In The Company Of Snipers: Zack Part 16

He glared down at her, nothing but anger ready to spew. Instead, he growled, "Yeah. I can drive."

She held his door while he took the wheel. That was odd, her holding his door. The world had turned upside down. Nothing felt right. He turned the ignition, his head full of unvented anger. The starter growled back at him. The d.a.m.ned car was still running. Mei hurried around to her side, and once again, they were ready to go. Too late the thunder in his head stilled and he knew what the buzzing sound was.

"Zack, listen to me." David's panicked voice registered deep inside his ear ca.n.a.l. "Can you hear me?"

"Not now." He peeled the earpiece out of his ear and tossed it to the floor, fogging the window in front of him with his heavy breath. s.h.i.+t. David and Todd had heard everything. Not only heard, but seen. He screwed the op. Soon Alex would know. It didn't matter. Everywhere he looked, sad dark baby eyes stared back at him. The memory of that orphaned feminine soul still fluttered against his strong male heart, a heart that could have saved her.

He punched the steering wheel again.

"Agent Lennox is very angry."

"I heard," Agent Tao answered quietly. "What can I do?"

"He wants to be alone." Mei peered out the back window of the safe house. She'd called Agent Tao the moment Agent Lennox tossed his leather jacket to the floor and headed to the backyard. The two pistols holstered beneath his arms made her very nervous, given the explosive rage she'd witnessed. He sat on the picnic table, his feet on the bench and his hands on his knees. His back was to the house and his face to the six-foot high fence surrounding the yard.

"His car is full of dents," she murmured.

"He punched it? I was afraid of that."

"You heard everything?"

"Yes."

"He won't like it."

Agent Tao sighed. "He picked up one of the babies."

"Yes," she whispered. Agent Lennox couldn't hear her, but she felt deceitful talking about him behind his back. "The home is a very terrible place. We must find all of these foster homes are, and the police need to raid them."

"We're working on it. Alex is already in touch with the FBI, Interpol, and local authorities."

Agent Lennox stood, his hands to his hips, staring over the fence. He slipped the holster off his shoulders. After he folded the belt and set the weapons on the table, he dropped to his hands and knees, pushed his feet behind him and began doing push-ups. Mei counted ten. Still he pumped, his palms pressed to the concrete patio. Up. Down. Faster and faster.

"I need to fix something to eat," she said. "He will be very hungry."

"He won't be hungry," Agent Tao said. "If he comes up swinging, call me. But if he a.s.sumes the hero pose, I think he will be okay."

"The what?" Mei asked. "The hero pose? What is that?"

"A yoga position," he explained. "Zack will look like he is kneeling, sitting back on his thighs. If his palms are open and facing up, it means he's relinquis.h.i.+ng his bad energy to the universe. He is seeking balance to cope with the anger he feels."

Mei glanced at Agent Lennox. She'd lost count of how many push-ups he'd done. He'd slowed. The push-ups took longer. Sweat dampened his back and glistened off his head and neck. It looked more like he was seeking to kill himself than to find balance.

"Let me know if I should come over," Agent Tao said.

"I will. Thank you."

She hung up, her eyes glued to the angry man outside the window. At last, Agent Lennox stopped at the highest point of a push-up, his arms outstretched, his full weight supported on fisted bleeding hands. Beads of sweat dripped off his brow, nose, and chin to the concrete beneath his face.

Mei winced. The position had to be extremely painful on the hands he'd just used to batter his car. Blood stained the concrete patio beneath his fists. Still he held. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

At last he sank to a p.r.o.ne position, his nose pressed to the ground, his elbows c.o.c.ked at his sides to pump again. He didn't. Very slowly, he lifted to his hands and knees. Sitting back on his haunches, he faced the fence. Just as Agent Tao had predicted, Agent Lennox a.s.sumed the hero position.

Mei ran to the refrigerator. Those hands needed ice. The man needed food. She had to find a way to help. When she returned to the window, her tears fell. There sat the big proud man who had tried so hard to help her, his face buried against rock-solid forearms. Despite his skill and training, his wealth, or his prized possessions, he couldn't do a thing to help a little girl stuck in a pit of an excuse for a foster home.

Her heart melted. She turned away. He would come in when he was ready.

The last thing any man needed was for a woman to see him cry.

EIGHTEEN.

Zack and Mei were on their way to the second foster home, and of all things, they were driving a rental car. He'd called his repair shop to tow the Porsche. When the c.o.c.ky tow truck driver asked what had happened, Zack rudely told him to mind his business. The car reminded him of the tiny soul he'd deserted. He wanted to pound it all over again.

This morning, he hid behind dark gla.s.ses and bandages. Mei had taken care of the wounds on his hands the night before while he tried to recover some semblance of pride. She wanted him to see a doctor. Not going to happen. Mei insisted there were broken bones that needed x-rays. He told her to leave him alone. She finally stopped nagging.

Mei needed to stay out of his way. As long as his little girl remained in that wretched place, he wouldn't allow himself the comfort of medical attention. It didn't make sense, and yet it did. How else could he maintain the link with her if not through pain?

Determination steeled his mind. Somehow he was going to save every last child caught up in this stinking business. Every last one.

"How do you do it?" Zack growled as he maneuvered through the tangle of early D.C. traffic. The safe house was across town from Anacostia. Too far. Alex should've planned the mission a lot better.

Mei answered just as he knew she would. "There is no choice. What else would you have me do, Agent Lennox?"

That set him off.

"For one thing, stop calling me Agent Lennox. Zack. My name is Zack. Would you please just call me Zack?" He slapped the steering wheel, sending a stabbing tremor up the side of his hand and into his arm. Out of sheer aggravation, he hit it again. Pain. More pain.

"I'd rather call you dear."

"What?" He snapped her head off again, not understanding.

Unfastening her seat belt, she leaned across the console, her fingers gentle on the sides of his face. "I would rather call you brave and kind and darling."

"G.o.d," he groaned, pulling the rental to the curb at those unexpected endearments. Easing her body across the console, Zack buried his face in her neck with great heaving sighs. The fragrance of cherry blossom soothed, but he was letting her in too deep, the last thing he needed.

She stroked the back of his neck, her fingers trailing comfort over the edge of his ear while he tried to resist. "We're the same in so many ways. You're a Marine, and I'm a mom, but we do what we have to do. We don't ever give up."

Zack cringed at her inaccurate a.s.sessment of his glaring fault. He'd defied his very nature by walking away from that baby yesterday, giving in to the mission instead of doing the right thing. The memory was eating him alive.

"I can't get her out of my head," he muttered.

"Shush now, Zack. It's hard. I know." She patted the center of his chest, one arm around his shoulder like they were friends, but he caught the difference. Mei had just used his name. Where was the cold and condescending ICE agent? Hagatha? Cruella? It would be easier to deal with someone hard and calculating, but not someone who cared, who understood.

"Please don't hurt yourself any more." Mei rested her head on his shoulder. "I can't bear it."

He stilled. What was it about this woman? One minute mean, the next pouring kindness all over him.

"I don't even know her name." The anguish clawed its way out of him. "I'm sorry. I'm such an a.s.s, I didn't realize the pain you've been in."

"No. You are a very good man."

"Then why do I feel like c.r.a.p? Why do I feel like a stinking traitor, like a d.a.m.ned Judas?"

She took his face in her hands and pushed his dark gla.s.ses up from his eyes to rest on the top of his head. "Because you have a good heart. You care for a little baby, but you don't even know her name. We will find her the same as we'll find LiLi. I promise."

Mei kissed his lips as sweetly as he'd ever been kissed, but Zack didn't feel the pleasure of it. His breath caught in his throat. Did she just tell him the same lie he'd been telling her?

The second foster home was different than the first. Cleaner. Quieter. The girls seemed healthier. Not really what he'd call happy, but better.

Zack and Mei walked through the child-filled rooms behind dark sungla.s.ses and a s.h.i.+eld of indifference. They didn't hold hands. They didn't pretend they were a loving couple. No one screamed at him. Most importantly, he didn't touch a single little girl.

The only good thing that came out of it happened when Mei asked if there might be any other foster homes to visit. She came away with another address, while he left six Tattle Tales behind. The tour ended quickly. Zack ushered Mei to the pa.s.senger seat of the rental and closed the door as soon as she was inside. They were headed to another foster home. He wanted them done and behind him as quickly as possible.

"Did you get that?" He pressed a finger against his ear to reduce the background noise interfering with his comm link. David had the location of the other foster home and Zack needed his senior agent out of his head.

"Yes. Got it. Good job. Now that we've seen the inside of Richards' foster homes, we cannot wait. I mentioned it to Mei yesterday. Alex is working on a plan with the local authorities, the FBI, and Interpol this morning to bring all these homes down."

"Today?" Zack climbed behind the steering wheel and closed the car door.

"As quickly as they can gather sufficient forces. You've just given us another address to follow up on, which makes the operation that much larger. It's critical we sweep in on all of these places at the same time. We cannot risk endangering the children any longer or allowing the people running the homes to escape. Alex's plan includes Richards' office, too."

Zack glanced at Mei sitting beside him. Their time together was coming to a close, and if the upcoming takedown worked correctly, all those girls would be out of danger. She might find LiLi, although he doubted it. But if the plan of Alex's didn't go smooth, there was no telling what would happen. All kinds of bad scenarios filled Zack's mind, running the gamut between people like Jun running away to save themselves, or blowing the homes sky high to obliterate the evidence. How far would Richards go to save his hide?

Zack already knew the answer. These children weren't human beings in Richards' eyes. They were inventory, and the foster homes were nothing but warehouses to store his inventory. h.e.l.l, the man would probably burn them down just for the insurance if he could get away with it.

"Ah, Zack, how are you feeling today?" There was a definite note of unsolicited concern in David's calm voice.

"Fine," Zack snapped, pulling the earpiece out and tossing it onto the back seat. The last thing he wanted was to talk about his feelings. There was no joy in listening to the cheap economy vehicle's engine turn over either. He missed his car. He couldn't kick a rental.

"I have an idea." Mei's hand was warm on his arm.

"Yeah, what?" Somehow, since the day before, they'd switched polarities. She was strong; he was falling apart. He was rude; she was patient. "I don't want breakfast if that's what you're going to say. I don't want anything."

"I've been thinking about the girls lined up in the hall yesterday. It didn't make sense. It's not like that man was taking them outside to play. And didn't Ms. Bradford say they don't keep all the available children in one place?"

"You need to know the police are going to take down all of these foster homes as soon as they can. Maybe today." Zack let her have the bad news bluntly.

"But what if there are more?" Mei gasped. "How will I ever find my daughter?"

He gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. She'd just voiced his own dilemma; how to save one at the expense of so many others.

Mei's breathing was now audible, short, fast breaths because her heart was pounding as she dealt with the sudden change in her expectations. He tried to soften the blow. "We can't let any of the girls suffer, not now that we know how bad it is."

"You're right," she agreed quickly, and he had to look at her. She didn't sound as upset as he expected. "Then we need to go back to the first foster home right now. Let's get your little girl out of there before they have a chance to move her, or before the police swarm in and overrun the place. You want to get her, don't you?"

"Say what?" He looked twice. She might as well have told him the sky was green.

"I think they were already moving some of the girls yesterday. Remember the girls in the hallway that I mentioned before? They looked like they going somewhere. Maybe there are other foster homes we don't know about. This is our only chance."

Mei's choice of words did not elude him. Your little girl. You want to get her. This is our only chance.

What the h.e.l.l was she thinking? It didn't matter. His mind kicked into high gear. They still had the money. It could work. He'd have to keep David and Todd in the dark, though. h.e.l.l, he'd have to go against every correct protocol for The TEAM. It might put the whole operation in jeopardy, but it's not like he hadn't done that before. Alex would be one mad b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but wasn't he the one who'd said he'd have done the same thing by rescuing Chai Yenn? Zack would be fired for sure. He weighed the odds. Other than that, it just might work.

He looked into Mei's eyes and saw the love s.h.i.+ning there. She was a different woman since his meltdown yesterday, but he'd been such an a.s.s all morning. He looked away.

"Zack." She leaned across the console again, turning his face to hers, not blinking even once. "Let's rescue one baby at a time. We know where your little girl is. I know you will do everything to help me find LiLi. I trust you."

Great. What a way to kick a man when he's down. He shook his head, trying to catch his equilibrium. It was impossible around this woman. Either she was crazy, or he was. Right now, he didn't dare guess.

"Who are you?" he asked, cupping her cheek in his hand. "Just when I get you figured out, you change."

Closing her eyes, she tipped her cheek into his palm. "Someone who knows what it's like to lose your child. I can't let that same thing happen to you."

"That's the problem. She isn't mine."

Wise brown eyes peered back at him. "She is if you love her."

NINETEEN.

Mei gulped.

They were back at the first foster home. Agent Lennox had parked in the same place they'd parked the day before, and for now, the money was safe in the trunk of the rental. He'd turned off his earpiece and stowed it in the glove compartment. All she had to do was be brave one more time.

"I'll go in alone," she said, trying to sound confident.

"I should go in with you."

"No. They'd see your hands and wonder what happened. Besides, you don't speak Mandarin. I do."

He hadn't taken his eyes off the dismal home. "What if you run into trouble?"

"I won't." She hoped. It seemed a more dangerous operation now that they were back and she was really preparing to go inside all by herself.