Marina shook her head. “We’re still stumped at the ‘I’m not invited’ part. And no way could I wrangle an invitation. Especially now.”

“I bet Dottie was invited. Maybe you could be her plus-one.”

“Dottie doesn’t go. Patricia always bitches about her not showing up but never turns down the big check she writes.”

“Of course she doesn’t,” Halcyon said. “But Dottie said she wants to help. Maybe you could convince her to go this year.”

“How? It’s not like I can tell her the truth.”

Halcyon frowned. “Yeah, I don’t imagine too many people would go for the magical ring story.”

“They’d all think I’m going down the path of my mother.”

“Maybe we could pose as the gas company or the cable guy.”

“This is Last Chance, not New York City. Everyone knows what we look like. And you’re great with stage makeup and costumes but there’s no way you’re getting us past people we’ve known our whole lives.”

Halcyon sighed. “This whole sneaky thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

“Which is why most criminals get caught.”

“So what now?”

Marina blew out a breath. “I don’t know. But it’s getting late. You have the drummer tonight, right? Or the engineer?”

“Engineer.”

“Then let’s call it a day. I’m going to contact Alexios and see if I can drag anything else out of him. I refuse to believe that he’s been walking the earth for centuries and doesn’t know more than this.”

“You think he’s keeping things from you?”

“Not necessarily. But that last time we talked, he seemed off.”

“How do you know he wasn’t off the times you saw him before and this last time was normal?”

“I guess I don’t.”

“But what would he gain from keeping information from you?”

“Nothing that I can think of, but what do we really know about him or his world?”

“Not much, I guess. And only what he’s told us.” Halcyon shook her head. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way before, which is odd because I’m usually suspicious of everyone.”

Marina nodded. “I know. And he’s probably exactly who he says he is, but if he can make money appear in my bank account, then how do we know he can’t manipulate our feelings? What does your gut tell you? You were always a better judge of people than me.”

“Unless I was dating them,” Halcyon agreed. “I suppose I took him at face value. I never got the impression he was lying, even though all of this is beyond outlandish. And I know he claims his great talent is walking through locked doors but someone who can’t be hurt by a gun has a big advantage in this world. If you decide to talk to him again, be careful.”

“I will,” Marina said.

She didn’t really think Alexios was dangerous. Not that way. But then, she’d been married to Harold for twenty-eight years and clearly, she hadn’t known him at all. She’d only known Alexios for days.