Page 45 of Shadow Lies

“Do you have time to talk about Wei?” Alexis asked.

“No, but I will. What have you got? Talk.” Gone was the slick salesman who spoke ofweand paused for effect.

This was the real Charley, beneath the sleek façade. Harried. Stressed. Overworked. Just like the rest of them. She was human after all.

“I’ve been doing some digging to try to figure out who the puppet master might be.”

“Puppet master?” Charley repeated.

“Yeah. The person or organization pulling Wei’s strings. That’s what we’ve been calling him.”

“We?”

Alexis stumbled at the question before saying, “Kane is here with me.”

“Really? So late? And at the hotel?” Charley asked with actual interest, or was it amusement in her tone?

“How the hell do you know where we—never mind.” She shook her head.

Of course, there was GPS on the phone. It would have kicked in the moment she powered it on so Charley knew exactly where they were. The suspicion of that was why Alexis went to the trouble to dismantle the phone when she didn’t feel like being spied on…and sometimes just to piss off Charley.

She glanced at Kane, taking note of his frown. He hadn’t liked the comment, or the tone, any more than she did. But there were more important things to discuss.

“I found a few people who are possible frontrunners. One is pretty high up in the government. Another is involved in the mining company. I have an idea of how we can possibly flush them out.”

“Do tell,” Charley cooed. Apparently, she’d gotten herself in control. The cool character she liked to portray was back.

“My idea would probably require some assistance from you—your organization. If that’s possible.”

“I can’t tell you what is or is not possible until you tell me what you’re talking about.” And the bitch was back.

Alexis didn’t let that fact intimidate her. “I think we need to… separate Wei from the group. Keep him until whoever is running him gets nervous. Then watch to see who panics and comes looking for him.”

This was the first time Kane was hearing about her idea as well, and he reacted accordingly.

“You want to use Wei as bait.” Kane’s brows rose high.

She shrugged. “Kind of. I figure when he goes missing the puppet master will worry and come looking. If we watch his home. His office. Or whatever Olympic events he was supposed to be at, we could see who panics.”

“So you’re going to kidnap him.” Kane stared at her wide eyed.

“Well, not me. I was hoping—”

“Not me.” Kane shook his head.

“No. Charley.” Alexis realized the woman in question had been suspiciously quiet during her and Kane’s little debate.

Charley finally said, “If the goal is to have Wei in our possession, we could just ask him who is forcing him to do their bidding.”

“But what if he won’t talk?” Alexis pointed out.

Chances were he’d still be afraid they’d harm his daughter.

“We’ll get him to talk,” Charley said.

“Torture?” Alexis squeaked out.

“No. Persuasion,” Charley returned.

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