[Veritas]

"Where the hell did you find this?" Macaffey demanded.

"I found it taped on the door of MindFreak Productions," Redding replied. "Pulled it off while you were out. You know anything about it?"

"Oh, I know about it all right," Macaffey growled. "Some SOB in a white mask went into the editing office and swiped two envelopes of photos of Criss Angel and his dad. We got the ones of his dad back."

"So, obviously, he still has the ones of Criss."

"Brilliant deduction, Redding."

"So where do we go from here?"

"First, we go to Angel and show him this note," Macaffey said. "Then, we go from there to Sunset Park and meet this (bleeper), get the pictures back, and bust his ass for burglary. Meantime, get the CSI geeks here to take fingerprints on the door or whatever--we'll need the evidence."

"I kinda wonder what these pictures are," Redding mused. "Criss Angel naked, maybe? Probably with some Playboy centerfolds? They must be pretty incriminating if this guy wants a million bucks for 'em."

"For a million bucks," Macaffey said, "you don't blackmail someone over family snapshots."





"Criss?"

Criss looked up at his brother, Costa. "Hey, Cos, what's up?"

Costa sat down on the sofa beside him. "First of all, I'm sorry I got you into this mess with those photos," he said glumly. "If I had just remembered to take them with me when I left--"

Criss held up his hand to silence him. "Cos, don't beat yourself up over it, okay?" he said. "What's done is done. We'll get those pictures back one way or another. They got the thief on tape, I know they do. They'll find him, and the pictures."

"But what if they're made public?" Costa argued. "What if someone posts them online? It's gonna be Tommy Lee-Pamela Anderson all over again!"

Criss shrugged. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, that's all," he replied. "We'll tell the truth, say they had been yours, that they had been stolen, and let the public deal with it in their own way. I'll insist they were for private purposes only--"

"That's what Tommy and Pamela claimed," Costa interrupted. "Fat lot of good it did them."

"So, if they aren't located in twenty-four hours, I'll hold a press conference and tell them myself."

"In twenty-four hours, your naked ass is gonna be all over the Web."

"Look, let me handle the PR," Criss said. "You just help find those pictures."

Macaffey's abrupt, unnanounced arrival startled the two brothers. "I got something you should see," he said bluntly, handing him the note Redding had given him.

Criss took the note and read it. "It says, 'Pay one million dollars or the pictures go online. Drop off the money at Sunset Park at noon tomorrow. I'll be waiting'." He handed the note back to Macaffey. "Where was this?"

"Right on the door there," he replied, pointing to the office door through which he came. "Must've left it when we were going to the editing office."

"Tomorrow noon at Sunset Park," Criss mumbled thoughtfully. "Okay, if that's the way he wants it, then we'll play by his rules."

Macaffey was taken aback. "You're not planning on paying this guy a million bucks, now, are you?"

Criss grinned mysteriously. "Let's just say I'm planning my latest, greatest illusion yet.