The Protector (28 page)

“Soon,” she agreed. She looked away for a second. “I have to go now. Got the other job to catch up on. T.’s going to sort of take over my role for the next phase.”

“I get the feeling she’s more into the illegal weapons division of your agency. Will you be involved in this operation at all?” He was fishing for information, selfishly wishing for her to be close by. “Miss Montgomery doesn’t have the same…touch as you,
chouchou.
”

“Don’t challenge T.,” she said, but she looked somewhat
pleased that he wanted her to work with him. “I probably won’t have any direct involvement now that we have gotten the girls out of Dilaver’s and the Triads’ clutches, but I’ll be busy, too. Like you, I need to be briefed about certain details that we’ve just gotten.”

“Okay.” He could appreciate keeping their jobs separate. He would definitely have a heart attack if he watched her “at work” again. He frowned. Not that it would be any better not seeing or knowing. Damn, this was harder than he’d thought. So this was how Maman felt every time he had been deliberately vague about his job. “Just be careful.”

He wanted to kiss her but of course he didn’t. She licked those tempting lips, as if the same thought crossed her mind. At least he hoped so. He wanted her to think about him.

“You, too,” she said.

He watched her walk off, enjoying the sway of her hips. One day, he would tell her that her walk turned him on. He joined Hawk and the rest of the team in the conference room. T. was the center of attention, with his team sitting and standing in a semicircle around her. She must have made a joke of some sort; they were laughing. Loudly. He frowned, walking closer to Hawk, who was leaning against the back wall.

“I see the session hasn’t started,” Jazz commented softly.

“I believe it has,” Hawk told him in an equally soft tone.

“Twin, you’re keeping something from me. I can feel it.”

Hawk glanced at him briefly before returning his attention to T. and the others. “What makes you say that?”

“For one thing, you didn’t tell me you had met Tess Montgomery. You also seemed quite prepared to leave the team for a while, as if you’ve known about it. There’s also the mention just now of training. Lastly, look at that.” Jazz jerked his chin at the sight in front of him. “Our team doesn’t react like that, no matter how beautiful the woman.”

“You notice too, huh?” Hawk turned to him again, quizzical expression in his eyes.

“They are laughing with her, for God’s sake. How can I
not notice that?” Jazz asked. A sudden thought occurred. “It isn’t more of that NOPAIN shit you told me about, is it?”

“Some of it,” Hawk said, “but more lethal, I think.”

“You think?” Jazz studied the group again. T. was talking and his team—men he had fought and lived with for years, whom he knew would never react this way—was giving her the kind of focus they usually had when they were receiving orders. “What the hell is going on, Hawk? Is she doing something to them?”

“It’s something to do with mind control. I’ve only heard of it. You know Steve has met her. He told me that she can do certain things with her voice. And that she is the one who teaches NOPAIN to most of the GEM operatives.”

Jazz went on instant alert. Mind control? That was the kind of gook myths and experiments the frogs laughed about. “What do you mean, her voice? You’ve talked to her before. Did you laugh and joke along with her like that?”

Hawk shook his head. “Negative. She didn’t seem to have it turned on like now. I’ve heard she’s a mistress of disguises, that she’s really not this person we’re watching. But then that’s sort of a GEM trademark, isn’t it? Steve told me to pay attention to her voice. He didn’t mention that she has the sort of beauty that keeps one’s eyes trained on her, though.”

Jazz looked at her closely again. She was really a stunning woman. There was something almost untouchable about her, though. Celtic music. He preferred Vivi’s warmer beauty. “Here’s another GEM operative you can get interested in,” he said, injecting a hopeful note in his voice.

Hawk grinned. “Hell no. This one’s lethal, man. I think she can kill with her voice.”

“You aren’t serious, right? That woman is not a mind-controlling seductress. Our guys are just horny from being locked away from female company.”

Hawk’s grin widened and he shrugged. “You’re probably right. Let’s join them.”

Half an hour later, Jazz was convinced Hawk had been half
serious after all. T., as she seemed to prefer to call herself, had given the men all they needed to know about the next operation without one of them asking any questions. Hell, they were so absorbed in her that they seemed surprised when she addressed him.

“I’ll get in touch with you after you’ve rested, Lieutenant Zeringue. We have to go over all the logistics.”

“What you said earlier to me, about what one can’t see turning out to be either destructive or creative,” Jazz began, and when she arched a brow, he continued, “How about subliminal messages in music?”

T. smiled cryptically and left without actually answering him. It suddenly felt as if energy had been sucked out of the room. There was a moment of silence.

Mink took a deep breath. Then another. “Wow.” He looked around and headed for the flask of water on the table.

“Yeah, wow. Hawk and Miss T. I think some people have all the damn luck,” Cucumber commented as he too joined Mink. “I think she’s fabulous.”

Jazz exchanged glances with Hawk. T. had used that to describe things several times.

“Fabulous? What kind of asinine word is that for a man?” Dirk asked.

“That’s ass and nine and a half to you, scum.”

The guys snickered. Okay, that sounded more like the Cumber Jazz knew.

“Her ass and your—”

“Men, we’re talking about a friend of the admiral’s. Watch the language,” Hawk said.

“Yes, sir.”

“We have to coordinate this very carefully because it is more than our usual sneak and attack operation.” Hawk looked around at the men. “As you know, I won’t join you on the trip home. As soon as I disappear, Jazz will take over and you are to get out of there even if you see me in any trouble with Dilaver. No exceptions.”

The team sobered up as realization dawned that this was
probably the last mission they would see Hawk on for a while. They had bonded in a way that few men had—blind faith in one another’s abilities to keep each other safe. They had always gotten the job done as a team, even when they went off in pairs. This time, their commander was going to go at it alone.

Vivi burst into Juliana’s office without knocking,
barely containing her fury, as she headed straight toward the woman sitting at the desk talking on the phone. She leaned over and disconnected the call.

“Why did you have all my calls transferred to you without my permission?” she asked, in the most civil tone she could manage.

Juliana replaced the receiver on the phone. “You weren’t here to take the calls,” she replied dulcetly.

“First, you have no right to do that without asking me. Second, you have no right to act upon any calls placed to me without knowing the situation or checking with me.” This time Vivi didn’t bother to lower her voice. “What did you do to Rose?”

Juliana widened her eyes. “You’re a volunteer. I can see that you were busy and had a backlog of work on your schedule. Judging from the calls, it appeared you have been unable to keep up with it and I decided—”

“
You
decided? How dare you cut off my communications
and
tell the operator that you’re in charge of my cases?” Vivi leaned even closer, eye to eye with the other woman. “I checked with the logs and there were three calls to me from
Rose. I want to know exactly what you said to her because I can’t get hold of her now.”

Juliana pushed away from the desk, keeping some distance from Vivi. “I needed the numbers down. You were unable to cut them as requested. I did your job for you.” Her smile was small, malicious. “You think just because you’re an outside contractor, I can’t touch you? But I can certainly help out with your responsibilities when you’re away doing other things, like dating a certain GI that you just happened to release. I told you I can be a bitch.”

The insinuation was there to serve as warning but Vivi didn’t care right now. She was worried about Rose. She had called her house repeatedly since last night but had gotten no reply. An awful feeling had sunk into her gut when she had discovered the messages. Instead of transferring the calls to her private message line, the secretary had forwarded them to Juliana. When she had finally gotten through, a woman had whispered that Rose didn’t live there any more.

“What did Rose tell you? Damn it, Juliana, she isn’t a number.”

“You were giving her father cash. He ran through it like water and he wanted more, so he dangled his daughter at you again. I told you that was against organization policy. Rose is old enough to go out and find a job and that’s what I told her, that you can’t help her any longer. I’ve also reported your actions to the department for reevaluation and replacement.” Juliana picked up the receiver again. “Now, if that’s all you want to know, I have my job to do, too. You interrupted a very important media interview about—”

Vivi rudely jerked the phone off the desk. “What I do with my money is none of your business. Yes, it’s my money that I’ve been using to stave off a child—a child, Juliana, not someone you can just shove off because she is suddenly a cut-off number—from being forced by her father to live the kind of lifestyle you and the organization are fighting against. Remember
that
policy? Ethical treatment of women
and children? Or is that now amended to ethical treatment of women and children below the cut-off number?”

“How dare you insinuate that I care any less than you? I have to make the numbers work so you can get the funds to keep the safe houses going. You think it’s easy for me to pick and choose? I’ve been here longer than you and have given myself fully to this organization’s work, endlessly raising the needed funds. And we are so close to getting the UN required recommendations for approval, I am
not
going to let some outside contractor destroy our chances to get those funds. You owe me an apology. You owe the organization
and
your agency an apology. How dare
you
talk about keeping children safe when you’re out like some loose woman with a military officer accused of molesting a child? The very same child you’re looking out for?” Juliana took in a deep breath, then released it slowly. “There are always some sacrifices in any cause. You’re blinded by your emotions. I believe it’d be better if you’re released from volunteering and just focus on your real job with Interpol. You have to admit, you work better with men.”

Vivi straightened up. She wasn’t blinded by emotions, as Juliana had suggested. She had just been so busy with running another operation that she hadn’t seen this coming. She had felt the tension in the air, had known from the last confrontation between them that a big one wasn’t too far away, but had ignored the warning signals because of the events around her.

She had sacrificed Rose with her consuming desire to save that trailer of girls. That didn’t sit very well right now.

“Do you know who’s blind? You are.” The heat of anger had gone. Her heart fisted, holding all her emotions in. “You sit here with your numbers, playing with lives. You make excuses that the ends justify the means, so you say some of these ‘numbers’ can be slotted off because they don’t fit your columns. You ignore the fact that these kids are forced into that system you’re fighting against and they end up pregnant and their kids repeat the cycle. Voilà! You need more funds. You can continue
with your cause. There will always be victims. Hitting too close to home, Juliana? I believe you just turned a tad white. And I know you want bigger things. All that media coverage and fund-raising galas—very nice to get all dressed up and be around the important people, isn’t it?”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. What I do will benefit the kids—”

Vivi shrugged. “Yes, you’re concerned about the children but you love these side things a little more, don’t you? There’s even more access to the spotlight if you can only get UN approval and UN funds. International foundation sounds so much more glamorous than a small organization of women without enough money. You’re addicted to being associated with the people and its cause but not its work.”

“Shut up.”

“I will for now. But don’t think I’ll just quietly go away. You think I don’t know what I’m talking about? I didn’t volunteer to help out. I did it because I was one of these kids here a long time ago and I know exactly which ones could be saved if given the chance or the push. People like you…” Vivi shook her head. “An apology? My going out with a military man—you’re going to use that as an excuse to remove me? And here I thought there were higher priorities and problems. I’m going to find Rose and if anything has happened to her, Miss Jung, I’ll personally make your life such a living hell that you will wish you weren’t that bitch you so proudly proclaim to be.”

“I don’t like your threatening tone, Vivienne. If you can’t discuss this in a more businesslike way, please leave my office.” There was a tightness around Juliana’s lips. She pulled on the cord, retrieving the fallen phone from the carpet. “I have a meeting to schedule and as you point out, fund-raisers to attend. You might not think that’s important, but the people who matter see things my way, not yours. To them—to us—you’re trouble to this business. It’s out of my hands. Discuss your views with the board and see whether they will side with me or you. Personally, I’d be happy if there is a new liaison replacement.”

There were many people like Juliana Kohl. They wanted to belong to an organization and the running of it. After a while, the cause became secondary.

“This isn’t business. Business uses people to promote and propagate itself.” Vivi turned and walked to the door. She felt sick. That these people would do this to a group of women and children—people they were supposed to protect—how different were they from those who sell them as a trade? She glanced back and softly added, “When it’s a girl’s life you’re destroying, it’s personal. Will you please stop thinking of them as your precious numbers for once? My liaison isn’t with you, by the way. It’s between the organization and Interpol. You might not have me as a volunteer, but I’ll still be around in this office.”

“We’ll see about that.”

She was going to give this woman something to see and think about. “One more thing. Getting your numbers right might get you the funds you want, but I’ve checked the breakdown of actual allocated funds. What would the public say when they see how expensive certain personal perks like vehicles and residences for public information officers are? Especially when the pat answer is it’s for
media
functions?”

“How—” Juliana bit her lower lip, turning red as she realized she had betrayed herself.

“I have my own sources, Juliana. Do you think it’d escape my notice that you hold functions that government officials attend? It gets in the papers, you know…your name, officials’ names. Does anyone on the board know that Minister Nguyen Onn has been known to frequent brothels?” The minister had been a strong supporter of women’s rights lately and had come to the functions to voice his opinions as well as get publicity. He had contributed some big checks to the cause, but Vivi and every local person knew about his hobby. She had wondered whether Juliana did, too. The other woman’s now pale face told Vivi she did. “I know you’re going to feed me some crap about money being money and that it’s all for the organization.”

Juliana’s expression hardened with defiance. “I suggest you’d better be ready with facts and numbers if you’re thinking of doing battle with me about my paperwork,” she said angrily. “As for your insinuations, I’ll make damn sure it’ll appear I didn’t know anything about the minister. His contribution will be seen as just that—contribution. The board can choose to do whatever they want with it. I’m just a collector, nothing else.”

Vivi raised her eyebrows. “Just a collector? Is that how you see yourself? Not the helper of young women in trouble, as you’ve stated in your pamphlet? Or that newspaper article that quoted you saying that ‘no young girls will be denied help’?”

The other woman leaned forward. “This meeting is over. I’m going to destroy your credibility. Who would believe anyone who sluts around with one of the offenders? I’ll make sure the board get letters of complaint. Try denying that. You walked in here with him.”

“Petty, Juliana, really petty, but then it doesn’t surprise me.”

The other woman shrugged. “The letters will be anonymously written, of course. The board will have plenty of reason to replace you. I told you I won’t let you hurt the cause.”

Vivi shook her head. “You’re under some delusion that you’re promoting a cause when all you’re doing is destroying yourself and those around you. How can you sit there on your ass calmly telling a desperate young girl being beaten by her father to go find a job?” She acted out a scene. “‘Hello? My father wants me to be a prostitute. Please help me.’ ‘Oh go find a job, dear, and everything will fine.’”

Juliana answered her with a frozen stare. Vivi knew she was going to send those anonymous complaints that very afternoon. The woman hated her guts because Vivi saw through her. Turning to leave, Vivi added, “You’re a zealot, Juliana, you and those like you. While you say you’re for the cause, you won’t admit to the fact that it’s the side trappings and accoutrements of being associated to wealth and power that you love. Try visiting the red light district sometime.
Look at the faces of the girls working there. You will see Rose staring back at you, Juliana. And I truly hope you don’t think their being there is just a job for them.”

The walk out of the building was less strident, as she tried to figure out where to find Rose. She had planned to spend the day catching up with paperwork and calling Interpol for reports but that had to wait—the missing young girl weighed heavily on her mind.

She knew exactly where to find Mr. Tham. Rose had often pointed out the gambling den hidden in the street corner. That was where the small-time gamblers went but they were all the same—Triad sanctioned nests filled with thugs and addicted men playing with dice and cards.

There wasn’t any time to dress up as Grandmamasan, and she knew she couldn’t walk into that place all by herself. The only option she could think of was to wait outside until Rose’s father stumbled out. That could be hours. She slammed her car door in frustration. She didn’t have time. Damn Juliana Kohl. Damn her own inability to find a safe place for Rose. Damn everything.

This was a personal war and she knew she couldn’t drag T. or her agency into it. They had a job to do. This wasn’t a covert operation. It was something that Vivi knew how to do if she only had the damn man outside alone—put the fear of God into a bully.

For once in her life, she couldn’t let her pride keep her from asking for help. Rose was missing and—

Vivi flipped open her cell. She waited impatiently as her request ran through the chain of human messengers. God, she needed to teach some people to keep a cell phone on them.

“This is Jazz.”

His voice sounded so good. He was exactly what she needed. Muscle. And a big heart who would understand her pain.

“I need your help. Rose is missing and I can’t walk into a gambling den without causing a lot of unwanted attention.
Can you get away for a few hours?” She kicked herself mentally. She could have at least started the conversation by asking how he was.

“Hang on.” There was a short pause as she heard conversation in the background. “Come pick me up now, Vivi.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Jazz? I don’t mean to just be calling you for help.”

“I know,
chouchou.
I’d rather you don’t walk into that place without telling me, anyway. You don’t have a few dozen goats with you, do you?”

That sexy drawl of his, laced with his brand of Cajun humor, was exactly what she needed to restore a semblance of calm. She didn’t even mind being called that stupid pet name he always used. She massaged the crick of her neck to release some tension.

“Your presence will be able to do the same work my goats did,” she told him lightly.

“Ouch,
chouchou.
I’ll wait for you in that underground garage they have here.”

Stefan climbed the stairs slowly, aware of the eyes on him and his companion. During the drive out of town, he had briefed him about Dilaver and what to expect. Room 212. He rapped three times. The door opened immediately.