Valerie Creed moved through the afternoon crowd with the effortless grace of someone who had forgotten she was hunting.
Eli tracked her from thirty paces back, his gait casual, his eyes constantly moving—scanning reflections in shop windows, noting security cameras, cataloging every face that appeared twice in his peripheral vision.
The Helix Capital Network towered above them, its glass facade reflecting the cobalt sky in fractured geometries. Valerie didn't enter the building. Instead, she drifted past the entrance, her fingers trailing along the metal railing of the subway entrance as she descended into the underground. Eli waited a full minute before following, memorizing the pattern of her steps—three quick, two slow, the distinctive rhythm of someone trained to detect surveillance.
