Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(24)

“We’ve all been working toward the day when you would trust us enough to take some time off for yourself.” She froze. Charlie’s statement startled her. “I only wish it was for a happier reason.”

Gabe wondered how much Maylin buried herself in her work. Obviously far more than she’d realized.

“Me too.” So much regret in the one statement. “I should’ve taken the time off and gone with her in the first place.”

“You can’t blame yourself. That wasn’t why I said it.” Charlie’s voice cracked with frustration.

Okay, at first it’d been unintentional, but if Gabe continued lurking behind this tree he’d be a certifiable creep. Besides, listening to Charlie pour out his concern was grating on his temper. Making an effort to step on a couple of twigs here and there, he walked into the open.

“I need to go now, Charlie. I’ll try to check in when I can.” Without waiting for her friend’s response, she ended the call.

Good. Bye, Charlie. Don’t wait up.

Her peripheral awareness wasn’t half bad, all things considered. And she stood fairly calmly waiting for him to cross the rest of the distance between them. No deer-in-headlights look. Another plus.

To be honest—and he hated that it was true—it was awkward for him to be around civilians. Hard to respect someone who hadn’t ever been punched square in the face and come back swinging. They’d called it the warrior ethos back in Basic. Mostly it was an attitude and a perspective a person either had or didn’t. Maylin’s quiet strength wasn’t a fit for either category. She wasn’t made for combat, but she wasn’t a sheep lost away from the herd either.

He didn’t know how to act around her. At least, not when he had time to consider his actions. The kiss had been hot as hell and he wanted more. But then he’d gone back to all business again and she’d obviously been left off balance. He’d kept himself apart from the mainstream for too many years to be any good at true interaction anymore.

Generally, he preferred to glower at people and intimidate the hell out of them.

“Any news?” Those green eyes were every bit as brilliant in the light of day. She wasn’t even wearing makeup.

Sugarcoating would be a waste of time. Besides, she wouldn’t thank him for it. “Not yet. I took a look through the consulate emails you forwarded me. You’re not likely to get any further with those.”

“The responses were too polite.” She pressed her lips together in a thin line. “Didn’t seem like the consulate representatives put any thought into it at all.”

Probably hadn’t. He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “Too easy to dismiss an email as not a real person. A voice across a phone call isn’t much better. And the people answering those inquiries don’t actually know anything.”

Her posture sagged for a split second before she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Then I need to get to the nearest Chinese consulate and talk to someone face-to-face.”

She had steel strapped to her spine. He liked it every time he saw it. “Not the nearest. Those are San Francisco and L.A. For the kind of clout you’re going to need, it’ll save time to skip the general consulates and go straight to the embassy. Anyone at the consulates would probably send a message to the embassy anyway for it to be routed overseas. If information came back, it’d come back through the central point of contact first.”

She blinked then gave a slow nod. “Okay then, I’ll go to the embassy.”

He admired her determination, as single-minded as it was currently. Still, someone walking in without an appointment wasn’t likely to make much progress. Though, considering what he’d seen of her drive, she might make it further than most on force of personality alone. Her fluency in Mandarin would help her. He might be able to arrange for a little something to help give her some clout. And while she had attention on her, he’d tap a few contacts of his own.

“We won’t make most of the morning flights out, but we can head to the airport this afternoon and catch a red-eye tonight. It’ll give you time to pick up any toiletries or whatever at the airport.” He leaned back, made an effort not to loom over her, but she was petite. And not the type to back down. It’d been why he couldn’t resist tasting her earlier. Dangerous ground.

He needed to keep his hands to himself, at least until they had a better idea of how this would all play out. If his team beat the odds and found her sister, maybe there’d be something to explore. It’d only make it harder for Maylin if he muddied the waters before this mission was complete, though. Experience—and he had the pain in his lower back to remind him—advised proceeding with caution and keeping it simple. No further complications. No matter how tempting she was without even trying.

“Not a lot of time to book the flight.” She bit her lip.

Besides, plane tickets cost money and cross-country flights weren’t cheap.

*

There was the hesitation he’d been expecting. One thing to hire a man for a specific mission and another thing to fly to the other end of the country. “You can stay here. I’ll go and report back any news I find.”

“No.” Her voice took on the edge he’d heard the night before. “I’m going. I just need to know what flight and I’ll reserve my ticket.”