Page 1 of Wired Ghost

Chapter One

Sophie

Day one, two weeks after the end of Wired Truth

Lookingfor a runaway teen living with meth cookers, especially during a massive volcanic eruption, was probably not a good idea.

But it was too late now. They were committed.

Sophie Smithson grabbed the sissy strap to stabilize herself as the Security Solutions SUV, driven by her partner, Jake Dunn, bumped across a black rock plain on the Big Island. Their client, Ki Ayabe, an import business owner, had hired Security Solutions to locate and retrieve his seventeen-year-old daughter Lia, who’d supposedly run off with a meth cooker named Finn O’Brien “to shame and anger me,” Ayabe had declared. Sophie hadn’t liked the pompous, sharp-tempered Japanese man, but his tale of an out-of-control teen being taken advantage of by an older drug dealer was compelling.

“Weird set of directions,” Jake frowned, peering through the windshield to scan the empty black plain, made mysterious by a heavy mist of volcanic emissions. “Not much out here.”

Sophie tapped the navigation app on her phone. “There are no road signs to thekipukawhere the meth lab is located. Natural formations and GPS coordinates were the best our informant could do. Thankfully, there’s a track we can follow.”Kipukas,small, raised “islands” of old growth trees, bushes, and wildlife, surrounded by fields of raw, new lava, were a phenomenon unique to the Big Island.

Jake flexed his large hands on the wheel. “We’ve got a big chuckhole ahead.”

The white Ford Escape wasn’t really built for the terrain of their current route, and Sophie clung to the dash, as well as the strap, as the vehicle bucked through the stony rut. She glanced at Jake. “You sure you aren’t missing your easy California life installing alarm systems?”

“You know I hated that,” Jake grinned, a flash of white teeth. “Thanks for getting me back on the Security Solutions payroll. It was a relief to let Felicia buy me out of the business.” Jake had recently gone through a breakup with his girlfriend/business partner, and relocated to Oahu to be with Sophie. They were taking it slow, just beginning to date again, and this was their first job together in more than two years.

“The case looked interesting. A chance to get away from Oahu with my boyfriend.” They hit a particularly deep hole, and Sophie yelped as her head banged the door frame, swearing in Thai.“Daughter of a rabid jackal!”

“Sorry.” Jake wrestled the wheel, slowing them further. “This is a bit rugged, but it’s an adventure. And the end of your month with Momi is always a good time to be distracted.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Sophie stabilized herself with a hand on the dash. “Ginger and Anubis love all the socialization they’ll get with other dogs at the boarding kennel while we’re gone. And I always try to fill my schedule when I have to send Momi back to Kaua`i.” Sophie’s two-year-old daughter was currently with her biological father, Alika Wolcott, and nanny, Armita, in their unusual custody arrangement of one month on, one month off. While always a hard adjustment for Sophie when Momi and Armita left, the situation gave her time to work active cases in the field. When her daughter and Armita were with her, Sophie did administrative tasks in the office. Her child seemed to take the changes of venue in stride, with the consistency of care that Armita maintained by accompanying Momi back and forth between homes.

Jake slowed the SUV further and crawled the vehicle over a mound of rock. “I don’t like the seismic reports we’ve been seeing the last few days for Kilauea Volcano.”

“Therehavebeen a lot of micro-earthquakes reported lately. But the eruption at Kilauea has been steady since the 1980’s. There is no reason to assume there’s going to be any new lava flows in this area,” Sophie said. “The main danger we have to watch out for is the emissions. The gases can be quite toxic, but they’re only present around the areas with fresh activity. According to my source, thiskipukais where the meth lab is hidden. I had to call in a favor to get this intel, but hopefully it’s here, and saves us a lot of time.”

“Still. It’s too bad the wind is coming from the south and pushing in all this vog,” Jake said. “Visibility is so much better when it’s blowing out to sea.”

The vog blanketed the plain in a soft, gray shroud. The sun glared acid yellow through the particulate gases and hurt Sophie’s eyes, adding to a spooky feeling as they moved through the rough terrain. She slid on a pair of mirrored sunglasses as they reached a flat area marked by several rusted out vehicles.

“I think this is the end of the road,” Sophie said.

Jake already had his hand on his weapon as he guided the SUV into a turn. “I’m positioning us for a quick getaway.”

“Good idea.” Sophie jumped out of the Ford and covered them visually with her Glock, as Jake maneuvered the vehicle into position pointed back the way they’d come. She saw no one, but that didn’t mean they weren’t being watched.

Jake checked his weapon, ejecting the magazine and then ramming it back into the grip. Sophie had gotten used to her Glock 19 police issue pistol during her FBI years. They both wore body armor under camo fatigues done in a gray, brownish-black and slate blue pattern that Sophie hoped would help blend with the surroundings.

Sophie headed for a rough path visible between the junked cars and checked her GPS again. “This track is heading in the direction of the coordinates. We’re on the right path.”

They moved out, Sophie in front, Jake at her back.

“What’s the plan? Arrive, guns blazing, grab the girl, and haul her back to her father, tucked under my arm?” Jake asked.

“Like I told you back at the office, I don’t really know. You’re the extraction specialist.” Sophie slanted a glance over her shoulder at Jake. “I still remember that from your business card when I first met you.”

“And I remember being sandbagged by how gorgeous you were in that skimpy red top when you first met me at your door,” Jake said.

“That was my sleep outfit. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“All the more unforgettable.”

Sophie smiled, but kept scanning the barren lava for hostiles.

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