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Scott said.
    "Ya think?" she responded wryly.
    "So, I guess the Perellis have more than one postcard? What did you do with the other one?"
    She looked at the man beside her and wondered again if she could trust him. Maybe it was too late to second-guess. "I hid it."
    From the corner of her eye she could see how much her evasion irritated her companion. How long he'd be able to hold back the reporter instinct to question? Her money was on two minutes.
    They were at the front of the Tribune building, but Tessa didn't go through the front doors; instead, she walked on towards the garage. Scott followed, finally asking, "You going to tell me where?"
    The electric lights of the garage were bright, and Tessa wrinkled her nose at the smell of exhaust. "Where did you park?" she asked.
    "Second level." Scott answered on reflex, then skewed his brow in curiosity. The obvious 'why?' lingered at the tip of his tongue, but he suspected he would be privy to more if he tucked away the journalistic tendencies and went along for the proverbial ride; so together they started climbing the ramp.
    A black Mercedes drove by. Tessa waved at the man behind the wheel before walking down the row of cars. Scott's Alpha Romeo was in sight, and she quickened her pace to almost a trot by the time she reached the Spider. With a flick of her wrist, she opened the trunk.
    "Wait a minute!" Scott exclaimed as she started moving his things, "How did you do that?"
    "Honey, everybody can do that." She pulled the original Navy Pier postcard from his gym bag. "I put it here yesterday when you were at the press conference."
    And now, it was Scott's turn to wonder about the person he stood beside. He snatched the card and tried to see what the fuss was about. "Possession is nine-tenths of the law."
    "I didn't give it to you," she said, "but I couldn't very well leave it at my condo either. Don't panic, people around here won't think of you being involved."
    He noted the odd writing, and then asked the question most on his mind, "Why'd you leave the note on my windshield?"
    "Note?"
    "Yeah, the warning note; the 'e' is the same."
    "I don't know what you're talking about."
    A squeal of brakes punctuated her vague denial, if that's what it was. Scott and Tessa both turned towards the sound. Like a movie running in slow motion, she saw the flash of metal and smelled the burn of rubber just before she heard the gunshot.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 5
     
     
     
    Physics
     
     
     
    BANG
    On reflex, Scott dropped into a protective crouch. Grabbing Tessa's arm, he dragged her down with him, pressing her body against the rear door of the neighboring car. His head turned and his eyes scanned the dimly lit garage, looking for the source of the gunshot.
    An engine revved and a car sped past with a flash of blue. Scott thought it might have been an Audi, but he wasn't going to put his head up over the hood of his Spider to be sure.
    BANG
    Another shot. This time it met a mark, shattering a window of Scott's car. Covering her head, Tessa felt the rain of glass spray down on them; a muffled scream from within her tangled arms revealed her fear. Squealing tires ensued as the vehicle sped away down the exit ramp. The echo was eerie in the silence that followed.
    Scott couldn't help the swear word that escaped through his lips. "Get in," he ordered, standing and pulling Tessa with him.
    Tessa gasped, her face pale and eyes wide. "Say what? I don't think we should…"
    "In!" Scott said, already climbing into the driver's seat, "Or I'll leave you."
    Split-second decision made, Tessa ran around the back of the car and pulled open the passenger door. Before she was buckled, Scott already had the Spider in gear, driving forward out of the parking spot.
    The other car was already at the bottom of the ramp. Rather than speeding through the cashier's gate, the shooter had obviously paused to pay the parking garage ticket and exit without