“That’s a shame. I’d think you’d be worried about your livelihood.”
“Ah, well. Gotta let the luck come when it will.” Li laughed, a touch too high pitched. “Besides, I heard about your incident overseas. Didn’t expect you around...at all.”
Ever was more like it. It’d been touch and go there, getting out of that hellhole and then recovery afterward.
“You know rumors.” Gabe leaned forward, turning his face as if he was looking out the window. “Greatly exaggerated.”
And to his benefit in any situation. There was an edge to being underestimated in his line of work. Element of surprise tended to work to his advantage when he managed things properly.
Li shifted in his seat, giving a barely perceptible amount of ground. “My information is gold because of its accuracy, man. You took a shot in the back from the person you were supposed to be protecting.”
Yeah, wouldn’t that just suck? The reality was a hundred times worse. Li’s precious information was inaccurate, but Gabe wouldn’t hold it against the informant. The truth behind the actual shooting was locked in a need-to-know file and only Gabe’s commanding officer needed to know. Even Gabe’s team didn’t know yet.
“Not enough to take me out.” Of course not. Gabe didn’t bother trying not to sound surly about it. Being shot hadn’t tickled.
“Some say it was enough to take you out of the game.”
“Those people are wrong.” Gabe bit off each word.
And why did Li seem disappointed? Damned informants. Rarely friends. What mattered more was whether Li had gone from neutral to biased in favor of one of his other clients.
Li let loose his nervous laugh again. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy, real happy, to have one of my best friends back. Of course.”
“Of course.” Sure. And Gabe might go back to wearing tighty-whities tomorrow. “In honor of our friendship, why don’t you give me some insight?”
“On what?” Li sounded genuinely puzzled. “Like I said, there’s no news recently.”
“Not looking for jobs or background on any of the diplomats in-house.” Gabe tapped the metal rail along the back of Li’s seat. The urge to shake what he wanted out of the man was pretty strong. Still, Gabe would learn more if he nudged Li into babbling instead. “There might be some effort to sweep a few things under the rug, though, maybe a missing person?”
“People go missing every day, especially overseas. Police have more data on those reports than the embassy does.” Too glib. Rehearsed, even. Definitely something there.
“I’m not talking about a kid on the side of a milk carton. And the embassy is the link to the authorities overseas.” Gabe let his tone drop lower. “I don’t want to have to dig for this. Don’t make me.”
“C’mon, Diaz. Shouldn’t you be recovering? Might be too early for you to be up and out in the field.” Li dragged a shaking hand through his hair.
It was. He’d been on light security recently because it let him stay reasonably active, but he wasn’t cleared yet for serious duty. The long plane ride back to the East Coast had left him stiff and aching, a reminder to proceed with caution this trip. Course, caution might have evaporated when Maylin had ambushed him earlier.
No warm, cuddly thoughts right now. Gabe glowered to make sure they didn’t show in his expression.
“You’d like to think so.” He was done with being nice. “But here I am. And my recent experiences don’t leave me inclined to give anyone the chance to betray my trust again. Is that what you’re trying to do?”
“No, no.” Li clutched his saddle bag, but didn’t reach inside or otherwise make any motions to pull a gun or a phone.
Not like a gun was going to help the man at this close range. Gabe could have him disarmed and break something before Li could disengage a safety.
“I’m guessing your stop is coming up soon.” There were more ways to mess with a man’s livelihood than breaking things. “But you wouldn’t mind me getting off with you, right? No one to care if I’m seen with you.”
Li gulped. “It’s been weird lately, Diaz. You know? Nobody respects an objective observer anymore.”
“So I see.” Playing the sympathy card. Going straight to the jelly for a spine. “What’s the world coming to? Giving info on dirty diplomats doesn’t eat at the soul the way other things do. Like covering up the disappearance of a young woman, maybe?”
Li froze.
Gotcha.
“An American citizen, with family looking for her. I can show you her face.”
“No!” Li wiped sweat from his forehead. “I didn’t do anything. Just deleted a few emails and let a couple of calls get lost on hold indefinitely. That’s all.”