[MAX]
There is a difference between suspicion and knowledge. For example, when you suspect that someone is following you, you may do one of a few things. Maybe you'll just brush off the feeling as paranoia. Maybe you'll diverge from your usual route, or change your behavior somehow to try and gauge the situation.
When you know you're being followed, the list of actions you may take is considerably different. For the sake of clarity, allow me to point out that a normal person would probably go somewhere familiar, or crowded with people, or if the situation's really bad, they might even call the cops.
And then there's me.
Subway stations are close quarters, no easy way around it. Phoenix was buying the tickets while Dylan and Danny were keeping watch, and trying to ignore a group of high school girls who were giving the twins heart eyes. I was a yard away from them, outside of the ticket line, and given the circumstances my patience was wearing thin.
I say thin.
I mean I'd been wearing a dress and four inch heels for the past two hours and too many blocks, and after I determined how many tails we'd picked up this time around, I snapped.
Phoenix urged the twins away from the ticket line and further into the station when two men immediately moved to follow after her. They didn't pay enough attention to notice that I followed them.
Their mistake.
One of them had his gun tucked into the back of his pants, and his shirt almost concealed it. I reached out and swiftly removed it, the action just enough to garner the man's attention. When he turned around to face me, one of his hands already curling into a fist, I reeled back and hit him across the face with his gun in my hand.
He began to topple almost immediately from the blow. Before he could collapse completely, I moved him against the nearest wall. The moment his back touched it I released him, and he slid down into a seated position, his head slumping forward.
I'd just dropped the gun into the nearest trashcan when his friend noticed his absence.
He was a little shorter than his buddy, which put him an inch or two below me, given the heels. I flashed a devious smile when he looked my way, which had the desired effect. He seemed to forget about Phoenix for the moment, and instead headed toward me. He shoved his way through the crowd with wrath on his face.
He threw a punch with an impressive amount of force behind it. I latched onto his wrist to redirect his energy and simultaneously twisted myself into his personal space and brought my elbow up. I made contact with his jaw, and a loud clack rang in my ears, followed immediately by his pained grunt.
I withdrew and released him simultaneously before I took a large step away from him to put myself out of his reach.
People moved around us and paid us no mind.
He glowered at me as he spat blood onto the floor between us. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. An angry shade of red was already blossoming across his jaw. "You don't know what you're getting into," he warned in harsh Mandarin.
My smile was catty. "I'm not too worried about it," I said in kind.
He scoffed, shaking his head. "You're a fool."
I rolled my eyes and waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah; I've heard it all before. That and worse, actually. Now, before you try and take another swing at me—" it was only reasonable for me to suspect he would, "—I'd like to make a few observations. May I?"
His eyes narrowed, but he made no move or sound in protest.
"You haven't pulled a gun," I began, "which means you likely don't have one. With that in mind, if you really want to get through me to your target, you're going to have to fight me. Which you just tried to do, with absolutely no success. You didn't even lay a hand on me. Now, you look like you have at least a little intelligence, so I'm guessing you've put two and two together and realized I incapacitated your friend in ... let's say thirty seconds. And I did that without making a scene."
He scowled.
"We both know if you fight me you're going to end up like your friend. Maybe you'll do a little better than he did. Maybe you'll land a few punches; but in the end, I am going to win. So really, it all comes down to a single question." My smile was similar to that of the Cheshire cat. "Do you want to have to explain what happened here to your boss?"
He shifted his weight between his feet and clenched and unclenched his fists. His gaze moved between myself and his unconscious friend a few times. His eyes narrowed. He understood the gravity of what I was asking, and I could see it written all over his face. "What do you want?"
"I want you to give Jin Tè a message," I said. All hints of mischief and nefarious humor were now gone.
His eyes widened, if only fractionally, and I could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed.
"I want you to tell her she needs to stop hunting Phoenix," I continued, "or this fight is going to come to her."
His jaw flexed, and he sucked in a breath. "And who do I tell her this message is coming from?"
This time my expression was stone cold. "Someone she doesn't want to make an enemy of."
