Page 154 of Shadows of You

I swallowed, trying to clear away the worst of the dryness. “What should I call you then?”

Elsie dropped the duffel. “Iris.”

As I studied the woman, taking in her blond hair and piercing blue eyes, I found the name fit her better than Elsie.

“What’s in the bag?” I asked.

She laughed. “I’ll give it to you. You’re calm under pressure.” Her laughter died. “Maybe that’s how you convinced the cops you weren’t a delusional liar.”

My breath caught. Steven’s presence had basically told me what this was about, but Iris’s words confirmed it.

“I didn’t lie.”

Iris stormed toward me, her hand fisting in my hair and jerking my head back. “You won’t get away with that here. You’re going to tell the goddamned truth if it’s the last thing you do.”

She released me with a snap. The shock and pain had tears welling in my eyes as I struggled to catch my breath.

“How did I lie?” I croaked.

Iris’s fingers clenched and flexed as if she were trying to keep herself from wringing my neck. “John told me how jealous you were of him and Autumn. That you couldn’t stand that she was finally happy. That he’d given her everything she ever dreamed of. You knew he didn’t kill her, but it was your chance to finally stick it to him.”

Her ramblings sounded so much like someone else I knew. “Is Oren helping you?”

She cackled. “That moron? Hardly. He’s a woman-hating piece of garbage who can’t write to save his life. He can’t be counted on for anything.” Iris’s lips curved. “But John said he was a good tool to keep making you pay in the short term.”

Fear and rage warred deep within me. John had always been a puppet master, great at pulling strings to get what he wanted. He’d do whatever he could to hurt me with whatever he had at his disposal.

Iris bent and unzipped the duffel. I half-expected her to pull out weapons. Instead, she removed audio recording equipment. Two microphones. Assorted wires. A laptop.

“The acoustics in here aren’t ideal, but good ole Steven’s just gonna have to deal. Right, Steve?” she asked.

He went pale but nodded slowly.

“You gonna keep your trap shut if I take that gag out?”

He nodded again.

Iris crossed to him and jerked the scarf free.

Steven sucked in several ragged breaths. “Water?” he rasped.

Iris rolled her eyes. “So dramatic. But I guess we can’t have our star host dehydrated.”

She crossed into the kitchen and toward a case of bottled water.

I glanced in his direction, whispering. “Were you working with her?”

“No,” he hissed, his voice low. “I’d never seen her until that day at your coffee shop. She stopped by my cabin and said she had a tip for the podcast. She drugged my damned coffee.”

I couldn’t read any deception in his words, but I wasn’t about to trust the jerk. “Does anyone know you’re missing?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. My lawyer should realize it tomorrow when I don’t make our meeting.”

But tomorrow would be too late.

“She’s fucking crazy,” Steven bit out.

“I heard that,” Iris singsonged. Turning around, she glared at Steven. “It’s not nice to call me crazy. Not when I’ve been so kind to you. I’m going to put your silly little podcast on the map.”

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