“Is there a fence at the other end of it?” I asked.
“No,” Ramesh said.
“Pity, you should see her jump one,” Bray said with an audible smile.
“Turn right at the next opportunity,” Ramesh instructed.
My feet pounded the pavement. Air moved in and out of my lungs. I saw the gap up ahead: an alley between a law firm and a restaurant. “There better not be anyone waiting down this alley for me, Ramesh,” I said, and closed in on it.
“Satellite says it’s clear. Turn now,” he responded.
“You can see me? You’re not just Google Maps-ing this?”
“Live, in living color.”
“Damn. I’m going to demand my own guy in a chair from here on out.” I flew around the corner and felt the temperature drop in the shade between the buildings. A glance over my shoulder said the ghost had fallen behind. “Oh God, I thinkthis is a seafood restaurant.” I nearly gagged with a hand over my mouth as I ran past a dumpster.
“All-you-can-eat shrimp on Tuesdays,” Ramesh reported. “Now, on the other side, take a left. Two blocks up, you’ll run into the Lancaster Hotel. I’m booking a room for you under Calvin Bray and …”
“Lauren Thomas,” I filled in for him. “It’s the only ID I’ve got.”
“Got it,” he said. “Bray? You still with us.”
The pause that carried over the line made my heart skip a beat.
“Yeah, I’m here. Lancaster Hotel, got it,” Bray said.
“Good. I figure you guys disappear and lay low for tonight, and we’ll work on a way out tomorrow,” Ramesh said.
“Sounds good to me,” I grunted as I broke free of the dim light on the other side of the alley.
“Left,” Ramesh reminded me. “Bray, you keep going straight. That garage would be a shortcut, but I don’t like the look of it. I’ll lose sight of you.”
“It’ll get me off the street faster,” Bray protested.
“I see the hotel,” I reported. “It’s a block away.” I hurried across the street while theWALKsign was on and slowed on the other side. “Any sign of him?” I asked.
“I think you lost him,” Ramesh reported.
“Good.” It would look less suspicious if I didn’t hurtle myself into a hotel, out of breath, and say I was checking in like nothing was amiss.
I forced air in and out of my lungs in a practiced way to help slow my heart rate. I reached the hotel door when I heard a sharp crack in my ear. It stopped me in my tracks.
“What was that?” I asked.
Bray grunted and then there was a muffled sound like his earpiece had fallen out.
“Bray? What’s going on?” I demanded.
“Bray, you there?” Ramesh asked with the same concern. “Damn it, I told you not to go into that garage. I can’t see you.”
My calmed heart picked back up. “Where is he? What happened?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see,” Ramesh said. “Bray? Say something.”
“I’m going back for him,” I said, and turned around.
“No. Go in the hotel right now,” Ramesh commanded. “Your guy is back. He’s a block away. Get inside before he sees you.”
