Artifact by Gigi Pandian Page B

say a word to anyone.”
    I walked slowly down the hallway toward the main entrance. I was at a loss as to what to do next. I was sure Rupert would have stuck with a real job for at least a semester. I thought I would have been able to find someone who knew what he was doing. Now I had no choice but to arrive blind at the Scottish dig.
    I stopped in the ladies room to freshen up. I splashed water on my face, then looked in the mirror. In spite of Lane’s proclamation that I slept like I meant it, I was tired. I looked it. I needed some coffee.
    I left the building, thinking I’d see if one of my favorite cafes was still in business. I walked a few yards before I realized I should have turned the other way to reach the Embankment tube stop. I turned around and passed by the main doors to the university again. As I walked by, I got the feeling someone was calling my name.
    I looked back toward the expanse of the building. Maybe the man who disliked Rupert had thought of something helpful. Between his red hair and girth, he would be hard to miss. But I didn’t see him. I walked back inside, but he wasn’t there either. Odd.
    Back out on the sidewalk, the feeling was there again. Someone was calling my name. The name Jaya wasn’t uncommon in England, with its large South Asian population. It was conceivable that someone would have been calling out to their friend Jaya down the street.
    I wasn’t hearing anything, though. I was feeling it.
    Someone was watching me.

     

Chapter 14

     
    I stopped abruptly, my heart thudding in my chest.
    Whatever had been going on in San Francisco wasn’t the same thing going on in London. My feeling of unease was completely different. This wasn’t a vague sense of uneasiness. Someone was following me.
    It was stupid of me to stop in the middle of the sidewalk. My pursuer would think I was onto him. Thankfully, a second later I had a rational thought. I was in front of Somerset House, a picturesque tourist attraction next to King’s College. Somewhere in the depths of my bag, I had my camera. I fished it out and took a picture of the charming Palladian stone structure.
    It really was a beautiful building. Hopefully enough so that my pursuer wouldn’t find my actions suspicious.
    I was about to put the camera back in my bag and walk on, when I had a better idea. I left the small camera in my hand. I made sure the lens was facing backwards, and not covered by the palm of my hand.
    I walked quickly, still on my path to the Underground station. Instead of sticking to the main streets, I cut through the expansive courtyard of Somerset House. I clicked the shutter of the camera as I walked, capturing whoever was behind me.
    There was one problem. Although I could look at the digital pictures on the camera as soon as it was safe to do so, I didn’t know who I was looking for. Since it was summer, tourists filled the courtyard. They milled about the numerous fountains. They came and went from the multiple small museums housed there.
    I needed to find somewhere more secluded, where I could isolate whoever was following me. Otherwise, for all I knew, my follower could be the handsome dark-haired man sitting by himself with an unopened paperback novel in his hands. No, wait. A voluptuous woman walked up to the man with outstretched arms. Okay, so he wasn’t my spy. Perhaps it was the small woman who was slowly—too slowly, it seemed—reading an informational panel in front of one of the fountains. But then again, maybe she was just very interested in architecture.
    I had to get out of there before my imagination started to rival Nadia’s.
    A side exit from the courtyard led to a smaller street that would lead to the waterfront of the Thames River. The waterfront street would lead to the Embankment tube stop. As I walked out of the courtyard, I continued to snap a photo every few seconds.
    The sidewalk on the street was almost as crowded. This route wasn’t going to be as helpful as I thought.