Page 113 of Reckless Devotion

Evelyn’s smooth brow twitches in confusion as I reach for my drawer, pulling out two of the thirty-page long wad of paper that I printed off.

“Pepper believes that the key to finding out who’s really behind this is hidden in this manifesto.” I hand them both one, and begin to head for the door.

“Wait, aren’t you going to read it, too?” Evelyn calls out after me.

“Already scanned the pages.” I tap the side of my head to indicate where I’ve got it stored.

“But where are you going?”

“Home. If Landau calls, patch him straight through to my cell.”

I’ve got a special message to deliver to Sunny, and she deserves to hear it in person.

***

“I need you to be honest with me about what is going on.”

Sunny scowls down at the wide cracked pavement, where boots that remind me of Pepper’s—except she’s embellished them with small pink gems around the soles—thud on the sidewalk.

I nod, mostly to myself as I survey the quiet Tribeca street around us. Colorful old warehouse conversions flank us on either side, a zig-zagging mesh of fire escape runs caging each building.

This small slice of New York City where I live is one of the few places where the bustle of the city doesn’t follow you home. No blaring horns, no packed, narrow sidewalks, with small hole-in-the-wall minimalist cafes instead where a few people work and eat.

I take the last bite of my ice cream cone and consider how to handle her request. I think I would want answers too, if I were her.

“Your sister did some things to expose bad people, but to do that she had to break some rules.”

“What kind of bad people?” She blinks up at me, squinting from the afternoon sun.

“Affluent people who abuse their power, doing illegal things with their money to get out of paying taxes, stealing things, abusing people…all things that the system lets them get away with because they are rich.”

“But surely if they are bad people doing illegal stuff then it’s a good thing she did to expose them?” She frowns, turning her attention back to the floor and yeeting her mostly untouched ice cream into a trash can as we pass.

I grunt, scratching the back of my head. Deep, existential chats with a teenager weren’t on my bingo card this summer, and I feel wholly unequipped.

“The law is more black and white than that, unfortunately,” I settle on.

Sunny lets out a long sigh, coming to a halt and staring up at the One World Trade Center peeking out above the building tops. “The law sucks.”

I huff out a laugh. “That’s what I think every time I get my tax bill.”

“But you still pay it, right?” She wedges a stern finger in my direction.

“Yeah, kid. I still pay it.” I smile, ruffling the violently pink hair on top of her head.

“Chase!”

My head snaps up to see Evelyn on the street corner, her cheeks red from exertion. She rushes over in a rapid-fire click of heels and leans over to wedge her hands on her thighs, struggling to catch her breath.

“Do you ever answer your fucking cell phone?” she explodes, her blue eyes bright with irritation.

“How did you—” I pull out my phone and see the missed calls which went unnoticed on vibrate.

“Never mind that.” She scrunches her face up as she gasps in breath. “You have to come with me,right now.”

“What happened?” I click into business mode instantaneously, my mind whirring with scenarios that could have her here out of breath and so frazzled.

“No time. I’ll explain on the way.” She urges me to follow with her hand and turns to rush in the other direction toward a town car that slowly pulls up to the curb.