After several minutes of watching the incredible display, Clara gently pulled Lily away from the glass and strapped her back into the stroller. Mark took the stroller handles, and the family began walking toward the central plaza to finish their melting ice creams. The crowd at the tiger exhibit slowly dispersed, still talking excitedly about the strange sight they had just witnessed.
As they walked past the tropical bird aviaries, Mark began to feel an uncomfortable prickle on the back of his neck. He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see busy families looking at the parrots, but one figure caught his attention. A tall man wearing a dark coat and holding a folded newspaper was walking roughly twenty paces behind them, keeping his gaze fixed directly on Lily.
Mark stopped at a drinking fountain to test his suspicion, watching the stranger out of the corner of his eye. The man immediately paused near a map display, pretending to read it, but his eyes kept darting back toward their stroller. Mark leaned down and whispered his concerns to Clara, who brushed it off at first, telling him, “You are just being overly protective after losing track of Lily earlier.”