Page 10 of Wired Courage

Nam brought in steaming plates of rice, fish, and vegetables, and they ate while working. Rhinehart, taking the lead, drew approach ideas on clear Plexiglas set over a blown-up satellite image of the compound and the surrounding jungle.

Sophie, who hadn’t slept during the entire eighteen-hour flight, felt exhaustion pulling at her limbs. Her breasts throbbed—she had to do something about the milk hardening them. “I need to get some rest. I will be back in a couple of hours.”

“Let me walk you to our room.” Jake got up and followed Sophie into the beautiful courtyard with its fountain statue of Quan Yin surrounded by tropical plants. Sophie led him to the guest quarters she’d occupied before, a large, airy room with an attached seating area and a sliding glass door leading out to a balcony overlooking a spectacular view.

Her bag rested on one side of the bed, and Jake’s on the other—Nam had brought their belongings in when they arrived. Sophie stared at the bags, wondering what to do next.

Depression lapped at Sophie’s consciousness, black oil coating her thoughts.She needed to take that little white pill . . .

“I would ask Hamilton to put you in another room, but there aren’t any with the extra people here.” Sophie took her duffel off the bed and set it on a chair. She unzipped it and took out a breast pump. “I’d appreciate some privacy.”

“Come on, Sophie.” Jake sat on the edge of the bed, immovable as a boulder. “Remember, I’ve seen it all. Touched it all. Tasted it all, as a matter of fact.” She shot him a narrowed glare, but he just grinned. “Don’t hold onto being mad. We need each other. Momi needs her parents united, not fighting.”

Her parents.He said it so naturally. He really did consider Momi his, as much as Alika’s. Sophie sat down slowly on the bed. “You thought I might have killed my baby.”

“I didn’t. I thought . . .” Jake leaned forward, pushing big hands into his hair, rubbing up and down through the short dark strands. “I thought maybe you sleepwalked. Had a fugue state. I don’t know! I was looking for an explanation. Never did I think you’d have consciously harmed our baby.”

“Not good enough.” Sophie unbuttoned her blouse and contemplated the wall-like exercise bra flattening her breasts. She pried the bra down to expose one of them, as jutting and hard as if it were in rigor. She applied the plastic suction cup to her nipple and turned the pump on. The apparatus rumbled in her hand, and she winced as suction dragged at her swollen, painful flesh.

They both watched in fascination as reflex finally kicked in and milk jetted, as if under pressure, into a small holding tank affixed to the pump. Jake’s eyes were wide at the sight. “You’re gonna need to dump that pretty quick.”

“Such a waste.” Sophie felt tears prickle. “I hate to just throw this milk away when my body made it forher.” Saying Momi’s name was too difficult.

“You can be a mother to her in other ways,” Jake said.

Sophie nodded but couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat. When the catcher was full, Jake took it from her hand and dumped it in the bathroom sink without a word. Sophie did the other side, and he dumped that too.

Relief from the milk’s pressure felt like another kind of pain.She wasn’t going to cry.Not anymore. She was done with tears.

“Get some rest. You need it.” Jake gave her a gentle push so that she tipped over onto her side, her eyes already closing as her head hit the pillow.

Sophie let him lift the coverlet and cover her. Felt his lips touch her forehead in a gentle kiss. The lights dimmed, the door shut, and he was gone.

So was she.

Chapter Nine

Day Ten

Armita looked down at the baby’s tiny face, relaxed in sleep, the pink bud of her mouth slightly open. Sophie’s infant daughter had a full head of glossy black curls, tawny skin, and features that hinted at future beauty. Armita traced the baby’s downy cheek, and Momi’s plump lips turned to follow the touch, making Armita smile.

Momi would lack for nothing, not even human milk. Armita had arranged for a woman from a nearby village to come in and provide that, and now the wet nurse had gone back to the kitchens.

Her heart still pounded when she thought of the day Pim Wat had taken Momi, and her arms tightened around the baby as memory transported her back to the scene.

She and the pilot had been waiting two days on the bluff in the scrim of Java plum trees for Pim Wat and her soldiers to return with Sophie Malee. Armita had checked the adult-sized emergency transport pod in the helicopter over and over: the oxygen tank, the coverings, and restraints.Everything had to be perfect.Sophie Malee would be unconscious, and they had to monitor her carefully on the flight because of the pregnancy.

Suddenly Pim Wat had appeared, bursting out of the trees at a run. She was carrying a yellow-wrapped bundle in her arms, and the soldiers behind her were empty-handed but for their weapons.Where was Sophie Malee?

Pim Wat reached the helicopter, and the soldier closest opened the side door for her and gave her a hand up the step. Pim Wat thrust the bundle at Armita, speaking in Thai. “Hold this.”

Armita gasped, looking down at a tiny crumpled face framed in the yellow blanket. “Mistress! What is going on? Where is Sophie Malee?”

Pim Wat’s face was expressionless as she took her seat and buckled into the four-point harness. “Sophie Malee gave birth early. Easier to take the child than to deal with my daughter. Now that we have the baby, we don’t need her.”

Armita sat frozen as the men assumed their seats. “But . . . wedoneed Sophie Malee. She is the baby’smother.” Armita’s heart thudded and her hands sweated as the pilot warmed up the engine. She tucked the baby between her neck and shoulder, clasping it close.

“We will stop on the next island and get formula to feed it. The child will be fine.” Pim Wat barked orders at the pilot as she donned her helmet with its built-in comm. “What’s wrong with you, Armita? Put on your helmet and harness.”

---