By the time Sophie went out on the balcony and looked over the edge, Armita was gone. “She’s a ninja,” Sophie whispered. “Was that whole encounter even real?”

Sophie went back inside. The dogs milled around, sensing her agitation, and she wanted to go for a run—but nausea tickled the back of her throat at the mere thought.

Where was Jake? Why hadn’t he come and let himself in and gotten into bed with her to snuggle, if nothing else? If she had needed confirmation that something was very wrong, she now had it.

Sophie went to the sink, filled a glass with water, and stared out at the night as she sipped, mulling the situation over.

Maybe she should just go to him. Let herself into his apartment and get in bed with him. They didn’t have to talk. Their bodies had spoken best, anyway.

But did she want to be with him, when he might not want to be with her? His love for her wasn’t very strong if he couldn’t forgive her for being with Alika just one time, when she and Jake hadn’t even been a couple…if this was a “deal breaker” for him, was he the right partner for her?

But if they were having a baby together, they would have to work things out.

And if they weren’t, it was better to know now, and end the romantic aspect of their partnership. “Like ripping off a Band-Aid,” Marcella’s voice said in her mind.

“Ugh,” Sophie said aloud. “Oh, it hurts.” She wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

Sophie understood how Jake felt about Alika so much better now, understood his wound from the past and how it made it hard for him to imagine being a father to another man’s child. Maybe he wasn’t up to that challenge, but she owed it to him to reach out, for all the times he had reached out to her.

Resolved, Sophie pushed the dogs aside, locked them in her apartment, and exited onto the exterior corridor. Would she encounter Jake’s security detail outside his door?

No one was there, to her surprise. Maybe they were watching from another observation point? Sophie glanced around but saw nothing untoward.

She’d been able to get into his apartment to retrieve the dogs, so she was surprised that, when she unlocked the door, a chain and bar were on inside.

Sophie slid her phone out of her pocket and called Jake’s cell. It went to voicemail.

She would have to wake him up. How embarrassing. How vulnerable. And yet…

Sophie knocked, leaning into the crack in the door, calling gently inside. “Jake! Let me in. It’s Sophie.”

She heard quick, light footsteps and recoiled as Felicia’s face, framed by tousled blonde hair, appeared in the narrow opening of the door. Sophie grasped the doorframe, feeling faint.

“Sophie! Jake looked in on you and said you were sleeping.” Felicia whispered. She shut the door. Sophie listened to the chain and bar being disengaged. She opened the door again. “We didn’t want to wake you.”

“Are you and Jake…together?” Sophie whispered.

“Yes. No! I mean, we got done at work late. I brought some pizza over for you both, but you were in bed already, and so we watched a movie and…” The girl stammered, her cheeks pink. “I fell asleep. Jake’s in bed, and he took some meds. His leg…”

“I understand,” Sophie said woodenly. She stepped back from the door. “It’s fine. He knows where to find me if he would like to talk.”

Sophie turned and fled.

She reentered her apartment, her heart pounding, her mouth dry.

Felicia and Jake!

Her mind couldn’t seem to stop playing awful pictures of the two in bed together. Whether or not Felicia was telling the truth, the fact that Jake had chosen Felicia’s company over her own was a statement.

On top of the bizarre and disturbing visit from Armita, trying to go back to sleep after this upset seemed impossible. She needed to work. Needed to dive into a bigger screen than her laptop. Computers had been her salvation; submerging in the ‘wired world’ was where she could disappear, her rioting emotions calmed by the occupation of her mind. Her computer friends would never let her down or betray her.

Sophie grabbed a light parka against the cool night air, her backpack, and her weapon. The dogs she resettled on her bed with a treat.

She’d get caught up at the office. Then, by the time Jake and Felicia rolled in to work, she’d be prepared. All business. Able to act like she didn’t care that Felicia was sleeping over, whether it was platonic or a sex marathon.

Sophie got into her Security Solutions SUV and headed for the office. The dark was her friend, as it had always been.