Page 21 of Wired Target

“Doesn’t that take hours?”Sophie glanced around the simple living room with its couch, coffee table, lounger and TV.A bookshelf filled one wall, jam-packed with books on the history, culture, animals and plants of Hawaii, and the whole bottom row filled with well-worn children’s stories.A striking painting of the spire of the rugged lance of the Iao Needle filled the wall beside the TV; Lei and her husband had lived in Iao Valley when they first moved to Maui years ago.“Your home is looking beautiful, Lei.”

“It’s nothing fancy, but it’s fireproofed and big enough for all we need.”Lei and Stevens had lost the original home on this property to fire a few years before.

Lei set Kiet on the counter where he could watch as she took out a large, wrapped roast and a lidded metal pot with a cord.“And to answer your question about how long the kalua pig takes, it’ll be ready in an hour with this terrific invention.”She patted the roundish metal device with its sturdy locking lid.“It’s the new pressure cooker.A non-cook’s best friend.”

“This I’ve got to see,” Sophie said.“Can you show me where I’ll be sleeping and then demonstrate it for me?”

“Sure thing.”Lei lifted Kiet down.“Show Auntie to her room, okay, little man?”

“Follow me, Auntie!”Kiet bellowed, and for just a moment he reminded Sophie of her uninhibited Momi as he ran down the hall, leading her to the bedroom at the far end, a tidy chamber that doubled as an in-home office and guest room.

Sophie followed her young guide, and then set her backpack beside the full-sized bed tucked in a corner.“Thanks, Kiet.”

“Want to see my room?”Kiet cocked his head to look up at her through a lock of glossy black hair.

“Of course I do.”Sophie brushed the forelock away so she could see Kiet’s beautiful eyes.The little boy had been born in tragedy but had brought Lei and Stevens nothing but joy.Once again Sophie was grateful for her two babies, both of whom had been unplanned surprises.Though she would have no more thanks to medical intervention, she’d never regret Momi and Sean.They, too, brought joy and helped heal heartbreak.

The evening passed pleasantly as the family, joined by Lei’s father Wayne who lived in the cottage next-door, enjoyed a simple, tasty meal of rice, kalua pig and steamed green beans.Sophie tried not to notice how many beers Lei’s husband put away, though Stevens showed no signs of inebriation.

“Better get to bed,” Lei told Sophie as they washed up and Stevens read a bedtime story to Kiet on the couch.“We’ve got a meeting with the Maui Albatross Sanctuary people out at the nesting site tomorrow morning, but I want to take you to breakfast for girl talk first.”

“Sounds excellent.”Sophie hugged her friend good night.“See you in the morning.I’m sure it will be a busy day.”As she said it, an icy shiver of premonition tickled down her spine.

13

Day 6

Sophie eyed a delicious-looking plate of fried rice, papaya and eggs the next morning at Lei’s favorite restaurant in Kahului, ready to take a bite, but her friend pinned her with a look.“So.What’s going on with your love life?”

“Oh.”Sophie set down the fork she’d picked up.She looked around the little hole-in-the-wall place that Lei favored.“I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it.”

“C’mon.Marcella told me you and the mysterious man in Thailand are back together.I want deets.”

Sophie’s neck prickled with embarrassment.“I know this is what women friends do, talk about their relationships ...but—it’s hard to explain.”How could she put into words the connection she’d always felt with Connor, ever since their early cat and mouse games of online chase?

She’d loved Alika, and then Jake—but those relationships had been more physical, more visceral.What she had with Connor was nuanced, complicated, a meeting of minds and interests as much as bodies.

“It’s okay.”Lei’s plate was filled with tempura and scrambled eggs.She picked up a shrimp and crunched it.“You don’t have to get into it if you don’t want to.”

“I’m a little tired of people not supporting my choice to be with him, to be honest.”

“Just because he’s a cyber vigilante, an internationally wanted fugitive, and the cult leader of a shady ninja army?”Lei quirked a brow, a dimple appearing in her cheek.

“All of that is true.”Sophie stirred at her eggs.Her appetite was gone.“But the worst parts would go away if we could catch my mother.”

“Maybe.”Lei dipped another shrimp into sauce.“To be honest, I don’t care about any of that.I just want to know why you took him back after he—pretended to be dead and broke your heart.That would have been a deal breaker for me.”

“He paid his debt for that mistake.”Sophie gazed up at the dusty paper lantern above the table as she gathered her thoughts.“Connor joined the Yam Khûmk?n so that I could be with Jake.He got out of the way to support my choice.Through all the ups and downs with Jake, he continued to love me and show by his actions that he wanted what was best for me, not for himself necessarily.And then, he tried everything possible to save our lives when Jake and I were trapped by the volcano.”Sophie picked up her cup and took a sip of green tea.“After he became the Master—for a while, he’d become someone I didn’t know.He had evolved.”She could not explain Connor’s extraordinary abilities.“But when he was dying and I thought I’d lost him—I realized I’d always loved him in a way I never had anyone else, and that he was my match.My equal.”

Lei’s tilted brown eyes were intent on Sophie’s.“Then I trust you’ve made the right choice,” she said.“No one but those inside a relationship really know what’s going on in it, anyway.”Her mouth tightened.

Sophie took a bite of her breakfast.“How about you and Stevens?”

“We’re going through a rough patch.He’s got all the signs of PTSD, and he’s drinking too much.”Lei stabbed a piece of tempura with her fork.“But he’s stubborn.I don’t know how to help him.We’re—in separate bedrooms.”

“Oh no!Have you talked to Dr.Wilson?”Sophie and Lei had shared the police psychologist as a colleague and therapist over the years.

“Of course.She’s working with him as much as he’ll let her.But I worry—she’s only getting a little bit of the truth.”Lei shook her head.“If you’d asked me a few years ago if I thought we’d be in this kind of a jam, I’d have said you were crazy.But what happened with his first wife, Kiet’s mother—it messed with his head on top of a buildup of ugly cases.”

---