“He needs this more than we do.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, leaning close to her. “I can’t trust them.”
Jane stepped in, breaking off their staring contest. “Stop arguing, you two. I put a tracker on them.”
Pain whipped to her, spreading her arms just like Peter a minute ago.
“What? I knew he’d never go with this,” Jane said. “I did what I had to do.”
“So that’s what all that was about, with you jumping in their middle? Could’ve warned me, at least! They’re freaking animals, Jane.”
“It all went like I planned. I had the tracker, so I figured I’d slip it into some guy’s pocket.” She gave a smile, which Pain didn’t return. Jane shrugged. “Besides, they were nice.”
“Of course, they were nice, with you dangling your ass in front of them,” Pain hissed. “They’d been locked in that basement for weeks.” She looked up to find Peter’s eyes bulge at what he was hearing.
They fell silent, and he expelled a thin, long breath. “I don’t even know which one of you is worse anymore,” he muttered, then raised his gaze to sweep the foggy clearing before them. “All that matters is you got back in one piece. Anything else? Marco went to the storage, by the way.”
“Yeah, the Devil’s… Sons or whatever will be coming back for the guards. Had to trick them for now. There are more cells, probably. Got these keys off the guards. Their phones, too.” She looked at Peter, frowning in confusion. “One thing I don’t get—why capture and hold so many people? Why still go after Dave and Elena, if they got dozens already? Except if they’d need all those lab rats at once for some other stage of their plan.”
Peter gave her a troubled look, nodding. “Well… it doesn’t matter now. All those people are going home. I’ll send a few men to the storage. We’ll start simultaneously. Though I doubt they have signal down there, better not risk anyone calling them.”
“What are we waiting for?” Pain asked, shuffling from foot to foot as her feet began to go numb.
“We wanted to see if any more jeeps were coming, but it’s all quiet. Looks like they don’t know about us. Those three were here for a pick-up.”
“The driver share anything else useful?”
“Yes, but he might be lying. We’ll be going in soon, just waiting for our backup to thaw off. And the Eagles are coming, too.”
Pain blinked, long and hard. “Please tell me you mean the band and not the mohawked bastards who’re gonna get Marco all riled up again.”
“This is bigger than Marco or Martin or you or me, all right?” Peter snapped. “They have two buses, and they’re offering their infirmary, too. We don’t know how many people we’re gonna find in there. We could use the help. There’s only one Doc and one chopper, but with the nurses and the Eagles’ help, we got six medics waiting for our call.”
“All right,” Pain backed off, “sounds good. No sign of Dave yet?”
“No, and what’s up with him, by the way? I had to send a few men to sweep the area, but he’s not here. He really put a tracker on you?”
“Yeah, and now I’m thinking it was less about where we were going and more about when. I think he’s up to something, and he wanted to see how much time he had before I reached this place.”
“Dammit. Rooney said his phone is at HQ. We’ve got no idea where he is.”
“Well, at least he’s thinking rationally,” Pain said. “Not another bender then.”
Peter looked behind her, squinting. “Marco’s back.”
Turning around, she found a broad silhouette approaching her. Marco pulled down his mask, saying, “Got your guys out and pointed them to the highway. It’ll look like they got out on their own.”
“Thanks,” she said, clasping his hand.
“What’s up with that?” Jane asked, frowning.
“Oh, just…” Pain trailed off when Jane’s eyes darted to something behind her, and her face went slack.
Someone had just landed not too far from Peter. He was wearing their winter gear and holding up a short, half-frozen man. Dave.
“Shit.”
“That’s an understatement,” Jane muttered.
Dave’s gaze trained on them, his face flushed, feverish. All around them, men were pulling closer, until Peter held up a fist and they stopped.
“Who’s that?” Peter asked curtly, nodding at the wide-eyed man in Dave’s grasp.
Dave held up his captive’s head so Peter could see his face, like a cat toying with a dying mouse. Pain frowned at the sight.
“Philip Delamere, one of the shareholders of Recorp Holdings. They own this place, along with the storage facility and all those warehouses where they disappeared whenever we caught sight of them.” He looked at Peter. “But you know that already, of course.”
Peter only shrugged, his poker face on.
“When did you find out?” Dave asked.
“We weren’t sure about him until Rooney found out about his daughter. She was killed the same day his wife got injured. I sent a couple men to his house just a half-hour ago, but he wasn’t there. What are you doing, Dave?”
The girls exchanged troubled looks before turning their gazes back to Dave.
“Making sure the man who killed Elena gets what he deserves. He would’ve slipped right through your fingers if I hadn’t found him first.”
Peter’s eyes narrowed, but his voice came out calm, “You’re wrong. Let’s not make a spectacle here though, all right? Let’s get out of the cold and question him.” He glanced somewhere behind Dave, and Pain followed his gaze, finding Levi lurking in the shadows.
“He’s not going anywhere with you. And I already know what he’s got to say.” Dave’s
