Zack (In the Company of Snipers Book 3) by Irish Winters Read Free Book Online Page A

again, his hands smoothing over the tiny body latched onto his. Two soft syllables that sounded like “Shay shay,” rose from beneath the covers.
    “I asked where her mother is,” he offered hoarsely as he began rocking. “She said, ‘ No mama’. ”
    “Oh, the poor little thing.” Claire came to sit at the edge of the bed with him. “Did she tell you anything else? Her name, maybe?”
    David cleared his throat and whispered, “Chai Yenn.”
    Zack had to turn away. He’d held the baby girl. She needed a mother, damn it.
    “She doesn’t know how old she is, but I’d guess maybe five,” David offered somberly. “It’s hard to tell. She’s very thin.”
    “I’m so glad you came to visit,” Claire said as she reached for his shoulder. “Maybe now that I know her name, she won’t be quite so frightened of me. You’d be surprised how many little ones like this we’ve had lately.”
    “How many?” Zack jumped at the chance to divert the topic. Dealing with lost children was always a heartbreaker.
    “Didn’t you know?” Claire asked. “She’s the third in the last month, and they’ve all been Chinese girls. We’re working with several agencies–the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as the FBI. Chai Yenn is in much better condition, but she’s not the first.” Claire shook her head. “Ms. Mei Xing is working with me. She’s from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. I’m expecting her this morning if you’d care to hang around a little longer. You just might catch her.”
    “Do we have time?” Zack asked David.
    He should’ve known better than to ask. All he had to do was look at the sad but contented face of his friend. David had his arms full of a little girl with no mother. They had plenty of time.

SIX
    I can do it. One more time. I can!
    Mei swallowed hard, straightened her blazer, and tilted her chin up. She paused with her hand to the hospital room door, needing to be convincing. Claire had come to take the girl to the Family Services office. Today was Mei’s last chance to pump the friendly child advocate for information about the child trafficking ring. They were Mei’s next targets. She fully intended to infiltrate them. Somehow. The only problem was where to start?
    She rapped quietly to announce her arrival, pushed the door aside, and cringed. Two men looked up, their sharp eyes running over her, and immediately she panicked. Could she fool them as easily as Claire? Better yet, could she intimidate them like Kathleen? She gulped past her dry throat and entered. Showtime. Again.
    “Why, Agent Xing, how nice to see you.” Claire waved her into the room. “I was just telling Agents Tao and Lennox you might drop by. You’re right on time.”
    “Good morning.” The muscular bald fellow jumped away from the counter he’d been leaning against and politely extended his hand. Deep brown eyes swept over her again, appraising what they liked and didn’t like, no doubt. A wide-open kind of a smile brightened his face, making her very aware when his warm hand engulfed hers. “I’m Zack Lennox. It’s good to meet you.”
    “G-good morning.” She returned the favor by raking him up one side and down the other, the same way he’d done to her.
    He wasn’t half-bad looking. Confidence tugged at the corner of his mouth. Laugh lines crinkled across his forehead. The dark glasses perched on top of his head combined with his leather bomber jacket and jeans made him look like some college preppie, carefree but going places. The man looked like he had it all.
    She tried not to notice the ripple of corded muscles down his abdomen when he’d reached for her hand, or the way his shirt fit too tight across his chest. A thick, muscular neck supported his bare bobble-head. She made up her mind right then and there she didn’t like him. He thought he was good looking. It showed in his smirky eyes. The man was a player,