Lauren looked pale but excited as she sank down on the couch, waiting for Levi to start talking. “They might’ve found where Hannah’s being kept.”
“Okay,” Levi started. “Ash did some great work this week, tracking down a rental vehicle we suspected was being used by Zhao’s team. Ash followed it to a residential neighborhood in Oakland, only a few miles away from Langham Place—where the exchange ‘event’ occurred. The person who rented the SUV has a very expensive passport, the kind you buy when you need to stay anonymous. That’s not all. Ash was able to film the driver’s face, and he matched it to the face of one of the guards who abducted Hannah.”
“Matched how?” As usual, Bethany sounded skeptical.
“With the same facial-recognition software the NSA uses.” Levi bristled. “Is that okay with you?”
“Wow—yeah, that’s okay with me—it’s great.” Bethany smiled at him in approval. “Finally, some good news.”
Levi didn’t smile back, but he looked less annoyed. “We were able to locate a condo for rent in the neighborhood. One of our men is dealing with the transaction now. As soon as we can take possession, probably tonight, we’ll move our surveillance equipment in and start watching the house.”
“What’s the plan after that?” Lauren asked.
“If we can confirm Hannah is on the premises, we’ll go in. If not…we may wait until Friday to see if they bring her out. If they do, we’ll intercept them.”
“What if she’s not there?” Lauren asked. “What if this isn’t the same people?”
“Right now, it makes sense for us to concentrate our efforts on this location. We don’t have any other leads. If it turns out we’re wrong, we’ll deal with it at the closing.”
“Which means what, exactly?” Bethany was back to sounding unimpressed.
“It means if we have to, we’ll get Hannah at the law firm, and then we’ll intercept Lauren before she gets on a plane. We’ll come up with a more detailed plan for that later. Right now, we need to stay focused.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all, but I kept my mouth shut. For the moment.
“Does anyone have any other questions?”
“Can I come with you to the site?” Lauren asked hopefully.
“Not right now,” Levi said. “You need to get Paragon ready. Zhao can’t have any idea that we’ve found a lead—we need the element of surprise.”
I stood up. “I’d like to go with you. I need to do something. If I sit around here and wait, I’ll go crazy.”
“That’s fine,” Levi said. “But please stay in the background, and let us do our job. If there’s something you can help with, I’ll tell you. I promise.”
“But nothing dangerous, right?” Lauren asked him. “Please?”
“Of course not,” Levi assured her.
I leaned down and kissed the top of Lauren’s head. “You don’t have to worry.”
“I need you to mean that.”
I stroked her cheek. “Of course I do. I love you. And you have enough to worry about—I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”
“Okay,” she said, but it sounded like a lie.
Chapter 22
Lauren
Sunlight streamed into the room when I woke the next morning. I stretched, feeling the bed empty next to me, and then remembered—Gabe had gone to the surveillance house. I hoped Ash was right—they’d found where Hannah was being kept. Just the thought of Gabe and his brothers being close to her made me feel a little better.
Maybe this can work. Maybe we can get her out.
I threw on some sweats and went out to the kitchen, where I made myself a coffee and tried to collect my thoughts.
What would I do about Paragon if we could rescue Hannah before the closing? I supposed I could refuse to sell. I could tell Li Na, once and for all, to bugger off.