"We have to go. Now," he said to Fede, standing and walking away quickly, hand going to his comm. He stopped short of dialing 999, though — he wasn't up for another police-station all-nighter. He got halfway up Picadilly before looking over his shoulder, and he saw Fede shouldering his way through the lunchtime crowd, looking pissed. A few paces behind him came Tom, face contorted in a sadistic snarl.
Art did a little two-step of indecision, moving towards Fede, then away from him. He met Tom's eyes again, and Tom's ferocious, bared teeth spurred him on. He turned abruptly into the tube station, waved his comm at a turnstile and dove into the thick of the crowd heading down the stairs to the Elephant and Castle platform. His comm rang.
"What is *wrong* with you, man?" Fede said.
"One of the guys who mugged me," he hissed. "He was sitting right across from us. He's a couple steps behind you. I'm in the tube station. I'll ride a stop and catch a cab back to the office."
"He's behind me? Where?"
Art's comm lit up with a grainy feed from Fede's comm. It jiggled as Fede hustled through the crowd.
"Jesus, Fede, stop! Don't go to the goddamned tube station — he'll follow you here."
"Where do you want me to go? I got to go back to the office."
"Don't go there either. Get a cab and circle the block a couple times. Don't lead him back."
"This is stupid. Why don't I just call the cops?"