I shook my head. “Not yet. I’m getting pieces of the construction crews.” I

narrowed my eyes as if that would somehow help me filter through the past. The

images became less hectic, and more and more vague. “I think they’re packing

up for the day.”

The images faded away, leaving a ghostly imprint of the empty condo. It

reminded me of dealing with a double lens. I f I could find just the right aperture, I could line the two images up until I had a 3-D representation of the real thing. I tried and failed. Repeatedly. Disappointment crept in. Maybe it wasn’t this condo.

A breeze reached through the gap in the glass and ruffled the plastic hanging

in the doorframe. The material’s movement almost obscured the emerging

figure, but thankfully I caught it. Battered baseball cap, T-shirt, jeans, and backpack. It gained definition as it moved toward the window but remained slightly out of focus. A fierce smile stretched my face. “Got him.”

“Male?”

“Sorry, can’t tell, the image isn’t clear enough.”

The figure, smaller and thinner than Ellery, stood by the open pane, gazing out. The image knelt and shrugged the backpack off to the floor. Piece by piece

the rifle emerged and quickly took shape.

“He’s using a concealable, precision tactical rifle.” If the situation wasn’t what it was, I’d be green for one of those customizable bad boys.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough emotional echoes to get a clearer picture.

I wasn’t surprised because the sniper’s movements spoke of experience and

practice. They swung the rifle onto the tripod and adjusted the sight. Focused on

the shooter’s movements, I sucked in a breath. “The shooter’s female.”

“You recognize her?”

“No, her wrists, they’re narrow. Still can’t see her face, stupid baseball hat.”

“Any identifying logos?”

“She’s gone for the standard black motif.”

The sniper set her eye to the sight and waited. The image started to fray and

dissipate. Then she gave a tiny jerk, and for a moment the memory held itself together. “She’s taking a phone call.” Really? What kind of sniper took a phone call?

“Can you hear anything?”

I shook my head. “I almost lost her before her phone rang.”

“Let’s see if this will help.” It was my only warning before he curled his hands around my waist.

That fast the scene in front of me graduated from rabbit ears to high

definition. “Holy crap.” I tried to hang on while the world reset around me.

“They just entered the condo.” The sound of our shooter’s voice came through without any interference.

“Definitely female. She’s reporting to someone.” Not wanting to miss any of

the conversation, I covered Kayden’s hands, ensuring we wouldn’t get separated.

“No, haven’t seen him.” A pause. “Yes, sir, they had some notebooks.”

Another pause. “Understood.”

Our little assassin clicked her phone shut, tucked it away, and reset her eye to

the scope.

“Um, did you happen to notice a tail at Ramirez’s?”

His fingers tightened. “No, why?”

“She just told someone we pulled notebooks out of his place.” She must be a

chameleon for neither one of us to spot her. “And we were right, they’re waiting

for us to lead them to Ellery.”

“Do you recognize her?” he pushed.

“Maybe?” Something about her set off little, warning bells. “I think, maybe, I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

“Whe—,” An imperious demand trilled. He lifted one hand from my waist

and the image shivered, lost a bit of definition, but held. “Time to go, Cyn,” he

said. “Hobbes just left his office, and we need to get into place, so we can switch

out with Bishop.”

“I don’t think she’ll give us anything more.” In truth, the image lost it vibrancy, probably because there wasn’t much happening.

“Can you fast forward it to make sure?”

“Yeah, give me a moment.”