Zack (In the Company of Snipers Book 3) (10 page)

“I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been going through,” he said kindly.

His genuine concern took the venom out of her. It would be nice to hold the hand he’d offered, to believe he meant what he said.

“Tell me the truth, Agent Lennox. Don’t lie. Do you think we can find her?”

He didn’t blink or look away. “You heard my boss. If he said we’re going to find your daughter, then we will.”

“But you don’t believe she’s part of the trafficking ring, do you?” she asked accusingly, daring him to contradict her. Yes, those manly eyes were kind, but she’d been lied to before.

“There’s no way to know for sure, at least, not until we do some more digging. I think it’s unlikely a human trafficking ring from Mainland China would grab an American child off the street, even one of Chinese heritage. Still, it’s possible. They might have grabbed her to replace another child.”

“You mean, like a child who died? A little girl they might have...killed?” Her voice cracked. It was time to go before she fell apart.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean th—”

“Forget it.” Mei stiffened her chin and raised her head. “Thanks for the ride.”

“It was my pleasure.”

I seriously doubt that. No man appreciates a bitchy woman.

She unfastened her seat belt and pulled the door handle. Somehow, during the time it took her to get to her feet, he’d raced around the car and was offering a hand up. She waved it away.

“I’m fine. Goodnight.” Mei turned away, wanting nothing more than to put the disastrous day far behind her.

Agent Lennox followed. “I’m coming in with you.”

“You don’t need to.”
I don’t want you to. This isn’t a date.

He didn’t argue, but neither did he leave. With one flick of his wrist, the Porsche winked back when he remote locked it.

“You don’t need to walk me to my door, Agent Lennox. Really.”
Surely, he had better things to do? Like leave.

“Give it up, Agent Xing.” Without asking, he slid out of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders.

She noticed. God, how she noticed. Warmth flooded the cold pit in her heart, the stone dungeon she carried everywhere. The man she wanted so much to hate had just been kind, and he’d done it automatically, like it was no big deal.

“I’ll escort you to your apartment. After I make sure you’re safe, I’m going to sweep for listening devices. It’s very possible someone’s bugged your place.”

She pulled the warm leather around her, shivering as heat replaced the chill. It was hard not to notice the masculine smell mingled with the leather, wrapped up in his jacket like she was. “You really think someone’s eavesdropping on me?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. Someone has to be intercepting all your calls.”

She wasn’t going to argue, but why would anyone bug her? She didn’t know anything.

He waited at her side while she keyed in the secure access code to her apartment building. Once again he held the door, his hand at the small of her back while he ushered her inside, and once again warmth surged up from her toes. His touch felt so good that it hurt. She shrugged away from him, but he didn’t seem to notice she meant to avoid him.

“Think about it,” he said as they walked to the elevator. “Those weren’t real detectives you talked with. Someone set the whole thing up in order to abduct LiLi, and then to prevent you from getting the help you needed.”

Her mind went blank. Intrigue of that scale belonged in movies, not her pathetic excuse of a life.

“Which floor?” he asked.

“Second.” She fingered the supple feel of his expensive jacket, the men’s cologne imbued in its lining rising up into her nose like incense. This guy had it all. He could afford to be nice.

The elevator ride was quiet. They didn’t speak again until they were at her door. The dismal feel of her apartment met her full force when she opened the door and flipped the light switch, a big contrast to the interior of his car.

“Don’t mind me. I’ll only take a minute,” he said as he stepped inside with her. For the first time, she saw the holster across his broad back, two pistols tucked under his arms. They’d been hidden beneath the leather jacket now draped over her shoulders.

Her eyes drifted over his profile as he proceeded into the room. For a big dumb jock, he wasn’t bad looking, bald but attractive in a primitive way. He was the kind of guy who decorated himself with tattoos and chewed tobacco. Thick biceps flexed when he unsnapped what looked like a walkie-talkie on his belt. Huh. No tats. Only clear rippling skin rich with the color of a mixed heritage. Well, okay. So he didn’t have a tattoo that she could see. It didn’t mean anything. She’d already seen his choice of women. She knew his type.

“Would you like coffee or tea?” she asked, just to be nice. He was, after all, helping her again. It’s not like she’d asked him to.

His eyes lit up at her less than enthusiastic offer. “It’s late. You sure you don’t mind?”

“I could fix...” She turned to her sparse kitchen where a half box of granola, three apples, and a couple more spoonfuls of instant coffee awaited their demise. “I’ll make coffee.”

While he walked through her neglected home, she set her teakettle to boil and placed two mugs, two spoons, and what was left of the sugar and creamer on the table. He might as well know he was not going to get his usual cup of caffe-mocha-latte-whatever he was probably used to drinking every morning. All she had to offer was plain old Folgers freeze-dried. If it was good enough for her, it was good enough for him. He could take it or leave it.

The simple sight of the sugar bowl in the middle of her table brought LiLi’s pouting face to mind. Like all kids, she loved sweets. Mei had to watch her or she’d spoon sugar on her waffles. Over the syrup. Maybe with chocolate chips. Mei’s resolve buckled.

God, I can’t do this alone anymore!

“Copy that.” Agent Lennox ’s voice rose strong and confident from her bedroom where he was checking for listening devices. She stared when he entered the kitchen, dumbfounded at the odd coincidence. It was as if he’d just answered her.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “Did you say something to me?”

Did you hear me? Are you the answer to my prayers?

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to be loud. Just chatting with the boss.” The darkest chocolate eyes smiled back at her, warm and melted. Inviting. Comforting.

“I only have instant coffee,” she said to break the connection. What was she thinking? He didn’t care. Not really.

Agent Lennox pulled out a chair and sat, watching. She glanced sideways at him. He was the first man to sit at her cheap dinette set. He made it look small and fragile, sitting there with his hands on his knees like he was. Somehow, he also made it look good.

When the water heated enough, she poured two cups and sat opposite him, ignoring all those masculine traits her eyes kept pointing out, his big work boots for one. The man had huge feet, so of course his thighs were large, too. But his lashes were long and thick. Men didn’t usually have eyes as deep and dark as his. Those lashes made them deeper. Sexier. She shook the foolishness out of her mind.
I don’t care if he has three eyes as long as he finds LiLi.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Only the best coffee I’ve had in a long time.” He uncurled his fingers. There in his left hand rested two square little things, each with a wire hanging off it.

Her jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me—”

“I never kid about good coffee, ma’am.” He cautioned her with a finger to his lips.

Someone’s been listening to me.

She couldn’t breathe. All this time, someone out there knew. They’d heard her cry, swear, and scream. They’d heard her call the police and the detectives. The hospitals. Her senator. They’d heard everything. Worse, they’d physically been inside her home. She wrapped Agent Lennox’s jacket tighter, glancing at what had once been her sanctuary.

His eyes searched hers. “You wouldn’t happen to have any rice, would you?”

Rice? Now? He’s hungry? This late at night?

She went to her empty cupboards and returned with the granola and one bowl. “This is all I have. If you want milk with your cereal—”

He took hold of her hands and the box of cereal between them. “It will do. Thank you.”

She caught the tender look in his eye. He’d seen her bare cupboards. Now he knew.

Yes, I’m living on the edge of poverty. Deal with it. I certainly have.

Instead of taking the box, he shook his head. “Another time. I’d better get going.”

He downed his coffee in a gulp. At the door, he turned to her and tapped the deadbolt. “Make sure you use this.”

She gulped. He’d found listening devices inside her home, and now he was leaving? Her anxiety must’ve shown through. Suddenly, he was back at her side. The air he brought with him was filled with the distinct odor of leather, and — power? Safety? Her heart stuttered. She looked up into fierce brown eyes that seemed to see through her carefully constructed wall. His arm curled protectively around her. For one split second, her lips parted.

“Don’t leave your apartment until I pick you up in the morning. Understood?” An emotion flickered across his face. One lightning quick glance at her mouth, and he took a step back, releasing her. “I’m an early riser. Will six a.m. be too early for you?”

“I’ll be ready, Agent Lennox,” she whispered, her angst gone with the strength in her legs.

He nodded, opened the door without looking back and was gone.

Mei turned the deadbolt like he’d instructed. A chill shivered across her shoulders when she glanced at her empty apartment. Someone had been in here, and that person had left listening devices to track her every word and move. There might be a bug in her car, too. That meant they knew she had a police scanner. They knew she’d been to the hospital. They knew everything.

She sank to the floor, for the first time afraid to be in her own home. Agent Lennox’s jacket sank with her. She pulled it closer, burrowing into the warmth and the odor of a man who might care. The empty rooms stared back at her. No longer friendly. No longer safe.

“I can’t stay here.”

Where the hell is she?

After pounding on Mei’s door until he was afraid he’d wake her neighbors, Zack did the only thing he could do. He picked her lock, easy enough since the deadbolt was not engaged like he’d told her to do.
Damned ornery woman.

It didn’t take long to search the two-bedroom dive. By then, he was livid. He had no idea where she’d gone or if someone had abducted her, too. He doubted that scenario, but the obvious fact remained. Whoever’d planted those bugs was no longer receiving any intel from Mei’s apartment. They might’ve gone looking for her. Anything was possible.

Like an idiot, he’d changed her flat tire before leaving last night. In an attempt to breach the stone cold wall she’d built around her, he’d done something to help her, but it had only provided the means for her to run around town and get into more trouble. Not his brightest idea. Zack thumped his steering wheel with the heel of his palm, cussing her as he drove past her parking stall. The wreck was still there. She must have taken the bus. How could he help if she refused to listen?

The drive to the office was faster than usual because his emotions ran straight down his leg and into the accelerator. Somehow, the purr of those four-hundred and seventy-five horses worked their magic, soothing the ragged edges off the already troublesome day. Now, if only he knew where Mei was.

The seemingly simple chore of locating Chai Yenn’s parents had quickly morphed into a human trafficking operation. On top of an apparent child abduction, it seemed to include someone spying on a woman too poor to afford food, but too pig-headed to do as she was told. He parked his pride and joy in its assigned stall and opted for a run up the two flights to his office to burn off what was left of his irritation.

Alex would already be there and demanding.
Great. What am I supposed to say? I lost her? I screwed another op? Damned woman.

He pushed the fire-door open and entered ground zero. The aroma of an early pot of coffee welcomed him. Did the man never go home? Annoyed, he rounded Mother’s empty desk on his way to his workspace. At least the office busybody would miss the round of fireworks.

Two very elegant, long legs that ended in bare feet stretched into view. Mei?

“Where have you been?” he muttered quietly. What was she doing in his chair, all sprawled nice and comfy, his leather jacket wrapped around her like a blanket? Still dressed in the same clothes as yesterday, she yawned like he’d disturbed her from a sound sleep. “I was picking you up this morning. Remember? You were supposed to stay put.”

She blinked wide-open eyes, still waking up. Yeah. The deer in the headlights look was a new touch, somehow soft and feminine. So was the length of silky black hair hanging off the slightly disheveled knot at the back of her very hard head.

“Take it easy. I found her downstairs,” Alex said from behind him.

And then he was really mad. “You slept in the lobby?”

“No, I—” She pushed her hair off her face, straightening in his chair. “Umm, yes. I had a flat, so I took the bus.”

Despite himself, it was hard not to miss how cute she looked when she pushed her butt back and folded her legs beneath her.

“I fixed your flat,” he growled, not ready to ease up on her.

“Relax. I let her in when the front door alarm sounded. She’s been camped out here waiting for you,” Alex intervened.

Zack shot his boss a look. It would’ve been nice if someone had told him.

“I couldn’t stay there,” she said softly.

He didn’t know who to be angrier with. “So you trot down here in the middle of the night?”

“Lay off,” Alex said. “No harm, no foul. You got the bugs?”

Zack reached inside the pocket to his team jacket and pulled out the two nasty listening devices, by now deep inside a noisy paper bag of noisier dried rice to prevent anyone from listening.

Alex took the bag, inserted two fingers to shuffle the rice aside, and viewed the contents. “Radio Shack specials, huh?”

“Already dusted them for prints. They’re clean,” Zack muttered, not sure why he was angry. Obviously, Mei was capable of taking care of herself. Why should he worry? Wait. He wasn’t worried, was he? The notion didn’t sit well. He glanced her way. Slumber still clouded those dreamy browns. A woman waking up was just plain sexy. Why did it have to be her?

“Since you’re both here.” Alex nodded toward his office. “Let’s decide on our next step.”

“Okay.” Mei pushed to her feet, sliding both arms into the too-big leather jacket. She looked like some high school cheerleader in her boyfriend’s letterman jacket the way the thing dwarfed her. Zack calmed, thinking about how cold she’d been last night. Black leather looked good on her now that he had time to actually look. Long legs. Leather. Yeah. She could be damned good looking, in an uptight sort of way.

“I was going to take you to breakfast,” he said to soften his outburst. “You should’ve waited for me. You’ve got to be hungry.”

Just that fast, the jacket was off her shoulders and tossed to his chair. Mei reached to the back of her head and wound the loose strand of hair nice and tight. Hagatha was back. Good looking was gone.

“I don’t need your pity,” she snapped. “We have work to do.”

He followed behind her and Alex, watching her smart ass twitch from side to side as she seemed to lead the way. Exactly who was in charge here? It sure looked like she was. Despite her brief thaw of the night before, she was back to ice queen status. As soon as they were seated at the small conference table in Alex’s office, the inquisition began.

“Your boss took my badge.” She glared at Zack like he’d done it.

He shrugged it off. “Good.”

“I can’t work without it.” Very delicate eyebrows dropped into a severe V. Cruella di Vil? Yeah. That’s who she looked like when she glared like that.

“What are you telling me for? Tell him.” Zack nodded toward Alex. “You could do serious time if you got caught. Next time I’m at your apartment, I want the rest of them. Should’ve taken ’em last night.”

She tapped her toes like she’d done in the hospital, glaring the same way, too.

Well, two can play that game, sister.
He glared right back. Damn. She had pretty eyes. Pretty mean eyes.

“You been having phone trouble for awhile now, have you?” He shot a volley her way.

“Yes. Why?” she hissed.

“Because that’s what cheap listening devices do to phones. You ever think of that?”
Bam. Full in the face. Take that, Miss High and Mighty.

She blinked. He gulped. How did she do that to him! One minute capable, downright tough, vicious and cruel, but the next frightened and scared, which only meant she never was tough in the fist place.
Argh!
He couldn’t keep up. Vulnerable and mean did not go hand in hand. The frightened woman ducked back behind the cover of the Wicked Witch of the West, and he let her. A witch he could deal with.

“Your boss interrupted me yesterday, Agent Lennox. I have a proposal that might break the case open. Remember?”

“And that would be?” Zack slouched back in his seat. He was done trying to help. He shot a look at Alex, who still hadn’t said anything. Zack’s sense of foreboding snapped to attention. His boss looked way too comfortable.

Damn. These two have been talking. Something’s going on.

“I want to go undercover as a married couple.”

Oh, hell no.
Zack nearly laughed out loud. Would have if Alex hadn’t finally engaged, his fingers steepled together and tapping to beat the band. Caffeine and Mei were a bad combination.

“She’s got a good idea, Zack. You two could infiltrate Richards’ office as a married couple. Find out if he’s involved with the Black Dragon Syndicate like we think he is. Might lead you straight to the children.” Alex sounded like he was asking, but he wasn’t.

“But we have no evidence those guys took her daughter.” Zack was not going down without a fight.

“We have no evidence they didn’t.”

“If they’ve got a lawyer like Richards on their payroll, they’ve got money. They’d have no trouble bugging my home. Who else could it be?” Mei tossed her two cents worth into the ring.

Zack tossed it right back out. “Money does not equate to motive.” He focused on his boss. “Motive. Means. Opportunity. Why would a child trafficking ring steal her daughter and bug her home?”

Alex shrugged. “Why not?”

“Sounds like a lot of trouble.” Zack gritted his teeth. “That means they’ve got fake detectives, telephone operators who intercepted every one of Mei’s calls, and someone ballsy enough to break and enter.”

Alex leaned forward. “Think about it. Whoever’s behind the abduction killed the forty-eight hour window essential to finding a missing child. They covered their tracks and diverted attention. It smacks of organized crime. She could be right.”

Mei followed the conversation like a tennis match.

Zack bit his lip rather than say, ‘She could be wrong’. The woman he’d finally glimpsed behind Hagatha was hanging on by a thread. Wrong or right, the fact remained. A child trafficking ring did exist. Little girls were endangered. And LiLi was somewhere out there without her mother.

“Wouldn’t David be better for this operation?” Zack pushed back from the table, definitely drawing the short end of the stick again. “He is Chinese. Mei’s Chinese.”
And I don’t want to do this.

“You and Mei are closer in age.” Alex cut him off at the pass. “And you’ll make a more believable couple.”

“Why’s that?”
Because she’s bitchy, and we already fight like we’re married?

“Look at the two of you.” Alex smirked.

He was right. Who’d doubt when a latte-colored man and a Chinese American woman showed up to adopt an exotic child?

“Yeah, but Boss....”

The last thing Zack wanted was to spend another day with Mei. Feeling sorry for her did not equate to a twenty-four-seven partnership, much less an undercover sting that might take who knew how long. It could last days, weeks, and heaven forbid, months. They’d have to pretend to live together. No way.

Alex stared back at him.

Zack stifled his next good excuse. The decision had obviously already been made, maybe before he’d even rolled out of bed this morning. “Never mind. Will do.”

“Good. Mother will put your undercover identities together. You’ll be wired. David and Todd will be in a nearby listening post if needed. All you have to do is keep me informed. Besides...”

“Besides what?” Zack looked at his boss’s smirky face. The man could irritate the horns off Satan.

Alex extricated a small photo from the inside of his suit jacket and handed it to Zack. A little girl of Chinese descent smiled back at him. Aside from the big toothless grin and happy face, she was a miniature version of Mei. There was only one difference.

“Is this your daughter?” Zack asked Mei, stunned into submission.

She nodded, her lips pressed tight.

Zack couldn’t win. He was going undercover with Mei, to play husband to her wife. There was no sense arguing.

LiLi had blue eyes.

“You two love birds ready?”

“Shut it, Todd,” Zack hissed. “Don’t think because you’re in the van I can’t get to you.”

“Copy that,” Todd replied cheerfully. “Just checking on the honeymooners.”

Zack’s fist clenched. His earpiece might be small enough to fool Attorney Richards, but having a smart ass like Todd Chandler in a man’s head only made him cranky. And Zack was plenty cranky. At least Alex hadn’t given Mei an earpiece. Yet.

“We’re moving,” Zack muttered as he climbed out of his car and walked around it to open the door for his ‘wife’.

Today he was Quentin Burns and she was Amelia, the millionaire co-owners of an up and coming software firm. He’d driven his Porsche to add to their undercover backstory, but Alex had taken care of them in every other way. They looked quite the wealthy couple. Mei wore a simple black dress, a color that only made her features more severe, like that was possible. The fur-lined winter coat helped disguise her narrow frame. Ember had taken her to a high-end salon for hair, make-up, and nails. It didn’t help. She looked the epitome of pampered wealth, but beauty could not disguise the starving look in her eyes.

For the first time in a long time, Zack was in a business suit–white shirt, black tie, the whole clown get-up. He ran a finger under his collar, loosening the tie so it didn’t feel like he was choking. This was funeral attire. He couldn’t wait to get out of it.

Mei stood next to him on the sidewalk. The earth shifted. He should be getting used to the off balance feeling by now. It seemed to happen every time she got too close. He purposefully avoided resting his hand at the small of her back. They were supposed to be married. That gesture might make someone think they liked each other. He didn’t want to blow the whole op right off the bat.

“Can I help you?” The elderly woman behind the receptionist desk peered over her wire-rimmed reading glasses. The brass nameplate on her desk declared her to be Ms. Marjorie Bradford. She wore her hair in the same fashion as Mei’s, all knotted into a tight little bun at the back of her head, only Ms. Bradford’s hair was white. Pure white. Who was she anyway, Richards’ mother?