Her posture sagged for a split second before she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Then I need to get to the nearest Chinese consulate and talk to someone face-to-face.”
She had steel strapped to her spine. He liked it every time he saw it. “Not the nearest. Those are San Francisco and L.A. For the kind of clout you’re going to need, it’ll save time to skip the general consulates and go straight to the embassy. Anyone at the consulates would probably send a message to the embassy anyway for it to be routed overseas. If information came back, it’d come back through the central point of contact first.”
She blinked then gave a slow nod. “Okay then, I’ll go to the embassy.”
He admired her determination, as single-minded as it was currently. Still, someone walking in without an appointment wasn’t likely to make much progress. Though, considering what he’d seen of her drive, she might make it further than most on force of personality alone. Her fluency in Mandarin would help her. He might be able to arrange for a little something to help give her some clout. And while she had attention on her, he’d tap a few contacts of his own.
“We won’t make most of the morning flights out, but we can head to the airport this afternoon and catch a red-eye tonight. It’ll give you time to pick up any toiletries or whatever at the airport.” He leaned back, made an effort not to loom over her, but she was petite. And not the type to back down. It’d been why he couldn’t resist tasting her earlier. Dangerous ground.
He needed to keep his hands to himself, at least until they had a better idea of how this would all play out. If his team beat the odds and found her sister, maybe there’d be something to explore. It’d only make it harder for Maylin if he muddied the waters before this mission was complete, though. Experience—and he had the pain in his lower back to remind him—advised proceeding with caution and keeping it simple. No further complications. No matter how tempting she was without even trying.
“Not a lot of time to book the flight.” She bit her lip.
Besides, plane tickets cost money and cross-country flights weren’t cheap.
*
There was the hesitation he’d been expecting. One thing to hire a man for a specific mission and another thing to fly to the other end of the country. “You can stay here. I’ll go and report back any news I find.”
“No.” Her voice took on the edge he’d heard the night before. “I’m going. I just need to know what flight and I’ll reserve my ticket.”
He ought to argue with her. Generally, it was easier when he worked alone, even stateside. If he left her here on Centurion Corporation grounds, she’d be safe. She’d be at higher risk out running around with him. Not immediate, because Gabe had plans to confuse whoever was trying to take her out. But eventually they’d unravel the trail and locate her.
It’d been Lizzy who’d asked him if he was leaving Maylin with the team. None of his people seemed to mind. But they’d all gotten a measure of Maylin at breakfast. The minute he left the property, she’d be after him whether the rest of the team let her go or not. They could stop Maylin, but they might have to restrain her to do it. And none of them wanted to go down that path.
This course of action went with the flow of her choices and provided opportunity to flush out her enemies without her waiting here as bait.
“I’ll take care of it.” He almost flinched under her suddenly piercing glare. “Expenses will be tallied at the end of the job but for the time being, I don’t want to wait on someone else’s funds to get where I need to go to find what I’m after.”
“I’m going to need to take a close look at that contract you owe me.” Anyone else would’ve sounded insulting, but her? No. Somehow it was politely chilling and definitively uncomfortable.
“It’s in your inbox. Once you’ve sent it back with your e-signature, we are all sorts of official. Take this afternoon to review it, send it back, and zip up your travel bag. We leave at seventeen hundred hours. Leave your smartphone and laptop here with Marc.”
“A red-eye leaves that early? And why leave my phone?” The second question was asked at a slightly higher pitch.
Would she start twitching if she was separated from her phone for too long? He chewed on the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. She wouldn’t appreciate it right now.
“The personal electronics stay here with Marc until he can verify they are clean. I’ve got a temporary phone for you in the meantime. As for the leave time, I figured I’d get you something other than omelets or takeout for dinner before yanking you clear across the country.” He paused. “Unless you want me to do a grocery run so you can stress-cook again?”