Page 63 of Wired Ghost

Raveaux flushed the toilet, exited the stall, and washed his hands, wishing he could drown the damn cufflink under the water—but he was “skating on thin ice” as the Americans said, and if Sophie didn’t show up at the conference room, he was going to be in deep trouble.

But he wasn’t going to make her go there alone. He’d find a way to get the meeting stopped if it got out of hand . . .

Raveaux headed back to Sophie’s office, but when he opened the door, she was gone.

His stomach plummeted.

He’d be going to Guantánamo for sure if she’d made a run for it.

Raveaux turned off the fan and replaced it on the corner of Sophie’s desk. He opened the curtains. Everything had to seem normal.

He returned to the reception area. Paula looked lovely, as usual, with a plumeria pinned behind her ear and a fitted floral sheath dress that made the most of her buxom figure. “Paula, excuse me. I was expecting to continue my meeting with Ms. Smithson. It’s a matter of some urgency. Do you know where she went?”

“Oh, you two must have had a misunderstanding. She went down to the conference room for her deposition already. I’m sure you can meet after that. Do you want me to pencil you in on her schedule?”

The “deposition” was almost certainly going to result in Sophie being taken into custody until Connor was captured, but he forced himself to smile. “Yes, please. Have her call me when she’s available. Thanks so much.”

He turned and took the stairs, walking deliberately, considering his next moves.

He could ditch the surveillance device and make a run for it. Try to stay off the grid and out of sight until all of this blew over. But he didn’t have the resources and connections here in Honolulu that he did in France, to pull off invisibility for more than a day or two.

That left him with having to continue to play his part, and hope that the team believed he was complying with their plan.

But he didn’t have to do that entirely.

If Sophie really had followed through with walking into whatever waited for her in the conference room, things were going to be unpleasant for her, and get worse from there. He had to try to head that off.

Raveaux exited the stairwell on the third floor and walked confidently into a maze of cubicles and offices until he reached an empty room with the door ajar. He slipped inside, shut the door, and locked it. He grabbed a jacket hanging on the back of a chair and wrapped it quickly around his wrist, covering the cufflink, and pressed it tight against his side. He then stood in the flow of the tall floor fan, and hit an outside line on the desk phone. He called the main number for Sophie’s office.

“Security Solutions. Paula speaking.”

“Paula? It’s Pierre Raveaux. I couldn’t speak freely because of being bugged. Call your on-site security team to come help Sophie in the conference room. The men interviewing her are not lawyers. They’re hostile agents, and she’s in trouble.”

“Right away, Mr. Raveaux.” The phone went dead.

He hung up the receiver.

He’d done what he could—and it might cost him everything.

He unwrapped his wrist, draped the jacket back over the chair, and slipped out, closing the door. None of the people working in their offices so much as looked at him.

He stepped back into the stairwell, and soon reached the bottom of the stairs. He straightened his sleeves, touching the cufflink. The tiny gold piece of tech felt as heavy as an anchor on his wrist. He longed to try to go dark and disappear.

Instead, he spoke aloud into the cufflink. “Returning to my apartment. Available for debrief when the team is ready.”

His fate lay in Sophie’s hands, now.

Chapter Forty-Five

Sophie

Sophie tooka moment to visit the women’s restroom to prepare, before heading into the conference room for whoever waited for her there.

After a nervous pee, she hid the burner phone by taping it to the back of one of the toilet wells. She then went to the sink area, washed her hands, and touched up her makeup from a little zippered bag inside her business tote.

She brushed down her black, easy movement dress slacks and plum-red silk blouse, making sure they were immaculate. She then chose a lipstick that matched the blouse and dabbed it on her full lips. A whisk of mascara, a whiff of perfume, and her favorite Tahitian pearl earrings completed her ensemble.

Thankfully, Sophie had been able to reach Connor on the burner Raveaux had given her; he’d promised to leave Phi Ni for the Yam compound immediately. Hopefully, he got out before they raided the island—she’d done all she could to ensure that.

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