Page 60 of The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon #6)

The funicular doors opened at the bottom of Pet?ín Hill, and Langdon stepped off and found himself at újezd Station, an unexpectedly bustling interchange for taxis, buses, and trolleys. Eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and Lieutenant Pavel, Langdon surveyed his options.

Toward the Klementinum…

Could she have been waiting outside all this time?

By the time Lieutenant Pavel made it back up to his sedan at the base of Pet?ín Tower, his head was throbbing so deeply that his vision was blurring.

He slid in behind the wheel, closed his eyes, and pondered his next course of action.

He sensed he needed a hospital, but his pursuit of Langdon was urgent, and he was unwilling to give up on it—or on his captain.

Despite the professor’s reputation as a mild-mannered academic, he was turning out to be a dangerous and highly resourceful criminal.

Even so, there was a limit to how far he could run.

The American was out in the wild, and tips from Pavel’s Blue Alert would keep flowing directly to the captain’s phone in his pocket.

Unfortunately, it would not take long for others—úZSI, the U.S. embassy, the local police—to discover Langdon was a wanted man. They would all soon be involved, and those organizations would treat Langdon more gently than he deserved.

Pavel knew his window for retribution was closing quickly…and there was only one way he could fully honor his captain’s memory.

Find Langdon before anyone gets to him first.

The conductor of Prague tram #22 had witnessed many oddities in her career.

Normally she would not have glanced twice at a foolhardy tourist wearing only loafers and a sweater in midwinter.

This man, however, had just exited the tram and crossed directly in front of her window.

She noticed his handsome face, and there was no doubt in her mind.

This was the same face that had been broadcast to her phone as a “Blue Alert” less than an hour ago.