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“He has a phone in his room, if you want to call him. But—” I purse my lips. “He won’t remember calling you. His memory of last night is completely gone.”
“Oh,” Carys breathes out the word in a rush. “He’s okay?”
“A lot of injuries. Nothing that’s going to kill him.” Finn calling Carys when he thought he was dying softens me again. I can’t imagine receiving that phone call and being too far away to help. How would I feel if Lorcan called and left me that sort of message?
“Will he—is he likely to remember?”
“The doctor wasn’t sure.” There’s a heavy silence on the phone. “Look, Carys, if you need to see him, come. I can get you on the list at the hospital.”
“No.” Her voice is quiet. “No.” Her resolve hardens. “There are more reasons I shouldn’t. I have to go. Thank you for calling me and letting me know he’s okay.” Before I can say anything, the dial tone rings in my ear.
I stare at my phone, a little glad she’s not coming. It would be another complication I don’t need right now. Pushing my phone into my rear pocket, I head out of my room. I need the payphone—the one the FBI makes sure is within a few blocks of an operation for emergencies—to call Dai Qing and find out what’s going on before I hop on a plane. While Lorcan and Finn are too tied up to wonder where I’ve gone, it doesn’t seem like the best time to disappear, even if it only ends up being for a few hours.
Dai Qing answers on the third ring. “DQ, go.”
“You want me to come in?”
“Kimi.” There’s silence for a moment, and I picture her scrambling around her office to double-check our connection is secure. “I want to talk to you about your file. And we need to talk to you about something else that came up.”
“You need me to come there? After your sledgehammer subtlety last night, I have fires to put out here.”
“I thought you might want to check on Malik.” Her voice is quiet, but there’s a hint of reprimand in her tone.
I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. “Dare I ask?”
“You should ask.”
“How is he?”
“In a medically induced coma. I—it’s—do you realize what they did to him?”
I swallow. “Some of it, yeah. I told you it was bad.”
“You remember where to meet the plane?”
“I need to be out and back today. The turnaround needs to be quick.”
“Noted.”
“I’m serious, Dai Qing.”
“I’ll do what I can to make it happen.”
“Finn wants me in his room tomorrow. I don’t know exactly when Lorcan will be back. I can’t create more suspicion in anyone right now.”
“I understand. I’ll do whatever I can to minimize that.”
I hang up in a burst of annoyance. It’s not directed at her. Part of me is afraid I care too much about the wrong people right now.
Going to the head office when I’m on assignment feels like I’m standing too close to an open flame. The stench of burned hair follows me around as though I’ll burst into flames at any moment.
When I check in, Dai Qing has left instructions for me to meet her at the interrogation rooms closest to her office. That can’t be good. Did they take Zhang’s men with them when they left? Releasing everyone was a good initial strategy to keep Finn and Lorcan from knowing which person was valuable, but are they trying to force people to flip?
When I enter the room, Dai Qing is in the corner, her back to the door. There’s a file laid out in the middle of the table. Without saying anything to her, I flick it open.
“When do I get to see Malik?” I glance up at her.
She cocks her head. “When we’re done here, before you head back.”