Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(11)

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. “No 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.