“About a mile north of here,” Ellie said, looking confused. “Why?”
It wasn’t in Vivian’s neighborhood, but it wasn’t too far away. That fit with what Hattie had told her about a new operation popping up in their part of the city. “Nothing. What happened to your neighbor? She okay?”
“So far. But I didn’t know if she should still be worried. And since it sounded like you and Bea might know something… I don’t know, I just want to be sure no one’s gonna cause her any more trouble.”
“I don’t know anything for sure,” Vivian admitted. “But could I maybe go talk to your neighbor? Could you tell me where she lives?”
“I mean, I could,” Ellie said slowly. “But I’d probably need to go with you. Unless you know the signing language? She’s mostly deaf.”
“Oh.” Vivian frowned. “I don’t. Do you?”
“A bit. I asked Honor to teach me some when I started working here,” Ellie said.
Vivian blinked in surprise. She knew there were folks out there who used signs to communicate. But it had never occurred to her that the club’s hand signs might be part of that language—or that Honor might have a reason to know it. “Why does Honor know how to sign?”
Ellie shrugged. “Didn’t ask, I figured it wasn’t any of my business. I was just glad she could show me some, because no one else around here except my neighbor’s sister knows them. I could take you to talk to my neighbor, I suppose. She can read lips pretty good. Tomorrow, if you want?”
“Yeah… yeah.” Vivian nodded decisively. If she was going to talkto the pawnbroker about the necklace, she wanted to know what that ring looked like, too. She didn’t need to keep wondering about Honor Huxley, who had made it clear how things stood between them. That was a brick wall she was tired of running into. Whatever Honor’s secrets were, she could keep them. “Tomorrow, okay?”
When Vivian finally made it back to the bar, Danny raised his eyebrows at her. “Something going on that Hux and I should know about?”
“I don’t think your Hux wants any more to do with it,” Vivian said, trying to sound like she didn’t care one way or another.
It didn’t fool Danny. “She told me you two had a rough night,” he said quietly, leaning his elbows on the bar. He had his serious face on, a rarity when he was working. “But if there’s something more going on, she’ll want to know.”
Vivian shrugged. “Nothing new to worry about.”
Danny gave her a long look, then nodded. “If you say so, kitten. But don’t go getting yourself in a jam just because you’re too proud to ask for help.” He hesitated, then added, “She’s hard to get close to, Viv. There’s plenty even I don’t know about her, and I know more than just about anyone. Don’t take it personal.”
Vivian held her hands firmly by her sides, resisting the urge to touch her lips as she thought about Honor kissing her in the street, scared and relieved and angry all at once.I can’t afford to give myself that kind of weakness,she had said, with no regret in her voice, no nothing, just quiet and firm and resigned. “Nothing personal about it at all,” Vivian agreed, smiling even as her chest felt like someone was squeezing it. She nodded toward the drinks he was fixing. “Where are those two headed?”
He smiled at last. “Fella in the corner table. Why don’t you take them over?”
“Sure thing.” Vivian took the tray bearing a glass of champagne and a whiskey cocktail, balancing it carefully as she wound her waythrough the crowd. The man at the corner table had his back to her when she arrived. “Ready for your order, mister?” she asked.
He tipped back his head to look up at her, a wide smile spreading over his face, and Vivian couldn’t stop herself smiling in response. “Hey, Leo. Good to see you all in one piece.”
“You too, Viv. That one’s for you,” he added, tipping his chin toward the champagne. “Danny said you could take ten for a drink and a dance if you wanted.”
“Well, I won’t say no to that. Lord knows I could use both after the last twenty-four hours.” She sat, then leaned down to surreptitiously loosen the ribbons on her shoes under the table. “You sure you’re okay after last night?”
“Right as rain,” Leo said, taking a drink and leaning back in his chair. “Not much scary about the drunk tank when you know how to get out quick. And better I ended up there than you. Or Ms. Huxley,” he added, almost as an afterthought. “Gonna tell me what else happened last night? I wasn’t worried about me, but I was thinking about you the whole time.”
“It was…” Vivian hesitated, turning her glass in slow circles. “It was quite a night. And it’s been quite a day since then.” She took a drink, then leaned forward, dropping her voice as she filled him in on what had happened after his arrest. Leo listened in silence, though she could see his hands tighten into fists, and when she mentioned almost being shot he was so agitated that he pushed back from the table and stood up.
“But you’re all right?” he demanded, pacing two steps away, then coming back abruptly. Taking his seat once more, he downed the rest of his drink, grimacing at the burn of the whiskey before leaning forward to take her hands. “Viv, how could you—”
“I know,” she said. She pulled her hands away, but she did it gently. “But it worked out fine, okay? And listen…” She hesitated, taking another drink before she leaned forward again. “Any chance you’d be up for a visit to a pawnbroker tomorrow?”
Vivian’s deliveries were quick the next morning, and it was easy enough to hop off the elevated line heading south once she was done. She couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder as she did, though, still checking the streets behind her as she walked and scanning the faces on the platform to see if anyone was following her.
She knew, logically, that the men from the other night had a history of using poison, or other deaths that looked like accidents, rather than following and attacking someone in broad daylight. But she kept looking over her shoulder anyway. She didn’t want anyone to find her. And she didn’t want to lead anyone to where she and Florence were staying.
But there was no one suspicious on the train platform, and no one who seemed intent on following her when she got off and hurried through the crowd back down to the street level. The rails clattered overhead as the train headed toward the next stop, and Vivian checked the scrap of paper that had the address she was looking for scribbled on it.
For all it was a different neighborhood, Ellie’s home was practically a twin to Vivian’s own. No matter where you went in the city, you could find buildings crammed with too many tenement apartments, laundry strung out of the windows to flutter about the alleys, children running barefoot in the street while someone kept an eye on them from the window.
Ellie was waiting for her outside, jiggling impatiently from foot to foot and yawning. “Come on,” she said as soon as she spotted Vivian. “Golly, are you usually up this early? How do you do it after being up all night?”
