Page 92 of The Guru: Shadow

And she pressed the button.

The phone rang, and she heard a phone ring above her.

Please let this be a coincidence. Please. It’s got to be.

But when the voice above her answered, a shudder so cold, so shattering it ran down her spine and goosebumps spread over all her body.

“Carl, did you get her?”

Her heart almost sank out of her body.

Fucking fuck.

22

DEIS

PLAYLIST: MINDRUNNER – TY BROCK & ALEC MAEDING

Ed drove the car through half of Manhattan following her, just in case. It was the first time he had a moment to think about what happened while he scrolled through the headlines Jaz had sent him. It was a lot, but nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, the media would leash out. Maybe he thought it would have a bit more delay, and maybe not to this extent.

Then, the situation with the Pearson boy.

She defended me, at gunpoint.

It was clear she was not in on whatever Richard, Delilah, and Carl were cooking up, but something just didn’t add up. Did her father train her? He’d watched her for years now, but he never saw her do sports of any kind or train in self-defense. Nor did she have gun training.

The way she gripped my throat and pressured the arteries–it’s something you need to learn to get right with a single grip. She knew how to strike, and her shot was on point.

She used AI without thinking to get an image of us at JFK.

The wit of using AI under pressure and the ability to produce results screamed professional.

She is so sharp under pressure.

Would someone normal be as sharp as her?

But then she is not normal.

Maybe it’s her neurodivergence; it’s common for people with ADHD to work perfectly under pressure. Maybe.

She ripped him of all his control. Her nature, in its beauty, was unpredictable, uncontrollable. Which would be dangerous to a lethal point, and hell, was he in for the ride.

“We lost the signal, but she was spotted, still on 2nd line. A girl posted a photo of her online. It’s gonna be bad.”

“They will hunt her down, most definitely. Have the team close by, she’ll go for a public, crowded area, she’s not stupid.”

Following her, tracing her, came so naturally to him. Only with her, there was more. He wanted to see how she thought and how she reacted because he couldn’t predict it in its entirety. Normally he wouldn’t care about it as most people were fully predictable and there was only a single emotion he wanted to feel: triumph. With her, it was not about the triumph anymore, it was about unmasking and exploring her, all of her.

“She’s out on 42nd, like you said, aiming for Times Square.”

It made him chuckle. She had revealed so much about herself, and yet, he still couldn’t entirely grasp her, but she knew how to combine stuff. There was a depth in her that resembled the deepest of oceans, where no human was ever able to go. Question is, where did she get the knowledge?

“Paparazzi are back, they know it was bait, I suppose,” said Ed, handing him over the tablet to the rear seat of the G-Class.

Paparazzi were one of the nastiest specimens walking this earth in his opinion. It was a cold business, they were in only for the money, the more the better, with disrespect for anyone’s lives.

“She could be heading home, one block out.”