Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(31)

“Here?”

“Not this hotel, unless you want to. But this chemistry.” He pressed his hips into hers, making sure she could feel his already half-cocked erection. “Because trust me, this thing between us isn’t a one and done. You okay with that?”

She nodded, and this time she was the one to pull him down for a kiss.

“You know,” she whispered, twining her legs with his. “I’m not sure how you thought you’d fit on the sofa bed out there anyway.”

He chuckled, tucking her close. “Glad I don’t have to try.”





Chapter Nine

Gabe kept his pace easy, his stride adjusted to more of a student’s swagger. Wouldn’t make sense to slouch with his build. But there were enough physically fit students walking around the university grounds surrounding the embassy for him to blend with them. Carrying a backpack helped his assumed image too. Everything he was wearing was non-descript, something any person could’ve been wearing in this area. And in the backpack, he had a spare shirt and pullover in case he needed to rapidly change his appearance.

With Maylin safely inside the embassy making legitimate inquiries after her sister and the status of investigation surrounding An-mei’s disappearance, he was free to look into other sources of information. The both of them might have to exert some pressure to get a response, but his kind involved less noble tactics. To be honest, it gave a corner of his awareness some peace to know she was inside and out of harm’s way. The rest of his mind was focused on the task at hand.

His target was about twenty yards ahead of him, easy to keep in sight and not moving like he was in a rush. When the man stopped at a bus stop on the other side of the embassy, Gabe figured himself for lucky and hung back until a bus came into view. Catching his man exiting the embassy was so much easier than having to go in to find him and get him aside for the chat Gabe had in mind.

Timing his pace, Gabe hopped on the bus a person or two behind his target. He slid into a seat behind the man as the bus rolled forward.

“Andy Li, it’s been a long time.”

Li jumped, but recovered reasonably quickly without turning around to look at Gabe.

Good practice even though most of the seats around them were empty. Not surprising in the middle of the afternoon. The few people who’d boarded with them were scattered and absorbed in their own private bubbles. Just about everyone had earbuds, even, listening to their own entertainment.

All to the good as far as Gabe was concerned. Chatting on a bus was far less conspicuous than pulling the man aside in a building. Less likely to be overheard. “Taking a long lunch or are you done for the day?”

As a freelance translator, not attached to any specific dignitary, Li tended to take odd shifts and his schedule varied every few weeks. Convenient, really, because no one ever questioned his being in the embassy building and his employment history wasn’t scrutinized as closely as employees with hands-on access to documentation. Freed the man up to be where he needed to be, when he needed to be, to hear the choicest bits of information in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and even a few Southeast Asian languages like Taiwanese or Malaysian. A lot more than Chinese came through the embassy on various visits, and selling those pieces of overheard intelligence was more than lucrative enough to offset the inconvenience of rearranging one’s sleep schedule.

“Diaz? Didn’t expect to hear your creepy voice sneak up on me anytime soon.” Li’s own was low, not likely to be overheard by anyone more than a seat away, even with the current lack of company.

“You’re getting lazy.” Gabe pondered for a minute. Creepy? Maylin didn’t seem to think so. At least, hopefully not. “Don’t tell me business has been getting slow?”

Li shrugged. “Not a lot going on in my neighborhood in the last few months.”

Lie.

The man’s posture was relaxed now, but his tone was all off. Too laid back.

“That’s a shame. I’d think you’d be worried about your livelihood.”

“Ah, well. Gotta let the luck come when it will.” Li laughed, a touch too high pitched. “Besides, I heard about your incident overseas. Didn’t expect you around...at all.”

Ever was more like it. It’d been touch and go there, getting out of that hellhole and then recovery afterward.

“You know rumors.” Gabe leaned forward, turning his face as if he was looking out the window. “Greatly exaggerated.”

And to his benefit in any situation. There was an edge to being underestimated in his line of work. Element of surprise tended to work to his advantage when he managed things properly.

Li shifted in his seat, giving a barely perceptible amount of ground. “My information is gold because of its accuracy, man. You took a shot in the back from the person you were supposed to be protecting.”

Yeah, wouldn’t that just suck? The reality was a hundred times worse. Li’s precious information was inaccurate, but Gabe wouldn’t hold it against the informant. The truth behind the actual shooting was locked in a need-to-know file and only Gabe’s commanding officer needed to know. Even Gabe’s team didn’t know yet.

“Not enough to take me out.” Of course not. Gabe didn’t bother trying not to sound surly about it. Being shot hadn’t tickled.

“Some say it was enough to take you out of the game.”