A man of Ian Lockwood's caliber had naturally heard of the kinds of organizations Vera Warner mentioned, but he never could have imagined that the woman he'd secretly loved for years would be the very type of person everyone feared and despised.
Her kind only worked for money. They acted without a shred of humanity, their methods were vicious, and they killed indiscriminately.
The recent deaths of Patrick Peyton's family were still all over the news. Although Ian Lockwood hadn't been following the story closely, he knew some of the details and found it all very regrettable.
However, he never would have imagined that it was all connected to Vera Warner, or that she had such a secret identity.
"...So this is your secret?"
