Chapter 106 #24: Someone They Call Shadow
I sit on the edge of Lucy's bed long after she falls back asleep, her small hand still curled around mine. The room is dark except for the faint glow of the nightlight shaped like a crescent moon. I stare at it, thinking about how everything I thought I could control is slipping through my fingers.
My husband pulled a gun on me and my ex husband yesterday. My daughter was threatened at her school during recess. The freaking mafia are after me for a ledger I have no idea about. My life, the one I rebuilt brick by careful brick, feels like it's made of sand.
I kiss her forehead, careful not to wake her again, and slip out of the room. The hallway is quiet. Vincent is in the guest room tonight, and that's perfect honestly. I really don't want to see his face right now, don't want to hear another apology that won't fix anything. I go to my study instead, lock the door behind me, and sit at the desk.
My phone is in my hand before I even think about it. I dial Sel.
She picks up on the second ring. "Nora? It's late. Everything okay?"
"No," I say, keeping my voice low. "Everything is very far from okay."
A pause. "Talk to me."
I tell her everything. The gun. Vincent's rage. Lucy's story about the man at the fence. The empty safety deposit box. The missing ledger and Malcolm's will. When I finish, the line is quiet for so long I think the call dropped.
Finally she speaks. "Jesus, Nora..."
"I know."
"Well, I have some news," she says. "Chicago's buzzing with talk. Whispers that someone’s looking for something with enough leverage to rebuild at least half of Malcolm's old network. They’re saying the new boss... someone they call Shadow or something, is relentless in his pursuit for it and he’s sure Malcolm willed it to you."
I scoff. “As if I’d ever take anything Malcolm wills to me.” A pause. "Any idea who this Shadow is?"
"Asides the fact that he apparently has a thing for cliché ass names? No. No one seems to know what his real name is, or what he even looks like. He just gives assignments through proxies, payments wired clean. Whoever he is, he's careful... and he's close."
I lean back in the chair, rubbing my temple. "They threatened Lucy at school. Told her to tell me to hand over the information or he'd come over himself."
“Fuck.” Sel lets out a breath. "And from what I heard about Shadow... that’s not an idle threat. They'll keep coming until you crack and give them what they want.”
"I won't."
"I know you won't," she says. "But you can't do this alone. You need backup. Marcus and I can be on a plane tomorrow."
"Not yet," I say. "I need to handle this my way first."
"Your way meaning what? Going after them yourself?"
"Exactly that."
"Nora–"
"I'm done letting the men in my life dictate how this plays out," I tell her. "Vincent with his gun and his jealousy. David with his promises and his control. I'm taking this back starting tonight."
She’s quiet for a moment. "Just... be careful, alright? These people don't play."
"I know," I say. "That's why I'm going to play better."
I end the call and stand. I change into dark jeans and a black hoodie, pull my hair into a tight knot, and slip on gloves. In the back of my closet is the small safe I installed after the first break-in. Inside is the gun I took from Vincent earlier tonight. I check the magazine, chamber a round, and tuck it into the waistband at my lower back. The weight of it is familiar.
I leave a note for Vincent on the kitchen counter: Taking a walk. Back soon. Don't wait up. Then I slip out the side door, down the service stairs, and into the night.
The street is quiet. I walk two blocks, then spot exactly what I'm looking for: the black sedan parked across from the building, it's lights off, engine idling. Same one I noticed yesterday... and the day before that... and the day before that. I've been pretending I haven’t noticed it following me around for days.
I keep walking casually with my hands in my pockets. I turn down a side street, then another, leading it away from the main roads. The car follows, keeping its distance but never losing me. Good.
I turn into a narrow alley between two warehouses. The car slows hesitantly at the entrance, but I just keep walking deeper into the shadows. When I reach the end, I duck behind a dumpster and wait.
The car creeps in with its headlights off now, and stops halfway down the alley. The moment the driver cuts the engine, I move.
I come up behind the car on the passenger side, the gun already in my hand. The driver is a male in his mid-thirties, wearing a dark jacket. Best part... he's alone. He doesn't see me until I'm at his window, pressing the barrel to the glass.
He freezes.
I tap the glass with the muzzle. "Open the door. Slowly."
He complies, keeping his hands visible.
I step back. "Make any sudden moves, and my pretty little face will be the last you ever see. Now step out of the car.”
He climbs out slowly with his palms up. "Easy. I'm not armed."
"We'll see about that." I motion with the gun. "Hands on the hood. Spread your legs."
He does. I pat him down quickly. No weapon. Just a phone and keys.
I step back. "Who are you?"
"Name's Marco," he says. "I'm just a driver."
"Bullshit." I keep the gun steady. "You've been tailing me for days. Why?"
"I was just following orders."
"From who?"
Silence.
I click the gun's safety off and press it firmer against his temple.
He swallows. "I don't know any names, okay? I’m just given a contact and when I'm done, the payment is wired in cash anonymously. Said to follow you, see if you go to any banks, storage units, anywhere you might pick up documents. If I see something, I'm supposed to take it."
"Documents like what?"
"I don’t know... anything that looks important. Old ledgers. Envelopes. Files... they didn't say exactly. Just that it belonged to them and that you had it."
I press the barrel harder against his temple again. "Who do you work for?"
"I told you, I don't know. They call him Shadow. That's all I got. No one sees him. No one meets him. Jobs come through proxies. Money shows up in accounts. That's it."
I believe him. The fear in his voice is real. He's a low-level disposable errand boy.
I step back. "Get in the car, drive away, and don't ever come back. If I see you again, I won't ask questions first."
He nods fast. "Got it."
He climbs in, starts the engine, and peels out of the alley.
I stand there for a moment, gun still in my hand, heart pounding. Shadow. The same name Sel mentioned earlier. I tuck the gun away and start walking. I need to tell David.
His townhouse is twenty minutes on foot. I take the back streets, keeping an eye out for tails. I reach David's building and use the key he gave me years ago – the one I never returned. The elevator ride up feels endless. When the doors open, the hallway is dark. I walk to his door and knock softly.
No answer.
I try the handle and find it unlocked. I slowly push it open. The foyer is dim, lit only by a lamp in the study.
I hear David's voice before I see him.
"...clean and discreet. No questions asked. I want the results tomorrow. The sample's already on its way."
I freeze.
He steps into view, phone to his ear, his back to me. "... a single hair strand I managed to pull from her coat. Run the full panel and call me the second you have the results."
He ends the call.
I pause for a moment, wondering what in the hell he could be talking about. What in the world would he need a hair strand f...
The realization cuts me right in the middle of my train of thought.
A DNA test.
Lucy.
I back away from the door, slowly and quietly, my heart hammering, and slip out before he turns around. I run down the stairs, not waiting for the elevator.
The cold air hits me when I reach the street, but it does nothing to cool the panic rising in my chest. There are no cabs at this hour, so I don’t bother waiting for one. I run as fast as I can to the hospital with a wing named after David, after a generous donation back when we were just married.
He can’t find out the truth. If he does, everything changes.
I need to get to that lab before he gets those results.