Sophie stood on the deck of her little condo, looking out at the idyllic setting of Kalapaki Beach on the south side of Kaua`i. The sun was up at last, gilding nearby palm trees with golden light. The wind, usually such a part of life on that side of the island, hadn’t come up yet, and little peeling waves were being ridden directly in front of the resort by longboard surfers, standup paddlers, and bodyboarders.

Sophie stroked her phone with the ball of her thumb, gazing at the vista. Was it too early to try to call Jake?

“This is Felicia.” Sophie had been shocked when their receptionist had answered Jake’s phone when she’d tried to call him on his cell from Connor’s office the day before.

Sophie’s voice was sharp. “What are you doing with Jake’s phone?”

“I took his phone to monitor it, while he’s sleeping from the pain meds. I thought it would be helpful if I could answer questions from family members or the cops, if they called.” Felicia sounded clear and confident.

Of course. That made sense.

Sophie felt bad about the possessive, suspicious feeling growing in her chest. Felicia was just doing her job, looking out for them both. “I’m so glad you’re there to take care of him. How’s he doing?”

“He has a four-inch-long, two-inch-deep gouge in the back of his calf, and he’s lucky to be alive. I guess he dropped something on the sidewalk and bent to retrieve it, or the sniper would have nailed him.”

“Evil spawn of the devil!” Sophie swore. She pressed her hand over her thumping heart, imagining getting the news that Jake was so unexpectedly dead.

“What’s that?”

“Sorry. I curse in my native language. That sounds like a serious wound.”

“I imagine it hurts like crazy. He had stitches and he’s on antibiotics and has some good drugs for pain, so it’s just a matter of time until he’s back on his feet.”

“I’m here on Kaua`i on personal business, as I texted you. Mr. Hamilton flew over and we’ve been discussing the situation. I’m glad the injury wasn’t too serious.” What an understatement. “Can you tell me more details about what happened?”

“Sure. From what I gathered, Jake left our building, and somebody shot at him from an apartment across the street. He took cover behind a car. The shooter tried again and blew the window out on the car. Jake, being Jake, decided to go after the guy. Never mind that he was bleeding like a stuck pig.” Felicia’s voice wobbled. “Jake figured out where the shot came from, went across the street and found the room. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the shooter was gone by the time he got there. He directed the police to the location, and they ran prints on a bottle that was left behind. They identified Akane Chang as the shooter.”

Sophie swallowed and sat down abruptly in Connor’s office chair. “That man won’t have the decency to die, or at least stay in jail. Foul slime!”

“Your foreign swearing sounds so cool, better than me just yelling, ‘that evil asshole!’” Felicia said. “I gather Chang’s quite the public enemy number one.”

“And he has sworn revenge on Jake and me for testifying against him. Did the police send any support to guard Jake?”

“I’ve been trying to get a police officer stationed outside Jake’s room, but they’re acting like I’m a hysterical girlfriend or something. It’s super frustrating,” Felicia said angrily.

“And it doesn’t help when his actual girlfriend is on another island,” Sophie said. “Our CEO, Mr. Hamilton, is insisting that I stay here on Kaua`i until the Chang threat is neutralized. I’ll call Jake in the morning, but can you make sure he knows that I’m very concerned, and on my way back as soon as possible?”

“I sure will. Don’t worry. I’m taking good care of him, and your dogs, too.” Felicia had said goodbye and hung up.

Yes, every word of that conversation with Felicia yesterday felt chiseled into Sophie’s brain. She wished she didn’t feel jealous, territorial, and possessive just thinking of Felicia helping Jake into bed, fixing food for him, and taking their dogs for a walk. It was stupid and wrong and beneath her.

She understood Jake’s difficulty with her relationship with Alika now.

This was good. Educational. Painful as hell.

Sophie turned away from the ocean view at the sound of the knocker at her door. Probably Connor, with some new update or plan.

Room service had arrived, a breakfast for two. Sophie accepted the cart and peeked under metal lids covering a delicious-looking breakfast of eggs, waffles, bacon, and fruit. She checked in with her stomach. This morning it rumbled with hunger, not morning sickness. This might be one of the mornings she was going to be able to eat.

The knocker sounded again, and Sophie let Connor in. “Thanks for thinking of breakfast. I’m actually hungry today.”

“Excellent.”

They sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean. Sophie liked that he wasn’t wearing his dark contacts or glasses—he knew she hated his Sheldon Hamilton disguise, and he’d come over only wearing sunglasses that he could put on if anyone saw them.

“I feel guilty being here, having such a nice meal in this setting.” Sophie fiddled with her napkin as Connor served fruit onto her plate.

“Guilt is a waste of time and energy.” Connor poured pink guava juice into her glass. Sophie inhaled deeply before she sipped, enjoying the sweet, tangy smell of it, as he went on. “Guilt doesn’t help the person you feel guilty about, either. It just steals any joy you might have had in the moment. A useless emotion.”

“I shouldn’t be talking to you about my relationships, but I…don’t know what to do.”

“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t. But tell me anyway.” Connor poured coffee into his mug from a carafe.

Sophie shut her eyes to enjoy the cool, unique flavor of the guava juice. “I was going to call Jake. But I’m worried that Felicia will answer. Worried what it will mean if she does.”

Connor laughed. “You’re afraid of your receptionist?”

“Don’t underestimate that young woman. Felicia’s a psychology graduate student. She’s just doing office temp work while she completes a doctorate in clinical psychology.” Sophie took a bite of her eggs, relieved not to feel nausea when she did so. “Felicia’s smart and hard-working, and really admires Jake. She is very careful with me, but I get the feeling she wouldn’t be sad if we broke up. She’s very appropriate in her communications, but I don’t want to have to talk to her about Jake again.”

“You’re not even going to try to call him?” Connor reached over and grabbed her phone. “Coward. Let me do it then.”

The phone was already unlocked. Connor scrolled to Jake’s number in Sophie’s favorites, and pressed it. Sophie frowned, but allowed him to. She was a coward.

Connor lifted a brow at her as he removed the cover from his plate and picked up his fork, the phone set on speaker between them. He took several bites of eggs while it rang.

Jake’s voice came on. “Sophie?” He sounded rough, his voice scratchy.

“Hey, Jake. This is Hamilton. I’m here with Sophie on Kaua`i. We thought we’d get in touch and see how you’re doing.” Connor’s tone was upbeat and businesslike.

“What are you doing on Kaua`i?” Sophie could hear Jake’s confusion, and she reached for the phone and took it off speaker.

“Jake. Are you all right? I was so worried. By the way, I just took you off speaker.”

“I’m fine. Just a flesh wound. What are you doing with Hamilton over there?” She could hear the rasp of his whiskers as he rubbed his face, the sound of his yawn.

“Hamilton thinks that, since the shooter was Akane Chang, I should stay here. Where it’s safe, supposedly.”

“He’s right. Hopefully, the cops get Akane soon.” A pause. “What did Alika say about the paternity test?”

“Alika agreed to it.” A silence stretched out. Sophie rubbed the scar on her cheekbone. He clearly wanted to know more about Alika’s response to the news, but right in front of Connor wasn’t the place or time—although Connor appeared oblivious, shoveling in his breakfast, Sophie knew better. She rushed on. “Felicia said she took care of you yesterday. And the dogs.”

“She sure did. The dogs are fine, keeping me company. She said she’d be back at lunchtime to walk them. Don’t worry about me, Sophie. It’s just a gash, as I’m sure Felicia told you. I’ll be back on my feet in a few days, on crutches.”

“Give me back the phone,” Connor said. “I have some news for him.”

Sophie handed the phone over.

“Jake, it’s Hamilton again and I’m putting you back on speaker. I’ve arranged for a couple of our security guys from Oahu to come look after you. I’ve also put in a call to the FBI about this attack by an escaped felon on one of my operatives. I’m putting pressure on the FBI about my team’s safety, and letting them know that Hilo PD has a positive ID on Akane as the shooter, in case the officers didn’t report it right away. I hope you don’t mind if I keep your girlfriend here for a while, out of the line of fire.”

“Thanks. Yes. Keep her there; I’ll sleep better knowing she’s safe.” The gratitude in Jake’s voice brought tears to Sophie’s eyes; she blinked hard.

“I’ll set Sophie up to work on the Merrie Monarch and other cases over here. Once the cops get a line on Akane, I’ll return her to you.” Connor looked down and away; Sophie couldn’t read his expression.

“Thanks. Especially for the security guys, since Hilo PD doesn’t seem to have the staffing to give me any coverage, and I’m a sitting duck for Akane laid up like this. We rented the apartments under our aliases, but that’s not much protection if he’s got us under surveillance. Felicia is doing a great job keeping everything going, but I don’t know how good she’d be guarding my door with a gun. Thanks for making sure Sophie is safe. If I know her, she’s not making it easy.”

Connor met Sophie’s gaze with a blue-green one. “You have no idea.”

Sophie leaned closer to the microphone on the phone. “I will see you soon, Jake. Feel better. I miss you.” She ended the call.