Claire had no idea what to do.
Visions of Hollywood car chases flashed to mind, then atomized just as quickly. She knew nothing about tactical driving, about shaking tails. Keeping a steady speed, she made a series of turns. The car followed her through the first two, then she lost sight of it. She accelerated as much as she dared, her comfort level redlining at ten miles-an-hour over the speed limit. She thought she was clear, but then the blue car reappeared. It was closer than ever, as if tethered by an unseen wire.
Panic began to rise. Should she drive faster? Make a series of quick turns? Or was it better to simply ignore her shadow? If she could reach the office, the gate guards would turn away whoever was behind her. Only one thing seemed certain: she was out of her league, facing a problem outside her programmer’s wheelhouse.
Or was it?
The answer came like lines of code on a screen.
She picked up her phone and fumbled to make a call.
“What’s up?” Atticus said, answering the lab’s landline on the second ring.
Claire tried to force calm into her voice. Surely, she failed. “I need to test a couple of the upgrades we added last week.”
“Sure, which ones?”
“The traffic light function, to begin.”
Atticus laughed. “You mean like, for real?”
“It’s our job to validate. Are you picking up my phone?”
“Your mobile? Hang on…”
Ten seconds felt like ten hours. The blue sedan never wavered.
“Okay, got you. M Street east of Wisconsin.”
“Right. I’m looking at a car behind me, a blue sedan. I’d like to try and lose them at an intersection.”
“Whoa … lose them? How does that—”
“Atticus, please! Would you do this for me?”
A hesitation. Atticus had every right to be suspicious. “Boss, is everything okay?”
“Actually, no. But I can’t explain right now. I just need you to do this!”
“Okay, okay … I’ve got your back.”
“Thank you. I’ll explain when I get back to the office. I’d also like to add something else. See if you can grab that plate when it goes past a camera.”
“It’ll take some time to set up … hang on.”
Some time turned out to be ninety seconds. Two more intersections. Claire slowed, kept a straight line. The blue car crept closer in the traffic on M and was fifty yards back now.
“I’ve got the next three intersections captured, both signals and cameras.”
“Good,” she said. “Next light. As soon as I’m through, stop him.”
“If you say so.”
Claire was just short of the intersection when the light turned yellow. She made it through, and the blue car ended up stuck behind a utility van. Claire felt a wave of relief. Her plan had worked perfectly. Then brake lights blinked ahead. Bloodred warnings.
Forced to stop, she craned her head left. A car ahead was parallel parking, traffic stalled behind it. A municipal truck blocked the opposite side of the street, a work crew beavering away at a storm drain behind orange barriers. “Dammit!”
Momentarily stuck, she checked the mirror. The blue car remained trapped but was edging left. She could make out the dark blob of the driver’s head straining to see ahead—keeping eyes on, ready to catch up as soon as the light changed.
“New plan!” she said. Claire explained precisely what she wanted.
“What?” Atticus replied. “No—no way!”
“We talked about this,” she said. “You know it’s doable.”
“I know I can do it! I can also be thrown in jail for—”
“Atticus, you know I wouldn’t ask unless … unless I was in trouble! Please, nobody will get hurt!”
A sigh. The sound of fast keystrokes.
At the intersection behind, the light turned green. The van turned right and the blue car shot ahead to catch up. What the driver couldn’t know was that the lights had gone green in every direction. A city bus turned left in front of him. The blue car swerved left and the driver slammed on the brakes. Its nose bobbed down for an instant before the right front quarter-panel smacked into an accelerating yellow cab. Claire heard horns blaring behind her. Soon hazard lights were flashing, doors opening. Angry fingers pointing.
The road ahead cleared. Claire swerved around a jaywalker, turned left onto the Key Bridge, and quickly blended in with traffic. Her nerves were raw, her hands sweaty.
All the same, she couldn’t contain just the slightest of smiles.