"Yes!" she shouted. "Eli Frederick was my case. He was given to me and I didn't give it enough credence. I was working other cases, stretched too thin, and thought he was one of a million other conspiracy theorists out there. I set up the meeting, but I wasn't careful and someone got to him. He's dead and I vowed to figure out who the h.e.l.l set us both up!"

"f.u.c.kin' h.e.l.l, you went rogue," Nick accused. "Miss Do-it-by-the-book went f.u.c.kin' rogue!"

While the two agents squared off, Luke listened to his earpiece and then turned to shout at Bart. "Jude's got Charlie on the move. Get back downstairs."

"Not that way!" Xia shouted. Seeing the incredulous expressions, she said, "This building has lots of secrets. I'm only supposed to be in the front clinic and not back here, but I've noticed things when I've brought people back. There's a separate staircase that leads to a different part of the building. I don't know what's there but I've seen Lisa w.a.n.g and Dr. Cheung come from there."

"Bart, you and the others head back the way we came in case they're heading that way. I'll go with this woman."

The Saints split up, Nick standing for a moment of indecision, still glaring at Lin, before turning and following Luke, Lin hard on his heels.

Chapter 30.

Charlie banged on the door of the room she was in, but to no avail. Fighting the panic, she tried to think logically. Glancing down at the St. Luke medallion around her neck she hoped the tracer worked. But what if it can't reach through walls? Or no one knows to look for me? Jerking her head, she forced those negative thoughts from her mind. Sucking in a deep cleansing breath, she stepped back, realizing that if someone came into the room she needed to give them time to enter before she tried to take them down.

Marc's instructions ran over and over in her mind. Keep your opponent off balance. Try to get behind them. Go for the weapon arm if possible. Go for behind the knees. Hanging her head, she grimaced. Somehow practicing with Luke and Marc when she knew they would never hurt her was a poor subst.i.tute for the fear she felt as the gun had been pointed at her. Looking behind her, she saw another door, leading to what she a.s.sumed was a closet. Maybe, just maybe that's a way out.

Striding over, she pulled the door open only to find another room similar to the one she was in. A rolling stretcher was in the middle of the room, a body covered in a b.l.o.o.d.y sheet lying there. Heart pounding, she continued in, her steady legs now rubbery. Only the top of the head was visible, short brown hair sticking out. Her eyes roamed down the entirety of the sheet, soaked with red.

Swallowing hard, she reached her hand out slowly, as though in a trance, to lift the sheet ever so slightly-just enough to make sure the person was truly dead. Her mind was unable to comprehend what her eyes saw as a bloodcurdling scream shook the room.

Dropping the sheet, she scrambled backward until she slammed into a wall. Unable to stop, she bent forward and retched, dropping to her knees with the force of her stomach emptying its contents. Gagging over and over, she finally raised herself to a standing position, her eyes still staring at the floor. Her right hand slid along the wall searching for the door as she stumbled back into the room she had come from, closing the door behind her. All of her former bravado gone, she slumped to the floor, silent tears sliding down her face.

Dr. Cheung wiped his brow. This was his second surgery of the night. The call earlier from Yeng Chow had forced him to take on more than what he normally did. He looked down at the young man, anesthetized on the table. Glancing at his a.s.sistant he grimaced. The surgical nurse appeared impa.s.sive, as though the last surgery had not affected her at all. He reminded himself what Yeng often said. The homeless have no purpose in life anyway. They have no one to miss them. But the ones willing to pay top dollar for their organs, these people have families...lives worth living. What is one worthless life compared to the one of someone who have something to live for?

Wiping his brow, he was about to begin when Lisa w.a.n.g entered the surgical room. He raised his eyes, observing her above his surgical mask, in surprise.

"I've got another one for you tonight," she p.r.o.nounced.

Glaring, he growled, "No. Yeng's already got me doing three tonight. We can't handle another one."

"You've got no choice, dear doctor," she said, with a sly smile. "It's someone who needs to permanently shut up; why not make money off of her at the same time."

"Will she be missed? This is for the homeless only!" he shouted, not caring about the wide-eyed expression from his nurse. "This is not some way for you to dispose of someone who's gotten too close! Take her with the others!"

Lisa's eyes narrowed as she argued. "She's not like the others...too much of a risk to let her live. Even as a slave, she would pose a threat!"

Leaning down, Jian bit out, "That's not my problem!"

"You don't call the shots here, doctor dear," she reminded him. As short as she was, she managed to create the air of one in charge as she turned on her heels and said over her shoulder, "You'll find her in the prep room with your last...patient."

"Bio zi!" he cursed, staring at her back. Looking down at the young man in front of him, he battled whether to begin on him or go rescue the young woman from the h.e.l.lish room she was in, waiting for him to end her life here on his table.

Luke took the lead down a set of back stairs, glancing back at the eclectic group in tow. His focus was centered on finding Charlie, but he could not stop the thought that ran through his mind about the menagerie following. Xia Wu whispered the directions. Nick followed along with Lin, after informing her she was not to be out of his sight. Penny raced along, trying to keep up with them, not wanting to be left behind.

Rounding the corner at the bottom of the stairs, the door opened before they had a chance to get to it. Luke halted as another pet.i.te Asian woman, her glossy black hair pulled back in a ponytail, came barreling through the door. Her eyes jerked wide in surprise, but before she was able to retreat, Luke had her arm twisted behind her and her face pressed against the wall.

"That's one of the nurses that works for Dr. Cheung," Xia rushed to explain.

The nurse began to shout in rapid-fire Chinese, but Luke did not lessen his hold. Lin stepped up, slapping handcuffs on the woman, her growling voice speaking back in Chinese. The woman, her face contorted in anger, got quiet as Blaise took her by the arm and handed her off to one of the other FBI agents who were now accompanying them.

Lisa w.a.n.g heard the shouts and, only hesitating for a few seconds, she whirled around and raced back to the room holding Charlie. Throwing it open, she pointed the gun at her and barked, "Let's go!"

Charlie stared at the weapon, trying to think of a way to disarm the woman, but Lisa was too fast.

"Don't even consider it," Lisa said, her face contorted in rage. "If you don't come with me, I'll leave you here and go after Penny. I've got no problem silencing her."

At that threat, Charlie walked in front of Lisa and, with the gun prodding her in the back, she made her way through a door and into a tunnel of dank hallways.

Lisa quickly maneuvered them forward until halting Charlie at another door. "Open it," she ordered.

Charlie hesitantly put her hand on the k.n.o.b and turned, uncertain what fate awaited her on the other side. As the door swung open, exposing a small closet, she was propelled forward with the barrel of the gun on her back. Upon command, she stepped in and opened the next door, stunned when she walked into the next hall.

A dark red, plush carpeting with gold figures covered the floor, silencing their steps. Where are we? Forced to hurry along, she quickly noted the Chinese characters on the nameplates on several of the doors they pa.s.sed. Stopping at one of them at Lisa's order, she was startled when she noticed the sign indicated this room belonged to Amba.s.sador Secretary Yeng Chow. Stepping through the doorway they entered an office, where the dark red carpeting continued and was now matched with cream wallpaper accented with red and gold patterns. A huge, dark desk was centered in front of a window, heavy drapes drawn for privacy. A man sitting behind the desk looked up sharply, his gaze instantly a.s.sessing the newcomers.

Charlie watched as his face contorted in rage, spitting out a slew of Chinese, none of which she understood, but she had no trouble interpreting that it must have been a cursing rampage.

Lisa immediately began replying in rapid-fire Chinese and Charlie found herself in the middle of a battle of words. Forcing her mind to focus on the room and a possible escape she still felt the barrel of the gun pressing into her back, halting her thoughts.

As the other two quieted, Charlie watched as the man rose from his desk, his eyes boring into hers.

"Ms. Trivett. It appears that Ms. w.a.n.g has decided to seek the safety of the Chinese Emba.s.sy; she has sealed your fate."

Chinese Emba.s.sy? The emba.s.sy and the clinic are connected underground! Oh, Jesus, this is bigger than I thought!

"Take her away," he ordered, his scrutiny now on Lisa. "Then come back here. We have much to discuss."

Poked in the back, Charlie moved through the door and back into the hall. "Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"I had wanted the good doctor to take care of you, but it appears that his facility has been breached. So, you'll be here, where no one will come looking for you...at least not until I have a chance to dispose of you."

At those words, Charlie sucked in a quick breath, her eyes now categorizing her surroundings. If I get trapped here, at the emba.s.sy, even Luke can't come in to find me!

After several turns down different hallways and descending to a lower floor, Lisa had her stop outside of another door, this one leading into a supply closet.

"This will hold you for now. Get in," Lisa ordered.

Charlie turned to face her captor, her gaze dropping from Lisa's face to the gun still pointed at her.

Chapter 31.

"Where's David?" Penny cried, trying to push her way past the large men. Chad, who had arrived with Cam after the FBI took over with the victims, grabbed her by her shoulders, holding her carefully in place.

Lin turned and said, "Through here," pointing to the door the nurse had come from.

Luke, attempting a semblance of control, barked into his radio for Bart's group to meet them. Turning, he pinned Chad with a stare and, with a nod toward Penny, ordered, "Protect her." Receiving a head jerk in acknowledgment, he turned and headed through the doorway.

The hall revealed nothing but a pair of swinging double doors to the side and another door at the end. Cam and Blaise met them, coming through the entrance. Positioning on either side of the double door, weapons drawn, Luke gave the signal for the Saints to move in.

Rounding the entry, Luke saw a man wearing a surgical mask bending over a body lying on the operating table, a scalpel in his hand. The man and the two a.s.sistants looked up, their eyes wide as the masks sucked in with their gasps.

"Stop!" Luke shouted, his eyes dropping to the young man lying on the table. Dirty blond hair. Pale white face. Eyes closed.

The surgeon halted, his hands in the air, the scalpel still grasped in his gloved fingers.

"Nooooooo!" screamed Penny, as she tried to lunge forward, seeing David on the table. Chad managed to snag her around the waist, but she squirmed and fought his hold. Finally, he managed to wrap her in his huge embrace and turn her from the table.

Blaise rushed to the patient and immediately a.s.sessed David's condition. He was sedated but the surgery had not begun.

"Where's Charlie?" Luke shouted.

The eyes peering at him over the masks gave no evidence of understanding his question.

"The girl? Charlotte Trivett?" Luke yelled, knowing his cool composure was slipping but unable to keep the fright from his voice.

"I don't know," Jian said, tossing down the scalpel, allowing it to clatter to the floor. "I thought she was left in the next room, but if she's not there, then I have no idea where she took her."

Cam came from the adjoining room, his breath coming out in harsh pants. "Nothing in there but a male corpse...one you butchered," he bit out, his eyes dropping to the ice chest containers by the door, ready for pick up. "Jesus, man...you're a doctor!"

Face set in stone, Jian grimaced for a moment before turning, pulling the mask from his face. "You have no idea what it's like. They have my sons in their sights. As long as I do their bidding, my sons enjoy their university life in China and will be set up for life. If I don't..."

"Who's in charge of this operation? Of the trafficking?" Lin asked, bypa.s.sing a scowling Nick as he stepped up behind her.

"That can wait till later," Luke bit out. "We need to find Charlie." Stepping over to Jian, he ordered, "And I mean right f.u.c.kin' now!"

"She was to be my next...patient," he answered, "but if she's not in the next room, then Lisa must have taken her somewhere else."

"Lisa?"

"Lisa w.a.n.g," Jian replied.

Luke whirled around, about to speak when he heard Jude in his earpiece. Stunned, he pierced the others with his stare as he repeated, "Jude's traced Charlie to the Chinese Emba.s.sy, two blocks over."

"f.u.c.k!" both Lin and Nick shouted at the same time, swinging their glares back to Jian.

He nodded slowly, and said, "The Chinese Emba.s.sy is connected to this clinic."

"I've seen Yeng Chow with Dr. Cheung," Lin offered. "I've been working to find a connection."

"I've got to get hold of my superiors," Nick stated, his voice hard with frustration. "I can't go in guns blazing to an emba.s.sy."

Stepping around him, Luke said, "But we can."

Nick grabbed his arm, but Luke jerked loose, pinning the agent with his stare. "You do what you've gotta do, man." He nodded toward Jian and said, "Take care of him, but do not get in my way. Emba.s.sy immunity means nothing to me. I'll go to h.e.l.l and back to get Charlie."

With the full power of the Saints readily at his back, Luke ran out of the room, following the directions Jude shouted in his ear.

Within two minutes, Luke had found the back entrance to the Chinese emba.s.sy, but hesitated at the door. Listening carefully to the instructions from the van outside, he looked back to the men behind him. "Jude's disabling their alarms now," he reported. Thirty seconds later, he threw open the door, moving forward.

As the Saints slipped into an empty, carpeted hallway of the emba.s.sy, they moved silently forward. Rounding a corner, Luke came face to face with a guard making his rounds. Before the guard was able to draw his weapon, Luke kicked his arm, sending the gun skidding noiselessly to the other side of the hall. Whirling around, with a kick, he took the man's legs out from under him, Bart securing the guard's hands behind his back as Cam taped his mouth.

Luke, hearing a slight noise behind him, twisted quickly and sliced his arm in a downward motion, knocking the gun from the next guard coming around the corner. Bart and Cam subdued him as well.

"d.a.m.n, man," Bart said, with a smirk. "You keep going and we'll have a pile of guards on the floor."

Continuing down the dark hall, Luke spied a sliver of light coming from underneath the door marked for Amba.s.sador Secretary Yeng Chow. Bingo...just who Lin w.a.n.g suspected.

With a nod to the left and right at the Saints on either side, he tried the doork.n.o.b, only to find it locked. Stepping back, Cam picked the lock, his skills of breaking and entering working once more.

Rushing in, they found the secretary standing behind his desk, reaching for a weapon. His eyes narrowed at the contingency of men entering his office, his face twisting, before being replaced by a calm air of superiority.

"Gentlemen, I have no idea who you are, but you are on dangerous ground here."

Luke stepped up to the ma.s.sive wooden desk, his eyes glinting in the low light of the room. "You have no immunity from me. And I don't follow your rules. But you will tell me what I want to know."

Yeng blinked at the hard, demanding voice of the man in front of him. He licked his lips nervously, before surmising, "You are looking for the girl." Seeing the flash in Luke's eyes, he continued, "You may have her...and the woman who brought her here. Neither is of any use to me."

Hearing Jude's voice giving him further directions to where Charlie was, Luke smiled long and slow. Turning quickly he barked, "Watch him," to Bart, while running out the door, followed by the others.

Charlie lifted her gaze from the gun pointing at her to the woman holding her hostage. I've got one chance. "That's all it takes, Charlie," Marc had said in their practices. "Use your brains and look for your one chance. Then fight as dirty as you can." Shifting her focus over Lisa's right shoulder, she curved her lips in a slight smile, her eyes lighting.

Lisa quickly twisted her head to see what Charlie was smiling at, when a sharp pain hit her arm. "Augggh!" she screamed, turning back around.