Page 54 of Wired Courage

“Why would I do that? I enjoy a life of the mind, the spirit, and the body, and Connor does too. I think you have the wrong impression of me, based upon your mother and her behavior.”

Sophie met Armita’s eyes and cleared her throat. “Are you telling me that you had nothing to do with the ambush that took my men’s lives?”

“That was most unfortunate. I left communications with you about the prince’s bone marrow up to your mother. I should have known that she could not, or would not, exercise finesse. Much as I care for her, Pim Wat has a limited perspective.”

Sophie nodded in agreement, clearly forgetting the Master could not see her gesture. “My mother is a psychopath.”

“Be that as it may,” the Master said imperturbably. “In this instance, she allowed her dark appetites an upper hand. I should not have given her free rein, and for that I apologize.”

Armita’s eyes widened involuntarily—this was the first time she’deverheard the Master apologize.

She had to get them off the subject of Pim Wat!She had to keep Sophie focused before she let something slip. She picked up the tablet on which they’d made notes, picked up the stylus and underlined the sentence,get specifics on the exchange. She held the tablet up for Sophie to see.

Sophie nodded, and continued her conversation with the Master. “While I find talking with you interesting, we must stay on topic. Where shall I go to make the bone marrow donation? And before you tell me I need to come to the compound, I refuse to go there. I will, however, go somewhere public and medically focused, like a hospital. That’s all I will consider.”

“I am glad to hear that, because your cousin is currently at Bangkok Hospital. Contact this doctor there.” He rattled off a doctor’s name and number. “He is coordinating the prince’s care. Identify yourself as the prince’s cousin Sophie Smithson. They will be expecting you.”

“And after that? When are you releasing Connor?” Sophie’s voice sounded raspy. Armita patted her arm again.

“I will be in touch, with a place and time for you to pick up your man.”

“He’s not my man.”

“Oh no? Then whose is he?” The Master ended the call.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Day Thirty-Two

Late evening sunlight slanted in as Jake opened the door of his studio apartment in Hilo. Memories assailed him as soon as he did so—mostly of how seldom he’d actually spent time in the sparely decorated space. Sophie’s apartment, a few doors down on the same floor, was bigger, with a separate bedroom that she used as a home office. They’d found her place to be a little more comfortable, with the spare room where their two large dogs could sprawl on their beds out from underfoot. They had both set up their futon beds to face the sliders that looked out over Hilo Bay, and Jake had spent most nights with Sophie in a room with a layout that mirrored this one.

His apartment smelled musty, unopened. Which of course, was exactly what it was. He had been gone for over a month.

Jake set down the backpack of necessities he had picked up in Thailand, but there was nothing in it of value but the laptop and new phone he had procured to replace those left at Connor’s before the start of the mission. He walked across the carpet and opened the glass slider, going out onto the little deck to breathe in the wind off of the Bay.

If he shut his eyes, and just listened to the sound of the coqui frogs tuning up in the banyan tree, he could pretend they never left Hawaii. Pretend that the sun was setting on a busy day and Sophie and the baby were in her apartment, with the dogs. He was just grabbing a few things, a change of clothes, before heading over to her place for the night. He could pretend that he was still working on getting her to move to an actual house, where they could live together, building a life and a family, with his ring on her finger.

But that wasn’t what was happening.

His misery needed a physical expression.

Jake turned and went into the workout corner he had set up, a simple rubber mat and a weight set and bench for when he was stuck at home for some reason. He sat down on the bench, picked up the barbell, and did overhead presses. Then lat pulldowns. And then, sit-ups on the slant board.

His body felt unfamiliar, a combination of both old and new—as if he had to learn everything all over again.

Maybe dying was some kind of cosmic reset button—the first day of the rest of his miserable life.

His phone toned, buzzing in a circle where he had set it on the counter when he entered. He got up and scowled when he saw the name on the little screen: Dr. Kinoshita, Security Solutions’ psychologist. He’d known she would want a debrief, and that time must’ve come.

“Hey, Dr. Kinoshita. I know we need to talk. I’d like to set something up for tomorrow.” Jake didn’t let her ask him any questions. He got her to commit to a time for a Skype interview, and ended the call.

He didn’t need to look around after setting down the phone to know that this apartment held nothing for him.

Tomorrow, he’d go work at the Hilo office and see what was on the schedule for investigation. He’d pick up the reins of his life and figure out how to go on. But for now, he needed a distraction. He didn’t want to go through the decision tree that had led to breaking up with Sophie even one more time today.

Jake tied on his running shoes and headed out.

The sunset blazed to the west. Palm trees rustled in a gentle breeze. Yep, this was a tame and mellow paradise compared to the jungles of Thailand—and a brisk run around the park at Hilo Bay was just what the doctor ordered.

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