie this morning. And she had disappeared for the whole day, offering no explanation of her whereabouts. My eyes scanned her face with what I hoped was a casual look. I didn't like what I saw there one little bit. She looked sick – none of us looked exactly happy, but Katie looked by far the worse of all of us. And there was something else in her expression that looked distinctly like guilt to me. Surely she couldn't have…

I felt awful for even thinking it about her.

"Listen" I began carefully, speaking not just to Katie, but also including Emily and Cook. "Whatever's happened, we have to stick together, okay? We're a team, and no matter what…" Katie wasn't listening.

"I'm going to bed" she muttered sadly. Before I could intervene or say anything more, she walked out of the theatre.

"Katie, wait!" Emily called after her sister in vain – she had no intention of stopping. She turned back to me. "I'd better go after her, see if she's okay." She pressed her lips firmly to mine in a tender kiss, so full of feeling. Then she turned and followed swiftly after her sister.

"I doubt I'll be asleep any time soon" I called after her. "So come along to my room after you've spoken to Katie if you want to." Emily paused briefly to nod.

"Yeah, I might well do" she told me with a warm smile. Then she was gone.

"The curse strikes again" muttered Cook, as the two of us also made our way out of the theatre.

"Don't be silly" I hissed. "This wasn't a curse! This was a flesh and blood person. Somebody did this to him, and that somebody…" I sighed. "Whoever it was will have to face up to the consequences of what they've done."


Emily didn't come to my room that night - I didn't see her until the following morning. I was heading towards the theatre when I saw her buying pastries at a shop within the hotel. She gave me a sad smile in greeting.

"I hoped it was all a mistake" she said, nodding at a stand of newspapers. They all had Freddie's accident on the front page.

"Did you speak to Katie last night?" I asked her as we fell into step with each other. Emily shook her head.

"No. I knocked on her door, but she wouldn't let me in. Just said she wanted to be alone."

We entered the rehearsal room in silence. I was wondering how best to bring up the subject that had kept me awake all night. It wasn't going to be an easy thing to tackle.

"What's up?" Asked Emily, noticing my frown. Perhaps I should just go for broke.

"Do you think… Might Katie of…" I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "Could Katie have been… involved in the accident at all?" I asked at length. I watched as my girlfriend's brow creased.

"Involved?"

"Look, something's been going on between her and Freddie. And yesterday…" I paused as Emily shook her head firmly.

"No."

"Emily, she was really pissed off with him!"

"So you think she tried to kill him?"

I hesitated.

"…Well, maybe not…"

"Katie wouldn't do that! Trust me, it's not her style!"

"I know, but…"

Emily was not to be interrupted.

"Besides, you're forgetting something: We're British! Katie wouldn't know one end of a gun from the other – let alone where to get ammo from, or how to load it!"

"I've been thinking about that" I explained, gently. "I don't think it was a bullet that fired at him." Emily frowned at me, so I explained what I had been thinking. "There was a magician injured once – this was years ago – doing the bullet catch. He had a member of the audience examine the gun, and the person he chose dropped a button into the barrel. I guess they wanted to see if he really could catch it. It was fired at his face, and left him scarred for life."

"So you think a button was dropped into the gun?" She asked with a frown. I shrugged.

"I don't know anything for certain. But whoever did this to Freddie might not have meant to kill him. They probably didn't even realise how dangerous their actions were - maybe they just wanted to frighten him."

Emily shook her head slowly.

"No, I don't believe that." She sighed and slumped into a seat. "This was truly malicious. Anything fired from a gun has the potential to kill someone – they must have known that."

"Not necessarily" I persevered. "And Katie looked really guilty last night." A look of consternation crossed Emily's face, and I knew that she had seen what I had. "You saw that, didn't you?"

"Yes." She gave the slightest of nods. "But I was watching her – she only looked like that after we heard that it was sabotage. If she'd been involved, then she would have already known that it was deliberate."

"So if it wasn't Katie…" My sentence was cut short by the arrival of the lady herself into the rehearsal room, closely followed by Cook.

"If what wasn't Katie?" She asked breezily. I froze, certain that I was the one looking guilty in that moment. Katie frowned at me and crossed her arms. "If WHAT wasn't Katie?" She demanded more forcibly.

"We were talking about Freddie…"

"And you thought I did it?" She asked, her voice full of angry disbelief.

"No!" I shouted quickly. "Well, I just thought…"

"For fucks sake, Naomi! Do you really think I want to go to prison over that bell-end? No way! I've seen American prisons on TV: can you imagine my complexion in one of those orange jumpsuits?"

I had to chuckle at that.

"Sorry Katie. I'm just trying to figure our what happened."

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, with a curl of her lip. I just stared at her. Katie sighed in exasperation. "Well plainly, it was Effy!"

"Effy?"

"No way!" Burst out Cook.

Katie nodded sagely.

"Of course it was Effy. I know Freddie's a bit of a numpty, but he's hardly going to be stupid enough to leave a dangerous prop from his show lying around where anyone can fiddle with it, is he?"

She had a point, but I still wasn't convinced.

"But Effy and Freddie just got engaged. Why would she try to kill him?"

"Because she found out…" Katie hesitated. Suddenly, her sure-of-herself demeanour was gone, and that look of guilt was back. Emily and I exchanged curious glances.

"Katie, it's okay" said Emily gently.

"I think you'd better tell us everything that happened" I added, trying not to sound at all confrontational. "We just want to help, if we can." I moved across the room and took a seat next to Emily. Katie shot us both a grateful smile. Cook also took a seat, ready to listen.

"Okay." She took a deep breath and averted her eyes from ours. "Effy shot him because she found out that he'd cheated on her."

"With you?" Asked Emily, simply. Katie nodded.

"Yeah. Freddie lied to me. He always said that they weren't a real couple any more – that it was all for show. So when I saw that they'd gotten engaged, I knew it'd just been more of his lies, so…"

"…So you went straight round there and told her" I finished. Katie was suddenly defensive.

"I didn't know the crazy bitch would try to kill him! How was I supposed to know that she has an 'inner-psycho'?"

Katie's guilt suddenly made sense to me – she hadn't done anything herself to Freddie, but she had provided Effy with the motive.

"You're not to blame!" I insisted. "Effy's responsible for her own actions!" Katie sighed again.

"I suppose so."

"Hey, we don't know she's done it, yet!" Argued Cook, but no-one was listening to him.

"Katie, this wasn't your fault" added Emily.

"I know, it's just… I've been such an idiot."

Something told me that she wasn't referring to her confession to Effy. I suddenly realised that I still had loads more questions than answers.

"So how long had you been seeing Freddie for?" I asked.

"It was already over" insisted Katie. I tried another route.

"When did it start?"

"The night of our opening show." Her voice was full of shame. "I bumped into him in the nightclub we went to, following the after-show party. You remember I'd met him before then, right?" She looked imploringly at us. Emily and I nodded. I certainly did remember that Katie had met Freddie before any of us knew about his rival show. At the time, I had been convinced that their meeting wasn't a coincidence. Katie continued. "Well, this time I was hyped up, 'cause of the show. I was horny, and he was being so lovely to me… so I fucked him." She said it so matter-of-factly. "And it was fun, so I saw him a couple of other times after that." Her expression darkened suddenly. "Until I realised that he was only interested in me for what he could find out about the show. He kept asking me all these little questions, you know? God, I felt like such an idiot when I worked it out!"

"Katie, you're not the only woman to let herself be manipulated for the sake of a man" I consoled. Katie sniggered.

"Well you've hardly…" her words dried up. She was no doubt planning on pointing out that, as a lesbian (she never did remember that I'm actually bi-sexual), I had never been used by a man. That is until she remembered about my recently departed ex husband.

"So you ended it?" Asked Emily, hurriedly.

"No." Katie rubbed distractedly at the bridge of her nose, and wouldn't meet our gaze again.

"No?"

"Nobody uses me like that!" Answered Katie, forcibly. "So I turned the tables on him. I decided to do the same thing that he tried to do, and find out all of their secrets."

"You slept with him to find out his secrets?" Asked Emily with thinly camouflaged distain. Katie smirked at her sister.

"Not exactly. I had no intention of fucking him again, but he didn't know that." She laughed at the memory. "It was pretty funny, stringing him along like that – making him think that I wanted to, then suddenly getting a headache. Sometimes I told him that the fucking 'ambiance' wasn't right! He spent a shit-load on candles!"

"Prick-tease!" Mocked Emily with a giggle. Katie shrugged.

"Well, I wanted to know how Effy does that mind-reading thing! And guys will do anything if they think there's a shag in it for them."

Cook leapt to his feet.

"Hey! That's not fair!" He insisted, indignantly. The three women in the room all turned to him with bemused expressions on our faces. Cook grinned cockily at us. "Nah, just kidding. You're totally right, I just felt like I should speak out in defence of men!" We all giggled.

"So how does she do it?" I asked, my mind instantly snapping back to Effy's mind-reading. That particular effect had me baffled.

"I've no idea" admitted Katie, glumly.

"You couldn't get him to spill?" Asked Emily.

"Oh yeah. I had him wrapped around my finger in no time. But it turned out that he doesn't even know anything. He's got no idea how Effy does her mind-reading thing, and all of their other stuff is worked out by JJ. He's the one with the magical knowledge."

"Right, so if we can get you fixed up for a date with JJ…" I teased. Katie sneered with disgust.

"Fuck off! There's no way I'm gonna start flirting with that mong! A girl's got to have standards you know!"

"I'm glad to hear it!" I told her with a laugh.

"So anyway, I ended it ages ago" continued Katie. "As soon as I realised that he didn't know anything useful. But when I saw that him and Effy were engaged, I just thought… well, I realised that he must have been seeing her still, the whole time he was seeing me. And I didn't think he should get away with it, so I went and told Effy."

"How did she take it?" Asked Cook. That seemed an odd question, given the fact that she had tried to blow Freddie's brains out. Katie shrugged.

"She seemed okay about it. It didn't even seem to bother her very much, as far as I could see. I'm telling you – that girl's got some seriously deep shit going on in her head!"

"I'd better go see her" said Cook, sadly. He made his way towards the door.

"Why? Cook, you don't owe her anything!" I argued.

"It's not about owing her anything, I just… I gotta see her" he said with a sigh, before walking out of the room.

"Cook!" I called, but he wasn't going to stop. I didn't like this pull over him that Effy still seemed to command. She was clearly a dangerous woman – even more so than we had previously imagined – and I didn't want my best friend to get mixed up with her again.

"You'd better go with him" said Emily. I turned to face the twins, uncertain if I should go, or stay to make sure that Katie was okay.

"Katie, are you…"

"I'm fine" she insisted, fiercely. "Just go make sure that bitch doesn't get her claws into Cook again." I hesitated just briefly, before concluding that Emily was by far the best person to ensure that Katie was really okay. I nodded curtly, before following after Cook.

He was halfway along The Strip before I caught up with him. He marched with a purpose towards the hotel that was home to Freddie's show.

"Cook, you should just stay out of it" I tried to reason. "If Effy really is responsible, then…" My words dried up as Cook stopped abruptly. I glanced along the street to see what he was looking at. Ahead of us were two police cars, parked outside of the hotel we were heading towards.

"Shit." Cook was moving again, this time running quickly. I had to pump my legs pretty hard to keep pace with him. We reached the hotel to find a crowd of curious tourists eagerly craning their necks to see what was going on. Cook and I pushed our way through them all and made our way into the hotel's casino. From there, we headed straight towards the theatre.

The doors to the theatre were taped shut with black and yellow police tape. In front of them, we found what we were looking for. There was a solemn-looking Effy, being addressed by a couple of police officers. As we stepped closer, we could hear one of them reading Effy her rights.

"Don't say anything, Eff!" Instructed Cook. At the sound of his voice, Effy glanced up and saw us. A smirk crossed her lips.

"Next time I'll kill the bastard, eh Cook?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Hissed Cook, moving nearer. I moved alongside him and placed a warning hand on his arm. I didn't want him to start throwing his weight around with the cops and getting himself arrested. "I'll get a lawyer sorted out for you" he told Effy. "Don't say another word 'til he gets there, okay?" Then Cook took a closer look at the officer arresting her. "Mac? What's going on?" He asked, as he recognised him as one of his drinking mates. Mac gave him a tight smile.

"Oh, hey Cook. We searched the stage and found this." He held up a small plastic evidence bag. Inside it was a solitaire diamond ring covered in blood. "We figured she dropped it into the gun barrel before shooting it at him."

"Your engagement ring?" I asked Effy in amazement. It was almost like she wanted to get caught.

"If it had been any bigger, it would probably have killed him" pondered Mac. Effy gave a sudden burst of humourless laughter.

"See Cook!" She exclaimed. "You always said Freddie was a skin-flint, and you were right. Now it's gone and saved the stupid fucker's life!"

"Effy, keep your fucking mouth shut" hissed Cook. Then he frowned and looked around. "Where's JJ?" He demanded of Effy. It was Mac who answered.

"He's down the station, helping us with some enquiries."

"Is he under arrest?"

Mac shook his head.

"No, we think there was only one person involved in this" he said grimly, looking at Effy with an appraising glance. As he began to lead her away, Cook made to follow after them.

"Hey" I said gently. He gave me a rueful smile.

"I'm gonna sort out a lawyer for her, okay?" He insisted. "Then I'll follow them down to the station, see if I can help them."

"Cook, she's not your problem anymore."

"Don't worry Blondie!" Cook flashed me his trade-mark grin, and tugged me into a one-armed hug. "I don't feel responsible for her, I just want to help her out. JJ too. He's still a mate."

"You promise you're not going to fall for Effy again?" I asked. He shook his head solemnly.

"Nah mate. D'ya think I want to get a diamond ring in the face to match Freddies? No, this…" he pointed to his own face. "…is far too handsome to risk."

I nodded, then watched as he walked out of the hotel after Effy. I sighed, feeling suddenly tired after all of the drama. I decided that I should head back, and tell the twins what had happened.


So there we go - it wasn't Katie that arranged Freddie's accident. Incidentally: the story about a magician getting hit by a button is true. There really is supposed to be a curse on the bullet-catch trick!

Thoughts, comments, questions? They can all go in that little box down there!