Page 41 of Wired Justice

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next morningSophie sat down at her laptop, doing what she should’ve been doing last night instead of what she had ended up doing. The screen’s blue glow fell over her hands. She stared at them blankly.

She could still feel the solid warmth of Jake’s body impressed on her fingers.

Sophie couldn’t help glancing over at the bed. The dogs, ousted, lay on the braided rug under the window. Jake sprawled across the full-sized mattress, taking up the whole thing. Her gaze traveled over him, lying face down and gloriously nude, the sheets tangled at the foot of the bed. Turns out he liked to sleep naked, too.

She felt really good this morning. Weak in the knees, loose in the joints, with happy aches in between.

She’d now had two lovers.

She didn’t count Assan Ang. He had been . . . something else. A long, dark, closed chapter.

Whatever might happen in the future because of being with Jake, she wasn’t sorry. They’d both needed the release after the events of the day. And having sex with him didn’t mean she was ready to be in a relationship. Nothing had changed about that. Jake was the one who had agreed to her terms and walked through the door. Literally.

Jake rolled over, his breathing slow and deep, one arm reaching across her side of the bed, his fingers spread. Even asleep, he was looking for her. And damn, it had been as good as she imagined. Jake was a thoughtful and energetic lover, and had been determined that she would enjoy the experience.

He was nothing if not single-minded about his goals.

Tenderness bloomed, watching him, and she sucked in a breath, biting down on her lip, shutting off the emotion. He was sure to think that they were “together” now. And they weren’t.

Sophie made a cup of hot tea in the hotel carafe and refocused on the cache of data she had extracted from DAVID. She needed to get back to the computer room at Hilo PD so she could finish some of the pattern analysis she had been running.

The cabin didn’t have Wi-Fi, so her temptation to get into DAVID was stonewalled—but at some point, her email had kicked in, and she was able to look at her messages.

A message from the Ghost’s signature chat box awaited her.

Sophie felt a twinge as she clicked on it, unsure if her feeling was apprehension or something else.

“Thanks for the referral to this WITSEC situation, Sophie. I take it as a vote of confidence. I’ll get to work on this, and you can expect to hear back from me in a couple of days. It’s good to be in touch.”

Nothing more, thank the great Thor.

She was relieved.

Morning bloomed outside the windows, and there was work to do. She walked over and shook Jake’s shoulder, using one of Marcella’s phrases. “Rise and shine, lazybones.”

She wasn’t prepared for how quickly he reacted, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down and across him. He nuzzled her neck, and his bristly beard sent shivers down her bare skin. “I wondered if I dreamed last night. But here you are, naked in my room . . .”

“It’s my room. And . . . thank you for the good times, but we have to get to work.” Sophie extracted herself and walked with dignity to the bathroom. She locked the door so he wouldn’t join her, and took extra time washing up.

Jake needed to get the message that they’d had a “one and done,” as Marcella called it. She couldn’t let him get too attached.

The driveto Hilo Station was silent and uncomfortable. Jake kept yawning, great stretches of his jaws. Sophie would have offered to drive, but she knew he’d decline.

“I need food,” Jake said. “I’m depleted from my exertions yesterday.”

Sophie ignored his wink. “I’m amenable to a stop for breakfast.” She looked at the dogs, who had perked up at the mention of food. “We can order something for the dogs, too. I’m out of kibble.”

Sophie’s phone beeped with an incoming text, and she took it out of her pocket.

An unknown number showed. “Come to Hilo Bay Park at noon. I have important information about your mother.”

Sophie’s belly clenched. Her mother?

As far as Sophie knew, Pim Wat Smithson was institutionalized in Thailand in an exclusive mental hospital, where she had been installed after her most recent suicide attempt. Her aunt, who kept her informed, had sent monthly progress reports on her mother’s almost catatonic depressive state.

The phone dinged again. “Come alone. Ditch that man with you. And tell no one.”

---