The curious glint in her eye flashed once more. ‘So then I was right. You have found yourself attached, and now you are in conflict. Your head, or your heart? Money, or love?’
‘There’s no conflict,’ said Damien, speaking now through gritted teeth. ‘I quit.’
‘That’s the wrong choice,’ tutted Bertie from behind him, giving him a start. He hadn’t even heard the door creak open.
‘It is such a pity,’ said Lillian, reclining once more, the cigarette balanced precariously between her middle fingers. ‘It is so much easier when they believe they’re helping me out of their own free will. Once the threats come out … well.’ She gave him a smile thatgleamed. ‘Let’s just say it’ll make these meetings a lot more fun for me, and much more of a chore for you.’
Damien huffed a half-laugh through his teeth. ‘Oh yes? And what threat might that be?’
Lillian’s gaze raked him up and down. ‘Did I ever tell you the story of how I got my limp, Mr Carter?’
Damien rolled his eyes. ‘Is the moral of this story going to be “Don’t cross me”?’
‘Quite the opposite,’ Lillian said, her attention flitting down to her hands. ‘I performed the high wire, for my father’s show. We travelled all over the Continent with it, but I always thought the act best performed without the net. How better to show off my skills? My father … he disagreed.It’s entertainment, he told me.Nothing more. But Iwas stubborn. And so one night, I convinced the stagehands not to bring the net out. The lights came up, the music started, and there I was – standing up high, nothing but a drop beneath me, ready to prove my father wrong.’
Her gaze lifted, meeting Damien’s and steadying there. ‘I remember I was scared. So scared, but I was excited, too. This would be my moment – the momentI deserved. People would finally see me – and my talent – for what it truly was. And my father – he could do nothing. The lights were up. The music was playing. The audience was so quiet, it was like they’d all disappeared. And I was alone up there, just me and the wire, and all I had to do –all I had to do– was cross it. Like I’d done a hundred times before. A thousand times before.’
She gestured to her left leg, which she kept awkwardly straight, and the cane beside her. ‘But of course you know the ending to this story already. I slipped. I fell. And you want to know what the worst part was?’
Damien didn’t want to know, but he nodded all the same.
‘I wasalmost there. I was almost at the very end – and that is where I went wrong. I could see it – everything I wanted – in front of me, and I stopped thinking about each step. I stopped being careful. And … I fell.’
Damien frowned. ‘I’m … not sure I follow.’
‘Then let me put it in simpler words,’ said Lillian, sitting back in her chair. ‘Stop working for me, and you’ll fall, too. Right into the hands of the man who’s looking for you. What was his name again, Bertie?’
‘Mr Briggs,’ said Bertie, and Damien felt his stomach lurch.
Lillian’s smile glinted. ‘You didn’t truly think I’d hire you without doing a little digging, did you Damien? Give him the man’s card, Bertie.’
‘Seems like he’s very eager to speak with you,’ said Bertie, shoving her hands into both trouser pockets andeventually fishing a tiny square of yellowing cardboard from her waistcoat. ‘He came past here wondering if we had any information on your whereabouts.’
Damien felt the world slow around him, felt the air in the room turn to ice as he took the card from her hands and studied the familiar, golden lettering. ‘He’shere? In Liverpool? You brought him here?’
‘Oh no,’ said Lillian languidly, stubbing out her cigarette upon the desk. ‘Mr Briggs found his way to Liverpool all by himself.’
Damien gripped the card between his fingernails, as though if he pressed hard enough he could make it disappear. ‘How long has he been here?’ he said. ‘Looking for me?’
‘A while,’ said Bertie.
‘And we’ve protected you,’ said Lillian.
Bertie twisted her voice into a lighter, lilting timbre. ‘“Oh, no sir, he’s not been around these parts. Not seen him. But of course sir, we would tell you the very instant we did.”’
Lillian’s gaze flattened as it settled upon Damien, her bright eyes dark. ‘It would be a shame for us to have to change our story so suddenly.’
He felt as though all his limbs had become unattached, as though the only part of him left was his heart, thudding against his ribcage and telling him to run. ‘If he is here, then I cannot be,’ said Damien.
‘If you flee now, he will find you,’ said Lillian. ‘He has passed your likeness around at the railway station, at the port. But if you stay, if you lie low, and you follow my instructions, I will ensure that that man leaves Liverpool on a wild goose chase that takes him far, far away from you.’
Damien looked up at her. ‘And why would you do that?’
‘Because,’ she said. ‘You’re worth more to me now than before. Now that you have earned her trust.’ Lillian stood then, stepping around the desk, busying herself with one ofthe bird cages. ‘I need Ava back on my stage. I need her bringing in the coin she was before – and for that, I need her ready. I need her confident. I need my star back – and you will make sure she shines.’
‘No,’ said Damien, more forcefully now. ‘I won’t.’
‘You will,’ said Lillian. ‘But you’ll do more than that, too. You’ll make herwantto come back to me. To the show.’
