the shadows, but there was no one. He looped around the small grass-covered island in the middle of the block and headed in the opposite direction, taking him by the larger of the two structures.
He was almost past the end of the building when someone ran out toward him. His first instinct was to hit the gas, but he slowed to a stop when he saw the man’s face. It was Nate.
Quinn reached across and opened the passenger door just as his apprentice arrived.
Before he even had the door closed, Nate said, “I’m fine. Go.”
Quinn pressed down hard on the accelerator. “Is someone back there?”
“I don’t think so,” Nate said, breathing hard. “But I heard another train pull in, so you never know. They could still be looking for me.”
Quinn spent several minutes driving randomly until he was sure they weren’t being followed, then settled on a direction that would take them back toward their motel.
“Tell me,” he said.
Nate took a few more deep breaths. “I was heading back to the motel. You know, like you told me to do. But after a few minutes I realized there was someone behind me. I made a few turns, normal stuff, nothing too fast, just to see if I was right. The guy stayed with me.”
“Did you recognize him from earlier?” Quinn asked, trying to put the pieces together.
“No. Like I said, I didn’t pay attention when I was following the woman.”
“Her name’s Marion.”
“What?”
“The woman in the Saab. Marion Dupuis,” Quinn said.
“Right,” Nate said.
“So you were being followed,” Quinn said, trying to get Nate back on track.
“Yeah. Once I knew for sure, I played it cool for a while, letting him get relaxed. Then, when I thought he was comfortable, I made a break for it. It worked great. I was able to get a little distance, enough that I could dump the car and head out on foot without them catching me.”
“Them?”
Nate nodded. “There were two. Both guys, strong looking. One a little older, but I didn’t get much of a look at either of them. I tried, I swear. But that’s all I got.”
“What happened next?”
“One of them got out of the car and chased me. But by then I had them beat. Lost them a few minutes later, then made my way to a metro station. That’s when I called you.”
Quinn thought for a moment. “Maybe they weren’t following the girl. Maybe they were just interested in giving you a hard time.”
“I guess,” Nate said, his tone indicating he didn’t believe it.
Quinn didn’t believe it, either. It would have been too much of a coincidence. And Quinn just didn’t believe in them. The easier answer, the more logical one, would be that they must have had some interest in Marion Dupuis. They had to have been staking out the Dupuis’ house from farther down the street. But did that mean they had seen Quinn and Orlando go inside? What if there were more of them than just those in the car? Could they have followed Quinn and Orlando back to the Comfort Inn?
“Sorry,” Nate said.
“What?” Quinn said. “No. You did fine. Better than fine. You got away.”
Nate was silent for a moment, then said, “Thanks.”
Quinn pulled out his phone, intending to call Orlando, but his phone began to ring before he could dial. Peter.
“Hold on, Peter,” Quinn said.
“Wait. What’s going—”
“I said hold on.” Quinn put Peter’s call on hold, then punched Orlando’s name on his quick-contact list.
“Hello?” she said.
“Everything all right there?” he asked.
“Fine,” she said. “Why?”
“Serious. Are you okay?”
She paused. “Hunky-dory,” she said, using their latest code to signify all was normal. “What’s going on?”
“We may have been followed, too.”
“From the Dupuis’?” she said. “You would have noticed.”
It’s true. He would have. He was excellent at the spotting-the-tail game, and he hadn’t seen anyone suspicious on their way back to the motel. But if the others had the resources, there were ways to track a car without needing to keep visual contact.
“I still want you to get out,” Quinn said. “We’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”
“All right,” she said, but she sounded annoyed.
