They headed for the waterfront. Suddenly Biff turned to his friend.
“Don’t look back, Li,” he muttered, “but I think we’re being followed. Just walk along as we’re doing now. When we get to the middle of the next block, you leave me. We’ll shake hands, then you cross the street. Go into one of the stores. Find a place where you can see out but can’t be seen from the street. Keep a sharp lookout.”
Li’s face showed his excitement. “I get you, Biff. You want me to see if someone keeps on following you.”
“That’s right. I’m going to continue on down the street another few blocks. Then I’ll cut back and meet you in front of one of those stores. Look sharp, now.”
The boys solemnly shook hands. Biff clapped Li on the shoulder. “Be seeing you,” he called loudly when Li had reached the middle of the street. Then Biff continued his “sight-seeing” walk along Hana’s main street.
He desperately wanted to look behind him, but he knew that to do so would spoil his plan. He walked three blocks, stopping every so often to stare into a window. If he was being followed, he wanted to give Li plenty of time to spot his pursuer.
Toward the end of the street, where the business section left off and the residential section began, Biff cut across the street, then started slowly back to his rendezvous with Li on the opposite side.
He saw Li in front of a small store, standing under a brightly colored awning.
“Well, did you see anything?” Biff asked.
“I think so, Biff. But I don’t know for sure. There was a man, maybe one hundred feet behind you. Every time you stopped, he’d stop, too, and sort of step into a doorway, in case you looked back, I guess.”