Page 48 of Wired Target

Two decks, one on the first floor and one on the second, faced the water.The sliding glass doors were closed, but no drapes were pulled on the downstairs deck which appeared to be separated by a pair of sliding glass doors that opened to a living area.Those unguarded windows revealed that the room was empty and unlit.

His recon in the village the night before had yielded little information on her habits; apparently, she kept to herself while employing live-in staff from elsewhere.Hopefully she was asleep upstairs.

Raveaux scanned carefully for surveillance nodes and spotted one at the corner of each deck level.He indicated them to Sam and Rab, who carried paintball guns with an extra-large paint charge.

The two ninjas shot the surveillance nodes, covering their domes with thick black paint.On the monitoring screens it would seem as though those views had gone dark for some reason, a natural mishap.

The three swam closer, careful not to splash.

The lower deck had stone stairs that led down to the ocean for easy swimming access; but the men approached from one of the sides and scaled the rocks that supported the deck in case there was another camera aimed at the stairs that couldn’t be seen.

Once on the house’s deck, they lowered waterproof packs and took out their weapons.All three carried high-powered dart rifles loaded with tranquilizers as well as personal handheld weapons.

Raveaux was concerned about other alarm devices.He approached the lower slider and shone an infrared detection device inside, looking for a motion sensor or other detection device.He saw nothing.

He nodded to Rab, who opened a tool kit and extracted a glass cutter.Sam attached a suction cup handle to the area in question as Rab used the cutter.Sam removed a half-circle of glass and Rab reached in and unlocked the door.

The door still refused to open.

Rab peered in through the hole and then gestured to his teammate.Sam removed a flexible metal pole with a hook on one end from his pack, much like a slim jim used to break into cars.He inserted the rod through the break in the glass and hooked the metal bar lying in the door’s track which prevented it from opening.With a quick twist Sam lifted the rod up and out of the track and set it quietly aside.

The door slid open.

The three men entered with Raveaux in the lead and their weapons drawn.

Raveaux’s pulse thundered in his ears.Sweat broke out over his skin; the wetsuit was designed for warmth in cold water, and he was overheating rapidly in the humid night.

He turned on a narrow-beamed headlamp to light the way.Hopefully their errand wouldn’t take long.

Raveaux had been unable to get a floor plan of the house, but the men had crafted a 3D scan of the building’s exterior which had enabled a guesstimate of the layout.They crept through the unlit living area; Raveaux kept his attention and senses alert as they navigated the dimly lit space, scarcely registering the shapes of furniture.He turned away from a kitchen, pantry, and office area and entered the wide-open entry, where a set of tiled mosaic stairs led to the second floor.

She would be there, in one of the rooms he could dimly see off the landing.They moved up silently.Raveaux heard nothing but his blood in his ears and his controlled breathing; the ninjas behind him were quiet as black shadows.

At the top of the landing, the three split up and moved to the closed doors of the bedrooms, all of which faced the sea.

Raveaux pressed down on the lever handle of the furthest door and gave the wood of the portal a gentle push; it swung inward noiselessly.He spun around the door jamb and dropped into a shooting stance.

The room was empty and bathed in silver moonlight that poured in through an uncovered window facing the sea; between his headlamp and the moonlight, the room was clearly visible.

On one side, a white toddler bed with storage drawers underneath took up the space; the wall beyond was a pale lavender that translated to gray in the moonbeams.

A chill skittered down Raveaux’s spine: this was the same bed and color scheme that decorated Momi’s sleeping area at Sophie’s new house in Kailua.

He turned to survey the rest of the room, his headlamp tracing a bright beam across the walls.

Opposite the toddler bed was a duplicate of Sean’s crib, right down to the type of pacifier the baby used, several piled in a ceramic bowl on a fancifully painted dresser just like the one the children had at home.Even the shelves of books and toys were the same.

This was why Pim Wat had put a spy camera in the children’s bedroom, a device Sophie had found and removed—but too late to keep her mother from duplicating the children’s quarters.

“Pim Wat’s preparing for their arrival,” he whispered.Cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

A slight whisper of sound.

Raveaux whirled to face the door, weapon ready; but only Rab and Sam’s two faces, caught in the bright beam, blinked at him.

Raveaux lowered his gun.“Where is she?”

“Not here,” Rab said flatly.“Gone.”

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