Hidden Impact

by Piper J. Drake

  Trying not to ruin it by thinking too hard, she nabbed the carton of eggs from the refrigerator and bustled over to the counter, peeking into the cupboards to see if someone had stocked them with a few basics.

  “Car is still burning itself out?” Gabe asked Lizzy as the sound of running water started.

  “For the time being. Authorities will probably wait until danger of fire is gone before letting their investigative teams near it.” Lizzy snorted. “I pulled the remnants of both your bags out of the trunk to avoid identification, but none of it was worth saving. Too much damage.”

  “Interior?”

  Lizzy shook her head. “Too hot and too much fire and smoke damage. No way is a forensics team going to lift prints out of the interior.”

  Maylin looked up from her mixing bowl. “You make it sound all sorts of easy. Like the car couldn’t explode more.”

  Was that even a thing that could happen? It seemed like it could. Lizzy had taken an extreme risk going anywhere near the thing and she made it sound like no big deal.

  Fear squeezed her chest at even the thought, so she walked over to the sink to splash water from the tap into her bowl of flour, corn starch and baking soda, then started beating the contents hard. Taking her worry out on the mixture until it became a thin batter seemed like a practical thing to do.

  “They’re not going to blow up the car after we’ve left it behind,” Gabe stated, his gaze focused on the bowl tucked into the crook of her arm.

  She set it down with an audible thump and cracked an egg, carefully separating the egg white into her batter and tossing the yolk and shell into the garbage disposal. “How do you know?”

  Picking up the bowl, she resumed her beating. Earlier in the day, being yanked out of the car and running for the woods counted as the strongest fright she’d experienced in her life. Mostly because Gabe had been scared. And she couldn’t imagine much he’d be afraid of, but whatever it was would end her without much effort.

  Lizzy looked from Gabe to her and back. “It’s one thing to blow up the car with you two in it. It’s Jewel’s special kind of twisted to take out the tire, then set an explosion to incinerate the inside of the vehicle. She obviously wanted to give you a chance to get out. So there’s no reason to have set a third charge to wipe the car off the map. Waste of valuable explosives.”

  Maylin pressed her lips together. Neither of them had said Jewel wouldn’t have blown up a car with a person in it. She added a bit of vegetable oil and finished combining her mixture. Hesitated, then added a tiny pinch of salt. Another few seconds of beating gave her a smooth, light batter and a little less anxiety.

  Setting it aside, she rummaged for a large pan. Somebody had bought the kind of wok with a flat bottom you could set directly on a burner. Handy. She pulled it out, wiped it down, and poured a large amount of oil into it. As she set it on the stove to heat up for frying, she glanced back at Gabe. “You don’t think you’re worth it to her to blow up?”

  He met her gaze, his expression very serious. “She had the opportunity to kill me from a distance. She didn’t. If she does in the future, she’ll make it up close and personal.”

  His statement had the kind of ring of truth to it that sent a cold shiver down her spine. She headed to the sink. The shrimp were mostly defrosted, and she drained the water from the bowl and patted them dry with a paper towel before seasoning them liberally with salt and pepper. Then she went back to the fridge and pulled out green onions and a jalapeno.

  “Someone really did some shopping.” She needed a change of topic. For just a minute.

  Lizzy laughed. “Victoria and Marc figured if you could make breakfast out of nothing but leftovers, getting you a little bit of everything from the grocery store could only mean good things in our future. The internet may have been involved in assembling the shopping list most likely to tempt you into making stuff we all like.”

  Maylin smiled, some of the tightness leaving her shoulders. It made her happy when people enjoyed her food. Really, it was why she did what she did. “I’ll make something nice for tomorrow morning.”

  “They’re doing some recon. Won’t be back until late morning.”

  “Even better.” Maylin pondered. “I’ll have time to make dim sum.”

  She cleaned and chopped both the green onions and jalapeno fine, then washed her hands. She’d have to remember not to rub her eyes for a few more hand washes. Once wasn’t enough to get the burn of the pepper off her fingertips, and it transferred readily.

  Both Gabe and Lizzy were sitting in awkward silence. Gabe was texting on his smartphone but he was keeping an eye on Maylin.

  She realized they were being sensitive to her. But she couldn’t hide from serious discussion every time she got anxious. It would slow down their main purpose. And honestly, she needed to grow up some, step up to the issue at hand. “Are they doing recon on the biotech company Gabe found out about?”

  It was Lizzy who answered first. “Marc and Victoria headed down to California to check out the biotech facilities and get us some basic intel. If your little sister is being held there, though, they are either incredibly smart or insanely arrogant.”

  Leaving the chopped stuff by the sink, Maylin grabbed the shrimp and dumped them in her batter, giving them a light toss to coat. She nabbed a pair of long chopsticks from her personal kitchen tools. Glad she’d brought the box of cooking tools with her from her place. It had seemed stupid at the time, but she hadn’t been willing to leave without them in case she needed to return straight to work. Having them here was a comfort.

  “Why arrogant?” An-mei had to be there. Where else could she be?

  The oil in the wok sizzled as she started frying the shrimp a few at a time so as not to drop the oil temperature too low.

  “You can run an easy internet search and view satellite photos of the whole facility,” Lizzy answered.

  Gabe grunted.

  Maylin kept her eyes on her shrimp, ensuring each one fried to a light golden brown before nipping them out of the oil to drain on a plate layered with paper towels. “What?”

  “Generally, biotech or tech companies with things to hide have high enough security to lock down satellite images of their facilities. Not usually available to the public or the casual internet surfer.” Gabe pushed away from the counter and took the plate with the fried shrimp from her. As he held it for her, she transferred the last few shrimp to the plate and turned off the heat under the wok.

  In a fresh skillet, she poured half a tablespoon of the oil from the wok and tipped the skillet this way and that to coat before setting it on the stove at high heat. “So Marc and Victoria went all the way to California to confirm?”

  Lizzy laughed. “It’s not a long flight and they were getting a little cabin fever. Some light reconnaissance did them good.”

  Maylin considered that as she tossed the green onions and jalapeno onto the skillet, stirring them with a wooden spatula as they sautéed and released fragrant scent. Turning to Gabe, she relieved him of the plate of freshly fried shrimp and added them to the skillet, tossing to mix the shrimp with the greens. Then she added another sprinkling of salt and dusted it all with pepper. As she finished, the rice cooker beeped. “Perfect timing.”

  She flew about the kitchen then, putting out plates and arranging them with a nice scoop of rice topped with the salt and pepper fried shrimp. Gabe had taken a seat at the breakfast bar with Lizzy, but neither of them started on their plates until Maylin sat with them to eat.

  “Leave the dishes. I’ll do them since you cooked,” Lizzy said between mouthfuls. “S’good.”

  “Do you get any communication from them while they’re gone?” Maylin figured Lizzy would have told them if they’d found An-mei, but it seemed odd for them to head out and not send back any information at all.

  “Standard proced
ure is to check in every twelve hours for a short trip like this. We know you’re under surveillance, so we’re keeping communication to a minimum to reduce the chance of our friends tapping into us.” Gabe was eating his portion quickly too. “They’ll be sad they missed this. It’s delicious.”

  Pleased, Maylin applied herself to her own plate. “Normally, I’d serve this as part of a meal with several other dishes. But it seemed like it’d be good tonight on its own.”

  “It is,” Lizzy agreed. “Last check-in, they confirmed the location seems to be legit. No signs of underground labs or unusual shipments. Personnel come and go on a normal schedule. They’re maintaining observation through the night to see if there’s any interesting activity in the dark when the normal employees go home.”

  “There’s probably another facility if this one is filled with normal employees.” Gabe stood, taking his plate and Lizzy’s to the sink.

  Maylin swallowed hard, only halfway through her dinner. They ate fast. No. They inhaled. Minimal chewing.

  “We’ll find what we’re looking for,” Lizzy said, standing away from the breakfast bar. “We’re systematic to be sure we don’t miss anything. And we will find anything they’re trying to hide. You’ll see.”

  Maylin turned on the stool to face Lizzy. “Thank you.”

  The smile Lizzy gave her was gentle, and somewhat awkward. “Good night, you two. Try to get some actual sleep.”

  * * *

  Gabe opened the door to the guest cabin, listening hard to ensure the silence. They were safe on Centurion Corporation ground, but he was too keyed up to ignore ingrained habit. Instead, he moved through the rooms and cleared each as Maylin waited for him just inside the door.

  She was getting good at following his directions. Her trust evident every time she did it without question. He’d repaid each time with answers once they were safe. Explanations he’d never taken the time to make for anyone else.

  And her trust was misplaced.

  So far, none of his queries had turned up feasible solutions. He’d called up some old favors and could pull together a small task force, but not one sufficient to go up against Edict and other unknown opponents. He’d been checking messages while Maylin cooked. He’d even talked to Lizzy to double-check his logistics and it didn’t look good.

  He had feelers out and at the very least, he’d know what freelance contractors were out there. Some of his old contacts were looking for information on Phoenix Biotech to find out who else they might have on their payroll.

  Something might come through. Maybe. But realistically, it wouldn’t be soon.

  He closed the door once his sweep was complete and Maylin headed straight for the little kitchenette area. He smiled. She was more at home in a kitchen than anywhere else in a place. Not because of any stupid saying about women and kitchens, either, but because she created things there. It was her domain, where she could make things happen and do things to help the people she cared about. It didn’t matter if she’d just come back from another kitchen.

  “I’m putting on a kettle for tea,” she called over her shoulder. “Did you want any? Or would coffee be better? Were you planning on doing any research tonight?”

  He stepped up behind her, placing his hands on her waist as she straightened. “Coffee would be great.”

  She set the kettle on the stove over high heat, then turned in his arms. As her arms slipped around his waist, he kissed the top of her head. He should tell her.

  “We’re close to finding her.” Maylin pressed her face into his chest. “I know we are. Even if she’s not in California, we’re on the brink of something.”

  And if they were?

  “It will be good to find your sister.” Lame he couldn’t think of anything better. He’d promised her false hope.

  “Should we start planning? How will we get her out?”

  No more dodging.

  “Centurion Corporation isn’t going to.”

  She froze in his arms.

  “There’s four in my fire team. Chances are whatever facility she’s in has more security than just we four can handle.” He kept his arms loose, let them fall to the side as she stepped back and away from him. “I won’t send my team into a massacre when there isn’t a chance of any of us making it out. It’s a lose-lose scenario.”

  “This isn’t new. You’ve known. Since we were in DC.” Each sentence came out carefully measured. Precise and cold. With plenty of time for him to refute her.

  And he couldn’t. “I was looking for solutions. There aren’t any.”

  The kettle behind her began to go off, a low whistle building in pitch and volume. Maylin ignored it. “You’re giving up. After all that talk.”

  He met her gaze, squashed the urge to cringe under the accusation in her clear green eyes. “This ‘small’ biotech looks to have a lot more resources at its disposal than any legit company its size should. It means that wherever your sister is being held is going to be a fortress. Even if we find it, and we haven’t yet, the only result to come out of us rushing in there will be a missing fire team. We’ll disappear off the grid with no evidence to follow.”

  And Centurion Corporation would want to come after them, avenge them. But Harte wouldn’t go to war for them when they’d gone ahead of their own accord.

  “But you’re the best.” It was the first time he’d heard Maylin raise her voice. Heat flushed her cheeks and her mouth twisted with pain and anger.

  “We’re the best because we know how to prepare for the situations we’ll encounter and we’re good enough to recognize what we can and can’t do.” God, he hated himself for what he was saying. But it was truth and he always gave her the bitter truth. “We. Can’t. Do. This. You need to walk away.”

  She stared at him. Shock. Pain. Despair flashed in her eyes.

  “Qù nĭ mā de! Oh wait, let me translate that one for you. Fuck off!” Maylin balled up her fists. “From the very beginning you’ve told me ‘no.’ Won’t help me. Can’t help me. I am so done with dragging you all along against your pathetic practicality!”

  Gabe held his peace. He couldn’t be angry in return. Couldn’t find anything to refute her because she was right. It’d been her indomitable will that brought them this far. The rest of them had only been caught up in her wake.

  “How good am I when I admit I can’t do this without you?” Maylin continued to rage, tears falling down her cheeks. “Does it make me any better to admit what I can’t do? Will it bring my sister back safely?”

  “No.” He had to give her the word again. It was the only answer he had to give and it ripped apart his heart to do it.

  Maylin’s nostrils flared as she breathed in deep, pulling all of her spectacular temper back into herself. When she spoke again, her voice trembled with contained anger. “What can I do?”

  Stay with me.

  He wanted to say it, but he’d shoot himself before hurting her even worse with the selfishness of that statement. He was failing her. “I don’t know yet. I’m looking for more options for us.”

  “But your Centurions won’t help us?” Still so carefully controlled.

  He shook his head. “The kind of resources we’d need to do this infiltration and extraction would put most companies in the red for years. A single person with your income? You could mortgage the rest of your life and your first-born child to us, and it still wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost. We wouldn’t let you sign a contract for it.”

  And she would’ve. No doubt. She’d give her life for her sister.

  Wouldn’t he give his for Maylin? Yes, but it wouldn’t be enough.

  She pushed past him, the kettle still screaming on the stove. He reached out and switched off the burner. When he turned around, she was standing at the front door. “Did you tell me because there was no hiding from it any
more? The way you told me about Jewel? Is this what you do with every important piece of information in your life?”

  He opened his mouth and nothing came out. To say he wasn’t the type to share was too flippant, but he couldn’t think of a way to properly explain. Probably because any explanation was really an excuse.

  Her back became poker straight and she brushed her hair off her shoulder so it fell in a cascade down her back. Perfectly composed from this perspective. None of the turmoil he’d seen a second ago visible. He was effectively shut out.

  “How is Centurion Corporation supposed to be better than Edict?” Her voice was low and measured, cool and distant. “How could you let me hope?”

  She put her hand on the doorknob.

  “Don’t go, Maylin.” He didn’t try to stop her physically. All he could do was ask, and he didn’t even have the right to that anymore. “Please let me keep you safe. Your sister would want you safe.”

  It cut her and he hated himself for it. But Maylin could be used as leverage to make An-mei do the research she’d been taken to do. It was another reason Jewel wouldn’t have blown up the car. Maylin was valuable.

  “I need air.” Maylin turned the doorknob. “I’ll be outside. When I come back in, I’d rather sleep alone.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gabe winced but didn’t try to change her mind. As she stepped outside, his phone rang. Hell of a time, but damn, it’d be better to answer it and distract himself than to stand by the window like a creep and watch Maylin put walls up between them. He hit the answer button. “Diaz.”

  “Is your girl still with you?” asked Harte. The man did not sound chipper.

  But Gabe wasn’t the type to guess what anyone was about to say. He’d answer and deal with what came next. “Yeah.”

  “Good. We’re going to need to talk to her again. And review the reconnaissance information from your team.”

  “Something change?” Centurion Corporation policy wasn’t about Harte and his decision. He’d stand by it if it was the right thing for the corporation. But if new developments became a concern, Harte would reevaluate as needed. It was what made him a good CO. So whatever was going on had to be a true game changer.