I checked my watch. 12.28pm. Perfect. I kept to the side of the pavement so my shoulder was almost brushing against the tall buildings on my left. A minute and a half later, I was at the MacReedy building just as the glass doors opened to let the vast secretarial department sprint out for lunch.

I hunched down, taking my battered baseball cap from my jacket pocket –it was the very same cap that Taylor gave me all those years ago – and jammed it on my head, tucking my hair underneath. Then I pushed my way through the crowd, zipped round the corner and ran.

Del’s Coffee, a grubby dive of a place, was less than thirty feet away. I weaved my way in and out of the busy foot traffic and ducked inside. It might serve coffee that you’d be inclined to avoid if you didn’t want to end up juddering for the rest of the day on a serious caffeine high but, with two exits, the place was ideal for me.

I sped through, throwing out a quick wave to the eponymous Del, the one-horned Bonnacon who ran the place.

‘Hey, Integrity. Bit of a speed merchant today, ain’t ya?’

‘I only sell to friends,’ I threw over my shoulder as I opened the door opposite and continued. I ran into a nearby pawnshop to check on my pursuers. Running around on the streets like a crazy person would ensure they caught up with me again; hiding was far smarter.

‘You wanna buy something or not?’

I twisted round, spotting the shop owner behind the cage that protected him from his less savoury customers. He eyed me with a hard look that warned of trouble. His hand hovered somewhere beneath the counter. Either there was a gun or a panic button under there. Right now, I’d prefer the gun; I didn’t want to attract any undue attention. I weighed up my choices and made a decision.

‘Here,’ I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a five-pound note. ‘I’ll be out of your hair in less than two minutes.’

His frown deepened. I cursed under my breath and took out another one. ‘Will that do you?’

The owner didn’t answer; he merely turned and hobbled away. That was an expensive sodding two minutes. Rather than dwell on it, I turned round to get a decent line of sight on Del’s. It was just as well – I’d barely manoeuvred myself into position when Dimples burst out of the cafe, his head frantically turning from right to left. No prizes for guessing who he was looking for.

When the second tail didn’t appear, I grinned. They must have split up to better their chances of finding me.