Page 70 of Hidden Falls

His actions, as one-sided as they had been, were because I meant a lot to him—and that meant something to me.

“I’ll give the school a try, Papa, but if it’s full of mean girls, I’d rather go to public school,” I told him.

He laughed. “I dare any of them to be mean to you, my little Tiger. Besides, Paulo will be with you.”

I stepped back from the SUV’s door and frowned. “There’s no way I’ll be able to make any friends with Paulo hanging over my shoulder!”

“It’s more important that you are safe right now than that you make new friends,” my father said. He had that look on his face that told me he wasn’t going to change his mind. “When you’re settled in, we’ll see if he is still needed. I promise.” He pulled my stiff body in for another kiss and hug, and then gave me a gentle push between the shoulder blades toward the car. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”

His nickname made me feel warm and fuzzy, too.

I got into the limo. Paulo got in beside me. I waved at Papa through the open door, and he waved back. “Have a good first day.” He shut the door.

I turned my head to watch him as we pulled away from the curb.

“I wish you wouldn’t pretend you cared about him,” Paulo said.

I narrowed my eyes at the bodyguard. “I find that comment extremely offensive, and I’m sure my father would too,” I said, and Paulo shut his mouth.

I leaned back against the supple leather, shut my eyes, and let the limo take me into the next chapter of this weird adventure.

32

DAY NINE:

Harry had invited Lei to come with her and the Security Solutions team to the takedown of Malia’s detail after two days of surveillance, but that’s where Lei drew the line with her involvement. “Sophie and I will stay back at the base apartment and monitor on comms and video,” she told Harry. “Too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the sauce.”

That was one of her beloved Auntie Rosario’s favorite sayings, and now her father Wayne used it.

Truth was, everyone was increasingly tense and stressed as the team had watched the Ramirez estate and routine and planned the operation, preparing to grab Malia.

Lei watched the videos they collected on Malia. The girl was trying to adjust: she laughed with her siblings, tolerated her father’s hugs, and put up with a kiss on the forehead that Lei would have highly disliked as a 16-year-old.

They might be seeing Stockholm syndrome unfold before their eyes, as Harry believed; or it could be that they were watching a girl who’d always longed for her biological family heal a hole in her heart by finding a way to bond with her relatives and make peace with the situation.

Either way, Lei couldn’t suppress apprehension as the team armed and geared up, then left the building.

Sophie and Lei took up positions side by side in front of a large computer monitor filled with different angles from their surveillance cameras, set up on the FBI apartment’s Formica table.

Sophie glanced at Lei. “You don’t seem . . .”

“Excited? Happy? I’m not. I don’t have a good feeling about this operation. I worry it’s going to end in heartbreak.” Lei ran her fingers into her frizzy hair. “I should probably just head for the airport now. I really don’t want to watch this play out.”

Sophie’s gaze on her was steady. “Do you think Malia won’t want to be rescued?”

Lei sat back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and tipped her head back to stare at the white popcorn-speckled ceiling of the cheap apartment. “I’m not saying that. I’m saying there’s no way Malia won’t be . . . conflicted at the very least. This is going to be traumatic for her.”

“I agree with you there. That’s why I asked Dr. Wilson to join us. Harry didn’t ask for psychological support, but it’s going to be needed to help debrief Malia. Dr. Wilson’s on her way to San Diego now.”

“Brilliant.” Lei gusted out of sigh of relief. “Dr. Wilson is someone that Harry will accept since she works with the state of Hawaii and the police department. I don’t think she’d agree to work with Dr. Kinoshita, who’s a fine psychologist but private only. You’re amazing, Sophie.”

“Do you think I haven’t tried to cover every eventuality I could think of to make this operation go smoothly?” Sophie smiled confidently.“It’s what I do.” She touched her earbud and turned back to her monitor. “It’s go time.”

Lei sat forward to watch the grainy screen.

Cameras from helmet mounts on two of the team members, in the interior of the rescue SUV, as well as a button cam on Harry, provided multiple views of the action.

SUVs driven by the Security Solutions operatives swooped in from a side street to box in Malia’s stretch SUV limousine from two sides.

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