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erself in danger. Or someone she loves.”
“What did you just say?”
I turned to face her. “You heard me—and you know I don’t mean it. But I need to motivate her and also keep her quiet. We need this information from Jiàn. We need to know if they’re taking the bait. Think of all the bad things Li Na’s done—all the people she’s hurt. We need to stop her, Lauren!”
Lauren shook her head, clearly not agreeing. “But this low-level administrative assistant has done nothing. She’s a victim here, too.”
I sighed. “I know that. I’m not going to do anything to hurt her, and I won’t let anything bad happen to her either.”
“How can you promise that? What if Li Na finds out? There’s no one in Shenzhen who can protect this poor woman if that happens.”
“Wes and Ellis both worked in China while they were in the military. Wes doesn’t know anyone deployed there anymore, but Ellis said he still has a few contacts. If I need emergency help, I can get it.”
Lauren didn’t look convinced. “No offense, but that seems a little tangential.”
“I know—but hopefully it won’t be necessary.” I started to pace. “Biyu has to keep this a secret. That’s why threatening her makes sense, even though it makes me sick. She won’t do anything to put her child in jeopardy.”
Lauren sat down heavily. “I can’t believe we’re even considering this. After what Li Na’s done to us, to Fiona…we should take the high road. This is not who we are.”
“Of course it’s not. But think of it this way—we’re trying to prevent another tragedy.” I’d known Lauren wouldn’t like the idea—there was nothing to like about it. Still, we needed an ally in place if any of this was going to work. “Li Na ordered a hit on Jim Pace. She had Wes shot, she kidnapped me, and she killed Clive Warren. Don’t forget that she had you and Timmy locked up, too. Thank God he saved you.”
Li Na had held my sister and her longtime bodyguard prisoner during her first attempt to acquire the patch. Lauren had outsmarted her and escaped, but not before Timmy had to kill several guards in order to protect my sister.
Lauren tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I remember—I was there. But it doesn’t justify our sinking to the same level.”
“We’re not. I am trying to avoid more people getting hurt. Wes keeps offering to go to China, to take care of Li Na himself. Do you think I want that? After what he’s been through?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Of course not.”
I stepped closer to my sister. “You know I don’t believe in violence—I hate it. I’m going to threaten this woman, but I’m doing it for her own good. I won’t do anything to disappoint you, but we need to make this work.”
“Fine,” Lauren said. “Just promise me one thing.”
“Anything.”
She raised her gaze to meet mine. “That I recognize you when this is all over. And that you won’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“Fine,” I said.
Lauren smoothed her hair. “Fine.”
But I wondered as I headed to my sunny, cheerful office…could this actually turn out fine?
Back at my desk, I sent Leo and Dave a text.
Set up the email account. I’m contacting Biyu today.
10-4, Dave wrote back. A few minutes later, he sent me a link to the account.
Taking a deep breath, I drafted an email to Biyu Lin, wondering if I was about to ruin her life.
Chapter 20
Wes
Even though Hannah objected, I went to the big meeting at Paragon.
“I need to keep up with what’s going on. I’m back to work, remember? Just on restricted duty.”
