Page 40 of Dangerous Rhythm

“So why are we—”

“I’ll explain later.” There was no questioning her tone.

Some chatter in Mandarin perked Lina’s ears, and she made a snap decision.

“This way.” Pulling Curtis behind her, they followed a group of Chinese tourists who were busy talking among themselves while heading to thePlaça Gardunya.

More Chinese tourists flocked toward the exit. Lina saw a small flag being waved by a young woman. It must be a Chinese tour group guide, and she was calling her group back to their bus.

“Blend in with the group,” Lina whispered to Curtis, and started speaking in Mandarin about what a great place the market was. Curtis, to his credit, started nodding in agreement with her. Keeping their heads low, they used the tour group as a shield.

Though most of his fans were probably aware of Curtis’ mixed ethnicity, he’d always been an American first. In this setting, unexpecting eyes wouldn’t see him as more than a Chinese tourist.

As they followed the tourist group, Lina checked past Curtis’ back and saw the young Catalans had dispersed. One of them walked past the tourists without even a glance. They cleared the market into the plaza without being caught, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more Curtis hunters out there.

“We stick with these guys,” Lina said and continued following them.

Lina’s phone buzzed. It was a link to the game and Lina opened it. There were numerous entries coming from all over the city of men who might pass as Curtis. But the one atLa Ramblawas a pretty good frontal picture of him with her beside him, except she was looking away.

If anyone ran a facial recognition, they’d know it was him.She couldn’t allow anyone to steal a picture again. She’d slacked off.

“Paizhào shíjian!” A young woman in the group in front of them lifted a phone up to capture a selfie of their smaller group and announced it was picture time.

Shit.

Since Curtis and she had attached themselves to these ladies, they were in close enough proximity to be captured in the photo.

No facial pictures.

With less than a second to avoid the picture, Lina threw her arms around Curtis’ neck and covered his face with hers in a kiss.

What the hell is going on?

Curtis kept his questions to himself and followed Lina’s instructions. Ducking his head as low as he could, he walked next to her and they followed a group of chatting Chinese tourists.

She’s brilliant.

He looked around and, though he was taller than most of the group, if he hunched forward, he didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. He stood out anywhere, but at least with the tourists, he and Lina shared features that helped them blend in.

Suddenly, the group in front of them moved closer and made a unison finger gesture for a group selfie. Because of his habit of photo-bombing people, Curtis, without thinking, was about to make a face behind them.

Instead, Lina’s suddenly pressed her lips to his. Out of reflex, he grabbed her waist for balance and pulled her to him. But before he could make sense of what was happening or even enjoy the kiss, she pulled away slightly.

Still pressed intimately to him, Lina peeked from behind his hood toward the group that was taking a picture.

“Clear.” She pushed away.

“What’s going on?” Curtis couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Avoid pictures. They know we’re here.” Lina scanned their surroundings. “Come on. We need to get back and get moving.”

“To where?”

“Not now.” Lina took his hand and broke away from the group as they emerged on the next main road.

Curtis followed Lina to hike up another street. He had no idea where they were. They’d walked downLa Ramblato the market, and after being turned around, he couldn’t tell which way was north.

He looked up at the sky and tried to spot the North Star. Something from his youthful stargazing time with his sister and Brandon had stuck somehow. But the city light made it hard to see anything.

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