Page 9 of Wired Strong

Sophie entered what had been Connor’s computer lab, the only room she did use, and then only when she needed privacy and security for some online task.

This room was completely soundproofed and had no windows—it could even be sealed as a “safe room,” but she didn’t want to do that in this instance unless she had to.

Sophie sat down on one of two office chairs in front of the computer work area, and re-activated the phone app.

The two agents had escalated to pounding on the door of her apartment. The camera didn’t have audio, and she couldn’t hear it in this sound-dampened room—but she could feel their blows as a vibration in the walls. Ginger whined anxiously, pressing against her leg, while Anubis’s chest rumbled with a silent growl.

“Settle, my lovelies,” Sophie crooned, and stroked their heads reassuringly as she watched the app.

One of the agents waited against the wall beside the entryway while the other headed for the elevator. They were likely going to get the building’s supervisor to open the door for them.

Sophie settled into stillness. The dogs lay down at her feet.

She watched the entire drama as the reluctant building supervisor, prodded by the agents, unlocked the door—she’d had to give him the code and keys as part of the building’s safety protocol. The agents drew their weapons and moved into her apartment.

Now was the time to move.She couldn’t take the risk that they’d somehow uncover her secret exit.

Sophie stood up, tweaked the dogs’ leashes, and headed for the front door of the secondary apartment, using a workaround she’d already programmed into her phone to deactivate the building’s security cameras in the hall. Once the cameras were off, she slipped out and trotted lightly down the well-padded length of the hall to the elevator, bypassing that and hitting the stairs.

They might have left another agent to watch for her in the lobby, so she’d exit another way.

Sophie got off on the fourth floor, where the building’s gym and indoor pool were located. She slid her keycard into the gym’s door and hurried through the deserted workout area with the dogs close to her side, taking the service elevator that was accessible only on this level. The elevator dead-ended in the basement, bypassing the lobby altogether.

Unless the agents had studied the building’s schematics, they wouldn’t know that she could take an emergency side door out of the basement, go up a flight of metal stairs, and come out in an alley behind the building through a one-way, exterior-locked metal exit door.

The night smelled of the trash bins in the alley. Sophie’s delicate stomach lurched. She breathed through her mouth, pushing through the queasiness, and broke into a jog, taking the dogs through the alley to the next street.

Once Sophie was out of the narrow throughway, she breathed easier, scanning all around as she cinched down the duffle pack.No one in sight.

She ran easily through the warm night, Ginger on one side and Anubis on the other.

Cars whizzed by. The businesses of downtown Honolulu were closed, but brightly lit from inside. A few tourists strolled, arm in arm. Sophie kept her weapon available and her eyes moving—the agents could still try to drive alongside her and throw her into a vehicle.

She couldn’t take the risk of getting her car out of the garage at the Pendragon Arches. She’d send a Security Solutions operative tomorrow to fetch it and bring it to her father’s apartment garage.

She called Security Solutions, requesting a team from Bix. “Agents are searching my apartment. They came to grab me.”

“Damn, Sophie, I’m sorry you’re dealing with that,” Bix said. “I didn’t think they’d be this aggressive. Do you need a pickup?”

“No. I’m almost at my father’s address on foot. Was able to evade them.” Sophie slowed to a rapid walk. “Put together a security detail to cover me starting tonight. I’m going to want an operative at my father’s building keeping an eye out for me there, too, and to escort me to and from work.”

“You got it,” Bix said, and ended the call.

Sophie resumed running, the dogs bounding happily at her side, until she reached her father’s building.

Her heart rate was back to normal by the time she stood in front of the red lacquered door of the penthouse apartment at the top of the high rise. Ginger was already whining with excitement to see Frank, one of her favorite people, as Sophie pressed the doorbell and checked the overeager Lab. “Quiet, girl.”

Her father opened the door. Frank wore his favorite black satin pajamas and a pair of velvet slippers, a glass of cognac in his hand. “Sophie! I thought you were coming in tomorrow.”

“I almost got taken by some agents.” Sophie held his gaze and both of the dogs in check on their leashes. “Are you sure you want to deal with what I might be bringing through this door?”

Frank Smithson’s well-groomed black brows drew together in a frown. “I can’t believe you think you need to ask that question. Get inside, and we’ll sort this out.”

Sophie stepped into the open living area that had been her home for her first five years in Hawaii. She unclipped the dogs so that they could ecstatically greet her father—Ginger pushed her head into his crotch, while Anubis rubbed his sleek body against the ambassador’s legs. Frank greeted them with just as much enthusiasm.

Sophie turned and locked the door, then unbuckled the waist strap of the duffle pack and slid it off. Her tee was damp at the waist and middle of her back; she was glad she’d changed into her yoga clothes after work. “I ran here on foot. That’s why I don’t have the dogs’ beds, or any of their accoutrements.”

“I’ll get them some water.” Frank headed for the kitchen area, Ginger and Anubis trailing him. “What happened?”

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