Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
The driver pulled into a parking garage attached to a hospital and killed the engine. “This is good?”
“It works.” Ethan peeled off a stack of yuan and pressed it into Taibo’s palm.
The man grinned and pocketed it. “Good luck, Chief.”
Ethan almost laughed. “Thanks.”
They climbed from the car and watched as he drove away. They were more than an hour’s drive from Changsha in a town Michael had chosen randomly.
Whoever was looking for Mei Lin would be looking for the wrong car and, hopefully, the wrong city.
Ethan’s shoulders relaxed for the first time since the call that morning. He and Michael had worked out a plan for getting to the border, and then he and Gavin had worked out a plan for getting into Hong Kong and out of China.
It would take eight or nine hours to drive to Shenzhen, where Ethan and Mei Lin would walk across the Hong Kong border. That last stretch would be the most dangerous, but every mile south was a mile farther from…whoever was chasing his wife.
He needed to know what they were up against.
A man climbed from the driver’s seat of a silver Volkswagen one row over.
Michael had told Ethan he’d hired a “black car,” and then said it would be a silver sedan—because why should that make sense when nothing else did? As long as it was safe, he didn’t care what color the stupid car was.
Ethan took Mei Lin’s hand and headed toward it.
“Mr. Ethan?” the driver asked as they approached.
“That’s me.”
They were still a few yards away when Mei Lin stopped and looked up at Ethan. Her eyes were wide and intense—and giving him a very bad feeling.
Whatever she needed to say, she apparently didn’t want to say in front of the driver.
Ethan worked for an easy smile. “You need a restroom before we get back on the road?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Five minutes,” he said to the driver. “We’ll be right back.”
They headed toward a glass walkway that connected the garage to the hospital, but they didn’t cross. He aimed for the space between a parked SUV and a concrete wall before turning to her. “What’s up?”
“I can’t leave China.”
He opened his mouth, but he couldn’t think of any response. What was she talking about?
“I need to go to Fuyin,” she said. “To the hospital where I used to work.”
“No.” The word came out too loud, and she reared back as if he’d hurt her. He flashed back to the fear he’d seen on her face that morning. He needed to be kind, but also… What in the world?
Two people pushed through the hospital doors and walked past, neither sparing Ethan and Mei Lin a glance.
Ethan waited until their voices faded. “Explain, please.”
“The story is long. There is evidence. The man following me, his name is Lu Feng, and he’s a doctor I used to work with.
I discovered something he was involved in, and I was gathering proof against him.
He found out, and he won’t stop until he silences me.
We will only be free when he is in prison. ”
Was this what she’d been doing for the last six years?
She’d let him believe she was dead for six years.
And she’d been—what? Protecting evidence?
Playing hero? Sacrificing their marriage, their life together, for what?
To stop one small-town doctor from…what?
Embezzling? Selling drugs? What could he have been doing that would be worth what it had cost Mei Lin—and Ethan?
He made himself breathe. He made himself find the voice he used in the ER when a patient was bleeding out and he only had seconds to issue orders and save a life.
“We’ll figure it out when we’re safe.”
“We’ll never be safe.” She shook her head quickly. “I’ll never be safe. If you want to leave—”
“Do you think I’d do that?” He whispered, afraid that if he gave voice to the words, they’d come out as a shout. “Do you honestly think I’d—” He stopped himself, pulling in all his frustration. “You’re my wife.”
Something in her face eased.
Eased, as if she hadn’t been sure of him. As if he were the one who’d betrayed their marriage.
He wanted to shake her.
He wanted to hold her until she believed in him.
“I’m not leaving without the evidence,” she said. “But I know I am too much trouble and—”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.”
She clamped her lips shut.
He had to change her mind. Short of that, he’d just throw her over his shoulder and take her against her will. Was it kidnapping if the victim was your wife and you were saving her from some…criminal?
The man… Lu Feng, she’d said. He might be small-town, but he’d proved that morning that he had big-time resources. All the more reason for Ethan to get her out of China today.
He grabbed her hand and started walking.
“We will go to Fuyin?”
“I’ll figure it out.” Translation… They were going to Hong Kong and getting on a flight, ASAP.
He’d figure it out from the air, or the US, or…anywhere else.
They finished the walk back to the car in silence. He opened her door and helped her in, then slid in beside her and met the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Shenzhen,” Ethan said. “We need to be there tonight.”
“Fuyin,” Mei Lin spoke to the driver, then glared at Ethan. She had the nerve to look offended.
The driver ignored her, shifting into reverse. “Shenzhen.”
Ethan’s jaw locked. How dare this man pretend she hadn’t spoken? How dare he act as if her voice didn’t matter? After everything she’d survived… Not that Ethan knew, but still. This guy had no right to discount her.
He dropped his head against the seat back. The driver was treating Mei Lin exactly like Ethan was.
“Stop the car.” Mei Lin reached for the handle. Surely, she didn’t plan to jump out.
The driver didn’t slow at all.
Ethan took her hand, feeling the rings he’d given her pressing into his palm. “She said stop.”
The driver slowed, looking in the rearview at Ethan for guidance.
All Ethan wanted was to point this car south, put her on a plane in Hong Kong, and get her home.
Lord, what do I do? How do I protect her?
He didn’t need to hear God’s voice. The answer was clear, even if it irritated Ethan to no end.
He wasn’t her protector, God was.
And whatever Mei Lin had done, she was in it now. Ethan either trusted her or he didn’t.
Little truth bomb… Considering she’d been gone for six years with no word, no calls, and still no explanation, he wasn’t sure he did.
Also, she was malnourished, hadn’t slept, and for some reason, hadn’t been able to be herself. She hadn’t been free. He had no idea what she’d gone through, but whatever it was, she had more reason to want out of China than he did.
You either trust her or you don’t.
Yeah, well… That was the problem.
They were nearly to the exit when he made the decision. “We’re going to Fuyin.”
The driver stopped short, twisting to look at Ethan. “You do not understand. It is very far and in the wrong direction.”
“How far?” Ethan dreaded the answer.
“I will take you to Zhangjiajie.”
He had no idea where that was.
But Mei Lin knew. She said something in Mandarin, and she didn’t sound happy. The man answered in the same tone.
They argued back and forth, Ethan’s gaze ping-ponging between them until he couldn’t stand it anymore. “That’s enough.”
They both stopped.
“You won’t take us to Fuyin?”
The driver shook his head, glaring at Mei Lin. “To Zhangjiajie only.”
This was getting more fun by the second. “How long will that take?”
The man seemed confused, so Mei Lin answered. “About three hours.”
“And then to Fuyin?”
She shrugged, her eye contact slipping. “Another seven.”
Right. Because Fuyin wasn’t far from the village where her parents had lived, which had been a bazillion miles from the closest airport.
Funny that she hadn’t asked him once about her parents. He hadn’t told them about Mei Lin’s call, nor Mei Lin about her parents’ new home. And he wouldn’t, either, until she was safe.
First, they had to make a pit stop a ten-hour drive from here.
“Fine,” he said. As if anything about this was fine. “Take us to Zhangjiajie. I’ll get us a place to stay.”
The driver practically scowled.
Mei Lin rattled off a string of Mandarin, and the man’s scowl deepened.
“Or we can find someone else to drive us,” Ethan said. “Decide now.”
He muttered something under his breath, loud enough that Mei Lin straightened. By the look on her face, she was about to unleash on the guy.
“Let it go,” Ethan said, adding a whispered, “It’s not like I have plan B.”
She exhaled, then took his hand and squeezed. “Thank you.”
Ethan nodded but didn’t look at her. He was risking his residency already, having left without giving them more notice. Now he’d be gone even longer than he’d planned.
On the other hand, the wife he’d fallen in love with seemed to be coming back. This determined woman wasn’t afraid of her shadow like the one he’d found the day before. Something about their escape from Changsha had snapped her out of the fear that had followed her like a shadow.
He still had no idea what she’d hidden and no idea where she’d been. He had no idea what this Lu Feng character would do or whether they were about to drive into something Ethan couldn’t get them out of.
All he knew was that his wife had called him, and she was trusting him enough to be honest and tell him at least a little of what was going on.
He would have to trust her too.
Lord help them both.