Kidnapping for ransom—at least in Hong Kong—was a business of sorts, and most kidnappers played by the rules. Rule number one: receive the ransom, release the victim unharmed. That wasn’t to say the initial ransom demand was paid. As with most things in Hong Kong, the ransom amount was negotiable—which was where she came in. She was extremely skilled at negotiating with kidnappers and had an uncanny knack for knowing just how low the price could go before the kidnappers dug in their heels. And while her fee wasn’t tied to how much money she saved her wealthy clients on the ransoms they paid—that was an idea fraught with potential disaster for the victims and their families—bonuses from grateful clients weren’t uncommon.
But kidnapping for revenge was a completely different animal, and something with which she had no experience. There were no rules that both sides adhered to, because the motivation wasn’t money. She’d be flying blind on this case. If she were wise, she’d bow out with her record intact and let Dirk find someone else. Problem was, she couldn’t think of a single ransom negotiator in Hong Kong who had any more experience in this kind of situation than she did. Even worse, the kidnap victims in this case were little more than babies. If you walk away and anything happens to them...
She couldn’t do it. She’d gone into this line of work for a very personal reason, and she couldn’t walk away now any more than she could change what had happened eleven years ago. But she owed it to Dirk to tell him and let him make the decision. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped as an idea occurred to her. If Vanessa and/or Chet were involved in the kidnapping, a little misdirection could work in her favor. But she needed to warn Dirk of her plan ahead of time.
She put a hand on his arm to stop him just as he was about to enter the restaurant. “I have to tell you something,” she said in an urgent undertone. “But before I do, how good an actor are you?” She laughed suddenly and hit the heel of her hand against her forehead before he could say anything. “Sorry,” she apologized. “You are an actor—an award-winning actor. I wasn’t thinking of that, honest. I just want to tell you something in front of Vanessa and Chet, and I want you to pretend you don’t already know what I’m going to say.”
One corner of Dirk’s mouth quirked upward in a travesty of a smile. “I think I can manage that. So what are you going to tell me?”
“I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’m the best ransom negotiator in Hong Kong. I’ve never lost a kidnapping victim in all the years I’ve been doing this—not one.” Okay, a couple of times she’d needed an assist, but now wasn’t the time to bring up that detail and go into a long and involved explanation, because that wasn’t her point. “But I’ve never had a case that involved kidnapping for revenge.”
Dirk’s smile faded, replaced by an expression Mei-li had no trouble reading. Desolation. The way a man might look if all hope and light and faith had been extinguished. “You’re withdrawing?”
“Not at all,” she reassured him. “I’m still willing to give it my best shot. But I won’t lie to you—I’ll be relying more on gut instinct than on past experience. If you still want me, knowing that...”
He didn’t hesitate. “I want you on the case.”
“Then I’m in, a hundred percent.”
He frowned suddenly. “Is that what you’re going to say in front of Vanessa and Chet? That you don’t have any experience in cases like this?”
She nodded. “If they’re involved, the more I downplay my credentials, the less likely they’ll worry about what I might uncover. The less worried they are about me, the more likely they’ll let something slip...assuming there is something for them to let slip. See what I mean?”
Dirk’s eyes warmed with admiration. “Damn, you’re good.”
Suddenly there was something more in his eyes, his face, something Mei-li responded to instinctively, and all at once she could hardly breathe. It was crazy—she never got involved with a client. Never. But this man was different, somehow. And the admiring way he was looking at her now contrasted markedly with the way he’d looked at her in the jazz club when she’d first met him two weeks ago. Tearing her eyes away from his eyes now was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. Hardest. Thing. Ever.
* * *
They slept—if you could really call it sleeping—with hundreds of other guests in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel. All the chairs were taken when the five of them finally made their way downstairs from the restaurant. So they selected a corner of the spacious, high-ceilinged lobby and settled down to try to sleep as best they could, given the uncomfortable marble floor and the storm outside. Mei-li shared a pillow and blanket with her cousin Patrick. Vanessa, she noticed with curiosity, shared one with Chet. And though the two of them tried to hide it, it was obvious to anyone who really looked that it wasn’t the first time.