Page 12 of Wired Courage

“You slept for twenty hours, miss. The men went to the mainland to get your baby. Mr. Hamilton, he left you a message.”

“No. They wouldn’t.” Sophie had always thought the phrase “seeing red” was some American slang, but now her vision actually was clouded by the color. All she wanted to do was smash something.

In a plain black tunic, narrow leggings, and felt-bottomed shoes, his face blank, Nam reminded her of one of the inscrutable stone lions that guarded the front door. “I’m sorry, miss.”

“Demon spawn of a pox-ridden whore!”Sophie balled her fists.“Swine-born betrayers!”

“The message is in Mr. Hamilton’s office, miss. He did not want the other men to see it.” Nam’s hands remained folded together over his midriff, his gaze calm.

Sophie ran forward and wrenched open one of the French doors that led into the central courtyard. She flew across the pretty space with its tinkling fountain to the sliding glass door that led into Connor’s office.

She spotted the note immediately, resting on the keyboard of the computer rig Connor had set up for her on her last visit. Sophie picked up the note, but her hand was shaking so badly that she could scarcely read his elegant handwriting. She remembered the last time she’d seen his writing; he had left her another note, equally devastating, in a deposit box—a note to be read upon his death.

Which had turned out to be fake, like so much about him. Smoke and mirrors, as her friend Marcella would say. Yet Sophie’d never doubted the feeling behind whatever words he might have chosen to explain his duplicity, and she didn’t doubt them this time, either.

“Dear Sophie,

We thought of waking you. Jake and I talked it over. But when we looked in at you, sleeping deeply, so clearly at the end of your physical resources, we couldn’t do it. Even though we both know how angry you are going to be to be excluded from this mission, think about this: what if we fail?

The Yam Khûmk?n fortress is no easy target.

Who will Momi have if we are taken?

I’ve left information with Nam in case of such a contingency—all you will need to take over Security Solutions and more. I trust you with that, with everything that I have, and with that other secret, too.

You need to recover from the birth. You need time for your body to adjust to all of the changes. And Momi needs a mother to come home to, a mother who is healthy and strong. Because whatever is between you and Pim Wat won’t be over when we take her grandchild from her.

Rage all you want—but rest when you are done. Eat well. Use my gym until you are fit again. And be waiting for your daughter when we bring her home to you.” ~ Connor

Sophie cursed, long and inventively.

She didn’t tear the note up, though. She had done that to the other one, and regretted it. She stuffed the paper into her pocket and began rifling the office, looking for a set of keys, some way to get off the island.

The mission they’d discussed the day before had a two-week timeline. They would be radio silent, unless Connor was sure he could use a satellite internet signal undetected.

Two weeks was an eternity for her to be stuck here, alone, without even an update!

Sophie felt rather than saw Nam standing in the doorway. She spun to face him, and he inclined his upper body in a bow, his hands folded. “Mr. Hamilton has left an ATV for your use.”

Sophie put her hands on her hips. “How does that do me any good in following them to the mainland?”

“Perhaps it will satisfy you to explore the island. To evaluate all of its weaknesses and strengths.” Nam held out a hand. Resting on it was a set of keys.

Sophie took the keys, pausing to look around the immaculate office, a mirror double to the one she had worked in with Connor before on Oahu. Three computer monitors were set up in a bay. The second set, ones she’d used before, invited her to explore them. Across the room, Connor’s Bowflex machine and a steeply inclined treadmill, along with a pull-up bar, indicated what he did to refresh his mind between activities.

Sophie was in no shape for that kind of workout yet—in fact, all of the upset and running around had necessitated another change of pads.So frustrating.

She stomped past Nam and went back to her apartment. She dropped her duffel and backpack beside the bed and noticed, for the first time, a small black box weighing down a sealed envelope on Jake’s nightstand.“Stench of an unwashed goat!”

She was not in the mood to read any further notes, apologies, or declarations of love.

She just wanted her baby back.

Sophie changed her soaked pads, and then hurried through the house and across the gleaming teak floors to head back outside.

The barnlike metal garage where Connor kept his vehicles and sports equipment was locked with a huge padlock, but the ATV was parked beside the shed, pointed down the road that led up the hill to the estate. Sophie marched over to the all-terrain vehicle, swung her leg over, inserted the key, put it in gear, and roared down the long, curving driveway.

Chapter Eleven

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