Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ethan hadn’t known what to expect of Fuyin.
Before Mei Lin had gone missing, while they were still waiting for her visa to come through, she’d told him about the town where she’d worked for months, so he’d known it wouldn’t be anything like the enormous cities he’d visited in the last few days, with their impressive skylines and populations.
Fuyin didn’t have any massive high-rises, but he wouldn’t call it a village, either.
The buildings they passed on the outskirts of town were four and five stories tall.
Storefronts crowded the ground floors with hand-painted signs in red and gold.
It was midafternoon, and despite the cold wind, the streets were crowded with people.
His wife had lived here.
It was such an odd thing, that the woman he loved had resided in a place during their marriage that he’d never seen. She’d shared an apartment with a roommate he’d never met, only returning to her parents’ village when she had a couple of days off in a row.
He tried to picture her in this place—jogging the trails she’d mentioned, ducking into one of these shops for noodles after a long shift. He couldn’t make the images form.
There was so much of what she’d endured that he didn’t understand. Not that his grief was even on the same level as what she’d gone through, but she didn’t know much about the life he’d lived in the last six years.
The thought brought a stab of guilt. He tamped it down with all the rest of the things he wasn’t letting himself think about.
They just needed to get through this and get out of China. Then he’d tell her everything.
Beside him, Mei Lin stared out the window, absentmindedly spinning the loose rings on her finger. She’d been eating better and sleeping better, but she still looked as if she’d been hollowed out from the inside.
The driver, Chin, hadn’t spoken since a rest stop a couple of hours back.
Ethan and Mei Lin hadn’t talked much, either.
They didn’t want to discuss what they were about to do in front of the driver, in case he understood more English than he’d let on.
What else was there to talk about? This wasn’t the time to discuss their separate pasts, and how could they plan for a future they might not have?
Chin eased the car to a stop just past a busy intersection. He said a few words, and Mei Lin turned to Ethan.
“This is where I get out.” Her voice was steady. “We’re about two kilometers from the hospital. Wait here for your translator.”
Ethan opened his mouth, but he couldn’t seem to make his voice work. What was he thinking, letting Mei Lin return to a place where she could be recognized—and where her enemy had friends? He wanted to grab her and hang on tight and yell at the driver to turn around and take them anywhere but here.
She watched him, head tilted to one side as if she were attempting to read his mind. And then, she angled to face him, placed her hands on either side of his face, and kissed him.
It was a soft kiss, not filled with desire, but love and tenderness.
Everything faded—the world outside the windows, even the man in the front seat—until all Ethan was aware of were Mei Lin’s palms on his skin and her lips against his.
His wife was the shy one, the one who’d always waited for him to lead. But she wasn’t shy right now, and her boldness was a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, his body suddenly right back where it’d been at the hotel that morning.
Except it wasn’t the same. This wasn’t a starting something kiss. It was the opposite. Mei Lin was kissing him like it might be her last chance.
He was still processing that when she pushed away. He didn’t miss the sheen of tears in her eyes.
“I’ll see you soon.” She turned and reached for the door handle.
“Mei Lin.” He grabbed her hand.
She looked back.
“Be safe. Please.”
Her smile was small. “You too.”
She slid out of the car.
He watched her cross the sidewalk and disappear through the door to a tea shop.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from that door, praying she’d change her mind and come back.
They could still stop this crazy thing. Get a flight out of Asia and figure out how to keep her safe once they were in North America.
Lord, protect her. Please, take care of her.
Minutes dragged by, each one feeling like forever, before a man stepped out of the tea shop and headed straight for the car.
He had neatly cut white hair and enough wrinkles that Ethan guessed he was in his sixties, close to Gavin’s age.
He wore slacks and a dark jacket and carried a leather messenger bag over his shoulder and a small shopping bag in his hand.
He opened the rear door and slid in beside Ethan. “Good afternoon, Dr. Winslow.” His English was clear as he held out his hand. “I’m Han.”
Winslow? That must be the name on the papers Michael had secured for him. Ethan shook his hand. “Thanks for being here.”
Han said something in Mandarin to the driver, who pulled away from the curb. The car merged into a line of traffic, scooters threading the gaps.
Han waited until they were rolling, then lowered his voice. “The engine noise should mask our conversation.” He shoved the shopping bag onto the floor between them. Ethan spied Mei Lin’s jacket on top. He assumed the rest of the clothes she’d changed out of were underneath it.
Han unzipped the messenger bag and handed Ethan a passport and leather wallet. “Give me yours.”
He traded his wallet and passport for the forgeries and studied them.
The wallet was worn at the corners and filled with a driver’s license, a few credit cards, an insurance card, and a hospital ID, all in the name of David Winslow.
The passport had Ethan’s face with the fake name and was even stamped on a few pages.
Apparently, Dr. Winslow was a frequent traveler.
He had to admit, he was impressed.
Han put Ethan’s authentic papers into the messenger bag. “We will leave this in the car. The driver can be trusted to keep it safe, should anything go wrong.”
“Keep it safe where? I’ll need those papers to get out of China.”
“If something goes wrong, Michael will be able to track him down.” Han drew a small case out of his bag and snapped it open. A flesh-colored earpiece sat in foam. “In the right ear, please.”
Ethan worked it in.
Han handed him a little electronic…something about the size of a business card. “That goes in a pocket. Say something.”
Ethan slid the card into his front pocket. “Hello?”
“Got you.” Michael’s reply was as clear as if he were sitting in the front seat.
“How’s Mei Lin?”
“She’s good.” Michael acted like he did this every day.
“You won’t be able to hear her, but she has the same setup you have.
I’m listening to both of you. We’ve got a feed from the hospital’s exterior cameras and most of the interior.
I’ll be watching for anything that looks like an alarm or an emergency call.
If I tell you to go, you go. Don’t ask, don’t argue.
Out the nearest door and back to the car. Got it?”
“I understand, but you need to understand something. Mei Lin is the priority. If anything goes wrong, you get her out first. Nothing else matters to me.”
“I hear you.”
“That doesn’t sound like agreement.” Michael was working with Gavin, and as much as Ethan had always questioned his father’s loyalty to him, Gavin would be more concerned about Ethan’s safety than Mei Lin’s.
“She’s the priority,” Michael said. “I’ll take care of her.”
“Okay.” Ethan had no choice but to trust this cousin he’d never met.
The logical side of his brain reminded him that Michael had saved them more than once in the last couple of days. Knowing that didn’t help how the rest of him felt about any of this.
“She’s in position about a block from the hospital. She’ll go in through a rear door about two minutes after you get inside. She should be able to get the evidence and get out in seven minutes, ten tops.”
Michael sounded confident, but then he hadn’t seen Mei Lin three days ago, legs shaking after walking up a flight of stairs. Out of breath after running a single block. She might have gotten some rest and eaten a few good meals, but that didn’t make her strong.
Ethan was allowing his malnourished, too-weak wife to walk straight into danger. If something happened down there—if Lu Feng’s people found her or a nurse recognized her—would she be able to escape? If not, what could Ethan do?
Nothing. That was the hardest part of this, being away from her and knowing that if anything went wrong, there’d be nothing he could do.
Han pointed to a squat white building up ahead. “That’s it. You ready?”
Ethan nodded at the man who’d play his translator. “Michael—”
“I know. Do your job, and trust me to do mine.”
He would, but only because Michael and Mei Lin had left him no choice.