Page 59 of Wired Courage

Sophie’s face appeared on the tiny screen almost immediately. Connor wanted to smile, but the sight of her, holding Momi’s dark curly head tucked beneath her chin, completely choked him up. He cleared his throat, unable to speak.Damn, but they were beautiful.

“Connor! It is so good to see you!” Sophie was grinning big enough for both of them. “I just reached out to the Master and insisted that he begin the process of getting you out of there. I didn’t expect to hear from you quite so soon!”

“Show me that baby.”

Connor felt his heart squeeze as Sophie moved the phone so that it captured Momi’s sleeping face. The infant’s rosebud mouth was ajar, her cheeks peachy pink, and a welter of soft black curls haloed her head. Sophie stroked her daughter’s hair. “I wish you were here so you could hold her, but you’ll be here soon. What’s the plan to get you out of there? I have the CIA on standby, ready to provide transport.”

“I won’t ask what deal you made to get them on board,” Connor said.

Sophie grimaced. “I’ve basically promised to become a confidential informant/and or double agent for them. They picked up Jake on the road outside of the compound not long after he was released. I’ve been working with them ever since.”

“How is Jake? Is he recovered?” Connor’s pulse pounded uncomfortably.Jake had recognized him. Clearly, the man’s world was rocked—and he’d jumped to all the right conclusions. It was likely he and Sophie had a lot to talk about. “I hope he had no lasting ill effects.”

“Jake’s fine. Already back on the Big Island, working.”

Did he imagine a tightness around Sophie’s lips? Evasiveness in her lowered gaze? She went on. “Let’s stay focused. I just want to know where and when to send the CIA to pick you up on the road, or if the Master would like to make some other arrangement.”

“I’m not leaving, Sophie.” Connor stared into the camera, willing her to look up. At last, she did. Even in the grainy feed, he could see the ashen tone of her skin, a sure sign of distress.

“What do you mean you’re not leaving? The Master has to let you go. We had a bargain.” The baby squeaked as Sophie squeezed her too tightly.

“I am choosing to stay.” Connor threw back the hood that concealed his head, and turned it so that she could see the Thai number tattooed on the back of his shaved scalp. He didn’t yet know what that number was—he wouldn’t, until he had earned it. “I have agreed to study under the Master.”

“No! We have a company for you to run. You can’t stay there!” She joggled the baby, who, sensing her mother’s upset, let out a cry like an angry kitten.

“I can, and I am. I am choosing to learn from the Master. He’s much more knowledgeable and sophisticated than first meets the eye.” How could he describe the feats he’d seen the Master do? They sounded like fiction. “I want to stay.”

“What are you doing? Becoming a member of the Yam Khûmk?n?” Momi’s mewing cries rose in volume. Sophie patted the baby’s back vigorously and moved back and forth, in and out of the window of the camera.

“I’m not a member—but I have to go through their program to reach the outcomes I want. I have voluntarily submitted myself to him. It’s hard to explain, but he has things to teach me. Powerful things.”

“I’m not surprised by anything about that man. I’ve met him.” Sophie shook her head. “He’s done something to you. Brainwashed you. Maybe you made some kind of a deal with him?”

Connor raised his hands so that they were visible on the screen. “I swear. I am choosing this.”And he had. He had chosen to stay and study with the Master, to exchange information with him about their mutual missions. He had done that so that Jake, Sophie and Momi could be a family unit—and so he didn’t have to watch that happen from the outside.

He had his own destiny to forge. And maybe, someday, looking at Sophie and her baby wouldn’t hurt so much.

Connor gasped in surprise as Sophie abruptly pulled down the scoop neck of her shirt and guided the squalling baby to her breast. Momi calmed instantly. Sophie closed her eyes, clearly relaxing into something mysterious and beautiful, a connection he’d never have or experience.

A long moment went by before Connor could tear his eyes away. “I have to go. I have meditation practice.”

“This is ridiculous. You can’t do this!” Sophie cried, her serenity disappearing. “The company needs you!”

“No, the company needsyou.” He kept his eyes averted—watching her nurse the baby was wreaking havoc on his body. “If you wake up my computer, and log in with the password I’m going to send you, you’ll find a signed and notarized document dated a year ago, designating you as my heir, and/or my power of attorney in any absence. I have thought long and hard about who I would leave my world to, and you were the only one. There was only ever you, Sophie.”

Better not to engage with her in a fruitless argument and upset the baby again.

Better to say goodbye now.

Better just to end the call.

Feeling like he was cutting off his own arm, Connor punched the button and bowed forward, curling over in a white-hot ball of pain around the phone in his fist. Would he ever see her again? Would it ever stop hurting if he did?

“You have made the right decision,” The Master said from the doorway. “Come. It’s time for meditation class. I have a new lesson for you and the students.”

Connor got up and handed the Master the phone. “Thank you for letting me speak privately.”

The Master turned off the phone, already buzzing like an angry insect with Sophie’s attempted callback. “You can leave whenever you feel satisfied with achieving the life you are longing for.”

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