In The Company Of Snipers: Zack Part 9

He followed her manicured fingernail. One word leapt off the page. "Cocaine? That little girl's been around cocaine?"

"At least the b.u.t.ton was. Look at this." Mother traced a thin yellow line, but too many other words vied for his attention. Coffee. Watermelon rinds. Lard. Vodka. Dog feces. That beautiful baby was buried beneath sludge. She'd suffered. Someone hurt her, tossed her out like garbage. If not for Marty....

"Zack." Mother's voice softened. "Zhen Ting had the b.u.t.ton in her hand. I can prove it. See this yellow line? Those are her skin cells."

He could barely speak.

"And these two lines here." She highlighted bright orange and brown lines. "I eliminated yours, but two other people touched it, only I don't know who they are. I've got nothing to compare."

"Could be Marty." Zack scrubbed a hand over his face. "He handled it."

"Or whoever dropped her in the dumpster," Alex said. He had come up behind them, his hand to Zack's shoulder as he peered over the counter at the report.

Mother kept going. "I've got more. This b.u.t.ton is made from a sh.e.l.l found in New Guinea. The only place in the world that uses b.u.t.tons like this is a high-end men's suit shop in Le Marais, Paris, France. They've got some kind of an exclusive contract."

"Bet it's expensive," Zack muttered.

"Let's just say you'd be spending a month's salary to buy a suit there, unless you're making a whole heck of a lot more than I think you're making." Mother usually crowed when she was successful, but this time she was subdued.

"More pieces of the puzzle." Alex cut to the chase. "Who bought it?"

"Here's the list." She produced another sheet of computer paper. "Recognize anyone?"

One name leapt off the page. Mr. Tony Brown.

"How is this guy involved?" Zack asked. "He's everywhere."

"That's what you and David are going to find out," Alex said easily as he and Zack stepped away.

"Thanks, Mother." Zack rapped his knuckles on her countertop before he left. "Good work."

He wasn't prepared for her tender smile.

"Get 'em, Zack." She dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "Don't let them hurt any more little girls like the pretty baby you found. She and Zhen Ting deserve justice. Someone needs to pay."

His thoughts exactly. All he could do was nod. It seemed the op was hard on everyone, not just him. He turned an abrupt about face and joined his boss.

"Speaking of David, did he already leave?" Alex asked, looking around the deserted office.

"I think he was stopping by CPS on his way home."

"Child Protective Services? Again?"

"He's checking another lead."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Sure he is. More like he's checking on Chai Yenn. How about you? Still working with our little mother?"

"I was about to take her home when Mother called. Poor woman took the bus here. Guess she had a flat tire."

"And?"

"I don't know, Boss. Someone's trying d.a.m.ned hard to keep this kidnapping from going public."

"You believe her?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but I do."

"David checked the AMBER Alert. No report of a missing child was ever filed."

"The detectives were fakes. Maybe everyone she thinks she talked with, too. She's sure hard set that her daughter's abduction is mixed up with the child trafficking ring though."

"I don't know how," Alex breathed quietly. "More likely she latched onto the first thing that made sense. She's desperate. See what you can find out about the father. As long as you're taking her home, sweep the place for bugs. Someone's intercepted every move she's made. Whoever's behind it, they've got to have her place wired somehow."

"But why? She's just a single mom working a dead end job. She's right. She's a n.o.body."

Alex shrugged. "It doesn't make sense, but have you felt her back?"

That came out of the blue. "Ah, no. Sure haven't."

"I noticed when she fell apart. Mei Xing is thin as a rail, Zack. That woman is killing herself looking for her daughter." Alex aimed his index finger at the Sit Room. "If what she told us is the truth, we need to find her little girl, and we need to do it fast."

Now it was Zack's turn to blow out one of those long suffering sighs like Mei had been doing. "I'm on it."

Just take me home.

Once inside the sleek sports car, Mei fastened her seat belt, pushed back into the leather seat, and tried to ignore her luxurious surroundings. There was a time a car like this one would have impressed her. No more. Agent Lennox guy had it all. The parking garage he parked in was protected from the weather. He didn't even have to sc.r.a.pe windows on his Porsche. And here she was, sitting in the same seat where only yesterday some working girl had wriggled her disgusting b.u.t.t. Ewww. The irony did not escape Mei. Just the fact that she was here proved she was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, almost as low as that hooker.

The soft yellow glow of the overhead lights faded as Agent Lennox pulled the vehicle up the ramp, punched in his secure access code, and pulled silently into traffic. This was the last place she wanted to be, beholden to another rich man. The night traffic slipped by.

"Can I get you something to eat?" he offered. At least he was polite.

"No, thanks. I want to go home."

"I still have one question."

"And what would that be?"

He'd already downloaded everything from her laptop, and grilled her for hours. What could possibly be left unanswered? The only reason she'd allowed the miserable day to unfold the way it had was because Alex Stewart made her believe. Almost.

"There are still a few things we didn't get to. All I want to know is why the att.i.tude?" Agent Lennox didn't rise to the challenge of her nasty remark like she expected. "Why were you so hostile with David and me at the hospital yesterday? You didn't even know who we were before you ripped our heads off. What was that all about?"

He'd never understand. How could he?

"How far would I have gotten if you knew who I really was?" She flipped the stolen badge snapped to her belt. How dense could he be? "I've done so many illegal things. If I'm going to find my daughter, I can't be weak. If that comes across as mean and nasty, I'm sorry. I really don't care what you think of me, Agent Lennox. I have to find her."

There. Now leave me alone.

She turned back to the window. People flew by in their nice clean cars, oblivious to the mess that was her life. The night was dark and her mood darker. Another day without LiLi was another day wasted. Mei bit her thumbnail and pushed the fear down one more time.

"Where is her father?" he asked gently.

That was another thing. Why was Agent Lennox being so nice and civil? Why did he act like he cared?

"He was a friend in college," she snapped.

"So you two didn't marry?"

"No, Agent Lennox, we didn't marry." Resorting to sarcasm, Mei riveted her eyes to the outside scenery one more time. "He was a medical student with a different plan for our future than mine. When he found out I was pregnant, he packed up and left. I haven't seen him since."

This agent was persistent, but dragging up the sperm donor mistake from her past didn't help. Sheesh. Kick me while I'm down, why don't you? She hadn't thought of Christopher in years, and she didn't want to think of him now. He'd left her high and dry and run home to Mommy and Daddy like the privileged spoiled brat he was. In doing so, he'd avoided the responsibility and inconvenience of a baby born out of wedlock. Other people might not have a problem with that scenario, but the only heir to the most prestigious cardiovascular surgeon in New York City had to be above reproach. He had a reputation to protect.

"What's his name?"

"Christopher Elias Jones the Second." The name fell from her lips like ice.

"The heart doctor's son?"

"You know him?" Great. Agent Lennox and the biggest mistake in her life were probably best friends. Wouldn't it just figure?

"No. Only what I've read in the paper. He did the heart surgery on the Vice President last year."

She preferred the gloomy scene outside her window to the gathering disquiet inside the car. Who cared what Dr. Christopher Elias Jones the First did? After he'd offered to buy Mei's silence for a million dollars, she'd never seen him again. He didn't care about her or his only grandchild. No. The important thing was to ensure neither Mei nor LiLi interfered with his son's career. A baby with someone like her might not look good on a resume. That she told him in no uncertain terms to go to h.e.l.l hadn't set well with the self-absorbed physician. His son, either.

"There's no chance he or his parents might have abducted your daughter?" Agent Lennox parked at the curb in front of her low rent apartment in Anacostia.

"I don't see how. They've never seen her." A quiet sob sneaked up on her. For too long, Mei had blamed herself. Something was wrong with her. She wasn't good enough for Christopher. Mei knew better the moment she first held her newborn daughter. It was never about her or LiLi. Neither was it the fact that she was Chinese American. No. Christopher and his parents were the problem. It was best they were out of her life. They'd never be good enough for LiLi, not if they lived to be a thousand.

Mei stared at her bleak world, the cold rain drizzling like she wasn't already cold enough. His hand settling over hers startled her, but when she turned with all her angry words ready to fly, she caught the light in his eyes. The tenderness was unmistakable. For that single moment in time, it seemed he saw her. She wasn't invisible.

"I can't begin to imagine what you've been going through," he said kindly.

His genuine concern took the venom out of her. It would be nice to hold the hand he'd offered, to believe he meant what he said.

"Tell me the truth, Agent Lennox. Don't lie. Do you think we can find her?"

He didn't blink or look away. "You heard my boss. If he said we're going to find your daughter, then we will."

"But you don't believe she's part of the trafficking ring, do you?" she asked accusingly, daring him to contradict her. Yes, those manly eyes were kind, but she'd been lied to before.

"There's no way to know for sure, at least, not until we do some more digging. I think it's unlikely a human trafficking ring from Mainland China would grab an American child off the street, even one of Chinese heritage. Still, it's possible. They might have grabbed her to replace another child."

"You mean, like a child who died? A little girl they might have...killed?" Her voice cracked. It was time to go before she fell apart.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean th-"

"Forget it." Mei stiffened her chin and raised her head. "Thanks for the ride."

"It was my pleasure."

I seriously doubt that. No man appreciates a b.i.t.c.hy woman.

She unfastened her seat belt and pulled the door handle. Somehow, during the time it took her to get to her feet, he'd raced around the car and was offering a hand up. She waved it away.

"I'm fine. Goodnight." Mei turned away, wanting nothing more than to put the disastrous day far behind her.

Agent Lennox followed. "I'm coming in with you."

"You don't need to." I don't want you to. This isn't a date.

He didn't argue, but neither did he leave. With one flick of his wrist, the Porsche winked back when he remote locked it.

"You don't need to walk me to my door, Agent Lennox. Really." Surely, he had better things to do? Like leave.

"Give it up, Agent Xing." Without asking, he slid out of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders.

She noticed. G.o.d, how she noticed. Warmth flooded the cold pit in her heart, the stone dungeon she carried everywhere. The man she wanted so much to hate had just been kind, and he'd done it automatically, like it was no big deal.

"I'll escort you to your apartment. After I make sure you're safe, I'm going to sweep for listening devices. It's very possible someone's bugged your place."

She pulled the warm leather around her, s.h.i.+vering as heat replaced the chill. It was hard not to notice the masculine smell mingled with the leather, wrapped up in his jacket like she was. "You really think someone's eavesdropping on me?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. Someone has to be intercepting all your calls."

She wasn't going to argue, but why would anyone bug her? She didn't know anything.

He waited at her side while she keyed in the secure access code to her apartment building. Once again he held the door, his hand at the small of her back while he ushered her inside, and once again warmth surged up from her toes. His touch felt so good that it hurt. She shrugged away from him, but he didn't seem to notice she meant to avoid him.

"Think about it," he said as they walked to the elevator. "Those weren't real detectives you talked with. Someone set the whole thing up in order to abduct LiLi, and then to prevent you from getting the help you needed."

Her mind went blank. Intrigue of that scale belonged in movies, not her pathetic excuse of a life.

"Which floor?" he asked.

"Second." She fingered the supple feel of his expensive jacket, the men's cologne imbued in its lining rising up into her nose like incense. This guy had it all. He could afford to be nice.

The elevator ride was quiet. They didn't speak again until they were at her door. The dismal feel of her apartment met her full force when she opened the door and flipped the light switch, a big contrast to the interior of his car.

"Don't mind me. I'll only take a minute," he said as he stepped inside with her. For the first time, she saw the holster across his broad back, two pistols tucked under his arms. They'd been hidden beneath the leather jacket now draped over her shoulders.

Her eyes drifted over his profile as he proceeded into the room. For a big dumb jock, he wasn't bad looking, bald but attractive in a primitive way. He was the kind of guy who decorated himself with tattoos and chewed tobacco. Thick biceps flexed when he unsnapped what looked like a walkie-talkie on his belt. Huh. No tats. Only clear rippling skin rich with the color of a mixed heritage. Well, okay. So he didn't have a tattoo that she could see. It didn't mean anything. She'd already seen his choice of women. She knew his type.

"Would you like coffee or tea?" she asked, just to be nice. He was, after all, helping her again. It's not like she'd asked him to.

His eyes lit up at her less than enthusiastic offer. "It's late. You sure you don't mind?"

"I could fix..." She turned to her spa.r.s.e kitchen where a half box of granola, three apples, and a couple more spoonfuls of instant coffee awaited their demise. "I'll make coffee."

While he walked through her neglected home, she set her teakettle to boil and placed two mugs, two spoons, and what was left of the sugar and creamer on the table. He might as well know he was not going to get his usual cup of caffe-mocha-latte-whatever he was probably used to drinking every morning. All she had to offer was plain old Folgers freeze-dried. If it was good enough for her, it was good enough for him. He could take it or leave it.