Page 25 of Wired Target

“You told me your mom was an agent with that shady Thai organization, but not that she was after you.Why?”

“Before I say anything more, can we get the drone?Then we can check its range.The operator might still be close by and maybe we can ...”

Lei spun to head into the brush instead of replying, her weapon drawn.

Sophie had never felt so naked without a firearm as she did right now.

Why had she let down her guard?And what might be happening at her house right now?

Sophie pulled her phone out, just in time for a branch Lei had pushed through to whip back and smack her in the face.

“Offspring of a warty pox-ridden swine!”Eyes watering, Sophie fumbled to find her Favorites button to call Armita and check on the children.

“You have no right to swear if you’ve brought this down on us without a truthful word to me about what’s really going on in your life!”Lei pushed past another branch that whipped back and caught Sophie on the arm.

Sophie lost her temper at the second sharp sting.“I’m sorry, Lei.I’m sorry!Do you think I want to be in this situation?”Adding to her stress, the call wouldn’t go through.

They’d reached the area where the drone had gone down; one of the device’s propellers was still whirling.It had caught in the branches of ahaole koatree; the aircraft had a menacing aspect communicated by the weapons turret on its belly, whose blinking red eye gave both women reason to pause as they approached.

“Do you think it can see us?”Lei stopped at the edge of the clearing, stepping behind some tree cover.

“Not likely.Most of these are piloted remotely, and whoever was running it must know it’s down.This version has a long range—close to a mile.Whoever was piloting it is likely gone by now.Let me go fetch it.”

But Lei grabbed Sophie’s arm as she tried to move past.“What if it’s got a motion sensor or is booby-trapped?We should get Torufu.He’s our bomb squad guy.He can check and see if it’s okay to approach.Let’s go see how Sari is doing and bring him back.”

Sophie tightened her jaw; it was unlikely the drone posed any further danger, but she wasn’t the one in charge.“If you think so.”

“I think you better start talking and telling me what’s really going on in this situation.”Lei turned Sophie around and gave her a little push, pointing her toward the parking area.“Walk and talk, Soph.”

“A lot of what’s going on is classified,” Sophie said.“That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“And you led a killer over here to Maui to hurt an innocent bystander,” Lei said.“Good choice.”

Sophie bit back her protestations—there was no defense because Lei was right.She felt horrible.She pushed back through the same brush they’d just come through, filling in the gaps in Lei’s knowledge.“We chased my mother and almost caught her recently.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”Lei growled.“I thought you were my friend!”

“I couldn’t!Why bother you?It was awful, and my load to bear!”Sophie tripped over a root, but caught herself, refocusing.“After Connor killed her lover, the Master in Thailand, Pim Wat escaped from the fortress.Connor pinned the assassination on Pim Wat as far as the ninjas over there were concerned; he didn’t know that killing the Master would make him have to take the position, but he was stuck.Meanwhile, the international task force that includes the CIA negotiated with Connor to take Pim Wat prisoner in return for immunity.A month ago, Connor found her in Paris.We sent over my colleague Pierre Raveaux and a team, but she got away again.”Sophie finished the story that had ended at Phi Ni and her reunion with Connor as lovers.

They arrived at the parking lot just in time to see an ambulance pull away, its lights flashing, followed by the dun-colored pickup Dr.Powers drove.The Mercedes SUV that the Gadishes had arrived in remained, along with Torufu’s police cruiser and Lei’s Toyota truck.

Torufu strode toward them, his brow furrowed.

“How is Sari doing?”Sophie asked.

“Barely hanging on.”Torufu shook his head gravely.“We told the EMTs we thought she might be poisoned.Her pulse was slow and irregular.They got an IV and a catheter into her immediately.Mahmoud rode with her in the wagon and Powers went to keep an eye on the situation—but it looks bad.”

Sophie’s gut clenched.“I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.But hey—I thought you ladies were going after the drone?”

Sophie tensed, wondering how much of her outlandish story Lei was going to tell the big man; but her friend only described the reasons they hadn’t yet retrieved the device, and asked him to come check it out.“The thing was still live when we left it, though downed.Do you have any of your bomb equipment with you?”

“You’re in luck because I drove my cruiser out here.I always keep a suit and some tools in the trunk.Never know when I’m going to get a deactivation call.”Torufu returned to his vehicle and popped the roomy trunk.“I’m not going to get into the suit until I know if it’s needed—it’s heavy and hot.”

“Boy, do I remember that.”Lei blew a curl off her forehead.“I’ll never forget how steamy it was inside that outfit when I was working bomb squad with you.How about Sophie and I carry it out there, just in case?”

“You’ve got a deal.”Torufu hefted a heavy steel toolbox and a long collapsible pole out of the trunk.“We can get started with these things.”

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