“What happened?” she said into the phone.
“Something’s come up. We’ve sent a car for you. Sit tight.”
“Sit tight, my ass. Get Peter on the phone.”
“He can’t talk to you right now. We’ve got the Commandos on a traffic camera. Seems like they’re headed someplace important.”
She blinked. “How so?”
“There’s a whole bunch of black jeeps going north-east toward Queens. We’ve sent a car to follow them, and Rob’s covering them for now. Hope we don’t lose them before our guys get there.”
“Queens? It’ll take you hours!”
“I know.”
“And?”
“And there’s nothing else we can do in this weather. Following them in a car is the best strategy right now.”
“But we’re at JFK,” she said. The others’ eyes were on her, wondering. “If we take the highway—”
“You don’t have a car,” Rooney grumbled, as if speaking to a child.
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll find a car. Stay on the line or, better yet, get Peter on—”
“We’ll deal with it,” he interrupted.
“Get. Peter. On the phone.”
There was a sigh, and a buzz of voices as the phone changed hands. Peter cleared his throat. “What?”
“We’re going after the Commandos. How long until you can’t track them anymore?”
“Don’t even think about it,” he said. “We’ve got everything under control. Even got a couple faces on tape. You just wait for the car and go straight home.”
“Peter!” she hissed, turning away from the others so they wouldn’t distract her with their frowns and whispers. “What does it matter, who follows them? As long as we don’t lose them, and find out where they’re going, we—”
“I don’t have time for this right now, Pain. Stay at the airport and wait for the car.” He hung up before she could protest.
Pain jammed the phone back into the pocket with a growl.
“So?” her sister asked, raising a brow.
“Leave your bags,” Pain instructed, “and grab the katana. I’ll go find us a car.”
She slipped out the door before anyone had a chance to say a word.
The parking lot stretched below her as she scanned it for a van or an SUV big enough for all of them. It only offered one option—a black van at the far edge of the lot, with the driver inside, puffing out clouds of cigarette smoke through the window. It was far from ideal, but then, ideal never quite fit her life.
She landed a few cars down from the van and took a moment to plaster on a concerned expression and let her hair down from its ponytail.
“Excuse me?” she called out, rounding the pickup next to her target. “Excuse me, sir?”
Their gazes met, and she gave a tentative smile to the van driver. He leaned out the window, squinting as he drew on his cigarette. “Yes?”
“It’s my car—there’s something wrong with it, I think. I was wondering if you could help me?”
The man pushed the door open and slid outside, his lips quirking up in a smile that would’ve sent shivers down her spine, had she been an ordinary girl in a parking lot at night with a car that wouldn’t start. He was the sleazy type that had no problem with staring at her chest while he spoke to her.
Pain stepped closer, unzipping her jacket. The man was barely taller than she and as thin as they come.
“All right, I can take a look at that for ya,” he said, winking at her chest. “Fancy jacket you got there.”
She laughed. “Oh, you have no idea…”
He looked up just as her fist slammed into his head. She kept him from falling, while the others surrounded the van.
“Tie him up and gag him.” She passed the man on to Marco and Chad, and took her sword from Jane. Dave watched them move about with a look she couldn’t quite pin down, a mix of worry and—anticipation? Yes, it was dark anticipation she’d read in his eyes. But she could understand that.
“Shotgun,” Ryan called, swinging himself into the front seat before anyone could object.
“I’ll drive,” Dave followed, but Pain raised an arm, blocking him.
“Chad’s driving. We don’t need you in the front, flashing your face to the Commandos.” She ushered him inside, then hopped in herself. “Take the Van Wyck until I find out more.”
Chad nodded, closing the door at his side and starting the engine. “You wanna tell us what’s going on?”
“They caught the Commandos moving north-east, and they’ve got a car following, but it’s too damn far for them to make it in time. We have better chances. If we find them, we find them. If not, then we get punished for nothing.” She grinned at Jane and Marco, getting scowls in return. “Don’t tell me you’d rather sit this one out. We’ve got perfect cover. All we gotta do is follow them and see where they’re going.”
Jane chewed on her lip, holding on to her seat as the van lurched and swiveled down the road. “If we’re doing this anyway, you might as well call Rooney. Find out where they are while we still have a chance to catch up.”
Pain shrugged. “I can try, but he’ll probably tell me to fuck off.” She dialed Rooney’s number. Almost a minute passed without an answer, and she disconnected the call. “He’s ignoring me. Typical.”
“Okay, what’s the plan?” Chad asked from the driver’s seat.
“First, we gotta find them. If we’re lucky, we follow them as long as we can. They’ll probably see us once we get off the highway, so the four of us will get out and go through the air, and you’ll keep driving without getting on their radar. Dave will keep an eye on this guy,” she
