Page 26 of Hidden Falls

Lei did owe her.

Back when she’d taken that ill-advised road trip to Mexico with her college roommate Kelly, driving her friend’s red Mustang with the top down, she’d felt invincible. Youth did that to a person. After the unthinkable happened and they’d been carjacked, Lei’d only escaped because she was a runner and had been able to outpace their captors—but Kelly hadn’t been so lucky. Lei had continued on into the desert and came across a woman with mad combat skills, training with a mysterious mercenary. That woman had been Harry, and she’d undertaken to help Lei and Kelly, risking her life in the process.

Lei got up from the couch and went into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of milk in hopes it would help her unwind.

A shadow stirred at the door, startling her. “Lei? That you?”

“Marcella?”

“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”

In the dim glow of the night-light near the coffeepot, Lei gestured to her full glass of milk. “I couldn’t either. You okay?”

“Not really. Tired but wired, you know?”

“Let me pour you one, too.” Lei did so, handing a cool glass to her friend.

Marcella’s hair hung over her shoulder in a smooth ripple; her bare legs gleamed beneath a simple sleep tee. They both leaned against the counter and sipped cold milk.

“Harry called,” Lei said.

“Oh yeah?”

“She sounded . . . desperate. Asked me to come to Mexico. Said she was shot at from the airport and couldn’t find Cruz.”

“You shouldn’t go.” Marcella was definite. “A bad idea made worse if both of you are there.”

“I know.” Lei set her empty glass down with a click. “But I owe her.”

“Please don’t go.” Marcella turned to face Lei, her face a pale oval, her eyes shadowed. “If you want to help her, call Sophie. Hire that crack team of extraction experts for her.”

“Sophie won’t do it without the parents on board. But I do have a lot of vacation time built up.”

Marcella rolled her eyes; even in the dark Lei could see that. “Omura will have kittens.”

Lei shrugged. “I’ll use up some personal leave. Omura can’t tell me what to do in my spare time. If it’s bad, I’ll call for Sophie’s team, or get the hell out.”

Marcella shook her head but stayed silent. She sipped her milk until it was gone, then set her glass in the sink, then ran water in it. “I can’t talk you out of it?”

“Crazy as it is, no, you cannot.”

“Then I’ll pick up the drug peddling aspect of the case and stall Omura and Waxman for you as long as I can.”

Lei reached out and spontaneously hugged her friend. “You’re the best.”

“Of course I am.”

Surprisingly, Lei slept well after that and didn’t wake until her alarm toned, signaling the busy start of morning.

Stevens rolled over and put his hand on Lei’s hip, nuzzling the back of her neck sleepily. “Got time for us?”

She rolled around into his arms. “Wish I did.” She kissed the bristly edge of his jaw. “I have to go off-island for a quick trip.”

Stevens pulled back, blinking. How she loved those deep-set, crystal blue eyes surrounded by dark lashes.

His gaze sharpened on her face. Lei saw herself reflected in his irises, felt the intensity of his full attention.

She was the center of his world; she held his heart.

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