Chapter 5. The sleek black car pushed forward through the city streets at tremendous velocity.

The powerful engine hummed like a contented animal as Kit Baxter's foot forced its way closer to the floorboards.

She bounced a little in the seat in spite of herself. The Red Panda preferred to approach their prey by stealth, and the point

was tough to argue. But when he had a perfectly good experimental roadster at his disposal,

to say nothing of a speed-happy driver for a partner, sometimes the pneumatic tubes didn't seem

quite as exciting as all that. She kept her eyes locked on the road ahead as she weaved through

the traffic and passed the startled onlookers,

who had made a late night of it and were rewarded with a fleeting glimpse of the city's masked crime fighters for their trouble.

She knew that in the passenger seat he was fiddling with one of his electric gizmos, but she was waiting to see how long he could possibly resist showing off by explaining what he was doing.

So far he had maintained his focus for two stops miles apart,

after each of which he had scribbled some notations and announced the next stop

on their high-speed pursuit of who knew what.

"'Up here,' he said, glancing up from the dials of his device at last.

Yes, boss, she smiled, pulling into a convenient alleyway and putting the high-powered braking system to the test with a sudden stop.

That was dramatic, he said, with a raised eyebrow and a side-long smirk.

Yes, boss, the flying squirrel batted her eyelashes under her cowl.

"'Funn't, too.'

"'I'm sure,' he said, turning back with renewed intensity to the oblong, multi-dial device he held.

"'You're really going to make me ask, aren't you?' she said at last a little cross.

"'I really am,' he smiled.

Kit felt her cheeks grow hot. He had been playing with her,

and she had blinked first. It was so hard to tell sometimes. The Red Panda took up the stub of a pencil

...