by Gennita Low
“You did calculate the off chance of it happening, though, or you wouldn’t have given me the locator,” Vivi pointed out. T. sometimes seemed psychic when it came to preparation for the unexpected. “So why the worry, Chief?”
“You’re a friend, Viv. And I know Dilaver.” T. tapped the divider between the front seat and the back, letting the driver know they were ready to go. “I was glad when I heard Lieutenant Zeringue had gone off after you. Here, have a drink, darling.”
Vivi turned to catch the last sight of Jazz talking to Cucumber as the car turned. “Dilaver caught me by surprise,” she admitted. She only did it because this was her chief; she hated acknowledging any weaknesses to anyone, but it would have come up during debriefing anyway. “The situation was sticky but I got out of it without killing him. It would have ended our operation if Jazz had canceled him.”
“Not necessarily. I have contingency plans.”
That didn’t surprise her. “But it would have been problematic,” Vivi said.
T. smiled slightly. “One less Dilaver in this world…” She shrugged offhandedly.
Vivi relaxed against the leather seat of the car, wincing slightly. The skin on her back felt dry and stretched, and the scratches were beginning to sting. “You have taught me that a known enemy is better than an unknown one. A new Dilaver would be less predictable in our calculations, if there is such a thing as a predictable killer.”
“What happened to your back?”
Vivi sighed. She had hoped T. wouldn’t notice. “I fell and the ground was rocky,” she said carefully. Maybe changing the subject would help. “Update me on the operation—how are the girls? Tell me about Masked Man.”
T. studied her for a long moment, then as if she was satisfied that Vivi wasn’t really injured, she nodded. “I’m sending a Medic to check on you before debriefing. The operation was a success. None of the girls was injured and they are now in a safe house. As for our prisoner, there’s quite a bit to tell, the most interesting of which is his identity.”
“Who is he?”
“Our man claims to be one of the Triad brothers. Not the big three, but one of them, anyhow. He gave me a lot of interesting information that I still need to verify but he wouldn’t disclose anything about Sia-Sia till you return. He can be an asset to us.”
“Do you really believe what he’s telling us?” Curiosity filled Vivi. Why was he so adamant about keeping that information from her when he could have told her all this time? “He’s still playing games.”
“Of course. That’s why I kind of like him. Fearlessness is good for an asset, yes? And a warped sense of humor.” T. lightly touched Vivi’s arm. “I just want to keep you prepared, darling. Just in case Sia-Sia is already dead. That would explain why he chose not to contact you until I showed up. Right now he might just be having a last bit of revenge for your setting up that trap.”
Vivi silently agreed. Sia-Sia could very well be dead all these years. But at least she would know for sure.
“I can’t wait to talk to Masked Man,” she told her chief. “Does he have a name?”
“He calls himself Armando Chang.”
At a GEM safe house at the edge of town, T. gave Vivi the keys to the upstairs apartment. Hot shower. Glorious sudsy soap. A thick fluffy bathrobe. T. sent up some food with a medic, who efficiently cleaned the deeper scratches with iodine to prevent infection. As expected, the shower relaxed Vivi even more, and she splashed her face with cold water.
She studied herself in the mirror. There were shadows under her eyes. Her lips looked and felt bruised. She hoped T. wouldn’t notice that. T.’s ability to probe everything out of someone was downright uncomfortable, and if Vivi could help it, she would rather leave out certain events from the night before.
She stifled a yawn. She would probably be less tired if she hadn’t had marathon sex. No rest for the wicked, she told her reflection in the bathroom, and frowned severely. That stupid dreamy smile popping up on her lips had to go. This wasn’t the time to think about—she sighed—how her man didn’t wear any underwear.
A knock at the door jolted Vivi out of her daydreaming. She briskly wiped her hands on the towel, determinedly pushing wayward thoughts out of her mind.
“Come on in,” she called. T. handed her some clothes. “I guess you won’t mind if we burn whatever that’s left of your jungle clothing,” she said dryly. “It was very nice of Jazz to give you his shirt.”
Vivi avoided meeting T.’s keen eyes as she pretended interest in the jeans and shirt. “Yes,” she said, keeping her answer short for now.
“He must really care about you. It isn’t easy to run after a speeding truck and hang on to the back for hours.”
Vivi mumbled something as she pulled the shirt over her head.
“So did he help you get over your abhorrence of military men?” T. drawled.
Keeping her face bland, Vivi lifted her hair out of the shirt. T.’s eyes glimmered with suppressed laughter, daring her to tell a direct lie. “He’s different,” Vivi finally admitted. Then she shrugged. “But he’s still leaving after the operation.”
“Darling, don’t be so negative.” T. headed for the door. “Let’s meet Mr. Chang downstairs.”
The thought of Jazz leaving was painful. Vivi shook her head. What was the matter with her? She was in the middle of an assignment. And she was also this close to finding Sia-Sia—maybe. To distract herself, she purposely brought up the list of things that needed her attention. Dealing with the Masked Man. Debriefing. Then tomorrow she had to deal with Juliana’s cut-off list. There was so much to do.
“Is he violent?” Vivi asked when they paused outside a room.
“No. In fact, I left the door unlocked today.” T. knocked.
“Don’t you think that might encourage him to escape?” Vivi asked.
“Come in,” a voice said from inside. T. smiled at Vivi. “Having seen his remarkable disappearing skills, I had a hunch he could have escaped whenever he wanted.”
She followed T. into the room. Armando Chang was lounging on the sofa watching television without the sound on. He had the remote in one hand, clicking it rapidly.
“Hello, Tess,” he greeted. His smile disappeared. “Hello again, Vivienne.”
Vivi didn’t hide her surprise. “You’re the waiter at the hotel!”
He was younger than she had thought, too—probably mid-twenties. He nodded. “Yes.”
She turned to T. “Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“That very day? When we were lunching?”
“Well, I tested him when I first bumped into him—it was before your arrival, darling—and he refused to trip. So I tested him again at the table. He was a pretty good actor but his reflexes were a bit faster than normal.” T. smiled at him. “That’s meant as a compliment.”
Armando Chang’s lips quirked. Like Vivi, he was of mixed blood, his features an exotic mixture of East and West. He had deep-set black eyes, with a strong nose and jawline. His high cheekbones accentuated his masculine yet sensual lips. He appeared quite at home on the sofa as if he hadn’t been thoroughly vetted by T. That in itself was noteworthy because T. didn’t just interrogate. She could, if she chose, exhaust a mind.
“How long have you known about me?” Vivi asked.
He directed those intense dark eyes at her. “No apologies for kicking me in the groin?” he countered, mockery in his voice.
She arched a brow. “I don’t like people walking in and out of my apartment without my permission. All these little hints that you keep throwing at me—my patience is wearing thin.”
Armando turned to T. “She isn’t like you, Tess,” he remarked. “She gets personal.”
T. sat down at the far corner of the room. “Careful there,” she warned lightly. “She’s one of my best students.”
“In that case, my apologies,” he said smoothly, not sounding the least bit sorry. He turned back to Vivi. “Please be patient with me. I’ve been watching
and waiting for so long that sometimes I forget to be more direct. I do have information for you.”
Vivi crossed her arms. “For a price, of course.”
“No need to be cynical,” Armando chided. “Everything and everyone has a price, sooner or later.”
“And you call me cynical?” Vivi decided she didn’t like the man. Or trust him. She didn’t like people that set prices on themselves. “What’s yours?”
“I already told you.”
She frowned. “T., are you going to tell me what is it Mr. Chang wants? I’m too tired right now to play guessing games.”
T. sat back, looking as if she were about to enjoy some spectator sport. “Armando claims to be one of many Triad siblings,” she told her. “The three main brothers that we know about are full-blooded relatives. However, it appears that their father’s other wives have given them many half siblings. Armando is the son of the youngest wife. He gave me a name to check up and I’m still on it. His offer to GEM is quite generous. He’ll tell us as much as he knows about the Triads, from the drug dealer rings to piracy on the high seas. Being the youngest half-brother, he has limited power and is privy to very little of the family trade secrets, but while his father was alive, he had been given a Western education and groomed for certain overseas operations, Or so he claims.”
Vivi studied the man in front of her. Youngest half-sibling. His mother was probably Caucasian. T.’s words suggested that his father was no longer alive. The possible scenario of an internal power struggle came to mind. So perhaps Armando Chang lost out. But that didn’t explain his appearance now.
“Why did you show up now?” she asked. “Or is it recently that you’ve decided to betray your kind?”
Armando’s shoulders stiffened, for the first time showing something other than quiet mockery. He didn’t like her accusing him of betrayal. Another interesting reaction, Vivi noted. A drug-dealing young gangster with a sense of honor. Well, not much, since he was here, spilling his guts about his beloved brothers. Probably petty jealousy and revenge.
“I suppose I deserve that,” he conceded, after a slight pause. “Being related to the Triad brothers brings a certain taint. However, I believe you’ll approve of my betrayal in this case.”
“Well, I’m here now. T. tells me you won’t talk about the girl I’ve been looking for. So tell me what it is exactly you want and why you came to me about her at this time.”
“I didn’t see the need till now.” He nodded toward T., who was quietly listening. “I’ve been watching you for a long time, Miss Verreau, and from your various disguises and work with Interpol commandos, figured you were more than the regular social worker you appeared to be, but I couldn’t figure out who exactly you worked for because you were also asking personal questions. Out of curiosity, I made it my business to look into your mission. I can be very thorough when I want to be. I finally found proof of what you’re looking for, but…” He shrugged. “It seemed more interesting to watch your progress.”
“Until you found out about Tess,” Vivi guessed.
“Yes. I heard about a big thing happening in town, a major weapons dealers’ convention, so to speak, and seeing Tess with you finally gave me a clue about your background. I realized then that our paths were going to cross one way or another. I also saw it as my way out.”
“You keep saying that phrase. Out of what?”
Armando abruptly clicked the remote, turning off the television. “In exchange for information about the Triads, I want your agency to get me out of this country, away from this life. I believe your people can give me a new identity…seeing that both of you have so many.” He swung an arm over the back of the sofa, pinning a hard gaze on Vivi. For an instant, her training helped form a mental picture of a young man used to wealth. It was in the way he sat, the polite, stilted language he used that betrayed a childhood among older people. “In exchange for information about the missing Sia-Sia, I want something personal in return. You have to help someone equally important to me.”
“Who?”
“My real sister. She’s being held against her will.”
Vivi looked at T. for confirmation. Her chief shrugged. “I’m still verifying the former. As for the latter, that’s your deal to make.”
“No,” Armando said, a steeliness in his voice, “both deals are contingent on getting my sister to safety. If Miss Verreau doesn’t agree, then I’ll be forced to think of other ways. Like maybe betraying your insider.”
Vivi gave T. a questioning glance. How much did he know? T. looked back serenely at them both, apparently unperturbed by the threat.
“Why are your brothers holding your sister prisoner?” Vivi asked.
“Because I refused to do certain things while I was overseas.” His lips twisted. “As long as they have her, they have a hold on me. They made me come home so they could keep a closer eye on me but since I’m Western educated, my usable skills are now limited to dealings with Westerners here and certain accounts. I prefer that to…other things, shall we say?”
Vivi could imagine what those other things were. The Triads had their fingers in the United States underworld dealings with slavery and drugs. If Armando Chang was telling the truth, he had been subjected to emotional blackmail by his stepbrothers.
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” she asked.
“I believe Tess can verify this. Right?”
“Yes,” T. acknowledged. She seemed amused at his acting so familiar with her.
“How?” Vivi asked.
“As Armando pointed out, we have someone on the inside who can confirm his and his sister’s existence, but that’s the least important factor,” T. said, her voice subtly turning neutral. “Everything else depends on you. The question is, do you truly think the information he has on Sia-Sia is worth it? What he’s asking for ups the risk percentage significantly because now you’re asking our insider to look for someone in his environment, extract her to safety, and still finish his mission.”
Vivi wouldn’t ask that of anyone, and T. knew it. “If what Mr. Chang says is true,” she said, “he would be used to being spoilt by servants and all the trappings of wealth. Why would such a man give that up, want a new identity, and go somewhere else? We can still save your sister, regardless, so the question is, why are you putting yourself in the equation? Why ask me?”
Armando stood up and walked to the window, turning his back to them. Vivi suspected that he didn’t want them to see his expression, that asking for help was something he hated. She recognized the gesture in herself; she disliked explaining herself to anyone and if she had to do it, she usually created distance either verbally or physically.
His back was very straight. “Because you’ll understand how I feel. My sister is very dear to me and I promised to keep her safe. I haven’t done a good job because I don’t know where she is. All I have is some videos showing her confined in a small room somewhere. My brother assures me she’s fine but…” He finally turned and his eyes flashed with emotion for the first time. “Let’s just say I have seen how my family treats women. I don’t want my sister missing like your friend, who, I believe, is like a sister to you. I do empathize with your loss, Miss Verreau, but your search had nothing to do with mine until I was sure you could help me.”
He had watched her long enough to know what was important to her. Sia-Sia. Young girls victimized by circumstance. He was pulling on her emotional strings.
“You still haven’t answered the main question,” she pointed out. “Why do you choose to leave what you have?”
“Yes, I can always escape without your help. But I don’t trust you to take care of my sister, nor can I ensure her safety without me close by. The Triads are a big family and you can’t exactly assure me that they won’t find her again someday.” His voice lowered. “I don’t like my life. I don’t want to live on money that came from women and children. I wasn’t able to save my mother. Find my sister for me. Please.”
“You have
a lot of confidence that Vivi will agree to help you, Armando,” T. said.
Armando smiled humorlessly. “I’m counting on her need to see the truth for herself. I can lead her to Sia-Sia. She’s alive. You see, she’s one of my stepsisters.”
After Cucumber gave him the Reader’s Digest version of events, Jazz napped during the ride back to the compound. His team was okay, except for minor injuries to Turner. Vivi’s team had suffered most of the damage, Cucumber told him, especially those on the other side of the river where the two of them had been. The big man told him how some of them had been hit when they had tried to take the trailer with the girls.
“Where are the girls now?”
“I gather they are in some safe place,” Cucumber said with a shrug. “Screaming girls aren’t my cup of tea.”
Vivi was probably going to be busy for a while. That was his last thought before he had drifted off. He opened his eyes the moment the car’s engine cut off. It was dark.
“Underground parking,” explained Cucumber.
Jazz rubbed the back of his neck, working the crick out. “We’re under the compound?”
“Yeah. Pretty cool way to go in and out the place unseen, don’t you agree?”
The compound sure hid a lot of things. Kind of like Vivi. She had so many different sides and he loved every one of them. The snotty Interpol officer. The sultry team task force leader. The brave operative who put her life in jeopardy to save young girls. And last night…he loved the woman he had made love to the most. So honest with her emotions. So generous with body, mind, and spirit.
A couple of flights of stairs later, he grinned at the sight of Hawk and the rest of the team. They were in what they now called the mess hall, doing what SEALs do best during down time—playing with their toys. Hawk looked up from sharpening his knives.
“Well, look what the wind blew in.”
His team greeted him raucously, asking questions and making comments about his appearance. His shirtlessness didn’t escape their notice.
“Beg your pardon, sir, but you have on your chicken lips again,” Mink said, with a knowing smirk.
