When Dirk stiffened and the smile was wiped from his face, she realized what she’d said. She reached over and placed an apologetic hand on his. “I’m sorry, tim sum. I didn’t mean to make you remember that.”
Dirk’s hand moved under hers, and he twined their fingers together. “I know you didn’t,” he said, a rough edge to his voice. “But the minute you mentioned Tai O, I was already thinking about it.” He stared at their hands for a moment, then raised his eyes to hers. “That’s the third time,” he said softly.
“Third time?”
“You’ve called me tim sum three times,” he explained. “Once on the overlook at the Peak, once when you wished me sweet dreams and now.” His blue eyes seemed darker somehow, a question in them. A question...and something more.
Mei-li couldn’t look away, and she couldn’t refuse to answer the question he was asking. “Tim sum translates literally as sweetheart,” she said gently. “Tim—sweet. Sum—heart.” When his eyes widened, she added, “It’s not the most common endearment in Cantonese, but it’s what you are to me.”
His fingers tightened on hers. “Mei-li, I—”
Dirk’s iPhone rang, shattering the moment. She knew he would have ignored it...if the “unknown caller” ring hadn’t indicated who it was.
“Dirk DeWinter.” He stood as he answered the call, his voice crisp, determined. He listened for a moment, his eyes narrowing. Mei-li rose so she could stand next to him and hear the kidnapper on the phone, but Dirk moved restlessly away from the table. “No,” he said finally. “I don’t understand. You have my daughters. I have the ransom. I’ve been waiting all day, and now it’s too—”
He listened impatiently to the voice at the other end. “No,” he repeated firmly. “No. You send me a picture of my daughters now. Right now, or the deal’s off. I’m not waiting until tomorrow—they could already be dead, for all I know.” He breathed harshly. “And if they’re dead, then God help you, because I will hunt you down.”
He tightened his lips, and Mei-li knew part of him was regretting that threat. But he meant it. She did, too. If Linden and Laurel were dead, she would hunt the kidnappers down herself. She would use every resource she had to find these men and administer justice. An eye for an eye. No courtroom. No judge. No jury.
“Okay,” Dirk was saying. “One now, and one tomorrow when I get the wire instructions.” He disconnected and stood there breathing hard, clenching and unclenching his right hand.
She slipped her arms around his waist, holding him as tightly as she could. Offering him whatever comfort she could without words because she knew words were meaningless in this moment. His arms closed around her, and they just stood there. With her head pressed against his chest, she could hear the thudding of his heart, and her own heart ached.
When his heartbeat eventually slowed, she raised her head and asked, “What did he say?”
“Nothing worth repeating, except that an ‘unavoidable delay’ had occurred, and I should receive instructions tomorrow.”
“But you insisted on a picture now.”
“I had to. No way in hell could I sleep not knowing...” He laughed without humor. “Not that I’ll sleep anyway. But I’d go crazy imagining the worst.”
“I know.”
The ding of his iPhone indicated an email, but Mei-li grasped the phone before he could do anything. “He wouldn’t be sending a picture unless your daughters are still alive,” she said urgently. “So let’s download it onto your laptop right away and see what it tells us.”
* * *
“Aberdeen Harbour,” Mei-li said when she mapped the GPS coordinates, then checked the accuracy by doing the same in the software on her computer. “But...”
“But it’s in the middle of the water.” Dirk cursed beneath his breath. “Another GPS-camera malfunction, like the picture yesterday? The one that seemed to be taken in the middle of Victoria Harbour?”
“Nooo,” Mei-li said, drawing the word out. “Unless he took the ferry from the Aberdeen Promenade across to Ap Lei Chau on the south side of Aberdeen Harbour and turned off his phone for some reason.”
“Or accidentally turned it off,” Dirk suggested. “That happens to me sometimes because I carry mine in my pocket.”
“But twice?” she asked skeptically. “Under the same circumstances? I figured he must have been on the Star Ferry yesterday when his iPhone was turned off, and then he didn’t turn it back on until he reached wherever he was when he took the picture. And when last night’s picture was taken in Aberdeen, I assumed that must have been his destination. But if he crossed to Ap Lei Chau...”