Page 46 of Shadow Lies

Brows high, Kane sent a look at Alexis. “Are you sure she’s not CIA?”

Alexis frowned at the insult since she too had been CIA and she’d never condoned torturing anyone. “Hey.”

Kane shrugged. “If the waterboard fits…”

She narrowed her eyes at him and turned her focus back to Charley. "No torture. At least not if you want our help."

"Fine. We'll do it your way.”

Charley was one scary chick, but Alexis hoped she could believe her and her promise.

“But what exactly will you be helping with? My men will be detaining Mister Wei. My men will watch his home and office. What will you do?"

“Thanks to the monks’ performance, Kane will be on site at the VIP reception in Beijing observing. Seeing if anyone goes looking for Wei there. And I will be on the computers watching my two top suspects’ movements with facial recognition software and hoping to intercept any messages regarding Wei.”

Charley was silent for a moment. “And how are you intercepting messages? And, for that matter, using the government’s facial recognition?”

“Um. You probably don’t want to know.” Alexis cringed.

“To the contrary. I really do,” Charley countered.

“She’s a hacker,” Kane said loud and clear while reaching for the dessert she’d ordered along with the food in case he wanted a treat.

“No—” Alexis defended.

“Yes.” Kane nodded. “Oh, wait. That’s right. It’syour friendwho is the hacker.”

She pouted. “I didn’t lie about that. My computer expert friend exists.”

What Alexis hadn’t mentioned was that she was almost, but not quite, as good as her friend.

“Interesting. That particular skill is not in your CIA record,” Charley said.

Kane shot her anI told you soglance.

She scowled in return. Just because Charley had access to her records didn’t make her CIA. Maybe she was a hacker herself.

None of this was moving her plan along. They needed to get going. The Olympics were starting in less than a week. The Shaolin monks would be leaving to travel to Beijing in mere days. “Okay. It doesn’t matter how I do what I do. Charley, what do you think?”

“I’ll get back to you.” Without even a goodbye, Charley ended the call.

Alexis raised her gaze to Kane. “What do you think?”

“I think she has to approve your plan with someone higher up.”

“And then?” she asked.

“I think it’s a ninety-ten chance that she kidnaps and tortures Wei.”

Alexis opened her mouth to protest but then realized he could very well be right. Her once-satisfying food churned precariously in her stomach.

“But I think there might be a slight possibility she’ll actually adopt your plan,” Kane finished.

A ten percent chance shewouldn’ttorture him. Alexis wouldn’t place a bet with those odds. But sadly, she already had.

She’d gone all in, betting with Wei’s life when she made him Charley’s prime target once again.

Shit.

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