“What happened?” Dave asked his friend right away.
“They found our masked friends,” Chad said, slapping a hand onto Dave’s shoulder as he walked. “We’re gonna get them this time, Dave.”
We? Or you? Dave thought as they walked into the office but didn’t say anything. He’d waited for this moment, he’d begged and prayed and hoped they’d find the person responsible for all this suffering, and now that they had, all he could think was, Too soon. I’m not ready.
Pushing his panicked inner voice to the back, he tried to focus on the scene before him. The office was full, over twenty people inside, most of them too agitated to sit down, so he and Chad quickly grabbed two chairs. The girls followed them, their eyes on Peter as he walked to the head of the table and cleared his throat.
The small groups of men hushed and broke up, some turning to the boss, others taking the few remaining chairs around the table.
Peter spoke up, “In case some of you don’t know yet, we’ve managed to harpoon two jeeps and follow them to what we suspect is the Commandos’ lab and base of operation.”
He turned to look at the big screen behind him, where Rooney had brought up a satellite map with a big gray building and a scattering of small ones in the distance.
“It’s in the same direction they were going last time we followed them.” Peter shot a dark glance in Pain’s direction. “Only, this time they didn’t know about us, so they went all the way. This here,” he pointed at the lone building, “is an abandoned hospital just outside Jackson Heights—they could be hiding in there. There’s also a storage facility four miles north—could be used as a base of operation, too, hard to say now. The tracker’s not one hundred percent accurate, but there’s gotta be something there. We’ve got two objectives here: taking their base and rescuing everyone they’ve abducted. So let’s go get the bastards. Questions?”
Everyone just shook their heads. Pain raised her hand, as usual. “Is anyone here from around that place? Maybe they know something about it?”
“No time to ask two hundred people,” Peter said with a shake of his head. “Besides, if they knew about anything suspicious, they would’ve brought it up earlier, and we’ve already got all the general info. Rough terrain around the building, a couple hills here and here.” He pointed at the map with one of his sheathed swords, not bothering to look for his laser pointer. “A single road, goes ’round here and straight to the storage. We’ll leave the cars here, by the highway, go way far so they don’t detect us as they do in the city, then split up and close in from both sides.” He looked over the gathering. “No killing, if possible. We need to get to the bottom of this, and that means someone to question.”
Pain’s hand shot up in the air again, and Peter lifted a brow.
“Is maiming okay?”
He took a second to think. “Not if they surrender. But if they start shooting, sure, maim away.”
“That’s all I need to know. Let’s go.” She got up, only to plop back down under the weight of Peter’s hand on her shoulder.
He squeezed it, frowned, then reached down to pat her back. “Body armor?”
“Got it,” she snapped, annoyed.
Peter looked at Chad. “He can join us as part of his training, but only if you watch him through all of it. And when we go into the lab, you’ll be bringing up the rear.”
Dave expected her to grimace and protest, but she put on a neutral face and held Peter’s stare. “All right.”
Peter nodded, gesturing for everyone to clear out. “Parking lot in five minutes!”
While everyone headed for the door, Dave just sat there, dumbstruck by what was happening. Peter must have noticed, because he came up to him after a minute. Dave looked up into his face, his tongue frozen while his rational mind battled with his torn heart.
“You know you can’t be there tonight,” Peter said. “They already tried to kill you once. And there’s no need for it. We’ll find them, and we’ll bring them here, whoever’s responsible for it.”
Dave nodded, the motion slow, mechanical. Peter was right; of course he was right. Last time, Pain had nearly gotten killed saving him. He had to remind himself of it, to put these rational thoughts before the violent urges that had been overtaking his mind since the night he lost Elena.
Yet, he had to do at least something. Sitting there waiting all night wasn’t an option.
He nodded, looking Peter in the eyes.
“Sure. I understand.”
Chapter 42
They stood in the hall by the front doors, waiting for Peter to come down.
Pain looked around, not sure what she hated more, the bitter cold outside or the mood in there that slowly but steadily was creeping under her gear and skin.
The twenty-five men—and a couple of women who’d joined HQ after Eugene’s death, some hard-ass Israeli sisters—gave off the vibe she usually tried to avoid before any operation. That dark excitement mixed with nervous anticipation, the kind that made them tap their feet and check their gear and weapons for the hundredth time or chain-smoke outside, like the rest were doing.
Not Phoenix and Skull, though. They just waited, their chins tucked into the collars of their heavy winter coats, their hands and feet steady.
Yes, she’d rather be out there with them, but who knew how long they’d be in the cold tonight. Better stay warm while she could. Besides, for Chad it was the kind of night that brought up that nervous anticipation. Only his second operation—if she didn’t count the fact that he’d killed the biggest, baddest Beast in town the very same night he
