The streets were crowded. In the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of a busy shopping district, that wasn’t surprising. People from all walks of life came and went, some moving swiftly, purposefully, through the crowds and some meandering. Some stopped to examine the displays in shop windows while some were oblivious to anything but their cellphones. There were salarymen with briefcases and buttoned-up suits, housewives with shopping bags and small children in tow, high-schoolers fresh out of class for the day, laughing and joking, planning afternoon distractions to let off some steam. All stages of life could be seen and heard. There was a kind of energy that you could find anywhere on Earth but that was still unique to this time and place as these particular people jostled their way along, going about their business.

A young woman pushed through the crowd, moving quickly, but furtively, as if she had places to go but feared being followed. She was in her late teens, on the small side and pretty in a girl-you-know sort of way, like a classmate or neighbor. Soft, reddish-brown hair, pulled back into a loose pony-tail, her bangs swept to one side and pinned in place with a hairclip, bounced and swayed with each step she took. The skirt and slightly-baggy hoodie she wore couldn’t conceal the sureness or athleticism in the way she moved, weaving around other people with enviable ease. Yet her eyes darted constantly about, scanning her surroundings.

Others were surveying the busy scene, as well. A pair of men, well-dressed in expensive suits, each with a Bluetooth earpiece clipped in place, looking professional and self-assured—but still somehow thuggish—roamed the shopping district. Their eyes were sharp and roving, taking in every detail, on the alert for something – or someone.

In another part of the crowd, a chill ran down the girl’s spine. She cast a glance over her shoulder, trying to zero in on whatever it was that set off her instincts, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. “Hmph,” she grunted and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up before hurrying on her way.

Be-deep!

A thick, calloused finger depressed a button on an earpiece that was a little different from a standard hands-free phone accesstory. “I see,” the stylish thug murmured. He turned to his companion, putting a hand on the other man’s arm to get his attention. “This way.” He pointed with his free hand towards a side-street. The second man nodded and turned in that direction.

The girl hurried her step. She saw nothing unusual, but still something kept prickling at the back of her neck. She didn’t want to draw any attention. Her only choice was to leave the area as quickly as possible.

Damn it, she thought. I was almost to the station.

Walking to another station would make her trip home that much longer, but safe was better than sorry. She picked up her pace a little more, turned a corner – and ran straight into a plump, middle-aged woman carrying an armload of shopping bags. The pair collided with a muted fwump! and the girl fell backwards, landing on her bottom with a grunt, her hood falling down around her shoulders and the front of her skirt flapping momentarily upwards in the breeze from her descent. A cascade of groceries clattered to the street all around her.

“Oh, no!” the larger woman cried, her hands flying to her chubby cheeks. “I’m so sorry!” She bent forward, holding out a hand to the girl. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” The girl waved away the offer of help, rubbing the base of her spine with her other hand. “Don’t worry about it, ma’am. It was my faul— huh?”

Surprise cut her short. Past the woman’s legs, she glimpsed the very last thing she wanted to see: a tall, thick-bodied man in a fancy suit and high-tech earpiece. His head swiveled this way and that.

“Crap.” It was the only way to describe the situation.

The older woman’s bulk shielded the girl from her pursuer’s view, but that was only a temporary reprieve. “Damn it,” she cursed her luck as she leapt to her feet and dashed in the direction she first came from, leaving the other, bewildered, woman to pick up her own fallen purchases.