Page 41 of Wired Fear

Room service had arrived, a breakfast for two. Sophie accepted the cart and peeked under metal lids covering a delicious-looking breakfast of eggs, waffles, bacon, and fruit. She checked in with her stomach. This morning it rumbled with hunger, not morning sickness. This might be one of the mornings she was going to be able to eat.

The knocker sounded again, and Sophie let Connor in. “Thanks for thinking of breakfast. I’m actually hungry today.”

“Excellent.”

They sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean. Sophie liked that he wasn’t wearing his dark contacts or glasses—he knew she hated his Sheldon Hamilton disguise, and he’d come over only wearing sunglasses that he could put on if anyone saw them.

“I feel guilty being here, having such a nice meal in this setting.” Sophie fiddled with her napkin as Connor served fruit onto her plate.

“Guilt is a waste of time and energy.” Connor poured pink guava juice into her glass. Sophie inhaled deeply before she sipped, enjoying the sweet, tangy smell of it, as he went on. “Guilt doesn’t help the person you feel guilty about, either. It just steals any joy you might have had in the moment. A useless emotion.”

“I shouldn’t be talking to you about my relationships, but I…don’t know what to do.”

“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t. But tell me anyway.” Connor poured coffee into his mug from a carafe.

Sophie shut her eyes to enjoy the cool, unique flavor of the guava juice. “I was going to call Jake. But I’m worried that Felicia will answer. Worried what it will mean if she does.”

Connor laughed. “You’re afraid of your receptionist?”

“Don’t underestimate that young woman. Felicia’s a psychology graduate student. She’s just doing office temp work while she completes a doctorate in clinical psychology.” Sophie took a bite of her eggs, relieved not to feel nausea when she did so. “Felicia’s smart and hard-working, and really admires Jake. She is very careful with me, but I get the feeling she wouldn’t be sad if we broke up. She’s very appropriate in her communications, but I don’t want to have to talk to her about Jake again.”

“You’re not even going to try to call him?” Connor reached over and grabbed her phone. “Coward. Let me do it then.”

The phone was already unlocked. Connor scrolled to Jake’s number in Sophie’s favorites, and pressed it. Sophie frowned, but allowed him to. Shewasa coward.

Connor lifted a brow at her as he removed the cover from his plate and picked up his fork, the phone set on speaker between them. He took several bites of eggs while it rang.

Jake’s voice came on. “Sophie?” He sounded rough, his voice scratchy.

“Hey, Jake. This is Hamilton. I’m here with Sophie on Kaua`i. We thought we’d get in touch and see how you’re doing.” Connor’s tone was upbeat and businesslike.

“What are you doing on Kaua`i?” Sophie could hear Jake’s confusion, and she reached for the phone and took it off speaker.

“Jake. Are you all right? I was so worried. By the way, I just took you off speaker.”

“I’m fine. Just a flesh wound. What are you doing with Hamilton over there?” She could hear the rasp of his whiskers as he rubbed his face, the sound of his yawn.

“Hamilton thinks that, since the shooter was Akane Chang, I should stay here. Where it’s safe, supposedly.”

“He’s right. Hopefully, the cops get Akane soon.” A pause. “What did Alika say about the paternity test?”

“Alika agreed to it.” A silence stretched out. Sophie rubbed the scar on her cheekbone. He clearly wanted to know more about Alika’s response to the news, but right in front of Connor wasn’t the place or time—although Connor appeared oblivious, shoveling in his breakfast, Sophie knew better. She rushed on. “Felicia said she took care of you yesterday. And the dogs.”

“She sure did. The dogs are fine, keeping me company. She said she’d be back at lunchtime to walk them. Don’t worry about me, Sophie. It’s just a gash, as I’m sure Felicia told you. I’ll be back on my feet in a few days, on crutches.”

“Give me back the phone,” Connor said. “I have some news for him.”

Sophie handed the phone over.

“Jake, it’s Hamilton again and I’m putting you back on speaker. I’ve arranged for a couple of our security guys from Oahu to come look after you. I’ve also put in a call to the FBI about this attack by an escaped felon on one of my operatives. I’m putting pressure on the FBI about my team’s safety, and letting them know that Hilo PD has a positive ID on Akane as the shooter, in case the officers didn’t report it right away. I hope you don’t mind if I keep your girlfriend here for a while, out of the line of fire.”

“Thanks. Yes. Keep her there; I’ll sleep better knowing she’s safe.” The gratitude in Jake’s voice brought tears to Sophie’s eyes; she blinked hard.

“I’ll set Sophie up to work on the Merrie Monarch and other cases over here. Once the cops get a line on Akane, I’ll return her to you.” Connor looked down and away; Sophie couldn’t read his expression.

“Thanks. Especially for the security guys, since Hilo PD doesn’t seem to have the staffing to give me any coverage, and I’m a sitting duck for Akane laid up like this. We rented the apartments under our aliases, but that’s not much protection if he’s got us under surveillance. Felicia is doing a great job keeping everything going, but I don’t know how good she’d be guarding my door with a gun. Thanks for making sure Sophie is safe. If I know her, she’s not making it easy.”

Connor met Sophie’s gaze with a blue-green one. “You have no idea.”

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