That was as close to subtlety as she was capable of getting and probably should have earned her a goddamn medal. She turned to Nick, said, “We’re dealing with a guy who knows what we are, knows why we’re here, who is capable of getting close enough to strike first, and hasn’t. Once is a coincidence. Twice is a pattern. He utilizes misdirection as a weapon. Everything we’ve seen, we’ve seen because that’s what he wanted. Think of it as elaborate, high-end stage magic—sleight-of-hand, disappearing acts—every step thought through in advance, focusing your attention where he wants it so the illusion seems real. He wanted us to know he was with us in Frankfurt, and he wants us to know how to find him here in Prague.”

Juan said, “Why? He’s a dead man walking, so if he’s as good as all that, why stick around? Why not just take off and be done with us?”

She said, “Why does anyone refuse to walk away from something they know might kill them?”

“Because he’s an overconfident prick.”

“No, forget about him for a minute,” she said. “What about you? You know this job might kill you, so why are you here?”

Juan hesitated.

Nick said, “Something matters to him more than the immediate risk.”

“Right,” Kara said. “So, Frankfurt was him assessing that risk, and we gave him a baseline gauge of our threat level. Then he got in close, showed us what he could do. We didn’t take the warning, and that told him we’re predictable, dependable.”

The room went quiet.

“I tracked him through camera feeds from here to Republic Square,” she said. “So the real question is why a guy who uses misdirection as a weapon went out of his way to ensure we know where to find him for a rendezvous that matters more to him than the risk we pose.”

Juan said, “He wants us there?”

“Yes. He wants us there. But that’s just problem one.” She took a long, deep breath. “Problem two is that our guy wasn’t the only assassin on that Dallas flight.”

For the second time, the room erupted in a chorus of questions, and she fought to find the line between giving them the information critical to the moment and accidentally pointing fingers of betrayal at headquarters.

Anything to do with Emilia’s team was a no-go.

So was anything to do with their target having an accomplice.

And especially anything to do with the war room having withheld information. Nick knew about all three, he’d pick up the inference. From the stricken look on his face, he’d already recognized where this was going.

She said, “Best as I can tell from the information currently available, we’ve got one target heading into the rendezvous at Republic Square and a second right behind him, hired to make sure it doesn’t happen.”