Page 63 of Mercy in Betrayal

I drum my fingers against my thigh as Vivi and I stand pressed closely together on a city bus, waiting tensely for the tracking app to update again. We had switched from the subway to a bus line a few stops back when Enzo’s location moved, realizing the route wouldn’t take us directly to where he was. Five minutes earlier, it had shown him somewhere in Brookfield Place, an area known for its upscale shopping.

“What’s he doing there?” Vivi wonders aloud. “Buying something for a—” She breaks off abruptly, choosing not to finish the thought. I finish it in my head, though.

A mistress.

I shrug, focusing hard on the phone. The app isn’t like radar, renewing the target’s location by the second. It updates every few minutes, instead, so there’s no telling exactly where he is by now.

“There.” Vivi’s finger points at the phone screen. The little blinking dot shows Enzo on Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, a road that hugs the outer band of Manhattan Island. It’s used most often by those trying to get from the northernmost part of the island to the south and vice versa. She lets out a low humming noise. “He’s going to your brother’s.”

I roll my lips inward and remain silent. The location of Cassidy and Evie’s home is supposed to be secret. Even from Vivi, who has been the most consistent, reliable, trustworthy person I’ve known since I met her. I want to trust her, want to murmur an agreement, but Cassidy would kill me.

There are rules.

Vivi is from a rival family.

She seems to sense the reason for my hesitation and rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on. You’ve told me you live across the island from Columbia. If Enzo was going to check on you at school, he’d be taking the 9A. He’s on the FDR; it stands to reason he’s going to your brother’s place.”

“He could be going somewhere else entirely.”

He’s not, though. As Vivi put together so quickly, the location indicated on the tracking app is right in the vicinity of Cassidy and Evie’s home. I just don’t understand why he would be headed there.

And now I’m not sure I should follow him. That’s obviously not where he’s been spending his nights. What good will it do me to show my hand and reveal that I’m tracking his whereabouts? I look at Vivi.

“Maybe we shouldn’t—”

Ignoring me, she leans around a small group of passengers and peers around them to look out the window at passing street signs. Turning back to me, she straightens. “Is there a subway station near Greenwich?”

The query catches me off guard. “Is that a real question?”

“Don’t be mean. I’m new to this. But wouldn’t it be faster?”

I sigh and hitch the carrier higher on my back, Clem’s weight dragging at me. “Yes. We should have just used your driver from the beginning.”

“Nah. He gossips more than any Italian housewife. Besides, this is an adventure. I am seeing a side of this city I’ve never seen before. A side I need to see.”

She slides her arm through mine as the bus rocks to a stop, reminding me that we’re very nearly the same person. Both little sisters kept virtual prisoners by brothers intent on leveraging them for their gain, or protecting them, or both in this dangerous world we were born into.

Vivi seems to handle her place so much better than I do, though. Her ease and grace with her position makes me envious.

But then…if I had known the truth of everything from the beginning, maybe I would have the same acceptance.

After getting off of the bus, we make our way to the Fulton Street station, which connects to the green line that runs to the upper East Side. Vivi stares longingly at a pretzel vendor but I tug her hand and draw her down the steps to the subway.

“We don’t have time for pretzels, Viv.”

“They smell so good, though.”

“We’ll get all the pretzels you want another day, I promise.”

She sends me a baleful look. “I’m holding you to that. Hotdogs, too.”

“Fine.” As we find a space to stand and hold on to a hand strap, Vivi gives me another look. “What? I said I promise.”

“Nothing.” She looks away at the other passengers. “I just think you’re kind of amazing, that’s all.”

“Oh, please. What are you talking about?” I protest, lowering my voice.

Vivi waves a hand. “Don’t worry about them hearing you. Nobody cares. It’s just…you’ve been kept like me your entire life, but obviously, you’ve done your share of sneaking around. You’ve got this public transportation thing down.”

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