Discover Love: Saints Protection & Investigations

by Maryann Jordan

  “I want you to wear my Saint, Charlie. The reason is two-fold, I confess. It is fitted with a tracker and if you are ever in trouble, we can find you.”

  She turned the pendant over, looking at it carefully, before lifting her focus back to him. “And the other reason?” she whispered.

  Luke leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her lips as he breathed, “I want you with me. I want us to discover everything we can about each other. I know that for me…you’re my other half. But I want to make sure that you feel the same way.”

  Dropping the pendant down to her chest, she clasped his cheeks in her hands as she deepened the kiss. Pushing him backward, she spread her body across his without losing his mouth on hers. Grasping his shoulders with her fingers, she shimmied to where her heat was at his crotch.

  Tongues tangling as though in a war for dominance, she finally lifted her head up. An adorable grin escaped as she said, “I could say the same thing about you, so I guess I’m as real as you are.”

  With a roll of his body, Luke pinned her underneath him, making sure they were on the soft grass and not the rocky outcropping. His swollen erection pressed against her core, the desire to be inside overriding every other thought. His hands cupped her face as he rested his weight on his forearms making sure to not crush her.

  Arching her back, she raised her hips, seeking the friction her body was crying out for. Sliding one hand to his ass, she pulled him closer.

  Groaning, Luke kissed her jawline before nuzzling her neck. Nipping his way down, he pressed his mouth between her breasts, wishing the material of her shirt and bra were not in the way. Sliding his hand down to the bottom of her shirt, he inched it upward.

  A flash of self-consciousness ran through her at the thought of being naked outdoors, but with a smile she decided to throw caution to the wind.

  With another roll, she straddled him, replacing his hands on the hem of her t-shirt, whipping it over her head. With a grin, she placed her hands on his shoulders, her hair a silken curtain falling around them.

  His fingers dug into her hips, the sight of her breasts spilling over the tops of her bra. Sliding one hand over the soft skin of her back to cup the back of her head, he pulled her down, fusing his mouth onto hers.

  With the warm, evening sun filtering through the leaves in the trees, high on an overlook at the back of Jack’s property, the two became lost in each other…and found what they had been missing.

  Chapter 18

  Lin stepped out of the black SUV and walked into the Chinese Embassy. Flashing her badge, she made her way down the carpeted hallway, past the paintings and porcelain. She eschewed the elevator and took the stairs instead, jogging up two at a time. Opening the door onto the third floor, she nodded curtly toward the startled guard. Her face passive, she inwardly smiled at the ease with which she had gained access.

  Coming to the end of the hall, she rapped once and then entered Yeng Chow’s office. He looked up and smiled before rising from his seat and extending his hand in greeting.

  “Agent Wang, how nice to see you again.”

  With a nod of her head, she replied, “And you too.” Her sharp eyes quickly assessed the room, its opulence evident in the furniture as well as the artwork on the walls. And the walls have ears…and eyes, I’ll wager. Expecting his office was wired for sound and video, she turned back and offered him a polite, professional smile.

  “What can I do for you today?” he asked.

  “I’ve been assigned to investigate the possible connection between the embassy and a few of the clinics in the area.”

  Lifting his eyebrow, the small man smiled. “Connection?”

  “Just a formality, I’m sure,” she stated, keeping her voice as neutral as possible. Pulling out a folder from her slim, leather briefcase, she set it on his immaculate desk and pushed it over with her fingertips. “Here is a list of a few medical clinics in the area. I’d like you to look the list over and see if there are any connections between the clinics and the embassy.”

  “What type of connections are you looking for?”

  “The Bureau has information concerning possible wrongdoings in at least one or more clinics with Chinese ties.”

  “And the informant?”

  “No longer a…possibility for identification of the specifics.”

  Nodding at the information passed discreetly, he smiled. “I will be more than happy to take a look at the list for you. Of course, it is outside my normal duties, but I will certainly get to it as time allows.”

  Bending her head slightly toward him, she stood and walked to the door, with Yeng on her heels. Taking her hand in his, he bowed low.

  Deciding to take the elevator, she walked to the end of the hall before turning to look over her shoulder. Yeng was still in the doorway to his office, his head bent over the file she had given him. As she stepped into the elevator and turned back around, he was piercing her with his stare as the doors closed.

  *

  Penny used the low security at night to slip back through the clinic to the wing where David’s room was. Peeking inside to assure he was alone, she made her way to his bed. No longer coughing, she felt his forehead, pleased to find it cool to the touch.

  Waking suddenly, he jumped. “Geez, you scared me,” he exclaimed.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I’m much better, so you don’t have to keep checking on me.”

  Staring at him, she blanched. “What’s wrong? You don’t sound like you.”

  “Nothing, I just…nothing,” he complained.

  Sitting down on the edge of his bed, she stared at him. “David, come on. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I can tell something’s not right.”

  He averted his eyes for a moment before finally looking at her. “It’s just…well, I was talking to the doctor today. He asked about us…about you and me.”

  Rearing back, she narrowed her eyes. “Why was he asking about us?”

  “Just about us not having a home…us living on the street. He wanted to know if I’d like to make some money…so I could take better care of you.”

  A sneaky-sick feeling began to crawl through Penny as she watched David appear to battle with something. “How, David? How did he tell you to make money?”

  He lifted his gaze to her, his eyes moving over her thin face. “Penny, I’d give anything to be able to offer you a little place for us to live. Then we could get jobs and pay the rent. Actually have our own little home…even if it was just a single room.”

  Licking her lips, she shook her head slightly in confusion. “David, we’re only sixteen. Who’s gonna give us money? Who’s gonna rent to us or give us jobs?”

  “I’m almost seventeen,” he stated, a slight pout on his face. “Don’t you see, Penny, if we had the start up money to tide us over, we could have a place to live until everything else fell into place.”

  “You’re not making sense. Tell me what he offered,” she demanded.

  “You know you can live with only one kidney, right?” David asked.

  The silence in the room was deafening as she struggled to comprehend what he was talking about.

  “One…one kidney?”

  David’s mouth twisted in a grimace, even as his eyes appeared hopeful. “There’s a waiting list for people who need kidneys and will pay good money to get one. He said that his clinic can help with that. Instead of making people wait years to be on some list, he can match up donors with those in need. And he said that they’ll pay top dollar for a kidney, especially one from a young person.”

  Realization slammed into Penny and she jumped up from the bed, her face a mask of horror. “You can’t be serious? He’s trying to get you to sell a body part?” Stumbling backward, she bumped into a chair, causing it to scrape against the floor. The noise startled them both.

  “Shhh,” he admonished. “Do you want to get caught in here?”

  “I…I don’t know what to s
ay. You can’t do this. You can’t let them take a healthy organ from you. What if you need it? Or need it down the road? Or something goes wrong?”

  Patting the mattress beside him, he coaxed her over. Taking her hand in his, he said, “Penny, if I could give you a place to live with me that was out of the cold and the rain, I’d sell my soul.” Giving a slight chuckle, he said, “But I only have to sell a kidney.”

  “This is madness,” she finally said, chest heaving with emotion. Moving up on the bed, she lay beside him, allowing him to curl his arms around her, pulling her tightly to his side.

  “I don’t have to make up my mind now,” he said, “but I will soon. If I agree, then I get to stay here in the clinic while they make sure I’m healthy. They’ll treat me well…feed me…give me medicine…and then I can recuperate here after the surgery. And I got his word that you can stay the whole time too.”

  “I don’t want to live without you,” she vowed, the youthful promise of love overwhelming to the young woman who had had little love in her life.

  “I’ll be fine,” he promised. With Penny in his arms, David made up his mind. A kidney for the chance to provide for her…it was a no-brainer. It’ll be fine…nothing will go wrong.

  *

  Yeng Chow descended the staircase, hidden discretely in an empty supply closet. At the bottom of the stairs he walked to the wall, pressing the switch that sent the wall sliding to the side. A musty smell assaulted him, but he quickly closed the door behind him as he continued forward. The dark hallway led down several twists and turns until he came to another door, this one leading to more stairs. Smiling, he utilized the old steam tunnels beneath the city that made for the perfect clandestine walkways. At the top, he entered a side door to the Cheung clinic and made his way unobstructed to the second floor, walking along the waxed, tiled floors. Stopping at the door labeled, Director Cheung, he stepped inside.

  A pretty assistant sat in her seat behind her desk and smiled as he walked in. With a bow in her direction he proceeded to the door to her side. Opening it, he smiled at the incongruent surroundings.

  Dark paneling lined three of the walls with heavy, built-in bookcases filling the last wall. Brocade draperies in red and gold hung along the sides of the windows, with matching valances covering the tops. A massive mahogany desk filled one side of the room, while a red sofa and upholstered chairs took up the rest of the space. Sitting behind the desk was Jian Cheung.

  Staring at the powerful man running the successful clinic, he bowed before greeting him. “Good afternoon, cousin.”

  *

  Charlie sat at Luke’s dining room table staring at the computer screen before leaning back in a huff. Her legs were curled up under her but the seat was hard, causing her foot to fall asleep. Standing, she stretched her arms above her head and heard her back crack. The house was empty since Luke had left earlier to go to Jack’s for a video-conference with someone from the FBI. He said Jack trusted her, but she had to accept that whatever was being discussed was not for her ears. He offered to take her so that she could work upstairs since Bethany would be there working on her wedding venue business, but Charlie had declined. Sometimes, it was just nice to work alone with no other distractions.

  After getting a cold bottle of water from the refrigerator, she glanced back down at the notes scattered across the table in front of her. Taking a long swig of the refreshing liquid, she set the bottle to the side and sat back down to work.

  She had hacked into the computer systems of over twenty clinics in the northern Virginia area, but had been unable to determine if any of them were the clinic Eli had discovered. She considered narrowing her search to those with directors of Asian heritage, but was afraid that was too narrow.

  She moved over to the notes on runaways and homeless persons being exploited for human trafficking. So, how would a clinic make contact with these people if they wanted to use them for their nefarious gains?

  Looking out the window into Luke’s back yard dotted with trees, she was filled with the desire to get out of the house. She found a hammock tied between two small trees and could not wait to try it out. Gingerly sitting down, she spread her arms out for balance as she swung her legs up. The hammock teetered precariously until she managed to wiggle into the middle. Lying back, she watched the clouds float through the sky between the tall trees.

  The breeze gently blew across her body and she dropped one foot to the ground so that she could use it to push the swing. Relaxing, Charlie smiled. Luke’s right…sometimes you have to get outside and just feel. Within a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep, dreams sliding in and out as thoughts of the investigation swirled about her mind.

  Startling suddenly, Charlie bolted upright, shaking the hammock. Flinging her arms out to the side, she remembered where she was as she steadied the swinging motion. Wow, I must have been really tired to have fallen asleep.

  Surprised that she had napped, she ungracefully stood up and walked back toward the house, her mind clear and fresh from the beautiful autumn day. Sucking in one last deep breath of crisp air, she made her way back into the kitchen. Walking into the dining room, she looked down at her notes, an idea filling her thoughts. How would a clinic discover homeless persons or runaways? By offering them health services…for free!

  Charlie plopped back down into the chair, tucking her legs up under her, and refined her searches with renewed vigor.

  Chapter 19

  Luke patched Nick into their secure video-conference and, after greeting him, allowed the camera to pan the room, introducing the agent to the rest of the Saints. Moving the camera back to him, he immediately started questioning Nick on Eli’s murder investigation.

  Appearing momentarily uncomfortable, Nick began reviewing his findings. “I won’t go back over what you already know, but I’ve been able to uncover a few more facts in the case. When Eli Frederick first contacted the FBI, his call went into a general call-center that handles the first line of communication. The Bureau gets hundreds of calls, emails, messages, texts a day. You name it, and someone calls it in. He left no name and wouldn’t give much info so it ended up in a database for future reference if he contacted them again through the same number.

  “The next time, he gave his first name and more information. It was passed to the next level and an agent spoke with him. Based on the information he gave, he was assigned to an agent to deal with him.” Nick stared at the camera, his hard face not moving except for the tick in his jaw. “The agent assigned to him was Lin Wang. They spoke on the phone at least three times that she recorded and then a meeting was arranged.”

  “What can you tell us about that arrangement?” Luke asked.

  “It was to take place in Baltimore. Eli had chosen a library room in a public library. It appeared he craved privacy as well as a public place to meet.”

  “But he didn’t give his address?”

  Shaking his head, Nick said, “No, but later, with his full name given, I’m sure Ms. Wang had his address pulled up immediately.”

  “Who would have known about the meeting?”

  “Obviously Ms. Wang, her partner, and her direct supervisor, for sure. And quite frankly, if they felt it was warranted, then a team could have known about it ahead of time. The meeting was to be with just her, but that doesn’t mean she went alone. In fact, I’m sure her partner would have been close.”

  “So any number of people could have known about the meeting?” Luke confirmed.

  “Absolutely. Just because he was dealing with Ms. Wang and then was compromised, doesn’t mean she was the one who arranged to have him neutralized.” He leaned back in his chair, the wood squeaking under his weight. “It just feels wrong to make the assumption she was involved.”

  “We have to investigate every angle,” Monty reminded.

  “Yeah, I know.” Heaving another sigh, Nick continued. “According to the report, when he did not show at the appointed time, Agent Wang drove to his house after gaining approval from
her superior. She also arranged to have her partner meet her there. There was no answer, either at the door or with his phone. She walked around the side, saw blood through a window, and called for backup.”

  “We’ve read the official report of the investigation—”

  “How the hell did you get your hands on that?” Nick asked, his eyes widening before narrowing in anger.

  Luke did not reply and, after a tense moment, Nick shook his head. “I guess you’ve got your ways. Probably not legal,” he grumbled. Shifting in his seat again, he asked, “So what do you want to know?”

  “Who was collecting the evidence at the crime scene?”

  “The team that responded to Agent Wang’s call.”

  Jack spoke up as Luke panned the camera around to him. “But with Agent Wang there by herself until her partner and the team showed up, she could have tampered with the evidence.” He quickly added, “I’m not saying she did…just that she could have.”

  Pressing his lips together, Nick nodded. “Yeah, it’s possible.”

  “Do we know her movements two hours before the meeting?” Monty asked. Seeing Nick’s hesitation, he added, “You’ve seen what we’ve got. We’ve got a witness who was at the scene two hours before the meeting was to take place. The witness saw three people, including one Asian woman who was wearing a white blouse and a dark jacket. She was the one who killed Eli. On top of that, she was wearing a badge!”

  “I know, I know,” Nick growled. “Look, I don’t know Agent Wang personally, so I’ve got no preconceived ideas of her innocence or guilt, but I’ll be damned before I turn against a fellow Agent unless I know she’s guilty.”

  Luke’s quiet voice broke through the deafening silence. “And how will you know her guilt until you try to prove her innocence?”

  “That’s not the way it works,” Nick bit out. “Innocent until proven guilty, remember?”

  “I’ve got a woman who has been on the run for the past five months because of someone’s guilt!” Luke shouted. “Her life has been turned upside down and she is still being chased because of what she saw. So I don’t give a fuck if you hate checking into a fellow agent…are you going to help us or not?”