Page 55 of The Shadow

I follow behind him, winding through the dimly lit restaurant that doesn’t even seem like it’s open yet. When we reach a table in the back, he gestures politely to the immaculately styled blonde who sits rigidly upright. She’s dressed in a sensible black dress, her makeup and hair perfectly accentuating her natural beauty.

“Mrs. Connor?” I ask nervously as she slowly looks up from her phone.

“Oh God, please don’t call me that,” she says dismissively, her impossibly thin arms crossing one over the other. “Lyra.”

She doesn’t gesture toward the chair across from her but I reach for it, gingerly pulling it out before taking a seat.

“Thanks for meeting with me. I know this is very out of the blue and probably unexpected but seriously, thank you.”

She gives me a curious look. “I must admit, your comments on the phone piqued my curiosity about my husband’s extracurricular activities and left me wondering how he managed to ensnare yet another victim in his web of lies.”

I let out a small sigh of relief. It’s clear that Lyra isn’t oblivious to Connor Blake’s ways of manipulation. “Well, he’s been blackmailing me. Using his position to threaten me.”

She lifts one perfectly sculpted eyebrow a tiny centimeter. “Of course he is. That sounds exactly like Connor.” Her expression settles back into one of passive amusement. “But why you?”

I hang my head, my fingers knotting together in my lap. “First, I need to apologize to you.” I glance up at her, then back down at my hands. “When I met your husband and started working for him, I had no idea he was married.” I wipe furiously at a stray tear. “I am so sorry and I know that doesn’t excuse any of my behavior but I am truly ashamed. He was charming and made me feel special which feels like such an adolescent and ridiculous thing to say out loud.”

Her hard expression softens. “Let me save you the disgrace and regret; you’re not alone.” I nod because I’m well aware of that… now. “Let me guess.” She smiles. “He killed me off in some tragic manner?”

My head snaps up and my mouth falls open slightly. I hadn’t planned on telling her that detail which seems a bit like salt in the wound. “He did say you had died tragically,” I answer softly.

She laughs. “It’s not the first time he’s killed me off. I think I’ve been in…” She squints like she’s trying to recall. “At least three or four tragic accidents that ended in death. I believe there might have been a cancer diagnosis thrown in there at some point as well as a plane crash.”

“Plane crash?” I ask in disbelief.

“He has a flair for the dramatic,” she says, making us both laugh. “Connor is heartless. I’m sure you’ve managed to gather that on your own by now but don’t feel bad. We haven’t lived together in over three years and to him I probably am dead.” She laughs. “But like I mentioned earlier, you’re one in a long line of many that dates back decades so whatever you do, however you move on with your life, don’t carry that burden. That’s on him. He’s a master manipulator.”

She says it all with class and grace, not an ounce of disgust or reprehension in her voice. If I had to guess, after years of his behavior, she’s become completely numb to it.

I reach for my purse, pulling out the flash drive and sliding it across the table.

“He came to me and told me that he’d tell everyone I was having an affair with a married man, that he’d ruin my career and life.” I don’t bring up the other flash drive and his empty threats about releasing a video of me that didn’t exist, partially out of my own embarrassment. “I installed a program on my laptop that tracks keystrokes which is what’s on there. You’ll be able to see me move around roughly three hundred million dollars into different shell corporations and offshore accounts. I manipulated the data so that the transactions appear legit, spaced out over time and to different entities, but this program allows you to see me manipulating that data which proves that money has been illegally hidden from you.”

She grabs the thumb drive and immediately hands it off to a man standing a few feet behind her in a black suit.

“I’m not surprised,” she says, shaking her head. “I don’t think I expected this level of fraud when you mentioned it on the phone but this”—she smiles, then pulls it back—“this is gold.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you gotten divorced from him during all this time?”

Lyra leans back in her chair slightly. “Connor likes to be in control. I think you’ve probably figured that out by now. He’s also enjoyed playing the victim, gaining sympathy so he can use that feeling inside people to manipulate them, just like he did to you. I’ve tried to divorce him for years now but there’s always a loophole, always someone he’s able to manipulate, always a string to pull at that just unravels everything.”

For a brief second, I see her human side. While none of this is shocking to her, I can see that it’s wearing on her. It would anyone.

“I’m sorry,” I say gently, “that you’ve had to go through all of this, but there is one other thing I need to tell you. I just don’t have any evidence to prove it. He’s going to… he’s going to fake his death and make it look like you set it up.”

A coy smirk flashes across her lips but just as quickly it’s gone. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all the ways he’s killed me off over the years, I’m surprised he isn’t actually going to attempt it.”

“He’s going to wait until after the divorce so it looks like you came after him because you weren’t happy with the settlement. Then he’s going to run off with the three hundred million dollars I hid for him all under an alias name he has the shell companies in.”

“He’s not as bright as he thinks he is and coming up with some harebrained, ridiculous fake death scheme like this tells me he’s unraveling faster than both of us realize.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, hoping she confirms my suspicions earlier about how erratic and unhinged his behavior has become in the last two weeks.

Her smile is tight. “I’ve known him long enough to see when he’s approaching a meltdown. During our marriage, I bailed him out when it would happen. All those connections I have that he loves to pretend are evil and at my beck and call were the ones who saved his ass. Thank you for bringing the evidence to me, Aspen. I’m sure my lawyers will have a field day with it.” She stands up and grabs her designer handbag that was perched on the chair next to her. “Connor thinks he’s untouchable. I think it’s about time he learns otherwise.”

She walks around the table until she’s in front of me. She reaches down and grabs one of my hands.

“If there’s ever anything you need, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.”

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