The trap was set. Zack had no choice. Of course he and Mei needed to view as many children as possible.
"I guess we"ll wait until tomorrow then, won"t we?" He could not restrain his sarcasm.
"I"ll give you the address for a third home since you"re so eager." She leveled a volley of sarcasm right back at him. Her fingers. .h.i.t the keyboard. She acted like she was hooking them up with a used car instead of a child. Someone needed to knock her on her a.s.s, too.
Zack offered the briefcase again.
"Not today." Her expression could not have been sweeter. "I only needed to see it. You"ll pay when you take possession. That way, you"re as guilty as we are."
"You"re cold."
Mei shivered at Agent Lennox"s words, but it wasn"t from the chilly weather. The gray clouds scudding across the sky were nothing compared to the desolation in her soul. Another day without LiLi was more than she could handle.
The drive back to the safe house had been quiet, the shock of being in the presence of a truly evil man more than she"d antic.i.p.ated. Attorney Richards hadn"t even tried to hide what he was doing. The man dealt in human flesh, as if children were nothing. Her skin crawled thinking about him, yet he"d only done it because he a.s.sumed he was talking with someone as low as he was. Her skin crawled even more. She"d sunk to his level.
"I"ll turn on the gas log," Agent Lennox offered, already on his way across the room to the fireplace.
Standing frozen inside the two story foyer, she couldn"t handle the safe house either. The plush lifestyle it represented irked her to her core. The vaulted ceilings, fine moldings, and huge brick fireplace reminded her she was living the life of a queen. LiLi was not.
Everything had been different last night. Agent Lennox avoided her, and she didn"t blame him. After their unexpected kiss on the street, he"d become an easy target, always too close and kind for his own good. She knew she was hard on him. The kiss had been a mistake. She never should have let him get inside her defenses. He was trouble, a womanizer, a pretty boy, but so gentle in the way he"d held her. One minute she intended the kiss as nothing but subterfuge, the next, it seemed she could not stop. His touch had ignited a ravenous hunger and a wildfire. All her defenses melted. The only way back was to push and shove. So she did.
Poor Agent Lennox. After one particularly nasty barb about him being nothing but a spoiled rich kid, he"d retreated to the couch and television while she locked herself in one of the four bedrooms. It seemed a good arrangementthen.
Mei stood frozen in the doorway, unable to enter and unable to leave. The longer she stood, the more she wanted to run. There seemed no way to hurry the drawn-out process of the undercover operation along.
Agent Lennox turned to her, waiting for what, she didn"t know. He had a fire blazing. The man had the patience of a saint, but then, he should. He had to be getting paid enough to watch over her. The oriental gong of his cell phone jolted her out of her very depressing dilemma of whether to leave or stay.
"What"s up?" he answered after checking his caller ID. He stilled, listening as he watched her. His brows furrowed, and Mei"s heart stopped. It had to be bad news. She could tell.
"Who"s that?" His piercing look drew her into the room. "You"re kidding? Under the same bridge?"
She walked to the fireplace, her heart on the verge of panic. Which same bridge? The Eleventh Street Bridge? The Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge?
"How?" His dark eyes registered no emotion, but something cold glittered there. Whoever he had on the other line, they were talking about death. Someone had died. Who? LiLi?
"Guess that takes care of that." He paused. "Okay."
When he stiffened, Mei clutched his wrist. "What"s going on?"
He held up his index finger for her to be quiet.
"Tell me," she demanded.
His features softened. Her blood pressure spiked. It"s LiLi. They found her.
"Where?" he said quietly. "Okay. Got it. Right. We"re on our way."
She whirled around, intending to go right back out the door. They"d found her daughter. That"s what Agent Lennox was talking about. She had to leave, but he grabbed her wrist before she got too far away, his expression hard as granite while he continued the conversation.
"That isn"t going to be easy," he muttered, his eyes sharp and focused on her. He was quiet another moment, before he said, "Got it. Thanks, David."
"Tell me," she ordered the moment the call ended. "What did Agent Tao tell you? Who died?"
Agent Lennox stowed his cell phone in his pants pocket before he spoke. "They found another little girl, Mei. David will call with the details as soon as he gets to the hospital."
"How old?" All her worst fears.
"Around six."
"Where is she now?"
"Children"s National Medical Center."
"I"m going." She pulled away, her heart in her throat.
"No." Somehow, Agent Lennox was in front of her, blocking the door. "We"re going to stay on task and-"
"No, we"re not. I don"t care if you go with me or not. I"m going." She pulled out all of her nastiest skills. "I have to know. Get out of my way."
"No. We stay." He didn"t move, just stood there with his hands palm forward like he was trying to capture a frightened animal. "By the time we get across town, David will be at the hospital. He"ll call. Then we"ll know for sure. Besides, if we screw the mission, we"ll never get back inside Richards" office. We need to stay the course."
"I can"t. I...I...can"t. Get out of my way." The man was stupid to think he could stop her. Nothing could. Weeks of fury propelled her into him, punching, scratching, and kicking. He had to get out of her way. Now!
She never got a lick in. He had her wrists neatly trapped at the first strike.
"We stay." He never raised his voice, just pulled her against his chest until she had no choice but to look up at him. "You"ve got to trust me. David will call. Trust him. For h.e.l.l"s sake, trust someone."
"No!" she spat. "I don"t need men. I don"t need-"
"You need me!" he bellowed. "G.o.d, Mei, stop fighting me."
"But I can"t. What if...?" She bit the words off before they saw the light of day. What if it is LiLi? What if...?
Fear suffocated her. Time had run out. It was bound to happen. The odds were always against her. This time it was her daughter. She"d have to go to the morgue again. Mei twisted away, trying with all her pitiful strength to best the man who held her fast.
"I don"t need anyone!" she shrieked, so close she could"ve bit him. "Let me go!"
Men hated screaming, bullying women. Agent Lennox needed to hate her enough to let go. He flinched, but instead of releasing her, he wrapped her up in his arms, burying her head beneath his chin, his hot breath on the back of her neck.
"No, Mei. No. Hear me for once. Just listen."
In one split second her resolve melted. Wrenching sobs broke out of her in painful, ripping spasms that felt like they were tearing her apart. "I can"t. I"ve worked too hard, and she"s so little."
"It"s not her," he whispered. "Trust me, Mei. It"s not LiLi."
"You don"t know that," she groaned. "Let me go. Let me see if-"
"No. I"m not letting you go." His arms wrapped her tightly, her head still against his chest. "We stay. We wait for David. That way our cover"s still intact. He"ll call. You"ll see. Then we"ll bring Richards down along with every other b.a.s.t.a.r.d who"s in this with him."
In one fell swoop, he lifted her feet off the floor and carried her to the couch in front of the fireplace. Agent Lennox settled her onto his lap, encircling her inside the steel bands of his arms from which there was no escape. She"d landed facing away from him, his head pressed tight to the back of hers. Orange flames licked the fake fire log, but all she saw was LiLi"s blue eyes staring back. The tears she"d held back burst forth, drenching her face and the sleeve of his dress shirt.
"I want my baby," she sobbed.
"You"re not alone," he whispered hoa.r.s.ely, smoothing one of those big hands over her head and shoulder like he needed to calm her. With an irritated yank, he pulled the tie from his neck and tossed it away, nestling her deeper into the crook of his arm. "I wish I could get that through your hard head."
She cried. All she had was her hard head, as he"d just put it, along with a police scanner, a laptop, and an all city bus pa.s.s. That"s all that had gotten her this far, and now she"d failed. It would be Agent Tao verifying her baby"s body. It would be....
"Is she dead?" she asked, unable to look Agent Lennox in the eye. "Is the little girl-" She choked. Saying it once was awful enough.
"No." He smoothed a gentling hand down her spine and up again to rest between her shoulder blades. "She"s alive. The Coast Guard put extra patrols on the river in that section of Anacostia. They got to her in time. Believe it or not, they"re on your side. h.e.l.l. Everyone is."
"Who"s doing this?" she whined. "How could anyone hurt babies?"
The pain eked out in sobs she could no longer restrain. Only his arms kept her from falling apart and she needed him now, needed the smell of leather and sandalwood in her nose to keep the other smell at bay, the odor of the antiseptic morgue and that other mother"s dead child. The memory twisted her insides. There"d been no joy in her life for too many days. Even the breaks in the case were tragic. The hope that LiLi still lived seemed to rely on other children dying. The awful paradox suffocated her.
"I just want her back." She pressed her face into his bicep, pulling more of his smell into her soul, trying with all her heart to wrap herself so deep she could finally feel again. Save me, Agent Lennox. Please, please save me, too.
"We"re going to find her." The chords of her only lifeline rumbled deep in his chest and against her ear. She clung to him for all she was worth. "I promise. When we do, we"ll save all those other little girls, too."
Another reality crept onto the couch with them. Mei heard it beneath her ear. She felt it in the puffs of heated breath against her neck. It trickled wet and warm where he rested his chin. He was crying, too. The mantra she"d clung to for so long seemed weak and foolish. Maybe she did need this man. Just this one.
SIXTEEN.
Zack held Mei gently at first, and then as tight as he dared. As harsh as she came across, there was a fragile strength to this woman that spoke to the warrior in him. For the second time in as many days, she"d stirred the deepest chambers of his heart. He"d had serious girlfriends before, but none like Mei. Her mother"s anguish resonated with him, awakening feelings he"d not felt before.
He wiped his face. She didn"t need to know what a sap he was. The lovely scent of cherry blossom filled his nose, oddly comforting in the middle of the bleak ending to another fruitless day.
These were the toughest times in war, when imminent battle was delayed and the wrecking ball of testosterone-driven rage was asked to hold and wait. Stand down. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. Soldiers grew antsy. Tempers flared. All the pent-up dread and fearful expectations had to go somewhere. He used to pump his highest numbers during down times like that, if only to vent the energy he could not expend against the enemy. It seemed to help. Too bad this wasn"t then.
All he could do was hold her and hope it was enough. The visit to Richards" office had to have been excruciatingly difficult for Mei. Picking her up and trapping her on his lap was the only thing he could think of to break through the hard wall she seemed intent on maintaining. Oddly, she"d leaned into his arm, content to let him hold her but not willing to face him. Her cheek rested against his bicep instead of his chest. He understood.
"I heard you and Agent Tao," she said tiredly. "Something else is going on, isn"t it?"
"Yes. The police found another body. A man was killed tonight under the Eleventh Street Bridge."
"Is he part of this?"
She didn"t jump up and run like he"d half expected. "We think so. His name was Tony Brown. He worked for ATF Director, Kevin Carducci."
"Who killed him?" Her body softened against him.
"We don"t know yet, but given the location, it might be the same people who dumped these little girls."
"What"s ATF?"
"Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." Her question surprised him. She had fake ID badges for every other federal agency. Why not the one Carducci directed? It struck him as an odd piece of coincidence or sheer, d.a.m.ned luck. Suddenly, he was glad she"d missed that particular one. She might not be here in his arms now. She might be laying under some bridge like Tony Brown.
"Oh." She sighed again, her body tucked into his arm like she belonged there. The fire was warm. Zack stretched his legs and relaxed his grip. She wasn"t going anywhere. They might as well be comfortable. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a heck of a day.
The feel of her slender figure tucked against his stirred feelings he"d struggled with for days. She was an exotic beauty when she let her guard down. With her dark eyes against creamy golden skin, everything about her was elegant and rich. Not rich in the ways of the world, but in qualities of devotion, perseverance, and fort.i.tude. She had an inner strength that defied the world. Her fierce love for her daughter touched him to his core. For the first time in his life, he could relate. Because of Chai Yenn, he understood.
She shifted in his arms, a quiet murmur on her upturned lips. Tender, soft lips. Close and warm, her cherry blossom fragrance tantalized and teased. With the pleasant pain of her body against his, Zack wanted her in every sense of the word: in his arms, in his bed, and in his life. But not this way. He quelled the impulse to cover her sleeping mouth with his. Now was not the time. Surprised at the depth of his feelings, he tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and placed a soft kiss on her forehead instead of her lips.
Reality stole his breath. I think I"m falling in love.
Denial came fast and hard. Oh, h.e.l.l no.
Just as quickly, another emotion surfaced, an intense protective instinct to hold on tighter. This woman was different, his feelings for her uncharacteristically pa.s.sionate, so why had his heart suddenly pounded? Why was his mouth dry? Best question of all, why had he ever kissed her in the first place? The pleasant taste of her lingered. It created a craving that never left his mouth. He pressed his lips to her forehead again and closed his eyes. G.o.d, maybe it is love.
A familiar oriental gong vibrated in his pocket, jerking him out of the enlightening reverie.
"Talk to me," he whispered into his cell.
"It"s not Mei"s daughter," David answered promptly.
Zack let out the deep breath he hadn"t known he was holding. "Good to know. I"ll tell her."
"Claire was at the hospital. She"s having a hard time."
"Aren"t we all?" he asked as Mei stirred in his arms, her breathing slow and steady. "How bad is this little girl?"
"She"s in intensive care. Someone spotted her from a tour boat. They"re the ones who pulled her out of the river. A nurse happened to be on board, so she started CPR. By the time the police got there, the girl was breathing on her own. How"s Mei?"
The thought of another baby girl hurt and abused like sweet little Chai and Zhen sickened Zack. He looked into the sleeping face of his charge. Even asleep, she looked angry. Her forehead crinkled into a small V between her brows, and her lips were thin and tight. He smoothed his palm over her arm, wishing he could do more.
"She"s sleeping," he said. "It"s been a tough morning."
If they were lucky, they"d find LiLi today. If not- He pushed the thought from his head. All Zack had to do was infiltrate the foster home and let the Tattle Tales he intended to plant do the rest of the job. The whole faade seemed futile, but they had no other leads. With the trail a month old by the time Mei"s plight was made known to the local authorities, there wasn"t much else to go on.
An AMBER Alert now broadcast regularly. Authentic police detectives had interviewed Mei, and The TEAM"s mission had become twofoldfind LiLi, and bring the perverse business down at all cost.
Mei seemed to take it well when he told her David"s heartbreaking news, but then she"d broken down again. The rest of their evening turned into a roller coaster with Mei calm one minute, tearful the next. There was no joy to be had when another child lay fighting for her life in the hospital, only grat.i.tude it wasn"t LiLi.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Mei eyed him as he shifted his car into park. "I mean, you"re not a father. You"ve never had a child."
"No problem," he replied. It was just a house full of kids. How tough could it be? "You ready?" He hurried to help her out of the car, c.o.c.king his elbow for her to take.
"Yes." She linked her hand at the crook of his elbow. She was different today. Maybe it was because they were going to meet some of the girls, or maybe because she"d gotten a good night"s sleep. He didn"t know why. It just felt good not being a target for a change.
"Comm check." David"s calm voice sounded in his earpiece.