There was no time to think, no time to wait for Sparrow. Survival was the only agenda now. Gabriel pushed his chair back, a seemingly casual movement. He dropped a couple of bills onto the table.
As he stood, the woman across the street turned abruptly and darted away into a narrow passage branching off the main street. Another jolt. Why was she running? Was she connected?
The two men saw his movement. Their eyes locked onto him.
"Hey!" one of them barked in harsh Veridian slang.
Gabriel didn't hesitate. He spun and bolted out the cafe's back door, into a smaller, darker alleyway smelling of damp stone and garbage. The sound of shouting erupted behind him. Footsteps pounded on the cobblestones.
He ran, his mind racing. Where was she going? That alley she took... it was notorious. A dead end, or worse, a maze of private courtyards and locked gates. But something about her panicked flight resonated with his own.
He burst out of the alley onto another, slightly wider street, dodging bins and hanging laundry. He risked a glance back. His pursuers were gaining. They knew these streets.