The late afternoon light settled in pale, heavy bands over the harbor, the clouds stretched thin above the water like worn silk. Akio walked at an even pace along the boardwalk, one hand in his pocket, his errands finished and thoughts already shifting toward his meeting with Gabriel. The quiet rhythm of the ocean was a comfort—a rare, uneventful kind of peace.

  That peace broke the moment he noticed the crowd.

  A small knot of people had gathered near a folding table set up by the boardwalk rail. Laughter rippled through them, the kind that came with the promise of spectacle. Akio slowed, eyes narrowing as he drifted closer. Coins gleamed on the table’s edge; three playing cards lay face down in a neat row. He didn’t need more than a second to recognize the setup.

  Three Card Monte.

  A con dressed as a game—find the queen, win the prize. Simple. Except it was never that simple. The real trick wasn’t in the cards, but in the crowd. The dealer’s sleight of hand was the distraction; the real work was being done in the ring of bystanders, where planted accomplices picked pockets clean while everyone watched the table.

  Akio almost kept walking. He’d seen this play out a hundred times before. But then a familiar voice, bright and unmistakably smug, rose above the chatter.

  “Let’s make this interesting, shall we?”

  The sound stopped him cold, and he found himself smiling before he even saw the face that matched it. He didn’t have to look hard—no one else in the world radiated that much confidence and warmth at once. Sunlight caught in golden hair streaked with crimson, a black collared shirt half untucked, and a grin so dazzling it could blind the unprepared.

  Gabriel.

  Of course it was Gabriel.

  Akio sighed softly, amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. He slipped into the edge of the crowd, expression mild but eyes sharp. The circle around the table was loose, people craning to see as Gabriel leaned forward, his chin propped on one hand, the picture of lazy curiosity.

  The scammer spread his hands dramatically. “Three cards, my friend. Find the queen, and the prize is yours.”

  Gabriel hummed in mock contemplation, eyes closed, his tone playful.

  “Hmm… tricky. But I’ve got a good feeling about this one.” He pointed with a flourish, finger landing decisively on the leftmost card.

  The dealer flipped it over—wrong.

  Gabriel clutched his chest in exaggerated shock, his grin never faltering.

  "Oh, what tragedy! Truly, the universe conspires against me!" he declared with dramatic flair, earning a round of laughter from the onlookers.

  Akio’s smile deepened, but his gaze wasn’t on him. He scanned the crowd instead—the shifting hands, the subtle movements, the misplaced attention—

  And there it was.

  A man in a faded flannel jacket brushed past an older gentleman, fingers quick and precise. In one motion, he slipped a silver watch off the man’s wrist and into his pocket without breaking stride.

  Akio tracked him calmly, adjusting his position just enough to intercept. His focus flicked briefly toward Gabriel who tilted his head ever so slightly—an unspoken signal. They’d both seen it. They both knew exactly what came next.

  Gabriel stacked another coin on the table, his voice light. “Best two out of three?”

  The dealer’s grin widened. “Ah, a man of persistence! Maybe luck will favor you this time.”

  Akio drifted through the edge of the crowd, his expression unreadable. The flannel jacketed man moved again, weaving closer, setting up another lift. Akio brushed past him, so casually it looked accidental, his fingers moving with practiced ease. When they parted, the stolen wristwatch was gone from the thief’s pocket—now tucked safely in Akio’s own.

  He barely broke stride. One stolen item retrieved. Now he just needed to find the rest.

  Gabriel’s voice carried easily over the hum of the market crowd. “Ah! Betrayed again by fate!” he exclaimed, clutching his heart as if the loss had personally wounded him.

  The onlookers laughed, delighted by the spectacle, unaware that the performance was perfectly calculated. Then with a grin that was equal parts mischief and charm, Gabriel slid another stack of coins onto the table.

  “Double or nothing,” he declared, his tone bright with reckless confidence.

  Akio, who had now moved to the front of the crowd, smiled faintly. He adjusted his stance, slipping closer through the throng until he stood near the front row, hands tucked in his pockets, expression relaxed but eyes sharp. Every movement around him filtered through the quiet precision of his focus. He was ready.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The scammer grinned, convinced he had found the perfect fool. His fingers danced across the table, shuffling with exaggerated flair.

  “Three cards, my friend. Find the queen, and the prize is yours."

  The crowd leaned forward as Gabriel rested his chin on one hand, pretending to study the cards with exaggerated thoughtfulness. He tapped his chin once, then gasped as if struck by revelation.

  “Wait a moment—what’s that behind your ear?”

  Before the scammer could react, Gabriel reached forward and, with a flourish, pulled the queen of hearts from behind the man’s ear. The card flashed crimson in the sunlight.

  The crowd erupted into laughter and applause. The scammer blinked, caught completely off guard, his composure faltering for the first time.

  Akio didn’t laugh. His gaze had shifted—past the table, past the players—landing instead on a man at the edge of the crowd. A plain jacket. An inconspicuous bag clutched just a little too tightly. When everyone else was laughing, this man’s expression had gone rigid. His shoulders had tensed, eyes darting to Gabriel, then to the crowd. He didn’t look amazed. He looked worried.

  Akio’s focus sharpened.

  There you are.

  He glanced toward Gabriel whose eyes were half lidded now, lashes brushing against his cheeks. Just a sliver of red glinted beneath them as he peeked through, waiting. Akio gave the faintest nod—barely more than a tilt of his chin. Gabriel’s grin deepened in response, as if he’d just received divine inspiration. He closed his eyes fully again and swept the pile of coins toward himself with theatrical grace.

  “A miraculous recovery! Perhaps luck has finally found me,” he announced. The crowd laughed, delighted. Then, leaning back, he mused aloud, “But should I test my fortune one more time… or retire a wealthy man?” The cheers around him encouraged the former.

  “Ah, but how to decide?” Gabriel’s grin turned sly. “Perhaps a coin shall choose for me!”

  He plucked one from the pile and flicked it into the air with a dramatic flourish. The crowd gasped as the coin arced high, catching the sunlight as it spun. It soared higher than expected—too high for an accident.

  Akio was already moving before anyone else realized. The coin’s trajectory bent perfectly toward him. He raised one hand, catching it with effortless precision. The onlookers cheered, laughing at the coincidence. All eyes were on him now.

  Gabriel turned, one hand on his hip, voice carrying easily across the circle.

  “Oh my, kind sir,” he called, grinning, “do tell—heads or tails?”

  Akio lifted his hand slowly. The coin gleamed between his fingers, and with a subtle twist of his wrist, it was gone—replaced by the silver watch he had retrieved from the real thief moments before. The crowd gasped as he held it aloft.

  “I’m afraid,” Akio said, his tone smooth and measured, “it’s neither.”

  Gabriel feigned surprise, his voice carrying easily over the murmurs in the crowd. “What a lovely wristwatch! Where did you acquire such a piece?”

  Akio held up the gleaming watch between his fingers, showing it for all to see.

  “It’s not mine,” he said evenly. Then he gestured toward the older gentleman standing near the back of the crowd. “You, sir—you’re the true owner of this watch, aren’t you? Did you notice when it disappeared?”

  The man blinked in astonishment, shaking his head. A ripple of unease spread through the crowd. People began patting their pockets, checking their bags and belts. Within seconds, the air filled with soft murmurs and uncertain glances.

  Akio’s voice cut cleanly through the shifting noise, calm but firm.

  “Three Card Monte,” he explained, gesturing toward the table. “A deceptively simple game. You try to find the Queen, but you’re never meant to win. There are three moving pieces working in tandem to keep you misdirected. While you were watching the cards, a pickpocket was moving through the crowd, stealing your valuables.”

  The crowd fell into a stunned silence. Even the scammer behind the table froze, his hands hovering uselessly over the cards. Akio’s eyes swept the group, his tone steady as he gestured toward two figures lingering near the outer ring.

  “You in the faded flannel jacket,” he said evenly, his voice carrying. “You’ve been moving through the crowd, lifting watches and wallets.”

  Then he turned his gaze toward the other man wearing a plain coat, clutching a bag tightly to his chest.

  “And you. That bag you’re holding isn’t yours. That’s where the stolen goods are stashed.”

  The crowd followed his pointing hand, eyes narrowing as realization rippled through them. A few heads turned, eyes darting toward the edges of the circle where the two accomplices suddenly stood very still—and very, very guilty.

  Gabriel broke the tension with a low hum, stepping smoothly forward to the table.

  “You start off as a king or queen,” he said lightly, sweeping the cards into his hands with effortless flair. “Thinking you can win. Thinking you’re clever enough to beat the game.”

  His grin widened as he fanned the cards, revealing a gleaming spread of royal faces.

  “But in the end—”

  He snapped his fingers.

  The cards burst upward in a flurry of motion, spiraling through the sunlight before fluttering back down. When they landed, the royal faces were gone—every one of them blank.

  “—you’re left with nothing,” Gabriel finished, his voice quiet but cutting through the air like a blade.

  The crowd erupted all at once. Gasps turned to shouts, disbelief to anger. People pointed at the scammers, demanding answers, demanding justice. The men tried to back away, but the circle closed in tight, trapping them in place.

  Akio moved through the swarm like water. Calm, deliberate, invisible. He slipped the wristwatch back onto the older man’s wrist and turned his attention to Gabriel, who was bowing theatrically, soaking in the attention with a smile that bordered on smug. Their eyes met—one calm and faintly amused, the other gleaming with quiet mischief.

  Without a word, they turned in perfect sync, vanishing into the shifting crowd just as the first uniformed officers pushed through the noise.

  The two of them walked side by side along the boardwalk, the sound of waves lapping against the wooden posts blending with the distant chaos behind them. The crowd’s shouts faded into the wind, leaving only the soft rhythm of their footsteps and the quiet thrill of what they’d just pulled off. It was the kind of silence that felt light—shared amusement hanging unspoken between them.

  Akio turned slightly, the corner of his mouth lifting as he caught sight of Gabriel absently flipping a coin between his fingers, the metal flashing in the sunlight.

  “You just couldn’t help it, could you?” he said, his tone caught somewhere between fondness and exasperation.

  Gabriel grinned, eyes half lidded, his voice bright with mock innocence. “I just wanted to help! If you’re going to perform card tricks on the street, at least pretend not to be an amateur.” He caught the coin midair with a flourish, slipping it neatly into his pocket as if to punctuate his point.

  Akio chuckled under his breath. “You’re right. Their movements were sloppy. Now they’ve found a new career—behind bars.”

  Gabriel gave a dramatic bow, one hand pressed to his chest, the picture of smug satisfaction. “Another day, another crime stopped. What can I say? Justice simply has excellent taste in partners.”

  That earned him a quiet laugh. Akio shook his head, the sound of it soft and genuine. “They never see it coming,” he said. “I almost feel bad.”

  “Almost,” Gabriel echoed, tone lilting with a smirk.

  A gentle breeze swept past as the pier opened up ahead of them. Akio’s gaze lifted, and he caught sight of another cluster of people gathered near the end of the boardwalk—same setup, same telltale rhythm of feigned cheer and rigged chance.

  He didn’t have to say anything. Neither of them did.

  Gabriel’s grin turned sly, and when their eyes met, that familiar spark of mischief flickered alive again. They’d played this game a hundred times before, and it never got old.

  Without a word, they changed direction together, steps falling perfectly in sync as they made their way toward the next unsuspecting scam.

  ─ ? NEXT CHAPTER POV ? ─

  Akio