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“You waiting for me?”

Savanah practically jumped out of her skin How had he crossed the distance between theain

She had always found honesty to be the best policy, so she said, “Yes,” dismayed by the quiver in her voice She had never been a coward, but there was so alone in a dark alley with this ued her

“Well, here I aht a pen and paper”

Savanah cleared her throat “I want an interview”

“I don’t give interviews”

“I know You don’t pose for pictures, either”

He arched one dark brow “If you know all that, why are you wasting your ti”

He uttered a soft sound of derision “What ?”

“Because you don’t do interviews”

Rane chuckled softly She was ht, char, “how about that interview?”

Rane shrugged “I’ your poison pen and co for her reply, he set off down the alley toward the street

Now that she had aloal, Savanah felt a sudden sense of trepidation as she stared after hinificent—he was an a performer, and he could read her mind

He had almost reached theto wait for her Gathering her courage, she hurried after hi to ed her htclub The nahts above the door

For the first ti?” he asked, a challenge in his dark eyes

Praying that she wasn’ta fatal h the doorway

Inside, Savanah glanced around in a from the outward appearance of the place, she had expected to find sohtclub populated by drunks and winos, so the interior of Hell’s Hollow came as quite a surprise The walls were papered in a decadent red-and-gold stripe, the floor was gold-veinedat the s; dozens of candles set in beautiful black wrought-iron wall sconces provided the light, adding to the club’s ambience A three-piece band occupied a raised platform in one corner of the rooht black sweaters, skintight stretch pants, and black boots Their e that did funny things in the pit of Savanah’s stoantly attired in a black tux and crisp white shirt bowed theh the door A tall woman with a mass of sleek red hair escorted them to a secluded table for two in the back of the roolanced around, thinking that black seemed to be the color of choice, as nearly everyone in the place earing it She felt conspicuous in her white skirt and red sweater

“So,” Rane said, “what do you want to know?”

“The secrets to all your tricks, of course” She laughed self-consciously “I’icians are sworn to secrecy, but you really are theperforician, but he was nowhere as slick as you are”

Rane shrugged “I’ve practiced for a long time”

Savanah pulled a small tape recorder from her pocket and laid it on the table “Do you mind?”

He shook his head

“Is Santoro your real name?”

“No”

“You’ve had several names, haven’t you?” She recounted the ones she remembered “The Remarkable Renaldo The Marvelous Marvello The Great Zander The Ae names?”