Page 67 of Hidden Falls

Lei was still on the job long past the twenty-four hours that Stevens had given her as a deadline, but that couldn’t be helped; she’d been unable to leave.

First, the Mexico City safe house had been pinned down by a riot in the capital that shut down the airport so she couldn’t leave that way; then the extraction team Sophie had sent, approaching the Ramirez mansion via chopper, reported in that the family had relocated from Ramirez’s compound in a whole cavalcade of armored SUVs.

Two more days in the underground bunker had gone by at the pace of a sea turtle crawling through sand. Lei had occupied herself with reading from the extensive book collection in the bunker and had caught up on some random things, like organizing their home finances online and weeding out unneeded apps on her phone. She’d also been able to have long, whispered conversations with Stevens and Kiet on video chat, but not with Rosie, who’d begun crying at the sound of her voice the first time they’d included her. Stevens understood she was doing the best she could to get home.

Now, finally, “they’re at Ramirez’s US mansion in La Jolla, California,” had come from the Security Solutions team.

The three of them were rejoining that team via a CIA chopper that had extricated Lei, Harry, and Cruz from the Mexico City bunker.

“What the hell is Ramirez up to?” Harry fumed as the three of them exited the helicopter as it landed in San Diego. Lei handed her helmet back into the helicopter; Harry and Cruz did the same. “Why would he flee here with his whole family? The US is a lot less safe for him.”

“My sources have gone quiet online, and you know I haven’t been able to leave the building to gather any intel on the ground,” Cruz snapped. His and Harry’s relationship had become tense, their interactions marked by irritability, during days of forced proximity. “If Sophie’s team hadn’t updated us, we’d still be planning an extraction from inside the bunker.”

“We’ve hung in there this long. The end is finally in sight,” Lei said as they walked out from under the slowing blades of the chopper. “Try to be patient.”

“With him on US soil and that La Jolla house less defended than the Mexico City compound, we should have Malia back soon,” Harry said. “Can’t wait to hear what the team has come up with.”

The three of them strode across the hot asphalt of the sprawling San Diego International Airport’s large helicopter area. Lei’s duffel bounced against her hip, and her backpack straps dug into her shoulders as she used both hands to push her hair back, twisting it into a ball and wrapping an elastic band around it to hold it in place—the helmet had disordered her already unruly locks. Cruz, walking beside her, gave her a side-eye. “You look great.”

“Liar.”

Cruz chuckled. “None of us are looking our best, but at least there was a manual shower in that basement.”

Lei shuddered. “If I never have to spend time underground again, I’ll be a happy camper. It was really hard not to see the sun at all for days.” Lei tipped her face up to feel the rays on her skin. “I never knew what I was missing until it was gone.”

They reached a turnstile gate and showed IDs to the official; soon they were waved through.

Outside the airport at a turnaround, a large white SUV with mirrored windows awaited them.

Cruz greeted the driver, a fellow CIA operative. “I’m still calling in favors for you,” he told Harry. “But once we reach the location we’ll be using, the CIA’s role will end. Any further US agency help will come from the FBI; they’re the ones providing our safe house base of operations. The Security Solutions team is already there and waiting for us.”

“I understand. Sounds good,” Harry said. “Thanks, Cruz.”

They all got in the SUV, closed the doors, and belted up. The driver pulled away into a surging sea of traffic.

Lei leaned against the tinted window, watching date palms, homeless encampments, and freeways whiz by, amazed by the profound change in cityscape. A mere few hours of travel time had brought them from the bustling beauty and history of Mexico City to a modern urban jungle in Southern California.

They exited the freeway and drove through a shabby maze of buildings, arriving at a nondescript apartment complex where the SUV stopped.

“The end of the line,” Cruz said. He’d been fielding calls with an earbud and his phone the whole time they’d been driving.

Lei hefted her duffel and backpack and got out. If only she could call a cab and take off now! But it didn’t feel right to abandon the case at her first opportunity. She’d assess how much longer the situation would take to resolve before flying home.

Harry put a hand on her arm as they approached a mirrored glass entry door. “Thank you, Lei. Thank you for being here for me. I know it’s been . . . difficult.”

Lei covered Harry’s hand with her own. “It has. But I’m glad to be with you at the end.”

They walked into a shabby, deserted lobby and took an elevator to the seventh floor. Once off the lift, the three went down a musty-smelling hall to a room marked 7D.

Cruz knocked.

The door was opened by a tall muscular man in fatigues. They went inside. Three more operatives were seated around the room sorting gear.

Sophie stood up from where she’d been sitting at a table with her laptop open. A smile lit her gorgeous face as she came forward and embraced Lei. “So good to see you, my friend.”

Lei squeezed Sophie’s firm, muscular frame, feeling a sense of relief she hadn’t felt the whole time thus far. “Sophie. Thanks so much. I didn’t expect you to come here personally.”

“I could have just sent my team, but then I wouldn’t have seen you.” Sophie stepped back. “You must be Harry Clark.”

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