“Jane?”
“Mm?” She blinked but kept staring at whatever it was.
Pain turned to find a big white number 186 behind her. “What is it?” she whispered.
Jane held up a finger and disappeared overhead. Frowning, Pain and Chad followed her.
They found her a couple of rows down, wandering between units again.
“Jane, we’ve already been through here,” Pain said, catching up to her.
Her sister didn’t say anything, just stopped and fished in her chest pocket for something. Jane looked at her at last and stepped closer, holding something out. Pain and Chad both peered at a little key with a faded tag on it.
“What’s that?” Chad asked.
Jane brought a finger to her lips, whispering, “This is a key, and the tag says 126. And that,” Jane pointed at the unit behind them, “is unit 126. I forgot all about it.”
Pain turned her bewildered gaze on Chad, his expression mirroring hers. “About what? Where did you get that?”
Jane strode to the unit. “I didn’t tell you? It’s from when we were chasing a Commando with Ryan, remember?”
Pain just stared, completely confused.
“And then everyone said it was useless,” Jane said. “So I put it in this pocket and forgot about it.”
“How did you know the key was from here?” Chad asked.
Jane shrugged, crouching to find the lock. “I don’t. That’s what I’m gonna find out now.” She looked at them over her shoulder and waved her hand so they’d clear out.
“Careful,” Pain hissed, crouching on the roof.
“I know, I know…” Jane slid the key into the lock.
She turned her hand—and it clicked.
“Holy shit…” Pain breathed.
Jane yanked at the door, jumping into the air as it rolled up.
Everyone held their breath, but nothing happened. It wasn’t like someone would be squatting in there, waiting for them.
They exchanged wary looks.
“Stay here,” Pain whispered, leaping off the roof. She pressed her back to the wall and peeked around the opening. “Nothing,” she told them.
Jane and Chad joined her on the ground, peering through the dark. It was big as storage units go but had only a few boxes inside.
Pain clasped her sister’s shoulder. “Congrats, Sherlock. You’ve successfully tracked down some cardboard.”
“Shut up.” Jane scowled and went inside.
Pain gave Chad a wry grin, but he didn’t return it as he followed Jane into the unit. Unwilling to stay outside in the wind by herself, Pain hurried after them.
Jane took out a flashlight, pointing it at the corners first, then at the boxes. She gave one of them a cautious prod with her toe, and it moved easily. “Empty. What the…”
Pain sighed, scratched her scarred head, and shuffled her feet, watching Jane rummage in the corner. When Jane got back up and pointed the flashlight down again, something glinted in the light.
Chad and Pain both rushed to Jane’s side. At her feet, where the boxes used to be, was a big gray trapdoor.
Pain’s jaw dropped, and when Jane looked at her, arching a brow, she didn’t even hide it. Her hand covered Jane’s flashlight. “They might see it through the cracks,” she whispered.
“What are we gonna do, Watson?” Jane hissed.
“Let’s go out there.” Pain tilted her head at the street.
They came back out and huddled together to discuss their options. “No one made any noise while we were in there, right?” Pain asked.
Jane and Chad shook their heads.
“If they’re really keeping our people here, it must be a big room. With guards.”
“Probably.” Jane shrugged. “He did say about a hundred—that would be a pretty big space. And without guards, they would’ve broken out sooner or later. So, guards and guns to keep them in.”
“Right.” Pain nodded.
“I don’t get it,” Chad said, rubbing his chin. “Who built all this? I mean, underground? Why?”
“They probably just found and bought this place. Could be why they picked that abandoned hospital, too. And this could’ve been used for anything by whoever owned this place before, some gang hiding arms, trafficking girls, whatever. They could have another exit, as many as they need with so many units; it’s a perfect cover. Damn.” Pain pressed her hands to her head, willing her brain to give her some smart ideas, because they desperately needed one.
“Do we call Peter or do we go in?” Jane asked. “We’ve been gone for half an hour already.”
Pain dropped her hands and looked at her. “All right, so we call Peter. He sends backup. He’s a few men short, and we still got God knows what down there, some box of a room with trigger-happy Commandos. It’s not about numbers right now.”
“You’re right,” Jane said. “We might at least open the trapdoor. There might be no one there. Maybe there’s a basement under every unit.”
Pain winced at the thought. “Stop. You’re giving me a headache.” She rubbed her forehead, then shrugged. “Let’s do what we always do. Poke the hornets’ nest, then improvise. Standing here talking ain’t gonna help anyone. There might be people down there who need our help now.”
“You can’t just jump down there,” Chad protested in a harsh whisper.
“I can if it’s dark enough,” Pain said. “And if it’s not, we just shut it and lock them up. They can’t call anyone from down there. We’ll deal with them later.”
“There must be some light if there’s someone down there,” Jane said.
“And that’s what I’ll go for. You go in the moment it’s out.” Pain saw Chad gaping wordlessly between them. “What?”
“You two are seriously going up against guns?” His voice rose in disbelief, and she raised a finger to her lips.
“Not our first rodeo, relax. Could be no one down there.”
“Could be a dozen of them down there,” he hissed.
