Water under the bridge, Diaz. You’re helping her now.
Still, this was the last kind of job he wanted for him or his team. This kind of job sucked a person in, made them care. It was the kind in which only a sociopath could avoid getting emotionally invested. He’d been there and been burned, bad. Nothing about this was going to end well.
But he’d decided to help Maylin, at least far enough to ensure she didn’t end up dead in the near future. And who the hell else would be able to? Nobody in the Seattle area had the resources Centurion had.
His smartphone rattled on the desk with a notification. There wasn’t much point setting them to vibrate when the vibration could be heard across the damn room. He picked up the phone and gave the screen a swipe.
Lizzy had completed her search already.
He pushed away from his laptop and headed back up the hallway to the surveillance room.
“Lizzy.”
She didn’t turn from the multiple monitors this time either.
“Search didn’t take long.” Lizzy reached for a pile of printouts. “To be honest, I was curious after tonight’s fun so I started a basic background query on Maylin and her sister before I settled in for surveillance. Finding out how An-mei Cheng disappeared was quick because there’s not much out there to find.”
Curiosity and paranoia worked hand in hand, mostly to their benefit. Lizzy would have given him a heads-up right away if anything about Maylin’s situation set off red flags. Gabe took the printouts from her. “You’re a freaking goddess.”
“Basic” for Lizzy was more detailed than most background checks run for standard employers. There’d probably be more in there about Maylin and her sister than they knew about themselves.
“Yes, and how about you stand night watch for me next time I need to switch shifts?” Lizzy sounded cold but a small smile played on her lips. “This missing person—police haven’t done more than contact the authorities in China. They’re sticking to the exact letter of standard operating procedure. The US Embassy over there has an alert for if she comes back to the embassy over the next couple of days, but there’s no active search for her. Again, standard procedure. They’re assuming she went off to party or sightsee, maybe lost her passport. They’re waiting to see if she contacts them.”
The same basic runaround Maylin had been getting. So far, her story was turning out to be accurate.
“What was she doing over there?”
“Our person of interest is some sort of uber smart person. A PhD in gene therapy and genetic recombination. She wasn’t just attending a scientific research conference, she was a guest speaker. Not the sort who’d go on a drunken binge and miss her flight home. Profile isn’t a match.” Lizzy’s face remained neutral. Her arms were crossed and she tapped a finger on her bicep the way she did when she was chewing on inconsistencies. “Both women are bilingual too. They speak Mandarin, so it’s not like An-mei Cheng couldn’t ask for directions to get to the authorities or the embassy.”
Not like she couldn’t call for help.
“Seems to be a high-profile person, though.” Gabe wondered why the authorities were so laid back if an important researcher, a guest in the country, hadn’t turned up yet. Not as big a surprise that they weren’t responding to worried family members like Maylin. Unless you had clout on the international scene, there was little a person could do so far away from the country in question.
“Not that high profile. She’s got a thesis and some promising research, but she’s still up-and-coming in the academic world as far as I can tell.” Lizzy tipped her head to one side. “‘Bright future’ and similar commentary popped up in any newsletters related to the conference. She’s at the beginning of her career. Not important enough to make big waves now that she’s missing.”
Gabe nodded. “No ransom request either.”
“No.” There, Lizzy’s tone edged into regret. She recovered though and returned to a brisk tone. “I left a few search strings running. I’ll keep you updated if anything new turns up.”
No ransom meant An-mei’s kidnappers had taken her for other reasons, and the likelihood of finding the young woman alive were headed toward the minuscule. Maylin’s extraordinary green eyes came to mind. An-mei had the same unusual color. Bilingual, attractive and possessed of a striking feature to set her apart. Human trafficking was a strong possibility.