Page 49 of Wired Fear

“Sophie’s mother. You’ve been a problem for her long enough.” A unique sound:bap! bap! bap!

Shots from a silenced weapon.

Even with her eyes shut, Sophie could picture where Pim Wat had shot Akane: two to the chest, one to the head.Her mother was a pro.

“He’s probably wearing a vest, Mother,” Sophie rasped between coughs. “Make sure you get him.”

“Oh, I got him. And now, let’s clear the air in this place.” Pim Wat ran forward and shut the computer lab door, trapping most of the gas inside the small room, turned on an overhead fan, and opened the windows of the other offices as Sophie kept her eyes shut and focused on breathing through the sweater.

Sophie waited until she felt her mother’s cool hand on her shoulder. “Sophie Malee. Are you injured?”

“Just some gas inhalation.” Now that the crisis was passing, Sophie could also feel her scalp burning—she’d definitely lost a patch of hair to Akane’s grip. “I pressed an alarm. The police are on their way.” She could already hear the wail of sirens in the distance.

“We’ll catch up later, then.” Pim Wat dropped the weapon, a silenced SIG, into Sophie’s lap. “You can thank me and return my weapon when the police are done with it. I was never here.”

Sophie blinked stinging eyes until she could make out Akane, flat on his back, his arms sprawled. Red pulp filled the gas mask where his face had been. Yes, Pim Wat had got him.

When she looked up, Pim Wat had vanished, shutting the office door behind her.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Day Eighteen

Jake woke at the blaring ringtone he used for the Security Solutions big boss, Sheldon Hamilton. Outside the sliding glass windows of his apartment’s deck, the barest hint of dawn pinkened the sky as his boss yelled that Sophie had been attacked by Akane Chang in their office downtown. “Where the hell were you, Jake? Where was your security detail?” Hamilton ranted. “And what the hell are you doing in your bed while your pregnant girlfriend is at work downtown, dealing with a serial killer?”

Jake’s heart jackhammered. He rolled over and reached for his pants, catching Felicia’s sleepy, alarmed gaze as she blinked at him. Jake had never heard Hamilton raise his voice before, let alone yell. “Slow down, Hamilton. I’m getting dressed and I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Thank God she was able to deal with Chang herself, no thanks to you. That bastard threw a tear gas grenade through the window and came in from the outside.” Hamilton was breathing heavily. “The police are crawling all over the office. They’ve taken Sophie in for questioning, since she shot him execution style—two to the chest, one in the head. Get your ass down to the South Hilo PD station. I’ve already called Security Solutions’ lawyer. I’m almost there myself.” Hamilton hung up abruptly.

Jake struggled to get his pants up over his booted foot. He stood, tripping as he tried to get his shirt on. “Shit!”

“I’m sorry,” Felicia said. “I should have woken you up when Sophie came by.”

Jake got his head through the neck of the shirt at last. “Sophie came by?”

“Yeah. Around two a.m. She was looking for you.” Felicia flushed. “I told her you were sleeping and she said she’d see you later. I should’ve just woken you up, but you were finally asleep, and she said it was okay.”

“She must have thought… Oh my God, no wonder she went down to the office in the middle of the night.” Fury darkened Jake’s vision. “Get out, Felicia. Damn it to hell!”

“Hey! No call to take that tone, old man,” Felicia said, but hurried to grab her purse and exit.

Jake raked a hand through his hair and cursed. He grabbed his crutch, weapon, wallet, and keys, and headed for the Security Solutions SUV.

Guilt gnawed at Jake’s gut as he navigated the early morning streets of Hilo.

If only he’d just gone in and woken Sophie up…If only he hadn’t dismissed the security team! He’d sent them home after work, planning to spend the night with Sophie and not wanting an audience for their reunion. But when he’d unlocked Sophie’s door after work and seen her sleeping, the dogs curled up on the bed with her, he’d changed his mind.

He’d wanted to join her. Had curled his hands into fists to keep from touching her.

But she was pregnant, and she needed her rest.

And he needed a little more time to figure out where to go from the stalemate they were stuck in, waiting on news about the baby’s parentage.

Jake had taken the coward’s way out, and left.

He’d gone back to his apartment, figuring he’d see her in the morning. He’d eaten pizza with Felicia when she showed up with a big meat lover’s special. He’d taken his pain meds and fallen asleep while Felicia was still watching TV.

All of that was true, and innocent, but damning nonetheless, because it added up to not being there for Sophie. If they’d been together, if she hadn’t been upset, she’d never have gone to the office alone. There was no denying, even to himself, that he’d made choices—and they’d almost cost her life.

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