Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(42)
Jewel hadn’t been dressed to seduce when she’d approached Maylin, but the mercenary had still been wearing a sleek power suit emphasizing all things female. Maybe it’d been intended to intimidate Maylin, but as far as Gabe could tell Jewel hadn’t phased her. His girl had tread with a healthy dose of wariness once he’d arrived, but only because she’d been sensitive to his tension. When it came to self-confidence, Maylin was very comfortable in her own skin, and it’d take more than Jewel to shake that.
He liked it. A lot. Even if it would be safer if Maylin backed down when it came to confronting Jewel one-on-one.
“I’ll have Caleb update the file on her and run a search on any additional info we might not have from her recent adventures.” Harte leaned back in the chair. “With Edict involved, this is a bigger job than one or two fire teams can take. Especially with your members in recovery, you included.”
It was important for a person to know his own limits. So far, this mission had been well within his. If they had to go head-to-head with Edict in a serious engagement, he might be more of a liability than a leader. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
“It’s somewhat more complicated than what I had in mind when I recommended we take on a few smaller domestic jobs before heading back overseas.” Gabe tried to keep neutral. Take his time. Harte was taking his temperature on the situation every bit as much as Gabe was assessing Harte.
“I liked the initial recommendation.” Harte chuckled. “There’s an email sitting in your inbox regarding the idea in general, by the way.”
“That the one with ‘Safeguard Project’ in the subject line?” Gabe struggled to remember. “I’ve got it flagged to read as soon as I catch a minute to spare.”
“No worries. I’d want to see how all of this pans out in any case.” Harte shook his glass. “What do we know about the funding behind Edict currently?”
“Not as much as we need.” Gabe had Marc and Lizzy gathering intel but corporate headquarters might have more immediate information. “So far, the trail leads to a small biotech out in California. Apparently they’ve invited Miss An-mei Cheng to do research for them.”
“Doesn’t sound like the kind of company to have the funds to back Edict. What kind of research?”
“Need more details on that too, but my contact had the impression her research had some creative military applications.”
“What sort of research does this girl do?”
“Genetic. Maylin says her sister is at the forefront of her field in gene therapy and recombinant DNA, working with gene-editing proteins and how they get into human cells. Potential treatment for genetic disorders in live patients.” And wasn’t that a mouthful? Gabe had spoken to Maylin at length on the flight from Seattle to be sure he could say it all without stuttering. For a woman with a completely different career, Maylin had a far more thorough understanding of her sister’s research than expected. Gabe had no doubt his girl was every bit as intelligent as her little sister.
Considering how many people trapped themselves in a miserable job because the job description reflected their intelligence level, Gabe thought Maylin was a whole lot wiser than most in choosing what would be right for her even if her family didn’t respect what she did.
Maylin had built a challenging, fulfilling career for herself with her catering company and she was happy.
He could learn a lot from her.
“Considering the potential applications, I’m doubting this biotech company is so interested in the girl for humanitarian reasons. If they have her, they’ll have some real security around her. Otherwise, it’d be awkward to explain to the US authorities if she somehow finds her way home. You’re not going to walk into a research lab and find her there holding test tubes, chained to a lab bench. There’s going to be layers of security and personnel to get past. Even if all we have to worry about is Edict, it’ll be a challenge.” Harte leaned forward and set his half-drunk glass on the low table between them. “Your girl can’t have the funds to pay for the kind of operation it will take to get her sister back.”
And here was the difficult part.
“No.” It killed him to say it. But resources, ammunition, equipment, they all came with a high price tag. Maylin was not independently wealthy. “At the beginning I’d hoped once we found the sister, it would be something doable with a four-man fire team. The more we find out, the bigger this whole thing is looking.”
Harte shook his head. “What made you take this on in the first place?”
“Someone tried to run her down right in front of me.” Gabe clamped his mouth shut. Swallowed arguments that’d only waste time. This wasn’t going well, and he wasn’t going to be able to change Harte’s mind if he came across like a man gone soft. Practical reasoning was what he needed.
Harte sighed. “Knight in shining armor syndrome. Every f*cking one of us falls victim to it.”
“It’s why we work for Centurion and not Edict.” It was petty to say. Gabe did anyway.
The difference between Centurion and Edict was a set of ethics. A moral code. The members of Centurion Corporation had one and were willing to sacrifice profit for it. They were also pickier about what contracts they took in the first place. It meant they suffered through some complicated decisions.