Page 7 of Wired Fear

“Are you threatening me?” Connor smiled without humor.He’d love to unleash the Ghost to find some dirt on McDonald.Taking on the CIA was a challenge he’d relish.

This time, Sophie’s hand touching his arm was a restraining pressure.

She didn’t want him to go after this guy, or the CIA. She probably still had some childish fantasy of finding a way to redeem her conscienceless harpy of a mother and didn’t want Connor to endanger that.

McDonald shook his head. “We’re getting off on the wrong foot. I will take this contract to my superiors. In the meantime, if you could cozy up to Pim Wat and her organization while you’re going to therapy for your depression, Ms. Ang, your country would be grateful.” McDonald managed to sound both sarcastic and sincere. “And in the interest of bringing useful information to the table, I’ve got some news as well. Akane Chang has escaped. You might want to take extra precautions.”

The man reached out, pushed a button, and the screen went black.

Chapter Six

Sophie rubbed the scar on her cheekbone. Touching the rough, bumpy ridge, oddly numb and sometimes tingly, had become something of a habit. A gunshot wound repair, the skin graft over a prosthetic cheekbone had altered her appearance, but Sophie was the one who seemed most bothered by it. She breathed deliberately—her injured ribs still hurt, and McDonald’s revelation had made her want to get up and run. Or fight. Or both.

Akane Chang was, apparently, a nightmare she hadn’t yet left behind.

Connor stared at her intensely, sea-blue eyes hidden behind those dark contacts and hipster glasses that were part of his Sheldon Hamilton disguise.

“You knew about Akane Chang.” Sophie made herself stop rubbing the scar.

“I monitor everything that might be a threat.” Connor removed the glasses and leaned forward to take out the contacts, slipping the lenses into a small plastic container. “I was looking forward to this occasion of privacy to discuss his escape.”

“I stopped monitoring Akane after the trial,” Sophie said. “Was just hoping that monster was going to be behind bars and out of circulation permanently.Son of a pox-ridden whore!” She swore in Thai and closed her eyes for a moment, covering them with a hand. “Couldn’t just one sadistic killer I’ve dealt with stay in jail?”

As Connor had pointed out, she hadn’t been sleeping well. She and Jake had been staying in a run-down motel in Hilo Bay, and in spite of a lot of very good sex, insomnia plagued her nightly, peppered with trauma flashbacks and feedback loops of regret, many of whichinvolved Alika Wolcott.

“That’s the depression talking.” Dr. Wilson, her therapist, spoke in her head. “Guilt doesn’t help anyone.”

Yes. The depression had a voice, a tone even.

Fortunately, she had a session with Dr. Wilson soon. There would be a lot to cover.

Connor rapped his knuckles on the table to get her attention. “We have a reprieve from the CIA situation for the moment, but your mother needs something to keep her on the line. I propose we call her; you can tell her about Akane.”

“Why would I do that?”

Connor shrugged. “She is an assassin, after all.”

Sophie really focused on Connor’s face for the first time that day. The man was almost too handsome with his classical features, square jaw, and those changeable blue-green eyes. His dark brown hair was a part of his Hamilton persona, but she still remembered it blond.

She stiffened at the reminder that Pim Wat was not only a spy—her mother was a murderer. “I only have your word on that.”

Connor’s eyes flashed with temper. “Why don’t you ask Pim Wat yourself?” He grabbed Sophie’s phone, scrolled a moment and pressed a button, put it on speaker, and pushed the device toward Sophie.

No time to prepare, rehearse, or otherwise brace herself.

Pim Wat’s husky voice came on, speaking Thai. “Sophie Malee?”

“Mother.” Sophie blew out a breath, not sure how to proceed.

“You took long enough to call. I was beginning to be concerned.” Pim Wat sounded sad, a tone Sophie was all too familiar with—and that note sparked anger.Because it was fake, that sadness, a lie.Sophie had dealt with it her entire childhood.

“Quit pretending, Mother. You just want to know if I’ll do your job.”

A pause.

“You’re testy today.” Pim Wat’s voice had modulated upward. They were still speaking Thai, and Sophie slanted a glance at Connor, not sure if he was following everything—or if he needed to. His head was cocked to the side, and he gave a slight nod. He’d been studying Thai, and he was following so far.

“Perhaps that new lover of yours is not so good in bed,” Pim Wat mused.

---