Page 62 of Wired Courage

McDonald was very disappointed. “Haven’t got a whisper of usable intel out of her,” he told Sophie on their conference call. “She just lies there, completely unresponsive. Even after we gave her electroshock therapy for her depression.” He grinned, and it was more than a little evil.

“Don’t underestimate her. She can never be allowed to escape.” Sophie knew exactly what her mother looked like in that state—and Sophie’d been afraid, at one time, that she might end up in a similar bad way.

“Don’t worry. She’s not going anywhere. But I’m thinking it’s about time for you to reach out to the Master. Check on your man in the compound.”

“He’s not my man.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself. But reach out. See if you can get a dialogue going with the Master, or with Hamilton. We still want to know more of what the Yam Khûmk?n is up to, and we’re getting nothing from Pim Wat.”

The CIA had leaked that they had captured Pim Wat on her way to visit her sister in Bangkok, in order to deflect the Master’s attention from Malee and Sophie. Sophie assumed that the Master had picked up that intel, as the CIA had intentionally disseminated it. There had been no response from the Yam Khûmk?n and no further communication from the stronghold.

Armita brought Sophie back to the present moment, waving a spoon from the kitchen area. “There’s time for you to take Anubis and the baby out for your evening run before dinner,” she said. “I have a nice coconut curry for us when you get home.”

“What have I done to deserve you?” Sophie stood up with the baby in her arms and gave Armita a kiss on the cheek. “You keep me sane. You keep everything going. You make it so that I can go to work every day and not worry about Momi, or anything going on at home.”

Armita’s cheeks flushed. “It’s my pleasure,” the Thai woman said with dignity. “Now get going before the rice clumps up too much.” She turned back to the stove.

Momi reached up and grabbed Sophie’s abundant hair, giving a tug at her curly locks and emitting an enthusiastic squeal. “You understood Auntie Armita, didn’t you, darling? Okay, let’s go.”

Sophie bundled the baby into her high-end jogging stroller and put Anubis on his harness. The Doberman was incredibly well-behaved, which was a relief when she imagined trying to manage Ginger, and a stroller, and all the traffic of Honolulu’s busy sidewalks. Maybe God knew that the time just wasn’t right for Sophie to have a dog as challenging to manage as Ginger had always been. Just as important, she knew that Ginger was happy with Tank and Jake, and that eased her mind, too.

They got on the elevator and were soon out on the sidewalk. Anubis always drew attention with his sleek and regal bearing, and the hint of danger that surrounded his watchful eyes and cocked ears. He was an excellent guardian as well as companion—perfect for her new life.

Honolulu was winding down for the day. Commuter traffic was brisk, and families were out walking their dogs, jogging and riding bikes in the balmy evening. Sophie trotted along the sidewalk pushing the stroller with Anubis beside her, enjoying the sights and sounds as they headed for Ala Moana Beach Park.

Momi spotted one of the hot dog vendors who also sold balloons. She shrieked with excitement, waving her chubby arms at the sight of the brightly colored spheres. Sophie steered the stroller over to the hot dog wagon. Anubis, smelling one of his favorite treats, emitted a tiny whine, the only indication she would get from him about what he wanted.

“I think both of you deserve a treat.” She bought a hot dog and fed the meat to Anubis, and then she bought a bright yellow balloon and tied it to the stroller’s surround.

Momi yelled with glee, grabbing at the ribbon holding the balloon and batting it with her hands. They resumed their gentle jog toward the ocean.

Once they reached the beach, Sophie gave Anubis the hand signal to sit and stay, and parked the big-wheeled jogging stroller on the sand. She lifted the baby out, and Momi kicked her legs with excitement as Sophie set her in the sand on her little padded bottom.

Momi promptly grabbed a handful of sand, and it headed toward her mouth.

“No, darling. Not for eating,” Sophie said, peeling the baby’s fingers open to let the sand out. Momi squawked in protest, but then spotted an abandoned red plastic shovel a few feet away. She engaged her new skill of crawling to head toward it.

Sophie sighed. The baby had been so frustrated with wanting things and not being able to get to them in the last month—and now she could, and that brought new challenges. Every time Sophie turned around, it seemed like her daughter had grown exponentially. Her life was too full for her to dwell on much but keeping up with it all—and still, late at night, she woke feeling the emptiness of the bed beside her.

The sun, lowering towards the horizon, cast golden beams across them as they enjoyed the day’s heat trapped in the sand. Sophie’s gaze wandered out over the ocean, and as she watched her baby, she couldn’t help thinking of Jake. He’d enjoy seeing the gusto with which Momi embraced every new experience—that was how Jake lived, too.

Jake had left Security Solutions and moved to Kona, where he’d started his own private investigation company. Felicia had gone with him, and Sophie suspected they were living together. With no one available to staff it, Sophie had made the tough executive decision to close the Big Island office. Truth was, she had always suspected that Connor had just opened that extension so that she and Jake would have something to do-over there.

Alika’s business was thriving on Kaua`i; she had spent a wonderful five months in his guest house, getting her feet under her as a parent and learning the ropes of running Security Solutions virtually, with just a few board and planning meetings she’d flown to Oahu for. Eventually, there had come a point when she needed to step up fully as head of the company, and now she went into the corporate building every day and occupied Connor’s very comfortable office.

She was just keeping his chair warm for him.

The camera Rhinehart had installed over the Yam Khûmk?n stronghold doorway had a one-year battery. Every so often, late at night when the baby and Armita were in bed, Sophie logged into the live stream feed channeled through the Security Solutions tablet that had been recovered by the CIA from the gravesite in the jungle.

She’d traded information about some of Connor’s Ghost cases to McDonald to get access to that video stream, and she didn’t regret it—because, once in a while, she would see Connor’s form, taller than the rest of the recruits, moving about in the dining hall where the camera was aimed. Sometimes he’d be seated at one of the long wooden tables, eating a simple meal of beans, rice, and vegetables with the other trainees. She could always pick him out by his build and pale skin, and she looked for any signs of distress.

There were none.

Connor laughed with the other men. She saw his mouth moving, his hands gesturing, his ready smile. Whatever had led to the decision to stay at the stronghold, he clearly wasn’t suffering. She had to assume that he hadn’t been coerced, that he’d truly wanted to stay. So, for now, she was content just to check in on him when she could.

Sophie packed up the baby, cleaning off the sand as best she could, and they headed back in the blue shadows of a warm Honolulu evening. At the Pendragon Arches building, Sophie tried once again to get the sand off the baby’s skin and out of Anubis’s paws before going through the grand lobby with its old-world charm and chandeliers.

Of the many places that had been available for her and her little party to stay in, she had most wanted something that said “do over,” as her mother had asked for so many months ago. Her old Mary Watson place was too small for her current needs, and so was her father’s place, especially now that he had officially retired and occupied it. The company apartment had made sense, and she had supervised its renovation from Kaua`i.

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