Leo looked toward the broken windows where Chicago glittered beyond the glass.
Finally she said, “I saw three men exit an elevator without controlling their spacing.
The leader had experience.
The second man kept scanning the wrong direction.
The third was frightened before he entered the room.”
“The one with the safety.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he was the weak point.”
“I knew he was going to hurt someone by accident.”
“So you challenged him.”
“I gave him something else to think about.”
“You knew Marcus was armed.”
“I knew several people were armed.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
“How many?”
Leo glanced around the emptying lounge.
“Seven before the robbers arrived.”
Julian stopped smiling.
He knew of five.
Himself.
Marcus.
Two private bodyguards belonging to an investor.
One off-duty officer seated near the bar.
“Seven?”
Leo shrugged.
“Your senator’s driver had a shoulder rig.
The older banker at table 4 had a revolver in an ankle holster.”
Julian had spent years training himself to read dangerous rooms.
The waitress had counted two guns he had missed.
He opened the folder once more.
“What happened two years ago?”
Leo’s face changed again.
This time the shift was unmistakable.
Not fear.
Pain.
“Close it.”
Julian did not.
“You disappear from classified work.
Then you become Leo Vance, waitress.”
“I was always Leo Vance.”
“Fine.
Then Leo Vance disappears from one life and hides in another.”
“I didn’t hide.”
“You wear clothes designed to conceal your build.
You choose a job where people rarely remember the person serving them.
You never turn your back on doors.
And when rifles come out, you check the time.”
Leo stepped toward him.
“Close the folder.”
Julian held her gaze.
Then he did.
The decision surprised both of them.
Leo took a slow breath.
“My last operation went wrong,” she said.
Julian waited.
“That’s all.”
