Disclaimer: Neither Now You See Me, its characters, or the song belong to me.

Mouse Trap

It's my own desire.
It's my own remorse.
Help me to decide.
Help me make the most of freedom,
And of pleasure.
Nothing ever lasts forever.
Everybody wants to rule the world.
~Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Lorde

He had been monitoring the tracking device the majority of the day and he had to admit he was surprised at how quickly Shrike worked. After their arrival in New Orleans, Thaddeus Bradley had thought they would have taken a day to plan, but instead he had followed that little red dot all the way to his very home. It had taken some time to realize that his prey was circling, but once he realized he quickly sent orders for his men to ignore any trespassers, though it had been a needless order as none of his men had seen any sign of either Shrike or the boy. Even if they had, it wouldn't do for his men to capture them so early. He quite enjoyed this game of cat and mouse and letting his prey come to him. The red dot moving away from his home showed that the two had retired for the day, but they had scouted the surrounding area for a good portion of the day searching for any weak points. There were several, he knew, but he had made no move to secure them. No, he wanted them to get cocky and find their way inside.

Reclining on a couch in the large living room with a glass of wine, Bradley watched the red dot slowly move back to New Orleans. Despite all his successes, it still bothered him that he wasn't for sure whether Shrike was alone or with the boy. The bug in Shrike's phone had revealed a text sent from Shrike to Wilder with a location in northern California and the previous phone call had insinuated that the boy would be joining him, but Bradley had heard nothing since then. Shrike had been careful about using his phone and if not for the still working tracking device, he would have wondered if the bug had been found.

Regardless of whether Wilder was with Shrike or not, Bradley didn't like that he had been allowed to escape. The boy was a loose end and as such a wild card. The man who had confronted Wilder had returned the previous day with several minor scrapes and a serious injury to his eye and Bradley had been tempted to add to the injuries by having the man thrown out a window for his incompetency. Instead, he had simply listened to the man's report and sent him to join the others. Bradley would have preferred it to be only Shrike coming to him. With Shrike alone, he would let his emotions get the better of him and run straight to him to save his precious Horsemen. But with the boy most likely with him there would be another voice to bring up concerns and plans. After months of research, Bradley knew how Shrike thought, but the boy could spoil everything.

Frustrated at this line of thinking, Bradley quickly called for two of his men. In total, he had fifteen men employed for this purpose, but five had been sent off for various reasons, leaving only ten at his immediate disposal. Earlier he had marked down the address of the area the tracking device showed Shrike as staying in and he gave it to the two men now with the orders to observe but not engage and to alert him immediately of who might be with Shrike. The two men left immediately and Bradley sipped on his wine, satisfied that the one wild card would soon be revealed.

It would only be a matter of time before Shrike made his move, and if Bradley were to place a bet, he would bet it would be before the week was over. The magician would try to outsmart him and be sneaky to get a step ahead, but Bradley was already ten steps ahead and gradually moving even further. Shrike was smart, but he was smarter. While Shrike would run on his emotions and half-information, he would simply bide his time and plan for every possibility. He was in no hurry. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold. And for Thaddeus Bradley, the colder the better.