"Their real parents?"
"They"re not all orphans. Some of those little girls were abducted from China. They need to go home. They have families who love them."
Okay. That was news. He hadn"t thought of that possibility. He"d been focused on saving one baby girl. That"s all. He"d developed a plan where she"d be part of his life, where he"d take care of her, feed her, keep her safe and clean, and make her smile every single day. A good nanny could take care of her while he worked, but he"d be home every night. The boutique where he and Mei had stopped had a cute pink bed, perfect for his little girl. He had a plan. It would work. It just didn"t include parents.
Another little girl came to mind. "LiLi wasn"t there, was she?"
"No, but I didn"t think we"d find her in this mess, did you?"
"No, of course not." Zack groaned. "How"s Mei? We need to find her daughter, Boss. You know that-"
"You let me worry about that, okay?"
"Yeah, but she"s been through so much, and-"
"Knock it off. My job is to locate LiLi. Your job is to listen to your doctors and take care of yourself. Can you do that without s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g it up?"
Zack shrugged. "Does she know yet?"
"I told her. Mei"s a tough little gal, Zack. Don"t underestimate her. Do you feel like sitting up for awhile?" Alex raised the hospital bed without waiting for an answer.
"Thanks, Boss." Sitting up didn"t hurt this time, but it didn"t help either. The baby girl had slipped through his hands. LiLi was still missing. Mei would be crushed.
"Don"t look so glum. You"re alive. Mei"s alive, and you"re a hero."
He didn"t feel like a hero.
"You need anything before I leave? A drink? Pain meds? Anything at all?"
"No thanks." Zack fingered the call b.u.t.ton with his clumsy, gauze-covered mitts. The joy of living through attempted murder faded with the knowledge of failing Mei. Maybe he"d ask for a pain med after all.
"How about a little company?"
"No." Zack shook his head to protest when Alex opened the door.
There stood Mei with her arms full of a pink-checkered baby blanket. She came to Zack"s bedside and set the bundle on his lap. "I have someone who wants to meet you," she said.
The sweetest little girl with dark almond-shaped eyes blinked up at him. She didn"t smile. She didn"t coo. Her hair glistened clean and black around a pink baby face, and she smelled refreshingly of baby powder. All his pent-up worry turned to relief when he grabbed that little gal and pressed her to his face. She resisted for a moment, but let herself be hugged.
"I"d like you to meet your little girl, Song Chang. Baby Song, this is the big strong man who rescued you and all your little friends. This is Agent...This is Zack." Mei"s voice sounded soft and motherly, until she burst into tears. "I thought I"d lost you."
He gathered her into his bed alongside Baby Song, overcome and d.a.m.ned happy. Zack couldn"t speak, just held those special ladies while Mei tried to compose herself, and Baby Song watched with serious eyes.
"You could have told me," he muttered to Alex.
"Nah. This is better." Alex had taken up residence on the only available chair. "You deserved a little scare after scaring the h.e.l.l out of me."
"Yeah, well." Zack choked. They were here. His girls.
"The Tigers dropped you through a hole in the floor of an abandoned warehouse over in Anacostia. They roughed you up pretty good first. Dropped Mei on top of you. Landing on you protected her fall, but it didn"t help you much."
"How"d you find us?"
Mei raised her hand shyly. "You told me to get help, remember?"
Zack shook his head. He couldn"t be certain of anything. "h.e.l.l of an op, Boss."
"You"re telling me? I was in a meeting with the FBI, Interpol and the State Department when you got through to Mother."
"I do remember that." Zack rubbed the bruised side of his face with the back of one hand. "Someone clocked me. I think it was Jun."
"She won"t be running any more orphanages where she"s going."
"You got Richards, didn"t you?"
Alex could not have looked more pleased. "The police caught up with him at his place in Georgetown. He thought he could work a deal. Even made a statement to the press about how it was all a big misunderstanding, how he was innocent."
"Innocent, my a.s.s," Zack growled, pulling Mei closer. She looked so pretty there in his arms. Who"d a thought?
Alex chuckled. "Funny thing. Ms. Bradford is Reginald Richards" aunt. She took very meticulous care of her nephew"s business. FBI"s got names, addresses, even pictures of a few couples involved in the scandal. She kept track of the children who got sick or died, and how they disposed of bodies. Made our job a lot easier, but it sure surprised the h.e.l.l out of Richards."
Mei shivered, and Zack automatically kissed her forehead. Her hand on his chest felt warm and good. Baby Song watched with big wide eyes. She hadn"t made a peep yet.
"Do you remember me, little girl?" Zack asked. Of course she didn"t, but he had to ask. "What happens now, Boss?"
Alex had a funny light in his eye as his gaze shifted from Mei to Song and back to Zack again. "The Office of Family Reunification is all over it. They"ve already made contact with several Chinese families and are bringing them Stateside to be reunited with their daughters. It"s national news. I"m proud of you."
"How many girls were recovered?"
"Over three hundred at the last count."
Zack leaned back into his pillow. Praise from Alex meant a lot, but the thought of all those little girls caught up in the ugly business was more than he could stomach. Baby Song chose that moment to reach her fingers to his nose, watching him closely while she cranked it one way and then the other. Mei made an unusual noise that sounded a lot like a giggle.
"Hey, you," Zack murmured as Song continued her exploration of his face. She patted his cheek with the softest angel touch that melted some of his heartache away. "It"s very nice to meet you, Baby Song."
"Ah, for h.e.l.l sakes." Alex stood, scrubbed a hand over his head, shaking his emotions off his face. "I"m going back to work." He turned to Mei. "I hope you know nothing"s changed. We"re still looking for your daughter."
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"No, Mei. Thank you. You saved our guy"s life." He paused, one foot out the door and one foot in. "Almost forgot. You had company at your apartment last night, Zack. The Tigers tore it apart."
"They what? Was Jake there?" Zack startled.
"No one was there, but it"s a crime scene right now. You can"t go home until the police release it. Then it needs to be repaired."
"What"d they do to it? How"d they-?" Zack automatically thumped his hip for his wallet, keys, and cell phone, which of course were not there. "They took my wallet. They"ve got my ID-"
"Relax. We recovered it. Mother"s holding it for you."
"Why"d they do that?"
"According to all their BS graffiti, they want you to stop messing with their boss."
"I"m not messing with their boss."
Alex c.o.c.ked a quizzical eyebrow. "Yeah, you are. Richards, Debargio, Espinosa, the Tigersthey"re all in this together."
Things were starting to line up in Zack"s head. "We can link Tony Brown to Carducci. We can link the Tigers back to Debargio and Espinoza. Want to bet Carducci knows Debargio?"
"I"ll do you one better." Alex was back inside the room. "I just finished the Senate Investigation. Remember that?"
Zack gulped. Oh, yeah. That. It"s a wonder he still had a job.
"Of all the senators on the committee, who do you think voted to sanction me and my business?"
The way Alex"s eyebrow spiked told Zack this was a tasty bit of inside info. "You tell me."
"Does the name Stephen Lord ring any bells?"
"Whoa. The big mouth from New York?" Zack knew Senator Lord by default, and not in a good way. He was a well-educated Yale man from a family of old money. He"d grown up in privileged Hyannis Port, Ma.s.sachusetts, but moved to New York after he lost the bid for governor in his home state. Known for his hard stance against the military, he"d been trounced in the election.
Alex nodded. "One guess who he plays poker with every Tuesday night."
"Carducci?" Zack tried that on for size. "Man, we"ve sure got a lot of players in the game."
"We do. Which means you and Miss Xing will be under lock and key until it"s finished. Todd and Ember are outside. Right now they"re contending with a pesky reporter, but they"ll escort Mei and the baby back to the safe house. You"ll stay there when you"re released. Sound good?"
"Sure." What else could Zack say? Recuperating with Mei and Song nearby sounded like a d.a.m.ned good idea. He looked at her to judge her acceptance of the new plan. "You okay with that?"
She wouldn"t meet his eyes when she answered. "Of course."
Mei was blowing his socks off, as if he"d had any on. The whole experience they"d just lived through had changed everything. Here she lay, contentedly in his arms discussing his moving in with her. Sure, they were in a hospital bed, and he was feeling fairly harmless, but still. Two days ago, she"d have lanced him with one sharp barb and tossed him out with the trash.
"I"ve got work to do," Alex muttered. "Do what your doctor tells you for a change, Zack. Can you handle that?"
He caught the sarcasm. "I"ll try."
"Try hard." Alex shut the door and left.
The silence in the room stretched. Something crazy was happening. Zack couldn"t lose it, but he didn"t want to move too fast, either. Still...he needed help with Song and a woman"s help would be better. Hers would be best.
"Tell me about Song Chang." He changed the subject. "Does she have parents? Do we, ah, I mean do I get to keep her?" If Mei noticed his poor choice of words, she didn"t let on.
"No. Song Chang doesn"t have any parents. She"s out of an orphanage like Chai Yenn. Claire was thrilled that we, umm, you are able to take her." Mei was having as hard a time as he was keeping them separate in her mind. Good to know.
"Claire knows about all this?"
"Oh yes. She"s in the middle of placing hundreds of little girls in legal foster homes right now. I think she wants to adopt you herself. She"s so proud of everything you did."
"We, Mei. Everything we did. Going back to get Song was your idea."
With all their talking, she"d moved into the very personal zone under his chin. His weary heart stuttered for a better reason than death this time. The crazy day on the sidewalk flashed back to his mind, the first time he"d kissed her. She"d surprised him. h.e.l.l, she"d almost knocked him over with the intensity of her kiss, not something he was likely to forget. Here she was again. Fragile and strong. Mean and gentle. So close, and yet so far.
He tilted his head down, just in case she needed rea.s.surance, or whatever it was she"d needed that day. He still wasn"t sure. "Would it be okay if I-?"
"Yes." She covered his mouth with hers, her fingers on the side of his jaw, pulling him close and ending his question. Ah, the kiss hurt like crazy, but he wanted more. The sweetest tongue traced over his st.i.tched lips, blessing him, tasting him, and he returned the favor.
She eased back, her hands cupping his cheeks. "I"m sorry. I shouldn"t have-"
His turn. Using his arm for leverage behind her head, he forced her face back to his and squashed her doubt away between their lips. Now was not the time for much physical interaction, but he wanted more of this luscious woman. Hunger for her roared over him, exhausting the very limited reserve of strength he had left. As he ended the contact, she snuggled against him and he was sure. There would be another time. But for now, Baby Song waited in the crook of his other arm like she didn"t know how to be a real baby, and another little girl was still missing.
"I"m sorry we didn"t find LiLi," he whispered.
Mei placed a finger on his swollen lips. "Yet."
TWENTY-TWO.
Zack eased onto his feet. He"d only been in the hospital four days, but enough was enough. Time to check out and get back to normal again. His punctured lung caused a little more trouble than his concussion, but he was tough. A Marine didn"t admit to pain, and he sure as h.e.l.l didn"t waste time lying around in hospitals. He wasn"t going to start now. By the time he"d dressed, which was a joke with bandaged fingers, Mei arrived, and just in time.
"Good. You"re here. Could I ask you a favor?" he said, knowing the next question would push the limits of their relationship.
"Sure." She came straight to him, her eyes soft with concern.
"Could I ask you to b.u.t.ton my shirt?" That ought to give her a hint of what else he needed.
"Of course." She reached for his collar, her fingers gently b.u.mping his chin and neck while she fastened the first b.u.t.ton. By then her eyes had drifted down to his jeans and the next dilemma. He could go without tucking his shirt into his pants, but they needed to be zipped.
He watched her, breathing the fragrance of cherry blossom and the very feminine essence that was Mei. All of her clothes were shabby, except for what Alex had procured for Amelia Burns. This woman needed a new wardrobe and a smile. Her fingers trembled and she had a cute way of biting her top lip, pulling the left side into her teeth only to pull it out and do it all over again. For some crazy reason, their close proximity unnerved her.
"I never thought I"d be asking you to b.u.t.ton my shirt," he whispered, reaching both arms around her to rest his bulky hands at her back. "Unb.u.t.ton, maybe."
Her breath hitched at his gentle innuendo. She glanced at his zipper. "I suppose you need help for...that, too."
He had to pull her in close so she couldn"t see his smile. He couldn"t risk hurting her feelings, not as fragile as he knew she was. Any other day, he"d have ventured a salacious grin and an all out "h.e.l.l yeah", but not today and not with Mei. Not yet.
"I hated to ask." He stifled the urge to take his feelings for her to the next level. "I won"t watch."
The soft grunt from her throat told him she didn"t believe him, but he kept his word. Of course, he didn"t have to look to know what was happening when her fingertips grasped the zipper pull, her other hand on the snap, and his body on high alert. The zipper stuck. She tugged harder, pulling the fabric between zipper start to zipper finish taut and stiff. He clenched his sore fingers inside the gauze. Maybe it wasn"t such a great idea.
"It"s stuck," she muttered, leaning down tosee?