As she took the off-ramp for Price Street, he allowed the M5 to coast and preserve the separation he had established. He knew she was likely completing another surveillance detection route and would be looking to see who followed her off the highway, but he couldn’t simply drive past and wait for her to catch up again now that she had already seen him on the side of the road.

By the time he reached the exit, the Jeep was at the stop sign at the end of the off-ramp. He continued slowing as she made a right turn, backtracking up the coast on the Business 101, forcing him to choose between two equally unappealing options. If he turned left, he would lose sight and she could pull into any of the hotels or restaurants lining the beach to swap out the Jeep for a clean vehicle. But if he chose to follow her, she could double back unexpectedly and spot him.

“Dammit, Punky…”

Following a subject with two vehicles was infinitely easier and would have precluded him from having to make this decision. And even though it wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t there to help, he couldn’t help but allow his frustration at her ignoring his warnings to bubble over into his own predicament. At last, he rolled the dice and turned right, hoping TANDY intended to backtrack to the previous on-ramp and return to the highway.

* * *

As Chen made the right turn at the bottom of the off-ramp, she glanced into her rearview mirror and saw a silver car also exiting. Something about the car seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it and fought the temptation to simply dismiss it as paranoia. She had good reason to be paranoid, and until she satisfied herself it was nothing, she treated it like everything.

Okay, let’s find out who you are.

She kept her speed low as she watched the silver car near the stop sign behind her, then she turned left and descended into the Shore Cliff Hotel parking lot. She was certain that if the sedan was following her, its driver would have seen her make the turn. She coasted down the hill and parked in a spot reserved for electric vehicles, angling her rearview mirror so she could see the road, and waited to see if the car continued driving north.

When she saw a flash of silver, she quickly backed out of the spot and raced back up the hill to the street. She looked left and watched the silver sedan continuing north on Price Street as if nothing was amiss. But still, something bothered her about the car, and she racked her brain to try to figure out what it was.

Two hundred yards up the road, the silver car turned right and drove under the freeway. She pulled out onto the road and followed, knowing full well that if the driver had been following her, he would have seen her leave the hotel parking lot. He would know he had been burned and would attempt to disengage, but Chen wasn’t about to let that happen. She reached alongside her seat and felt for the Glock 19 peeking out above the center console.

This ends now, she thought.

She turned right to follow the sedan underneath the overpass and spotted it on the other side, driving up a hill to an access road on the other side of the highway. If its driver had been following her, he gave no outward sign that he had been burned and drove like any other Southern California driver.

But she was tired of pretending. She pressed on the gas and sped up, narrowing the distance between them. She wanted the driver to see her closing on him and wanted to startle him into making a mistake she could exploit. When she got within one hundred yards, the sedan turned right and drove up a hill. A quick glance at her map showed that it was the only way in or out of the parking lot for Pismo Preserve.

Gotcha.

21

California Polytechnic State University

San Luis Obispo, California

Professor David Wang closed the ornate wooden door behind him and stepped out into the brisk morning air. For the first time in months, since he had begun taking morning tea with the University President, he felt hopeful and content. It had been a long journey from his poor upbringing in Heilongjiang province to receiving tenure at long last, but that wasn’t why he walked with a bounce in his step.

At the end of the sidewalk, David turned right and strolled down the well-manicured hillside on the southern edge of campus. Trees of various shapes and sizes — there were over five hundred diverse and distinct species on campus — towered around him, obscuring the surrounding hillsides that disappeared in the low-hanging clouds. But, unlike most mornings, he allowed his mind to wander away from the beauty of nature and settle on his work.