MEANWHILE, ACROSS TOWN . . .

SYDNEY tried to call Victor, but it went straight to voicemail every time.

What did June mean when she said he was in trouble?

They’d been careful. They were always careful.

Do you trust me or not?

In that moment, Sydney had. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Sydney’s hand went automatically to the gun she now kept tucked in her coat, thumb already resting against the safety.

But then she recognized the heavy tread, and turned to see Mitch striding toward her across the rooftop garden.

“There you are,” he said cheerfully.

She let go of the gun. “Hey,” she said. “Just admiring the view.” She tried to keep her voice light, but her head was still spinning, and she was afraid it would show on her face, so she turned her back on Mitch.

“It’s weird, isn’t it? How cities change. Buildings go up, and come down, and it looks the same—and different.”

“Like you,” said Mitch, ruffling her pink wig. The gesture was light, easy, but there was a strain in his voice, and the silence, when it fell, was heavy. Syd’s mind was on Victor, but she knew Mitch’s was on her sister.

They’d never talked about what really happened to Serena. It had been too soon, and then too late. The wound had healed, as best as it could.

But now that they were back in Merit, the finished Falcon Price building glinting in the distance, the air was thick with everything they’d never said.

“Hey, Syd,” started Mitch, but she cut him off.

“Do you ever wish you were an EO?”

Mitch’s brow crinkled, caught off guard by the question. He didn’t answer right away. He’d always been careful like that, sorting out his words before he said them.

“I remember when I first met Victor,” he said at last. “These guys inside were giving me a hard time, and he just . . .” Mitch slid his hand through the air. “He made it look so easy. I guess to him it probably was. But watching it made me feel . . . small.”

Syd laughed. “You’re the biggest guy I know.”