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“I’m down here with the cabdriver,” Rafe said urgently. “I gave him a Hong Kong fifty not to take another fare, but if you want to talk with him you’d better get down here pronto.”
“We’re on our way,” Dirk replied, heading for the door before he even disconnected. “Rafe’s got the cabdriver,” he told Mei-li, holding the door for her.
* * *
Mei-li hadn’t been outside yet, and when she and Dirk exited the hotel, the bright sunshine and cotton ball–dotted blue skies were a welcome change after the ominous, low-hanging clouds that had preceded the typhoon the day before. Dirk immediately slipped on a pair of BluBlockers, and for a moment Mei-li was puzzled—the sun wasn’t so bright they were a necessity. Then she realized it was probably habit on his part—his face was instantly recognizable, and he would often need to mask his identity. It was a little thing, but telling. Not something she would feel comfortable having to do, and a tiny pang of sympathy went through her. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what his life must be like with so little privacy. Not just in something like this—being recognized on the street—but in every aspect of his life.
What would it be like to have every bad thing that happened to you play out on a stage for the world to gawk at? There had been a media frenzy immediately following Sean’s murder by his kidnappers, but it had blown over relatively quickly. That had allowed her to work her way through the five stages of grief in private: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Dirk didn’t even have that. He’d lost his beloved wife, but he’d had no respite from the paparazzi, no chance to mourn her without the world intruding.
She shook her head, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind to consider another time, because she couldn’t let herself lose focus. Dirk’s private pain was something she couldn’t afford to think about...not now. Not unless she wanted to risk his daughters’ kidnapping turning into another monumental catastrophe for him. If anything happens to his daughters, she thought, he might survive, but he’d never recover.
She glanced from left to right, then spotted Rafe standing next to a red cab on the far right of the hotel’s spacious forecourt, waving to catch their attention. Dirk had already seen him and was moving in that direction. His legs were a lot longer than hers, and they quickly ate up the distance. She scurried to catch up.
Rafe met Dirk halfway, and she arrived just as he told Dirk in an undertone, “I didn’t tell him anything. Just that you wanted to talk with him and would pay him for his time.”
“Thanks,” Dirk said, slipping his glasses momentarily to the top of his head. “But I’m going to want more than that.”
“You want him to take you to the airport,” Mei-li said. It wasn’t a question. “You want him to show you exactly where he dropped those two men off yesterday.”
“Yeah.” Dirk reached into his pocket, pulled out the key card to his suite and handed it to Rafe. “Find Mike, will you? The two of you can wait for us in the suite.” He glanced at Mei-li, as if he were remembering her warning, then his gaze returned to Rafe’s face. “Don’t tell Mike what we’ve learned so far. Just tell him we’re following a lead, but not what that lead is.”
Rafe nodded slowly. “Got it. You don’t trust Mike.”
“It’s not that.”
“Yeah, it is. That’s exactly what it means. But I understand. If they were my little girls—hell, they are like my little girls—I wouldn’t take any chances with their safety, either.”
“I trust you.” Quiet sincerity was apparent in Dirk’s voice.
Rafe’s lips twitched as if he were going to smile, but he didn’t. “I trust me, too, but I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.” His eyes hardened. “What are you going to do if you find the kidnappers? You think you can handle two men on your own? And keep your daughters out of harm’s way?” His eyes cut to Mei-li’s face. “Sorry, ma’am. I’m not dissing you, but I don’t think you’re a match for a man like...” His hand motion indicated Dirk and himself. “Especially since we already know he has a gun. For all we know, they both do. And they’ll be desperate. Desperate men do desperate things.”
“No offense taken.” She touched Dirk’s arm. “He might be right,” she said softly.
Rafe sat in front with the driver, while Dirk and Mei-li sat in the back. The cabdriver hadn’t been able to add anything to the description of the two men he’d driven to the airport, but he had assured Dirk he could take them to the same place. His English wasn’t as good as the doorman’s, but it was good enough.
