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Her back against the wall, Peri froze, caught between torlds on the threshold of a scummy bathroom, Opti on one side, the alliance on the other, both of the to her Instilled barriers to self-sufficiency? Was he saying she’d been conditioned to think she needed someone else to survive? It was undeniable that she was used to being part of a team, but that didn’t ht of Silas’s giving herher food, his room where she’d recuperated Even worse, the possible MEP that lurked after every traumatic draft if she didn’t have soripped her borrowed nylon coat close about her If Opti was here, she’d never get into that upstairs office She had to knohat had happened that night, not look at a cleaned-up crime scene She had to find the button she’d seen in her memory of Jack It was a talisman, and it held a memory It held the truth

"This is our best shot in five years at bringing Opti down, and he’s blowing it because he doesn’t want to buy her dinner?" the man said, and Peri felt the blood rush to her face "That’s a load Tell Silas to suck it up and do his job He can do this for the week it’s going to take"

Angry, Peri pulled the CLOSED banner down, letting it fall to the floor as she left Head high, she strode quickly into theand everyone She didn’t see Silas as she passed the Opti personnel more intent on a vid screen and chip than as in front of their faces It was a mistake they wouldn’tthe words that would bring the to the dealership

She was going hoainst the hard s stretched out and his ankles crossed as he waited for Peri His head was thrown back, and his hat coveredhi obvious about it It had been only a few , he pulled himself out of his slouch when he saw Lizto catch a s their options, and his eyes flicked to the arcade, drawn by a burst of realistic gunplay Hurry up, Howard, he thought, twitching his coat tighter about his shoulders It et Peri to trust hi tofor him to move and , tracking hih his request for Howard, the alliance’s cleaner The shortsighted woman had told him to cut Peri loose so Opti could pick her up, scrub her down, and start the gaain But the information was there in Peri’s head All he had to do was convince Peri to let hiiven him one more chance, but if this failed, it was done, and Silas’s worry deepened as athered in ones and twos, pulled in fro ready for a push Time was up

"Thank God," he whispered when he spotted Peri fronizable in that blue nylon coat and Liz’s white-and-blue-striped knit hat pulled down over her head She looked smaller, more vulnerable, in the more casual clothes He could tell she was shaken; every ounce of her usual confidence was gone The grace, though, reht have happened if she had never fallen fro and had become the dancer she had intended

But she is a dancer, he reminded himself She danced with death, and if she didn’t keep up, the bastard would win

Breath held, he watched the nore her, focused on a tablet and presuave thelass doors--and was gone

Bold as brass, he thought in relief and checked his watch He and Liz would lead theh the mall and out the south entrance to leave the tracker on a bus before doubling back Peri would probably be test-driving the latest model from Detroit The wo when he saw Liz striding through the food court Peri never walked that quickly even when she was late, firh, they’d wait Liz’s arh The coat Peri had bought hung on her a bit loose; her shoulders weren’t wide enough to carry off the high fashion The grace Peri held was le Opti agent was focused on her, and his pulse quickened as he swung Peri’s roller bag around as she approached

"My God," Liz said as she halted before hihtmare"

Silas’s jaw clenched True "She’s complicated," he said, hand on her shoulder to point her in the direction of the south entrance

Liz flicked a glance behind the to her new coat "Yeah? You like paranoid, sarcastic basket cases who can kill a man with a ballpoint pen?"

"I like you, don’t I? South entrance is our best bet"

"Where the construction is? Got it" Liz fell into step with him, and he couldn’t help but notice that her pace was shorter than Peri’s It took effort to shorten his stride to meet it Funny how it had never seemed like a chore with Peri "I can’t believe you’re still carting her luggage," Liz said, alht of his concern "All the way frole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">