Chapter Twenty-One
Wind whipped down La Salle Drive and buffeted Eliana so that she had to lean into it. The cold air stung her eyes, and her hair was plastered back against her head. Maybe walking the long roundabout route to the train station wasn’t the best idea. Even if she’d needed time to think and get her head clear, she felt…exposed out here.
Eliana wasn’t going to cry. She’d never been the kind of woman who processed her feelings with tears. Another nature versus nurture argument, just like the kind of person she’d turned out to be.
It didn’t help that the whole city of Chicago was under some kind of cloud. The air felt depressing in a way she’d experienced at the Reverence Sisters compound, and not in many other places, except that apartment last night. All of it muddled together in her mind—murder and religion. But it was unlikely it was all connected.
Her phone rang, so she pulled it out of her bag and flipped it open. “Hey, Maze?—”
Her sister cut her off without even giving her a chance. “Get out of Chicago.Now.”
“What?” Eliana’s steps faltered, and she frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Beside her, a glass-fronted shop displayed designer purses she could never afford and didn’t want to buy anyway. A white purse would already be dirty by the time she brought it home from the store.
“Get out of Chicago,” Maizie repeated. “You can’t stay there. Get as far from the city as possible.”
“You need to explain what you mean before I start panicking.”
“You should panic. You haveeveryreason to panic. Lydia Rosenburg is not someone you need to mess with on a good day. Get as far away from her as possible.”
Relief washed over Eliana, and she signaled the crosswalk at the next street. “That’s all?” It started to flash on the far side, so she waited for traffic to stop and crossed. “I thought you were talking about some kind of major crisis.”
“Lydia Rosenbergisa major crisis. Ellie. I called Mom, and she didn’t pick up, so I left a message. But when she hears about this, she’s gonnaflip.”
“She didn’t answer when I called either. Tell me who this Rosenberg woman is.”
“It’s a long story. But the bottom line is, if she’s there, you need to get out of Chicago.”
Eliana spotted the station another block down the street. “That’s not an answer. That’s keeping me out of the loop but expecting me to follow orders. I’m not one of your cops, Maze. I’m your sister. If you don’t respect me enough to actually explain the problem with this woman I’ve never met and have nothing to do with, then there’s nothing more to say.”
Eliana flipped her phone shut. The click was so satisfying. She should feel empowered, talking to her sister that way.
Eliana half expected Maizie to call her back right away. Her sister wouldn’t be apologetic, she would just be annoyed that Eliana hung up on her.Truth hurts, Sis.But it didn’t solve anything, and she wasn’t sure it had even made her feel better.
She could call Carlos, but he was dealing with work stuff and could catch up with her later without her disturbing him from more important things than her being in a bad mood.
Up ahead on the street, Eliana spotted a woman with dark hair wearing a white dress under her trenchcoat. Just a flash of white as she turned and disappeared from view.
Luci.
Eliana walked faster, rushing to where she’d seen the woman disappear. It was the entrance to the train station, just a shelter on the sidewalk with stairs going down. She ran down the stairs to the station under the sidewalk where the ceiling dipped and people passed through the barriers. In the distance, she saw the woman again.
A man jostled Eliana as he passed by and strode toward the barriers.
She grabbed out her MetroCard and swiped through. She rushed through the crowd, racing after Luci down the escalator, past people standing still on their way down. If she went too fast, she was going to trip, but this was Luci! It couldn’t wait. She had to find Carlos’s sister and tell her to come home.
Eliana hurried down the last couple of steps and off the bottom, looking both ways along the tile lined hall.
Tunnels branched off in both directions. The distant sound of train brakes squealed down the hall. Air rushed at her, ruffling her hair around. She brushed it back, wishing she had time to pull it behind her. She hadn’t even bothered to put her wig on since the vault incident.
There wasn’t time to fix her hair right now. She might miss something important!
Just for a second, Luci appeared down the hall before ducking into a side hall. Eliana rushed after her, running around people or between them.
Someone said, “Hey, watch it.”
She called back, “Sorry!” and kept going.
