Page 53 of Peace Under Fire

It wasn’t even a lie. She had been in an accident.

“He agreed, then? We’re going to Sandpoint?” Mandy asked from the backseat, her voice full of relief.

“He agreed that it wasn’t wise to attempt contact with your sister under the circumstances. He’s ordering his team on standby. They’ll wait for our arrival.”

He blew out a frustrated breath and scowled out the windshield. It went against every instinct he possessed to take her back there. But they needed to contain that sister of hers. And Mandy was their best bet at getting everyone out alive.

“It could be JoAnn who crashed the cameras,” Squish said thoughtfully. “Tex said whoever it was knew where the cameras were, and what angle to approach from to avoid detection. Could be her. She wouldn’t want the assholes who kidnapped her family to know she’d returned home.”

Brick made a noncommittal sound. “Or it could be the bastards who attacked the place. If they returned to the property, they’d want to keep their presence hidden from Mandy and JoAnn, which means they’d have to disable the cameras.”

Both possibilities were valid. Either way, they had no eyes on the compound.

At the dead silence coming from the back seat, he glanced over his shoulder. Mandy looked smug as hell. But then, she’d gotten her way. If it was anyone else, he’d suspect they’d lied about the situation, twisted the truth so they’d get the outcome they wanted. But he instinctively knew that Mandy wouldn’t lie about this. Not even to get her way.

“How long will it take to get there?” she asked, practically vibrating with impatience.

“It will take forty minutes to get to the Roanoke airport. From there it’s a four-hour flight to Sandpoint,” Squish said.

“Does Sandpoint even have an airport?” Brick asked.

“Yeah. It’s a county owned, public use airstrip. Tex is getting the authorization for the charter to drop there. He’s also getting the landing strip scraped. It’s stopped snowing, but they got a shitload of snow over the past three days. Tex says they’re still digging out.”

He shot Brick a sidelong glance. “This is more than you signed up for. If you want to bail at Roanoke, we’d be fine. Tex chartered the jet from Roanoke to Sandpoint and then over to Los Alamos. We should be safe enough. Even if those bastards track us to Los Alamos, the Refuge won’t be on their radar. You can drop your rental at Roanoke and catch a flight home. Hell, you’d only be a couple of hours later than when your original return flight was due to land.”

He ignored the itchy feeling at the thought of losing Brick. The migraines still hadn’t come knocking, but hell—they were bound to barge in at some point. It was nice to have Brick as back up.

Brick shook his head and offered a wry smile. “Appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass. Kinda curious how this plays out now.” He made a neat U-turn and headed back to the freeway ramp. “Where’s Tex’s team going to meet us?”

“At the Sandpoint airport.” Squish glanced in the back seat.

Mandy had settled against her seat and was staring fixedly out the passenger window. Her profile looked tense. So did her fingers, which were knitting and unknitting between her jittery knees. She was probably worrying about her sisters.

“Tex needs your shoe size. He’s gonna have the boys pick you up a pair of snow boots.” Along with the rest of the equipment she’d need.

“A seven,” she said, still staring out the window.

He shot Tex a message with her shoe size and twisted in his seat to get a better look at her. “Tell me about your sisters.”

Talking would distract Mandy from her worry. Besides, he was curious. From what he’d seen on those stretchers, the women didn’t look anything alike. Nor did any of them look like Mandy.

He was watching Mandy closely enough that he saw her freeze. Her head snapped around until she faced him.

“My sisters?” she asked, her expression suddenly defensive.

His gaze dropped to her hands, which lay frozen on top of her thighs. If she were hooked up to a polygraph machine, the readings would be off the charts. The woman certainly didn’t handle questioning well.

“Yeah, you know, the women that were in the compound. The ones you’re so desperate to rescue.” He raised his eyebrows and waited.

A mask slammed down over her face. “What about them?”

Okay. Squish drew back, studying her suddenly flat face. He couldn’t remember Mandy ever looking so locked down. He thought about dropping the questioning. Christ, she looked like a harsh word would break her, but this shouldn’t be a hard question. They were her sisters, for fuck’s sake, and she’d already filled them in on the big stuff—like their individual abilities. The rest was small potatoes.

“I didn’t get a good look at your sisters when those bastards brought them out, but a couple looked Asian. Did the ten of you share the same parents?” The question seemed like a simple enough one. The world was full of blended families.

Her hesitation was palpable. And far, far too long. When her answer finally came, it was clipped and cold. Dismissive.

“No.” Her gaze shifted from his face to his chin. She set her jaw and tightened her shoulders. Hell, every muscle in her body tensed, like she was bracing herself for a roundhouse kick to the face.

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