Hidden Impact

by Piper J. Drake

  It did a person a lot of good to fall into a familiar routine.

  Lizzy would see any intruders long before they got anywhere near the guest house or main building. He’d have plenty of time to get to Maylin if there was trouble, and she’d be surrounded by the rest of his team too. None of them were heavy sleepers, if they slept at all.

  He didn’t. Not much anyway.

  The kitchen in the main rest and recovery house was dark, but indirect lighting came on as motion sensors detected his entrance. A quick search of the commercial-sized refrigerator scored him some leftover Beefaroni and stir-fried broccoli. Not a winning combination, but it’d do.

  Damn. He should have made her eat something. Slight build like hers, she probably burned up calories just thinking too hard. But there had been no waking the woman, even as he’d carried her into the guest house and laid her on the bed. She’d probably have slept through him trying to force-feed her. As it was, he’d removed her shoes, spread a blanket over her and left a note next to a bottle of water for her, letting her know to come up to the main house when she woke. Hopefully not too creepy.

  Gabe headed down a second hallway, past the kitchen and a couple of other rooms. He nudged the door to his own open with his foot and took a good look before entering. In the middle of his safe zone, where the chances of an intruder were slim to none, and he still couldn’t relax.

  Nobody would blame him. His teammates didn’t ease down from the heightened state of awareness they all lived in either. It kept people alive overseas. He’d done three tours already, two on active military duty and one as a private military contractor. He planned to go out on a fourth as soon as his team had enough time to rest and recover. That’s what the Centurion base in Washington State was for: training new recruits and recovery for teams recently returned. It was a good setup.

  Setting down his dubious meal, he opened his laptop and jabbed the power button. While it booted, he shrugged out of his suit jacket and pulled his tie out of his pants pocket. Belt, shoes and socks came off next. He sighed. Something close to heaven when the damned dress socks were peeled off. He had no idea why the things were so uncomfortable. They didn’t breathe.

  He snorted. Tough Gabe Diaz, luxuriating over the chance to wiggle his toes. What. The. Fuck.

  He sat down and shoveled a mouthful of Beefaroni before logging on to his laptop and bringing up the VPN. Once he was on Centurion’s private network, he quickly scanned his email for urgent messages. One from headquarters caught his eye. The subject read “Safeguard Project” but it wasn’t marked at high priority so Gabe flagged it to look at later and focused on the task at hand.

  He shot out a couple of inquiries to see who might be active in the area. Mercenaries followed the jobs, and people in his line of business tended to bump into each other again and again. Somebody he knew probably had an idea of who was after Maylin or had gotten wind of the job involving her.

  One net cast, he started the first of the information searches he had planned to catch other fish. Lizzy would verify Maylin was who she said she was and that her sister really was missing.

  Not that he didn’t believe her, but Maylin was emotionally compromised. Too close to the situation to think clearly or evaluate circumstances objectively. Even if he wanted to believe her, he needed to confirm the veracity of her story via third-party sources. Meanwhile, he wanted to get an idea of what this missing person looked like.

  An-mei Cheng was a fairly easy-to-find person, at least on the internet. First-generation Chinese American, born and raised in the Seattle area. Her father’s family was from northwestern China. Her mother had been from Beijing. She was a few years older than the little sister he’d pictured from the way Maylin spoke about her. Regardless, both sisters looked young in the way most people of Eastern ancestry managed, with smooth skin and ageless eyes. He was betting a lot of people mistook them for way younger than they really were. Maylin’s maturity came from her air of competency and the confidence she exuded. At least, when she didn’t have to deal with assholes like him.

  Water under the bridge, Diaz. You’re helping her now.

  Still, this was the last kind of job he wanted for him or his team. This kind of job sucked a person in, made them care. It was the kind in which only a sociopath could avoid getting emotionally invested. He’d been there and been burned, bad. Nothing about this was going to end well.

  But he’d decided to help Maylin, at least far enough to ensure she didn’t end up dead in the near future. And who the hell else would be able to? Nobody in the Seattle area had the resources Centurion had.

  His smartphone rattled on the desk with a notification. There wasn’t much point setting them to vibrate when the vibration could be heard across the damn room. He picked up the phone and gave the screen a swipe.

  Lizzy had completed her search already.

  He pushed away from his laptop and headed back up the hallway to the surveillance room.

  “Lizzy.”

  She didn’t turn from the multiple monitors this time either.

  “Search didn’t take long.” Lizzy reached for a pile of printouts. “To be honest, I was curious after tonight’s fun so I started a basic background query on Maylin and her sister before I settled in for surveillance. Finding out how An-mei Cheng disappeared was quick because there’s not much out there to find.”

  Curiosity and paranoia worked hand in hand, mostly to their benefit. Lizzy would have given him a heads-up right away if anything about Maylin’s situation set off red flags. Gabe took the printouts from her. “You’re a freaking goddess.”

  “Basic” for Lizzy was more detailed than most background checks run for standard employers. There’d probably be more in there about Maylin and her sister than they knew about themselves.

  “Yes, and how about you stand night watch for me next time I need to switch shifts?” Lizzy sounded cold but a small smile played on her lips. “This missing person—police haven’t done more than contact the authorities in China. They’re sticking to the exact letter of standard operating procedure. The US Embassy over there has an alert for if she comes back to the embassy over the next couple of days, but there’s no active search for her. Again, standard procedure. They’re assuming she went off to party or sightsee, maybe lost her passport. They’re waiting to see if she contacts them.”

  The same basic runaround Maylin had been getting. So far, her story was turning out to be accurate.

  “What was she doing over there?”

  “Our person of interest is some sort of uber smart person. A PhD in gene therapy and genetic recombination. She wasn’t just attending a scientific research conference, she was a guest speaker. Not the sort who’d go on a drunken binge and miss her flight home. Profile isn’t a match.” Lizzy’s face remained neutral. Her arms were crossed and she tapped a finger on her bicep the way she did when she was chewing on inconsistencies. “Both women are bilingual too. They speak Mandarin, so it’s not like An-mei Cheng couldn’t ask for directions to get to the authorities or the embassy.”

  Not like she couldn’t call for help.

  “Seems to be a high-profile person, though.” Gabe wondered why the authorities were so laid back if an important researcher, a guest in the country, hadn’t turned up yet. Not as big a surprise that they weren’t responding to worried family members like Maylin. Unless you had clout on the international scene, there was little a person could do so far away from the country in question.

  “Not that high profile. She’s got a thesis and some promising research, but she’s still up-and-coming in the academic world as far as I can tell.” Lizzy tipped her head to one side. “‘Bright future’ and similar commentary popped up in any newsletters related to the conference. She’s at the beginning of her career. Not important enough to make big waves now that she’s missing.”

  Gabe nodded. “N
o ransom request either.”

  “No.” There, Lizzy’s tone edged into regret. She recovered though and returned to a brisk tone. “I left a few search strings running. I’ll keep you updated if anything new turns up.”

  No ransom meant An-mei’s kidnappers had taken her for other reasons, and the likelihood of finding the young woman alive were headed toward the minuscule. Maylin’s extraordinary green eyes came to mind. An-mei had the same unusual color. Bilingual, attractive and possessed of a striking feature to set her apart. Human trafficking was a strong possibility.

  “All right, I’ll look through the background.” Gabe was dog tired. He was going to need to think of a plan of action before Maylin woke later in the morning. Least he could do was call in a couple of favors over at the Beijing embassy. He’d place a video call in while they were still up and working.

  “Your girl is clean, no shady history. Nothing to tie her to other reasons for tonight’s attempt,” Lizzy volunteered, still not looking in his direction. “But she’s alone. Her and her little sister lost their parents. Mother died ten years ago in a plane crash and father died of a heart attack a few years back. Stepmother doesn’t seem to have anything to do with them.”

  Didn’t that make everything a little more awful? Lizzy was already invested. No way was the rest of his team going to walk away from his girl once they got a look at this intel.

  His girl?

  Ah, well shit. He was in denial and swimming upriver.

  Chapter Four

  The front door was open.

  Maylin resisted the urge to lean in and call out a hello to the silent house. Mostly because she half suspected an alarm would go off, complete with sirens and bars dropping around her as an automated voice barked at her to remain where she was.

  As she stepped inside, a jovial male voice called out to her instead. “Come on in. Kitchen’s just down the hall. Gabe will meet you there.”

  Okay then.

  A quick glance around the foyer revealed no shoe rack. She’d grown up in a household where you took off your shoes as you came in the door. Force of habit to check and she couldn’t ever quite shake the feeling she was tracking in dirt as she walked through a home no matter how thoroughly she’d wiped her shoes on the doormat out front. It wasn’t just an Asian thing, either. She’d had plenty of friends with parents who wanted to keep the carpets for as long as possible.

  All grown up now and memories of childhood and school days clung to her. She’d dreamed of her sister and her parents. They’d been a family, doing normal family things. Routine. And now, none of it was there for her to find solace in.

  Past the foyer and the sitting room, she wandered down the long hallway. A door was open on the left, presumably where the earlier voice had come from. As she passed, she got a glimpse of monitors. There were rows of them, set up three high and several wide. Multiple laptops sat on a tabletop and there was a familiar-looking man sitting there with his feet propped up, a tablet in his lap. He glanced in her direction and gave her a quick wave before returning his attention to the monitors.

  “Right down the hall. Keep going. And good morning!”

  “Thanks.” She’d meant it to come out just as hearty, but to her ears, she’d sounded like a mouse. Ah, she’d have to pull herself together better than this. Strength, confidence were what she’d need to keep these people helping her and her sister.

  First, she needed to find Gabe.

  “You’re up early.”

  She squeaked, then scowled. “Tā mā de!”

  And there he was, filling the previously empty hallway and standing not a few inches from her. He’d come out of nowhere.

  Gabe’s eyebrows rose and a slow smile spread across his face. “But maybe not awake yet.”

  Probably not. Coffee could fix so many things and she was not going to wonder how he could look so good first thing in the morning. Well, late morning. It was well past her normal wake-up time but they’d been out very late and she couldn’t remember arriving. Giving him a glare, she drew herself up to her full height. “Don’t even try that. You like sneaking up on people.”

  If anything, his smile grew broader and a dimple made an appearance. A really cute...

  She shook her head. “I was directed down here because there’s a kitchen?”

  Gabe stepped to one side and gestured for her to continue down the hallway.

  Gathering what dignity she could muster under the circumstances, she marched past him. A few more steps and the hallway opened up to a surprisingly large kitchen area. The marble surfaces were clear of anything but the most minimal countertop appliances. All wiped down to a shine. Good, clean work area.

  There was a restaurant-grade cooking range with eight, eight, gas burners and two ovens. A dual sink sported a handy pull-out kitchen faucet. Plus, the refrigerator. Oh, the kind of catering she could plan with a refrigerator that big. This was a great place to cook. So much better than the small utility kitchen at her apartment.

  “There’s coffee.” Amusement spiced the suggestion and she tried to ignore the little shivers Gabe’s voice sent down her spine.

  He was standing inside her personal space and she pointedly ignored him. Only, it was very hard to overlook the way he loomed over her. Not in a scary way, no. Leaning back into his very solid chest was incredibly tempting and she had no idea why the urge to do so was clouding her brain.

  Cooking. Yup. And coffee. He’d mentioned coffee.

  “I promised to make omelets.” She glanced around for cooking tools, at least a spatula. Maybe they were in a drawer. Her box was sitting on the counter of a sideboard. Oh, good. But those were all specific to Chinese cooking, and she didn’t need them just to make omelets.

  He stepped away and the space he’d occupied cooled in his absence, or maybe she imagined it. “You don’t have to make them, but if you’re hungry anything in the refrigerator is fair game.”

  Determined to stay on track, she strode to the refrigerator to see what they had in stock.

  If she had high hopes based on the appliances, there were no words for the desolation of the interior. Looked like Mexican, Chinese and pizza either delivered or were within quick driving distance, based on the neatly stacked take-out containers occupying the bottom shelf. One drawer contained a few packages of deli meats and cheeses all on the verge of expiring. There was also a random jar of olives. The rest of the cooled space was wiped down and pristine. A lone carton of two-percent milk and several dozen eggs sat waiting on a middle shelf.

  He must’ve gone out to get those while she’d been sleeping. The realization sank in as she closed the refrigerator. When she peeked into the freezer, all she found was a random loaf of ciabatta bread that must have come with some large order of takeout. She took a closer look at the cooking range. Barely used. The cabinets probably didn’t have much besides ready-to-eat cereals. Call it a guess.

  “Doesn’t anyone living here actually cook?” She immediately bit her lip. Way to go, coming into the man’s home and being rude.

  “These are temporary quarters.” Gabe didn’t take offense. If anything, the amusement was threaded back into his voice again. The same tone she remembered from last night. “The kitchen is here in case a chef is brought in to help out or if someone staying likes to cook, but no one currently here does.”

  A mug appeared at her side. Did the man ever make any noise? At least she hadn’t jumped and made a fool of herself again. Instead, she took the proffered coffee and considered the kitchen. “I was thinking about what additional information I can give you to help find An-mei. Where’s the rest of your team? Is the man in the computer room near the front going to join us?”

  Gabe hooked a stool with his foot and pulled it out from under the breakfast counter in the center of the kitchen. “They’ll be along shortly. And like I said, you
don’t need to cook.”

  “Can they hurry? Are they far away?” More questions threatened to tumble out of her mouth, each one sharper than the previous. Instead of letting those loose, she took a sip and tried not to grimace. “You all use those instant coffeemakers with the individual cups, don’t you?”

  “It’s decent and quick. Easy cleanup.” He shrugged. Then he jerked his head in the direction of the hallway. “Marc is on surveillance right now but he’ll join us when Lizzy and Victoria come out of their rooms. We’re all in this building.”

  She debated asking him to check on them. But her sister needed this man and his team. Teams? She needed to give him the best answers possible, which meant she needed to refrain from antagonizing him and do her best to get her brain moving.

  She bit back her request to go get Lizzy and Victoria, whoever they were, turning back to the refrigerator instead. She pulled out the milk and the eggs, feta cheese, plus a container of what looked like leftover salsa verde, then the remains of a spinach salad. When she placed her armload on the center island, she was caught by his stare. She blinked and swallowed. “Anything is fair game, right?”

  His brows drew together in a scowl. Intimidating, yes, but not frightening this morning. Not compared to how angry he’d been the previous night. “We need you to concentrate, tell us every possible detail.”

  She met his glare with a steady stare of her own. “There’s only you here right now and I focus better if my hands are busy cooking. Honestly.”

  This was how she worked best, multitasking.

  “Can’t hurt to let the woman cook. Some of us actually enjoy breakfast.” A dark-haired woman with olive skin stalked around the corner from the portion of the hallway that went past the kitchen. Eyes so dark they were almost black pierced Maylin with a sharp glance. “I’m Isabelle, but the team calls me Lizzy. We sort of met last night for a few seconds before they tossed you in the back of the ambulance.”