Page 450 of Broken Oath

“Not if she wants to stay alive.”

People in her position follow patterns.

They run toward somewhere familiar. Somewhere they once felt safe. An old apartment. A friend’s house. A location disconnected from their current routine.

Or they go underground.

If Evelyn Hart is as intelligent as her file suggests, she’ll choose the last one.

Rook crosses the room. “Fathom caught one signal before her phone disappeared.”

“Where?”

“Alexandria. The device was moving north.”

“Could be a decoy.”

“It probably is,” Fathom says. “But a traffic camera caught Hart leaving the cab two minutes before the phone continued toward Baltimore. She changed vehicles behind an abandoned shopping center.”

I look at the image on his center screen.

The camera caught only part of her face. Dark hair tucked beneath a hat. Pale skin. Eyes turned toward the street behind her.

Even in a blurred image, I see the calculation in her expression.

She knows she’s being hunted.

“She’ll need another vehicle,” I say.

Fathom pulls up a map. “There was a sedan reported stolen six minutes later.”

“Not stolen,” I say. “Borrowed.”

Cobra snorts. “You two can debate the legal definition after we keep her from getting murdered.”

Fathom highlights several locations. “Hart lived in Alexandria eight years ago while she worked field collection. Graves will know that.”

“So will she.” I study the map. “She’ll use it because it’s predictable.”

Rook’s eyes narrow. “Why would she do that?”

“To make Graves commit his people.”

Understanding settles across his face.

“She wants to see who’s following her,” he says.

I nod.

Evelyn Hart isn’t simply running.

She’s collecting information.

That makes her useful.

It also makes her more likely to get killed.

I lock my rifle case and reach for my jacket.