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His eyes scrunched. Was he realizing how betrayed I felt? “Since yesterday,” he answered.
“Why?”
He cocked his head.
“This is need-to-know. Why did you need to know?”
“Let’s sit,” said my father, who now stood on the stair right above us.
“How much of this did you know?” I asked my mother as I pulled out the chair next to her.
“Leave your mother out of this,” my father warned.
“Why? She’s seated at the table, is she not?”
“Emerson.”
I remembered when Lynx had said my name the same way my father just did. It freaked me out then and now.
“I can speak for myself, Rick,” said my mother, resting her hand on my arm. “I knew who your father worked for and what he did. I knew none of the specifics. Even if I had, I doubt I would’ve understood any of it. It’s you and your father who have the genius-level IQs.”
“May I?” Lynx asked my dad.
“Go ahead.”
He faced me, but I didn’t do the same.
“Your father and I traveled to Washington today and had a meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to China.”
“Buster?” my mother asked my father, who smiled and nodded.
“The ambassador was able to confirm that Saint and Dr. Benjamin, along with two CIA operatives, were arrested in Hong Kong. We believe negotiations will soon begin, but what Beijing is likely to ask for, may be out of the realm of possibility.”
“A swap,” I murmured. If there was anyone at this table who had a clear picture of China’s tactics, it was me. I lived and breathed it on a daily basis. I was one of the people—one of a handful—who disseminated highly classified information provided by organizations like State and the NSA, and mapped out strategy. With China, my primary objective was to head off their ability to seize the title of one true superpower from the United States. They were close, and it was my job to figure out how to stop it from happening.
If it came to what Lynx was suggesting, there was no way we could negotiate with their demands. None. Doing so would go against everything the United States stood for. If the U.K. was asking us to, I’d be the first to recommend saying no. Yes, it meant losing four good men to a Chinese prison, or worse, but what would happen if we caved was exponentially more horrific.
“I hope you’re right about your team being able to get Saint and Dr. Benjamin, along with the other two, out of China,” I mumbled.
Lynx nodded. “I am.”
19
LYNX
It was fascinating to watch Emerson process information. I’d seen the look on her face before when she questioned Irish and me about MI6’s and the CIA’s involvement at IPP. It was almost as though an alternate personality took over when she went into analytical mode. She was lightning quick and needed little explanation, spitting out questions faster than AI could generate algorithms.
Pride shone brightly on her father’s face, and rightly so. His daughter was fucking brilliant.
My reaction? My cock was rock hard. Never before had I wanted her as much as I did at this moment. Part of me wanted to toss her over my shoulder and carry her off to my lair, the other wanted to bow down at her feet and beg her attention.
It had taken me far longer to come to the same conclusions she had, and I’d had it essentially spelled out for me. The only hope that Saint and Benjamin would make it out of China alive, was black ops.
“What about Jinyan?” I asked Emerson’s father. “Are you in contact with him?”
Emerson’s eyes opened wide, and Rick nodded.
“And?” I asked.
