Page 57 of Wired Courage

The warmth in the Master’s unusual eyes told Sophie that he loved her mother.

He must never know what had happened to Pim Wat.The Master would make a formidable enemy.

A white jacketed doctor came in with a clipboard. “Sophie Smithson? We have some procedural things to go over with you.”

Sophie turned back to the queen and the prince, and bowed. “I’m sure you have things to do to prepare as well. I am honored that I can help.”

“Thank you, Sophie,” the queen said. The prince inclined his head, looking exhausted.

“We want to go over the procedure with you,” the doctor said. “Come this way, please.”

Sophie caught the Master’s pristine sleeve in her fingers. “Walk with me.”

His eyes flashed with something—surprise? Resentment? Sophie had the feeling that not too many people touched or directed him as she had. He bowed to the royals, and followed Sophie as they went out into the hallway in the doctor’s wake. Out in the hall, Sophie turned to face him. “I require proof of life before I go any further. Show me a photo or video, or preferably get Connor on the phone, so that I can verify he is alive and well.”

“I anticipated you would want that. I have a timestamp video from this morning’s surveillance feed at the compound.” The Master drew a phone out of his pocket, and swiped to a video.

Sophie bent close to see, her heart rate speeding up as she searched the rows of practicing recruits for any sign of Connor. At last she spotted him where he stood at the back, taller than the rest, his white scalp gleaming. “What have you done to him, that he has shaved his head and is practicing with your recruits?” she cried.

The doctor had stopped as well, and he made an impatient gesture. “The operating room is reserved for us. We are doing a direct transfer from you to the prince, rather than freezing some of the bone marrow as is sometimes done. He is not doing well, and every moment could make a difference. Can you wait to discuss this until after the procedure?”

The Master slid the phone into his pocket. He held Sophie’s gaze. “We will talk later. All will be revealed.”

Sophie huffed out a breath.There was no real choice. She had made her decision as soon as she heard about the prince, let alone before she saw his pathetic little face. “I expect you to honor your word,” she told the Master.

“All will be revealed,” the man repeated. Sophie rolled her eyes, and turned to follow the doctor.

Chapter Forty-One

Day Thirty-Five

Sophie stretched forward to toggle a switch on the dashboard of Connor’s speedboat, and emitted a little moan as bruising from the site of the bone marrow harvest reminded her of the procedure. She checked her onboard GPS and programmed in Phi Ni as her destination. She was grateful the boat had started up easily, once she added fuel to the tank. She then paid off the fisherman who’d driven her out to the boat’s hidden berth on the atoll.

She set the autopilot and sat back, sipping tea from a thermos and enjoying the wide-open sea, the clouds scudding overhead, the leap of porpoises at the bow.

She’d had time to read the Chris-Craft’s operations manual more thoroughly while spending a day post-op, recovering in a hotel paid for by the royal family. She’d been under general anesthesia during the extraction, so she hadn’t felt a thing when several holes were made in the back of her hip bone, and a couple of pints of red blood cells, stem cells, and bone marrow liquid removed—leaving her weak the first day, but steadily recovering.

Sophie was still tired, but she didn’t want to be away from her baby even a day longer. She expressed the milk she’d produced that wasn’t usable due to the anesthesia medication pumped into her for the extraction.

But all of it was worth it when she heard the procedure had gone well for the prince.

Malee, Armita, and Momi had already flown out to Phi Ni on a private charter, after verifying with Nam that no one had come onto the island or made contact. Sophie felt safe using the island as a brief pitstop before returning to Hawaii. So far, there had been no indication that the Yam Khûmk?n knew about Connor’s secret holding.

And as long as the Master didn’t know what had happened to her mother, he would have no reason to harm her or those close to her by striking at them on Phi Ni.

Sophie tried not to think of Jake, but that was impossible. After a while, she just stopped trying and let the tears rain down and dry on her cheeks in the wind whipping off the ocean.

Sophie piloted the speedboat into the boathouse, in the light of a waning sunset, and tied it up at the wharf. She heard the rumble of a vehicle arriving to pick her up, and felt a lift in her heavy spirits—she would be seeing her baby soon.

Alika was driving the work truck that had come down to meet her at the boathouse. Sophie grinned at the sight of his huge smile. She hurried over to hug him with the last of her energy. “I am so glad to see you! How is our baby?”

“She’s awesome! Doing great with a new formula, and both her grandma and great-grandma, as well as her aunt and your nanny, fussing over her,” Alika said. “Thank you so much for getting her back. You’re my hero.” He kissed her, a warm buss of friendship, shared history and family, and Sophie let it be what it was.

They got into the truck and drove down the winding, coral stone road through the jungle. Alika gestured to the defunct coconut grove. “This is quite a place Hamilton has.”

“Yes, it is. He usually runs the company from here.” An idea was taking root in Sophie’s mind: she could help Connor run things from Phi Ni, and stay in her apartment or at her father’s on Oahu part-time, and on Kaua`i the rest. The Big Island was off her personal map of destinations for the time being. “What have you been thinking? About how to share time with Momi?”

Alika laughed. “I thought you’d want to rest, relax, get some food, and snuggle with our girl. Trust you to dive right into this tricky topic with both feet.” He blew out a breath. “I have a guest house on my property—right now it’s rented, but I can kick the guy out. He’s one of my workers, just crashing there for a job. I propose that you live with me on Kaua`i for Momi’s first year—you can stay out there and have privacy, and I can see Momi as much as I want to during this key time in her life.” He squeezed the steering wheel, the knuckles of his remaining hand whitening and darkening with changing pressure. “I know it’s an imposition and that you have a job—but the place is wired for high-speed internet. We’d also have built-in babysitting with all the relatives who can’t wait to get their hands on Momi, so you could come and go as you need to for work. You can have the cottage at no cost, and access to everything in my house.Mi casa es su casa,as they say. And I have a great home gym.” He flashed a grin, his dimples as engaging as ever. “Tell me you’ll think about it.”

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