The next morning Sophie walked, holding Ginger’s leash, into the pocket park near Hilo Bay that Connor had chosen for the meet with Pim Wat. She wore a Mary Watson dress and the swish of the skirt felt good against her legs. She sat on a bench and took out her tablet, holding it on her lap. Ginger relaxed beside her. Sophie enjoyed the chirp of cardinals, the coo of doves, and the chatter of a few mynah birds hopping on the grass. The dog’s soft golden head rested against Sophie’s leg as she scrolled, reviewing news items on social media, her eyes scanning the grounds from under the brim of a sun hat that wasn’t yet needed in the day’s early light.

Palm trees stood still as graceful guardians, surrounding an immaculate open grassy area. A small, chuckling fountain in the shape of a dolphin splashed into a pond filled with slow-moving koi. Tropical plantings enhanced the intimate little park—but the place’s best feature was the motel directly across the street, where Connor surveilled her from a second story window.

An elderly woman leaning on a cane approached, wearing baggy, worn clothing, her hands hidden in net gloves. A ball cap shielded her face. Familiar with this incarnation of her mother’s, Sophie ignored Pim Wat until her mother sat down. Ginger got up and approached, whining and thrusting her nose into Pim Wat’s lap for a pet.

“Still keeping this mangy animal, I see,” she hissed, thrusting Ginger’s head away. “She makes you a target.”

“A target for Akane Chang?” Sophie tugged Ginger away. “Surprised you care, Mother.”

Pim Wat scowled, a crease of her forehead, a pucker of her full mouth. Her face appeared as young as Sophie’s in the deep shade of the hat. “You have no idea what I’ve done, and will do, to keep you safe.”

“How touching. Pardon my skepticism while I recall how you sold me in marriage to a sadistic psychopath to be tortured and used as a bargaining chip for your precious agency.”

“We’ve been over this. Old news. Move on, Sophie Malee.” Pim Wat’s dark eyes gleamed in the hat’s shade. Her hands gripped the head of the cane so hard the bone of her knuckles showed through the mesh of her gloves. “When can you come to Thailand and execute the computer contract we need you for?”

“I told you I’m not going anywhere near the Yām Khûmkạn compound. Security Solutions has set up a computer lab for me with all the firewalls, protocols, and data storage I need to complete your project.” Sophie made sure her body was turned to face the window across the street, where Connor was observing and recording their meeting with a surveillance device. “Give me the name of someone in the organization who is handling your online presence. Someone that I can communicate with about what I’m setting up. Someone who knows your computers and what is needed to optimize and archive your data securely.”

Pim Wat’s pretty mouth tightened. “I could just…take you.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Really, Mother? You’d kidnap me to do your dirty job in a third world country, surrounded by assassins? Because I’ve seen the Yām Khûmkạn stronghold, and short of taking me by force, I won’t be going anywhere near it.”

“How did you find that location?” Pim Wat’s voice was sharp.

Sophie shrugged. “The world is a small place these days.”

They exchanged a hostile stare.

Pim Wat sighed and looked away. “I had no idea that you’d grow up to be so difficult.” She reached into some hidden pocket and removed a stick drive. “All the information you need to get started is here. Your first payment will be wired into the bank account of your choosing.” She set the drive on the bench beside her and got up, walking away with an entirely authentic-looking hunched posture and nary a backward glance.

Sophie swiped the drive into her own pocket and got up, tweaking Ginger’s leash. “Come, girl. We have work to do.”

Striding across the park, conscious of Connor’s electronic eyes on her, Sophie made an effort not to hunch her shoulders or betray the unease that her mother’s threat had loosed.

She would have to get right to work on the project, whatever it was, and prove that she didn’t need to be kidnapped and carried halfway around the world to do good work.

Sophie had not found the courage the night before to take the pregnancy test. Pleading tiredness, she’d said good night to Jake and slept in her own room, away from him, for the first time since they’d been together.

And though she’d wanted to be alone, she hadn’t slept well; she tossed and turned, unable to stop thinking of how close she’d come to suicide, alone on that lava field. Worrying and wondering if she might be pregnant.

She’d had that emergency ketamine treatment for her depression—and if she was expecting, could it have caused developmental problems?

Then, the explosion at her father’s building. The stress, the medications she’d needed for her injured ribs—all of those things could impact a developing fetus.

She had to find the courage to find out. She was torturing herself about something that might not even be a problem.

Ginger tugged at the leash, bringing Sophie back to earth as she headed to the Security Solutions SUV. She had to wrestle the dog into the vehicle’s back hatch area. Once seated inside, she called Connor. “Well, did you get the meeting recorded all right?”

“Yes. Seemed to go well. She accepted your alternate work site.” She could hear the rattle of a keyboard in the background—Connor was always multitasking. “Let me know what’s on that stick drive once you open it up.”

“I will.” Sophie gathered her thoughts. “You don’t have to hang around here in Hilo, Connor. I’m sure you have important things to do.”

“This is important. I’ll be here on the Big Island until Akane Chang is captured, and we have a good read on Pim Wat and her organization. I’m not going anywhere.” Irritation colored his tone.

“But what about Anubis? You have a home—your island. Your mission. You can’t keep living on that plane indefinitely…”

“Almost sounds like you care, Sophie,” Connor said harshly, and ended the call.

Sophie winced, hearing an echo of her own words to her mother in his parting sentence.