Zack (In the Company of Snipers Book 3)

by Irish Winters

  “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?

  “Mr. and Mrs. Quentin Burns to see Attorney Richards.” Mei stepped right up and took charge, like that was a surprise.

  “You’ll need to fill out the paperwork and agree to a background check.” The secretary handed Mei a clipboard with several forms. “When can you return for your follow-up appointment?”

  “Why do we need another appointment?” Zack asked.

  “Young man.” Ms. Bradford scowled sternly, not a hint of a smile in her voice. “Child adoption is a serious undertaking. It will take several appoi
ntments to work through all the legalities. Besides, we can’t approve you and your wife until we know for certain that you can afford the retainer fee now, can we?”

  Zack cocked an eyebrow. “Fee?”

  “Oh, yes.” She nodded as if to confirm her words. “There’s a one million dollar fee, upfront and non-refundable. When you make your selection, there will be an additional charge depending on the age of the girl. Didn’t you know?”

  “Tomorrow,” Mei interrupted before Zack could phrase a proper rebuttal to that kind of robbery. “We can be back tomorrow. First thing in the morning, if it’s okay.”

  Ms. Bradford checked her schedule. “We have an opening at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Will that work for you?”

  “We’ll take it.”

  “Whew.” Todd blew out a long drawn out sigh in Zack’s ear. “A million bucks? Boss ain’t gonna like that.”

  Zack grunted. He didn’t have much sympathy for Alex right now. Let him pay. It might teach him for being such a smart ass.

  “Honey.” Mei stabbed him with those stiletto eyeballs of hers. “Can you help me?” She nodded him over to one of the chairs in the waiting area, the clipboard and pen in her hand.

  No endearments came to his mind, at least none he could say out loud. They sat together and began filling out the paperwork with their fake address and personal information while Agent Chandler snickered. Zack gave his earpiece five hard taps with his index finger.

  “Ouch!” Todd cussed. “Knock it off. You’re hurting my eardrums.”

  “Good,” Zack muttered quietly. “Now shut the hell up.”

  “Copy that,” Todd replied in a much softer voice.

  “I don’t know what to put here,” Mei whispered, pointing to the line where she was supposed to indicate the age and gender of the child they wanted to adopt. The frightened mother was back, and darn it anyway, Zack’s heart dropped right on cue. How did she do that? One minute he didn’t want to be anywhere near her, and the next he was ready to kill anyone who intended to hurt her. She had him so twisted, his brain hurt trying to keep up.

  “Female. Six years old,” he said brusquely. “That’s who you want, isn’t it?”

  It must have been the hard reality of having to write LiLi’s age and gender down on paper that shook Mei. She lowered her head and–damn it anyway, he felt like an ass again. He’d made her cry.

  “Do you want me to do it?” he asked, more gently.

  She shook her head and dashed the weakness away. The rest of their phony financial information took no time at all. Zack cleared eight figures yearly–on paper.

  “There.” Mei handed the completed forms to Mrs. Bradford. “We’re ready to see Mr. Richards now.”

  “Oh, you won’t see him today. My goodness, no.” She shook her head, her face wrinkled like a dried prune. “What do you think tomorrow’s appointment is for? Be sure to bring the money. Small denominations. No cashier checks.”

  “But I thought,” Mei choked. “I thought....”

  “Let me get this right.” Zack secured Mei inside the crook of his arm before she fell apart and blew the op. “You want us to bring the money before we get to meet Richards?”

  “I need to see it. Yes.” Ms. Bradford sniffed like that was obvious.

  “But we’re here now,” Mei argued.

  “But he isn’t,” Ms. Bradford retorted.

  “But you said—”

  “It’s okay,” Zack intervened. “Tomorrow’s fine.”

  “But I thought—” Mei couldn’t finish.

  “Come on, Amelia.” He turned his anxious wife toward the door. The last thing they needed was for Hagatha to make an appearance and destroy what little good they’d accomplished. “We have plenty to do today. Tomorrow is fine.”

  She finally spit it out once they were on the sidewalk. “I thought we’d be able to see some of the children.”

  “Would’ve been nice.” He opened the car door and waved her in.

  “All he’s doing is selling babies,” she whispered as she folded her long legs into the passenger seat. He tried hard not to notice how elegant those black silk stockings looked in his car. The high heels Ember had selected for Mei didn’t look so bad either. What is it about high heels on long slender and very attractive legs? They made Hagatha look good again. Of course the rest of his body noticed.

  “What’d you expect?” He needed to keep some emotional distance between them. “The man’s as crooked as they come. He’s not exactly running a family friendly business.”

  “But....” She fastened her seatbelt as Zack shut her door. She was crushed. He got that. He just hadn’t expected to feel the same way.

  “Todd.” Zack called his surveillance crew. “Today’s a no-go. Tell Alex to put a million together. You heard the lady. Small bills. We’ll be back in the morning.”

  “Already advised the Boss. Said no problem. Swing by the office in the morning—”

  “We’re swinging by now.”

  “Copy that.” The seriousness of the op must have gotten through Todd’s hard head. He’d stopped teasing.

  THIRTEEN

  “I’ve been thinking about what you asked about LiLi’s father and his parents.” Mei swiveled in her seat to face him. “Do you think Christopher’s father might be behind it?”

  “Alex is checking that lead.” Zack studied the traffic in his side mirror before he pulled away from the curb. The pleasure of driving his car instantly soothed him. There’s nothing like four on the floor to make a man forget he’s on a blind date with a woman who doesn’t even have a nice personality going for her. “Did you know your boyfriend moved to England to pursue a graduate course in oncology?”

  “No, I didn’t, but...Excuse me? Alex is checking what lead? Are you checking on me, too?” Mei’s voice went from mildly pleased to openly hostile as the questions poured out of her mouth. “You guys didn’t believe a word I said, did you?”

  Zack grunted. “You really want me to answer that, Miss ICE agent? Or are you Miss Metro PD right now? Or maybe you work for the local paper? The FBI? Hell, I don’t know. Tell me which one of you I should believe.”

  Mei did something he hadn’t expected. She chuckled, a very little coughing, choking kind of a chuckle. It wasn’t a laugh by any means, but it was different. “I guess I’d have double-checked my story too, huh?”

  “You think?” He forced his eyes to the road. Mei was quicksand, and he was tired of not being able to catch solid footing around her.

  “So. What have you found out about him and his parents? Are they involved? Did they do it?” She leaned onto the console, bullying him for answers. Mei was ten kinds of impatient, pushy, demanding, and, oh yeah, impatient all over again.

  “Man, you never quit do you?”

  “Would you?” She bristled.

  “We’re checking, okay? For hell’s sake, give us time to do our job. You might not believe it, but everyone in my office is on your side, and some of us are working exclusively on your case. Hell, I got married, and I don’t even recall popping the damned question.”

  “I really do appreciate everything you are doing to help me,” she muttered.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He blustered as if angry. “It’s all I dreamed it could be.”

  “But it’s not enough.”

  Zack bit his lip to keep his big mouth shut. Nothing would ever be enough for this woman. He got that. He understood. Really, he did. She wanted her daughter back, and until then everyone around her was going to be miserable. He just didn’t want to be her very own personal whipping boy.

  “I’ll never get married,” she said quietly.

  That came out of the blue. He ended the conversation before it started. “Me either.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m smarter than that,” he shot back.

  Two blocks down the road he spotted the tail, a black Lincoln sedan following at a respectable distance, but following nonetheless. He made a quick right turn and parked curbs
ide. Oddly, a baby boutique happened to be in the right place at the right time.

  “Since we’re adopting, let’s go shopping for some baby stuff.” Before she got a word out of her mouth, Zack was out of the car. While he ran around it to open her door, he rang the boys in the surveillance van. “Hey, Todd. You still there?”

  “Whatcha need?”

  “I’m two blocks north of our last location. Think I’ve got company. Got a black Lincoln on my six. Check it out?”

  “You bet.”

  Mei’s eyes were wide with questions when he opened her door, but he cut her off. “Humor me. We’ve got someone watching. Let’s make it look good.”

  He pulled her up and out of the car. Unexpectedly, her high heels did not handle the curb very well. She fell into his arms, a nice surprise.

  “You’re going to have to do better than that,” he whispered as he swung her onto the sidewalk, enjoying the feel and weight of her delicate body.

  Mei hugged him with a trifle more affection, her hand on his arm while glancing down the street.

  “No,” he ordered, his index finger to her chin as he redirected her gaze toward him. “Don’t look at them. Just me.”

  So she did, surprising him yet again. She really could be obedient.

  Zing. He looked down into those mysterious dark eyes, suddenly holding Mei the way a husband would hold a wife. Tenderly. Gently. For a fraction of a second she looked up, her eyes two dark pools of secrets he didn’t know yet. Her breath caught. So much worry and pain shone in those dark pools, and something else. Trust. She’d finally found someone she could trust. Him.

  Zack gulped at the revelation. All at once, it was important to untangle the hard knot at the back of her head, to feel the silk of her raven hair falling through his fingers. More than anything else, he wanted to see her smile again, to hear her really laugh. Standing there on the sidewalk of Rosslyn, Virginia, Zack just wanted Mei to be happy.

  Heat radiated from the delicate fingertips on his chest. The scent of cherry blossoms washed over him like an invitation. The tiniest glimmer of hope materialized.

  As she leaned in slowly, her chin tilted upward. The distance vanished between them. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Her right thigh warmed his left thigh and he was very aware of her hip. The busy street noise faded. His lips brushed hers, just asking, just wishing. So soft and willing. She relaxed against him with a sigh, her hands circling his neck. Tenderness for this woman exploded in his heart.