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“You also watch everyone who comes in from the moment they cross the bridge.”

“I do.”

“Did you watch me when I first came?”

He nods. “I did. You took in the exits before you looked at your surroundings. Most people look at what we offer—the bar, gift shop—but not you. No, you knew the way out before you even knew there was a gift store.”

“And what did you make of that?” I ask out of curiosity.

“People who find the exits usually fall into two categories. Someone with security training or someone with experience needing them, and you don’t strike me as someone with security training.”

Picking up my coffee, I take a slow sip. Some things don’t need to be confirmed. He already knows.

“I notice other things too,” I finally reply.

“I know. Your careful observance is one of the first things I noticed about you.”

After we finish our coffee, Ares runs me through what to expect when the island opens to the public, and we both get to work in the kitchen. After a long period of silence, Ares loosens up a little and doesn’t seem as stiff.

“Nixie hired someone new,” he says randomly. “A mentalist.”

I stop dead in my tracks. What the heck would they need someone like that for? “What would a mentalist do on the island?”

“Nixie says a psychology act would be good. He starts next weekend.”

I pick up a cloth and wipe down the counter I am using. “You don’t sound happy about it.”

“I’m not unhappy,” he says, dumping a basket of clean rags on the counter to fold them. “I met him this week.”

“Is he a douche? Does Clay have competition?”

“Not sure about that, but he is good. The guests will love him.”

“But . . .”

Ares looks up at me. “I didn’t say there was another but.”

“You didn’t have to—I can hear it in your voice. What’s his name?”

Ares sighs. “Luca. He came with great references and passed his background check.”

“But you don’t like him.”

Ares looks at the monitors, at the people who have already started lining up outside. “There is a type of person who is very good at making you feel like the most important thing in the world. They are good because they have practiced, and it works, but they use it for the wrong reasons. Luca is that type.”

“Maybe he is just charming.”

Ares hands me a pile of cloths, grabs his own, and I follow him. “Charming is a personality trait. What I’m describing is a tactic. He sat in the bar for forty minutes while Nixie ran through the protocols, and I watched him work on every person in the room. They all gave out information they didn’t realize, and he never even had to ask.”

“And you didn’t warn Nixie?”

“I did, but she thinks I dislike him because he is a lot like me. Maybe he is. Plus, his act is impressive, and he will be good for business. But I don’t think he is here for the same reasons as everyone else.”

He just shared something real with me, that this mentalist is a lot like him. But I am almost certain he doesn’t realize that he has done it.

Around lunchtime, the replacement staff arrive, and I catch Ares watching me.

“What are you observing?” I ask him as I fold my cloth over the rail, because that’s what he is doing. When it comes to him, it’s not people watching, it’s observing and taking in everything they do.