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CHAPTER 56

MICHAEL WAS LOITERING with purpose on the E when he spotted her almost by chance

Was it her?

He’d been wrong before

His eyes locked on her features and he felt a contraction, a tightness that started in his groin and shot up the center of his body to his throat It was as if he were zipped up

The older woer estured expansively as he talked He had the look of a junkie transported by the rush of a h

The wo his coh the fog on a chilly night Her coat was old but looked sturdy She had a canvas carryall slung over her shoulder, and on her head she wore a knit cloche hat in several shades of green

The pair of weirdos was on thea leisurely stroll Michael fixated on her faait as she and her piece-of-shit companion continued past him

He waited until they’d covered twenty-five paces, about two car lengths, then followed the couple as they cleared the s, crossed the street, and turned onto Mission, one of the hborhood

The traffic was sparse after 9 ps, what Michael thought of as Wall Street by the Bay He jaripped the gun butt with his gloved hand It felt good Like a handshake with a friend

Up ahead the woht and embraced, before the round-shoulderedMission, crossing Spear Michael kept his eyes on her while hu a made-up tune to the cadence of her unhurried walk

And then, almost as if he had willed it, she stopped and reached into her bag, poked around inside it, and pulled out a wrapped sandwich She was busy, intent on relow of the streetlights And not another soul was on that sidewalk They were alone

Michael closed the gap between them and called out her naun from his pocket and point it at her

She looked into his face and almost smiled No fear

That pissed him off