Page 36 of Wired Strong

Sophie

Day 6

Sophie woke laterthan she usually did, feeling the warm touch of Ginger’s tongue on her hand.

“Stop it, girl.” Sophie tucked her hand back in under the covers, savoring the soft bed, top-quality sheets, and silk comforter. Nothing like a night on a yoga mat in a basement to make her feel grateful to wake up in her father’s luxurious apartment.

She really was lucky that Frank had not only taken her in, but cared for the dogs in her more than twenty-four-hour absence. They had greeted her last night ecstatically, but without the franticness she had come to expect, particularly from Ginger, when left for anything longer than a few hours.

Her father had been out when she returned; she was relieved to have gotten a text from him that he had a dinner meeting last night, so she hadn’t had to see him.

But today was the day she was going to talk to him about being on the team to capture Connor. Living with him and keeping that a secret felt way too dishonest, like a wedge that would drive them apart even more than his actions already had.

Sophie got up and slipped her arms into her familiar dragon-embroidered silk robe, a robe she had left in the closet of this room when she moved out. As she tied the sash around her waist, already becoming a little rounded, she could smell the fresh, clean fabric.

Augie had laundered all of her clothes, and had even had ones that needed dry cleaning done. They hung neatly in the closet on plastic-shrouded hangers.

Augie was a busy man. He would not have thought of such a thing if her father hadn’t directed him to do it. Was there no end to Frank’s loving thoughtfulness? Why did that make his betrayal feel so much worse?

Sophie walked out into the kitchen and turned on the kettle for her tea. “Good morning, Dad.”

Her father, seated in his usual spot on the couch, shook out his newspaper as he shifted to the next page. “Good morning, Sophie.”

The dogs had followed her out, and Ginger hurried to the front door, whimpering, clearly eager for her morning pee. “I have to throw on some clothes and take the dogs out for a quick morning walk. But I’d like to talk afterward, if you have time.”

“No problem.” Frank’s response was short. She wasn’t imagining the tension she saw in his shoulders, around his mouth.

She was getting better at reading people!As hard as this moment was, she savored the tiny insight. She set up her tea and went back into the bedroom and changed. The dogs increased their excitement as they saw her putting on her shoes.

“This is going to be a short walk, you two,” she said. Anubis immediately sat down at her tone of voice. Ginger, however, continued to hope for more, trotting back and forth and swinging her tail like a club against Sophie’s legs.

Her father had poured her tea into its pot, and it was nicely steeped by the time she came out and put the dogs on their leashes. “Perfect, Dad. That was so thoughtful of you.”

“I live to serve.”

Yes, he was as ready for this fight as she was.

* * *

Sophie had takenthe dogs at a jog for three laps around the block, just to take the edge off their energy. The quick run had taken the edge off of her irritability, too.

Back at the apartment, she refilled her mug, adding a spoonful of honey, remembering it was okay for pregnant women to have honey—but not babies, as their gut biomes were too delicate to process some of the natural bacteria in the substance.

Sophie carried her mug over to sit opposite her father, where he was ensconced on the couch. “I need to talk with you, Dad.”

“So you said.” Frank shook the pages of the Wall Street Journal together, folded the paper crisply, and set it aside. “You have my full attention.” He crossed his legs, interlacing his fingers to rest them over his knee. His handsome, dignified face was inscrutable.

Sophie had learned her own opaque mask from her father—but she’d always attributed learning that to her ex-husband’s abuse.Another insight.

“You’ve been working with the multi-agency task force that’s trying to bring in Connor, Pim Wat, and the Master. I want to know why.”

“Who told you that?” Frank’s expression didn’t change.

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is . . .”

“What matters is that you, and my grandchildren, are safe. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to ensure that outcome.”

“I’m not surprised by that,P?a.” She used the Thai word for father, instead of English. He had always preferred that she call him “Dad,” but that small act of defiance felt important, felt like reclaiming a piece of herself. “Working behind my back has undermined my trust. I wish you had come to me. Talked to me about your concerns, instead of working with the task force.” Sophie took a sip of her tea to calm herself. “In addition, we’ve been working at cross-purposes. I’ve wasted energy and stress trying to keep secrets that you already knew. And you have wasted energy scheming things I should have been included in planning.”

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