Page 45 of Wired Fear

“It’s a civil war, and I need manpower.” Terence kept his temper in check with difficulty. “I was groomed to take my grandmother Healani Chang’s place as head of the family when she passed. But I didn’t want it. I wanted to go legit, so I built my own business online. My cousin Byron stepped up, and while he lacked vision, he was a solid leader. Things were stable. Then the situation with Akane exploded. You and Ang were at the heart of that.” Terence needed to move. He stood up and paced. “Akane has supporters in the family, people who mistake his brutality for strength. And he was building alliances behind Byron’s back. Then Byron was murdered. I wouldn’t be surprised if Akane was behind it.” Terence turned to meet Dunn’s gaze. “I realized I was the only one smart enough, strong enough, with enough resources, to keep Akane from taking over. So, I made my move.” He pushed a hand through his rumpled hair. “Now he’s back, and it’s a hostile situation. It will either be him or me running the family business, and trust me—it should not be him.”

“I agree with you there. And thanks for being straight up. What do you need from us? Manpower we’ve got. Investigative strength we’ve got. Even great home security systems, we’ve got.”

“I know all about your AI nanny cam security system. That might be nice later. Right now, I need your best-trained security operatives. I hired some mercs from the Mainland who are keeping my house and Emma safe, but I need more. We might also need to go on the offensive with some of my relatives after Akane is caught. But catching Akane is my number one priority. I don’t want one more person I care about to be hurt.”

“Like Julie Weathersby?” Dunn tilted his head. “I thought she was just a Stockholm nutcase when she was going on and on about you, and how you two fell in love.”

Heat flushed Terence’s face. “She…talked about me to you?” He hadn’t seen Julie since the day she left to return to her parents, and he’d missed her every moment since.

“Oh yeah. When Sophie and I interviewed her about what happened with Akane, she couldn’t say enough about how great you were. We thought she was a little loco, just hero worshipping her rescuer.” Dunn shrugged. “But now I’m guessing it was mutual.”

“Doesn’t matter. That chapter’s over, but I must do all I can to protect her. I’d appreciate anything you can put together.” Terence clenched his fists. “I need help to win this war.”

“Well, I for one like the idea of using you as bait,” Dunn said. “I think we could build a solid plan around that. Not even joking. Sophie texted me that she’ll be in the office tomorrow. We’ll work something up. In the meantime, I’ll contact our corporate head on Oahu, and see how many security personnel they can send over. I didn’t see you come in with anyone—got a security detail on you?”

“No. I don’t want to seem weak to my relatives. The men I hired are keeping an eye on my house and business.”

“At this point, you’re going to seem dead if you don’t have a bodyguard at all times,” Dunn said briskly. He tapped his computer screen and spoke into a voice intercom there. “Felicia, how many security specialists do we have on tap, here on the Big Island?”

“That would be none, Jake. You and Sophie are the personnel here,” the girl said, her voice piped through the computer speakers. “Not including your own two security staff.”

Dunn grimaced at Terence. “You’re not the only startup around here, Chang. But we will get you covered. Why don’t we meet tomorrow morning and hash out the details? We can come out to your place if you prefer.”

“No, here is fine.” Terence extended a hand. “Thanks for the help.”

“We want your psycho cousin as much as you do.” Dunn’s eyes were the color of a steel blade.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Sophie had meant to stay up and awake to talk to Jake when he got home from work. She’d decided to nap just a little, but the next time she woke, it was to the cool sensation of a night breeze passing over her body, and Tank’s deep growl.

Sophie sat up on the futon bed, blinking in alarm. Connor had said he was sending over more security personnel from Oahu, but they hadn’t arrived yet—or had they?

Moonlight backlit the shape of a woman standing just outside the screen door on her deck.Was it Pim Wat?Possibly, but Sophie didn’t recognize her mother’s outline.

She couldn’t see a weapon in the woman’s open hands, loose at her sides. There was nothing overtly threatening in her stance, but Tank’s growl increased in volume, and Ginger, curled up against Sophie’s back on the bed, raised her head, her chest rumbling with her own growl. The two were about to break into full-blown barking. Sophie put a hand on each dog’s ruff and quieted them.

“You’d better tell me who you are and what you are doing here.” Sophie turned on the floor lamp beside her bed as the woman stepped forward.

Light fell on a golden-skinned, triangular face with close-set dark eyes and a mouth that had never seen orthodontia. Dark hair was pulled back in a braid that brushed the tops of her hips. The woman wore a long-sleeved tee, yoga pants, and felt-bottomed slip-on shoes, all in black.

An instant feeling of recognition resonated in Sophie.

“Sophie Malee. It is I, Armita.” The woman spoke in Thai. “Your nanny from long ago.”

Armita was tiny, even shorter than Pim Wat, and so slender she seemed almost cartoonlike, a stick drawing of a woman, her head larger than her body.

Sophie tossed her blanket aside and sat up. She was still fully dressed, never having planned to pass out for the night like she had. Her abrupt movement made the dogs lunge to their feet and give in to the barking she’d barely restrained.

Sophie shooed them back, shushing them, and slid the screen door open. “I remember you, Armita. Please come in.” A maelstrom of emotions roiled in her chest; the last time she had seen Armita, the woman had been bleeding and unconscious on the floor of Sophie’s bedroom when Sophie was kidnapped at the age of seven.

Armita slipped past Sophie and extended her hands to the dogs to sniff. Both whimpered and whuffed with excitement at having a visitor, their tails wagging as they crowded against her.

There was nowhere to sit in the bare apartment, so Sophie perched on the bed’s edge, observing Armita as the Thai woman caressed the dogs while she looked around the space, and then sat beside Sophie. The dogs calmed, but cuddled close, leaning against her legs. Their instant bond with her former nanny relaxed Sophie further.

“I had to speak with you,” Armita said. “But you must not tell her I came.”

“Tell who? I’m still in shock to see you after all these years,” Sophie said.

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