Outlaw

“The USS Ronald Reagan is in quarantine right now because of an outbreak on the ship.”

“An outbreak of what?” Lisa asked, suddenly wishing she had pressed Shen Yu for more details.

“They don’t know.”

Lisa winced as a bolt of pain radiated through her body. Connor rose from his knee and said, “Doc.”

The doctor walked over and leaned down to look at his patient. He looked at the readings on the monitor over the bed and nodded as if satisfied she was in stable condition. “How are you feeling, Lisa?”

“In pain,” she replied. It had been hidden just below the threshold of the narcotics they had given her, but the opiates were wearing off.

“I’m going to give you—”

“No,” she said. “No drugs.” It wasn’t unbearable yet, and the fog was just beginning to lift. She needed to honor Shen Yu’s sacrifice and finish her mission. She fixed her gaze on Connor again. The pain was becoming more intense, and she needed to tell him what she knew before the doctor stepped in. “Shen Yu gave me something.”

“What?”

“He didn’t say. Just that I could use it to stop a war.”

Connor removed his hand and stood. “Did he give you the antidote?”

Lisa’s eyes filled with tears, as much from the pain as from the memory of what it had cost Shen Yu. “I don’t know. I never saw what was on it.”

“On what?”

Her thoughts were becoming more jumbled as another bout of pain swept through her. “A thumb drive.”

“What happened to it?”

“When they arrested me, they took it.” She swallowed against the bile creeping upward. “Then they executed Shen Yu in front of me.”

Connor sagged in defeat as the doctor stepped forward and inserted a needle into her IV injection port. “She needs something for the pain.”

This time, Lisa didn’t argue and welcomed the warm sensation spreading up her arm. “But I copied its contents onto a laptop.”

“Whose?” Connor asked.

Lisa’s eyes sagged closed as the opioids the doctor had injected attached to receptors in her brain to block the pain. She tried visualizing the other flight attendant and could see her clearly, but her name remained just beyond reach. She replayed the events of the flight in her mind, fast-forwarding through the mind-numbing boredom of serving drinks and food over the Pacific Ocean. She recalled their conversation in the van on the way to the hotel and how she had brushed her off to make her scheduled meeting with Shen Yu.

“Lisa?” Connor asked, gently encouraging her to find the answer to his question.

Her eyes still closed, she recalled the girl calling to invite her to drink wine and watch the sunset. She thought about transferring the contents to her computer before sitting in the chairs overlooking the milky Shanghai skyline. The sunset had been truly magnificent, and she suddenly realized it had been the last sunset she had seen.

She had Jenn to thank for that.

Jenn.

Lisa opened her eyes and looked up at Connor with a triumphant look on her face. “Jenn,” she said.

“Jenn Evers?”

Her eyes closed again, and she gave in to the drug’s warm embrace.

Connor rubbed her arm. “You did good,” he said.

51

Valley Center, California

Jax poured himself another cup of coffee, then rinsed the carafe and filled it with water to make a second pot. He let his cup cool on the kitchen counter as he went through the routine process of dumping the used grounds and preparing for another round. Though he and Margaret had been the only ones drinking coffee so far that morning, he suspected the others would appreciate a fresh pot when they surfaced.

The soft plodding of feet drew his attention to the hall, where Cher walked into the room ahead of Margaret. One of the cur’s ears drooped low, but both eyes were fixed intently on Jax as he poured the water into the coffeemaker.

“How long do we expect the danger to last?” Margaret asked.

Jax stabbed at the button to begin the brewing process, then scooped up his mug and took a sip. “I don’t know,” he said. “Punky is looking into the Chinese operative who we believe is after her, but I think the threat will be gone once we’ve recovered our officer.”

Margaret leaned against the counter, and Cher sat at her feet and looked up at them. “How much longer until that happens?”

He looked at his watch and tried doing the mental gymnastics to convert the time. He might have been off by an hour, but even so, he should have already heard from Connor. “Any time,” he said.

Margaret nodded but remained silent, letting the sound of the percolating coffeemaker fill the kitchen. Jax looked down at Cher, who only stared back. It was going to be a long day if he had to wait much longer.

As if someone had heard his plea, his cell phone vibrated with an incoming call. He saw Connor’s name on the caller ID and quickly answered. “What’s the word?”

“We got her,” he said. “We’re on our way back to California now.”