Page 8 of Wired Courage

“Good. Your friend Lei called. She was my partner here on Kaua`i at one time, and she spoke of you highly.” He gestured toward Alika’s office, which he seemed to have taken over. Clearly, Lei’s call had made a difference in his attitude—he’d been respectful but suspicious before. Now he seemed almost solicitous.

“Lei is a good friend.” Sophie avoided any eye contact with Jake, Alika, or the officers in the room, and preceded the man inside.

Jenkins set a recorder on the edge of Alika’s drafting table, and Sophie took a seat across from him. He stated the date and time, people present and their location, then addressed Sophie. “State your name for the record.”

“Sophie Malee Smithson.”

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, and you have the right to an attorney,” Jenkins said conversationally.

Sophie frowned. “You’re still considering me a suspect?”

“Just covering my bases.” Jenkins had the grace to look down and fiddle with his yellow legal pad.

Sophie shook her head. “I would never do anything to hurt my daughter. Ever.” The perspective that Esther had given her in the kitchen had shifted the stone of anger sitting on her chest a little, though, and she breathed easier in spite of Jenkins’ words.The evidence would back her up.“I would like to tell you about my mother, Pim Wat.”

“Go on.” Jenkins didn’t seem surprised at this seeming tangent.Good.Perhaps Jake or Connor had already told him something about her mysterious and deadly parent.

“My mother and I were estranged for nine years. Out of the blue, as they say, Pim Wat contacted me close to a year ago, trying to recruit me to join an espionage agency called the Yam Khûmk?n. I have been negotiating with her ever since. Pim Wat has been trying to get me to go to the organization’s headquarters in Thailand from the beginning, and I have refused. Now I believe she’s taken my child to use as leverage to get me to go.”

“Why don’t you want to go to this place?”

“I’ve seen it.” Sophie rubbed the scar on her cheek, the site of a gunshot wound rebuilt with skin grafts and a prosthetic cheekbone. “The organization’s compound is located in an undeveloped jungle area in Thailand. It’s extremely remote, fortified, and filled with hostiles. I do not trust my mother not to have a . . . plan for me.” Pim Wat’s first arrangement for Sophie, marriage to Assan Ang, had almost killed her.

“Really extreme for a grandma to kidnap her own grandchild.” Jenkins tipped his head to the side skeptically. “So far, all we know is that someone took your baby, and the snatch involved a helicopter and multiple perps.”

“Pim Wat and I don’t have a . . . normal relationship.” Sophie rubbed the scar, grounded by the feel of the ridged line of it against the pads of her fingertips. “She married my ambassador father for political reasons. They divorced when I was old enough to attend boarding school. Throughout my childhood, Mother feigned a crippling depression.” Sophie could have sworn her mother really did suffer from depression, but the Pim Wat she’d reconnected with seemed symptom-free.

“Really interesting information, Ms. Smithson. And though we’ve found evidence of an external break-in, there’s been absolutely nothing that gives any indication who might actually be involved,” Jenkins repeated.

Sophie flicked her fingers. “I’d be surprised if you did find anything tying this directly to Pim Wat—she is cagey and well-versed in covering her tracks. If you’ve found anything, it’s because she didn’t care if you did.”

“This all seems pretty out there. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Sophie crossed her arms over her breasts, but the pressure was too painful so she dropped them to her waist. Unfortunately, that hurt too. “I’m sure Mr. Hamilton told you that Security Solutions would be working on the situation.”

“This is a police matter, Ms. Smithson.”

“And kidnap rescue is a whole branch of the Security Solutions business,” Sophie retorted. “We are specialists, though I hope we won’t have to do much more than wait for a call from my mother. Once we have confirmation of a location where my baby is, the crisis is over from a police standpoint—it’s a family matter. Now, is there anything else you need from me at this time?”

“Is there anyone else you can think of who might want to take your child?”

Sophie shut her eyes for a moment, pausing to consider. She opened them and met Jenkins’s blue gaze. “All of those who have meant me harm are now dead.”

The young detective looked spooked. “We’ll be in touch, Ms. Smithson. Stay available and in the area.”

Sophie had no intention of doing any such thing.

Chapter Seven

Day Nine, Evening

Standing in front of the mansion, Sophie faced Alika, her gaze meeting his warm brown eyes. “Are you sure you are okay with this arrangement?”

Alika squeezed her shoulder with his remaining hand. “Do I have a choice? Someone has to hold down the fort and deal with the cops.”

“I know. Thank you.” Sophie swayed toward him—normally she’d give him a hug, but she was still bitter about his supposition against her. “I will get our daughter back.”

“You’d better.” Alika turned and walked back up the bluestone steps to stand beside Esther, watching from the porch.

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