Spy Games (Tarnished Heroes #1)(41)

Split like a fish.

Rag doll.

Served him right.

She wanted to bust in there. This was Charlie they were talking about. He was a good man. Someone who deserved better than…this.

Oh, God.

Charlie was dead. And it was all her fault. If she’d been more careful… If she’d gone against orders and kept the case on her… If—what?

She’d met Charlie on her first delivery. She’d been so nervous, certain every person she passed would make her for a U.S. agent. Her knees had practically knocked together and she’d nearly peed herself. That first face-to-face had taken place at a tea shop.

Sarah had ordered tea and taken up a corner booth, as instructed. She hadn’t really known what to expect. Irene hadn’t given her pictures or any sort of identifying information. Just a phrase.

When Charlie had sat down across from her, Sarah had thought she was going to die. That she’d been made.

At the time, she’d been so nervous she hadn’t taken into account Charlie’s mixed Chinese American heritage. All she’d seen was an assassin coming to take everything she had.

Charlie had put her at ease. Taught her how to be careful, what to look out for, he’d been a friend and mentor. Under different circumstances, maybe they would have been compatible romantically, but work came first for both of them, and Charlie wasn’t enough like Rand for their relationship to work for her. Still…he was a good guy. He didn’t deserve death. Not like this.

His death was on her hands.

She hadn’t been a good enough agent. The weak link had to be her. Charlie was too good at this, he’d been doing it for so long. It was all her fault. She might as well have been the one to kill him. She’d never again sit across from his smiling face, sharing a pot of jasmine tea, talking about their plans for the annual cherry blossom festival.

The last couple of years, they’d found a reason to cross paths during the festival. That was when their date had happened. The moment when everything between them changed. And now, she’d never see him again.

Charlie was dead.

And it was her fault.

“Sarah? Sarah, look at me.” Rand grasped her by the shoulders, his gaze gone stormy blue, almost a gray.

“Charlie’s dead.”

“Focus, Sarah. You have a job to do, whether or not Charlie is dead. We don’t know that yet.”

“But they said—”

“Sarah, listen to me, this is the part of what we do that’s the most difficult. You have to put your emotions aside and work. I can’t do this without you. You’re the only one who speaks Mandarin.”

She hiccupped, her eyes blurring with tears. She was in over her head. But Rand was right, this could be her chance to make this right.

“What else are they saying? Focus on that.”

She nodded and swiped at her cheeks. One deep breath, and then another. “Someone just came in.” Her voice wavered, but she could do this.

Rand furiously tapped at the laptop, accessing the security feeds.

Sarah swallowed. It was him.

Zhang Wei.

Her insides quaked. The only thing separating them from one of the most dangerous men on the planet was a bit of drywall.

“He…” She tilted her head to the side, parsing out the words, translating them. “He delivered the case after they talked. I guess he was here earlier. Maybe before we got set up? They’ve had the package rescanned, and it’s as they…as he said it was. I guess they X-rayed it or something and saw the security.”

“Okay.” Rand scribbled away.

…

Zhang Wei stood amid the swirl of activity, waiting for silence. It wasn’t his place to speak first. He was the tool the arm of China wielded.

“Wei, what did they find?” Wang Ping braced a hand against the back of a chair.

“The security on the case cannot be bypassed.”

It was as Wei had told them earlier. Still, a second opinion and X-ray were needed to verify his assessment. It was a waste of time, but once more, Wei was only the arrow, pointed at the target and released to do his part in things. It wasn’t like he had experience.

“We paid for nothing.” Ping pounded the back of the chair with his fist.

“The security indicates that it is keyed to a person, or persons. You said when you bought the intel there was more?”

“Yes, the man.”

“Charlie Liu?” Wei frowned. He’d killed Charlie Liu.

“That one.”

“There has to be someone else.” Wei frowned.

“We know there are twelve operatives in the greater Asian continent, and ten times that many people working for the Americans. It could be any of them.” Ping threw up his hands, the lines around his mouth deepening.

“Are you at liberty to share your source?” Part of Wei’s job was making people talk.

“I can’t.” Ping pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. “I’ll work on it.”

“I await your orders.”

Silencing traitors was all the reward Wei wanted.

…

“I just sent the contact protocol over.”

Mitch glanced up at Irene, one shoulder braced against the door. She was the best thing he’d seen all day.

“Hector gave them to you?” Mitch was only a tiny bit bitter about that. What the hell? They were in this together. It was time they started acting like it.