Rosa held on to thepole as the train accelerated through the tunnel and until it slowed again upon reaching the Fiftieth Street station.
The stop was brief, and soon they were underway again.
That’s when Rosa’s palm began to sweat, her chest tightening. The next stop was Columbus Circle. The stop where her brother was waiting.
She made herself take several deep breaths, then closed her eyes until she felt the train slow. She adjusted her expression to its usual version of disinterest and felt as ready as she’d ever be by the time the train stopped.
The moment she stepped off, she spotted her brother standing against the white tiled wall near the exit, nervously scanning the passengers who’d just arrived.
Toomey was with him, playing with his phone. She hadn’t expected him to be there, but she didn’t think he’d be a problem.
Rosa made it to within a dozen feet of her brother before he finally saw her. The relief that washed over him was quickly replaced by an annoyed scowl.
He waved her over. “Hurry up!”
As soon as she reached him, he grabbed the briefcase and yanked it free.
“This is it?”
“No, Ricky,” she said. “I carry random briefcases with me wherever I go.”
“You know, you’re not as funny as you think you are,” he said.
“Whatever you say, Ricky.”
He scowled again, and then seemed to notice for the first time that she’d been carrying more than the case. “What are those?”
“What do they look like? They’re bags. I told you I was running some errands.”
“Right, right.” He turned to Toomey. “Let’s go.”
“You’re done with me, then?” Rosa asked.
“Yeah, go run your errands or whatever you were going to do.”
Rosa watched them until they’d passed through the turnstiles and disappeared up the stairs to the street. She then headed for the A train platform, a million dollars richer.
By the time the RangeRover reached the Fiftieth Street station, Watkins’s team reported that the woman’s train was already pulling out, with her still on it.
Alicia did everything she could to get them to Columbus Circle as fast as humanly possible, but they were still two blocks away when the train reached the station and the woman exited.
Thankfully, the signal was strong enough that the video came through on Watkins’s tablet glitch-free.
One of the team was just a few paces behind the woman while the other two hung farther back.
At first, it appeared that the woman was heading for the exit, but then she veered toward two men standing off to the side. The watcher who’d been closely following her continued past and around the corner out of sight so as not to draw undue attention. But the feeds from the other two caught the moment that the older of the two men glared at the woman and grabbed the briefcase from her.
“They don’t seem to like each other,” Stone observed.
The woman and the older guy said a few things to each other, neither looking happy, then the two men headed for the exit.
“Who do you want us to follow?” Watkins asked.
“Both for now,” Stone said. “Unless anyone has a better idea.”
“Works for me,” Jack said.
“It’s what I’d do,” Dino said.
