Page 20 of Wired Courage

Pim Wat always asked the same thing:Where is Sophie? Where has she taken the baby?

Yep, someone had double-crossed her, and the woman was pissed.

Jake felt Connor’s shivering increase as the key turned in the lock. His friend’s body tightened, a plucked bowstring.

He had to keep Connor calm, keep his resolve strong. Sophie getting help was their only hope. He turned his head to speak to Connor over his shoulder. “Fighting it makes it worse. She won’t kill you. You’re worth too much as a hostage back in the States. Now me, on the other hand . . .” Jake chuckled grimly.

Jake couldn’t see Connor’s face, but there was no mistaking the note of alarm in the man’s voice. “I can’t let her kill you. Sophie needs you.”

Jake had no response to that statement, so he made none—it had become clear to him that Connor cared about Sophie, perhaps as much as he did.

The wooden portal scraped open. The wizened little man who did the torturing stood in the doorway a moment, surveying the room.

“Hello, Igor. We’re still here.” Jake had to draw attention off of Connor, and taunting and calling the man Igor helped beat back the horror. “We’re ready for today’s fun.”

Pim Wat, trailed by a couple of ninjas in the Yam Khûmk?n’s signature black, stepped inside behind Igor. She pointed a lacquered nail at Jake. “Loverboy seems talkative. Let’s start with him. No more beatings, as I said before. I want them pretty.”

Jake couldn’t help the tightening of his abs as two of the ninjas lifted him up off the floor, the restraints cutting into his flesh.

He couldn’t cover himself. Couldn’t protect himself. Couldn’t do anything but endure whatever came next.

At least he knew how to handle this. Connor didn’t have that training, and he was close to giving up the Phi Ni site, and possibly a good deal of Security Solutions information. Any of that could lead to Sophie and endanger the lives of their operatives and clients—and cripple a possible rescue attempt.

The ninjas plunked Jake down on a crude wooden chair near the drain hole in the center of the room. He grinned at Pim Wat. “Seems like you plan to give me a good workout today.”

“Fetch the water vessel.” Pim Wat told her minions. She gazed at Jake, her head tilted like a curious bird, then stepped forward. She dragged her pointy nail down Jake’s chest, leaving a ragged scratch, and grabbed his junk. She gave a squeeze that doubled him over, gasping. “I plan to purge some of your attitude, Jake. I doubt you’ll find it pleasant.”

Chapter Sixteen

Day Twenty-Five

Wind tugged at Sophie’s hair and light danced over the waves as she steered the sleek, heavy speedboat toward a distant horizon.

Sophie had gotten a late start on her departure by waiting another night, trying to get through to the men. Now, she checked the fuel gauge, her brows pulled together in concern. She had filled the Chris-Craft with all the gas she could find in the boathouse, and had stowed a separate can on board. Still, even before leaving Phi Ni, she’d wondered if there was enough fuel to take them the approximately hundred kilometers to the mainland.

As the powerful engine sputtered and died, she had her answer.“Foul offspring of carrion birds!”

Sophie left the steering area and fetched the spare tank of gas. The Chris-Craft could be gassed from an inside filler neck in the gunwale; Nam had gone over the speedboat’s operating manual with Sophie before she’d departed, helping her pack it with weapons, ammo, money, a native woman’s outfit, bedroll, and some limited foodstuffs.

Sophie wished she could take Anubis, Connor’s Doberman. In the weeks of her physical rebuilding, he’d been a constant and faithful companion, and company of a sort. Though he could provide a measure of protection on her journey, she couldn’t bring him. With his exotic looks, the dog would draw too much attention as they traveled.

Sophie emptied the last of the small gas can into the tank and took a heading with the electronic GPS, gazing out over the tossing sea toward a hazy horizon line.Ugh, she was still so far away from shore!The smell of gas was thick in her nostrils as she radioed in to Nam.

“Come in, Home Base. This is Pearl.”

She spoke in Thai so as not to draw attention, and she’d chosen Momi’s name as her handle. Every time she spoke it, that name reminded her of the urgency of her mission.

“This is Home Base.” Nam’s voice crackled through the handheld.

“Refueling with backup tank. May not make it to the destination today. Any word from the forward location?”

“No word.”

Sophie’s heart sank, a hollow sensation under her breastbone.

“Keep me posted. Pearl out.” Sophie put away the radio.

She was beyond worried about Jake and Connor’s mission. She had sent messages repeatedly but to no avail, and the two weeks had come and gone. There was nothing she could do besides alert Security Solutions VP, Kendall Bix, of the team’s return date being missed. She’d given the current head of the company all she knew about the status of the current mission and the fact that the men should have returned to Phi Ni by now.

---