Sophie winced as the connecting door between the hotel rooms slammed and Jake left. “I have to go, Mother. My partner is becoming suspicious.”

“I can’t wait much longer to have an answer from you, Sophie.” Pim Wat’s familiar voice still paralyzed Sophie, grabbing her by the throat with a conditioned desire to please and appease.

“I don’t understand that, when you waited nine years to contact me.” Sophie cleared her throat and strengthened her tone. “And so far, you haven’t said anything compelling that makes me want to get involved. I have not had time to research your organization’s background due to my current case. But I have a life, Mother, and neither you nor your government have been a part of it.” So far, the strange conversation that had begun with her mother’s phone call had been a rehash of the strange appeal the woman had made to her in the park. “I fail to see how I benefit from such an arrangement.”

“You will be well paid, of course. And you will have a future that is reconciled with your past. You can be a part of our family again. You can come to Thailand and reconnect with your aunts, uncles and cousins.”

“None of that is of interest to me, Mother.” Sophie wondered why she kept repeating the word “mother.” It was as if she needed to remind herself that the husky voice on the other end of the phone was even related to her. “I can visit my family in Thailand anytime I want to. I simply have no interest. I am my father’s daughter.” Sophie hadn’t realized the truth of that statement so clearly until she spoke it. “Dad has been there for me. He didn’t abandon me.”

“Oh, really? Who hired your nannies? Who sent you to boarding school? All of those things were your father’s decision. I wanted you kept at home, with me. And the family.”

Sophie vividly remembered the large wooden family compound built on raised pilings near the river. She remembered shared meals, and chasing and playing with her cousins as they ran through the different apartments, or the subunits the family occupied. And she remembered how often there was no one home in her family’s apartment, and how she’d been absorbed into her aunt’s.

A knife of old pain twisted in Sophie’s gut. Her father had always been married to his job, and of course, she had needed care, care that her mother hadn’t provided. Frank had wanted her to have an American influence and future; that meant that he had taken steps to ensure that she was acculturated to the Western world.

“He was making sure I was ready to come to the United States when I wanted to. And thank God he did those things, because I couldn’t have escaped Assan by fleeing to Thailand.”

“You didn’t really escape Assan, did you? If you had, you would be a normal woman, perhaps married with some children. But instead you are a stunted and scarred person who cannot settle anything. A mercenary for hire with no honor.”

Sophie gasped at the cruel words. “And you are the one who gave me to Assan. I have heard quite enough of your version of persuasion, Mother.”

Sophie ended the call, hunching over and curling in on herself. She heard a low keening sound, and was surprised to realize she was the one making it.

That phone call had been as poisonous as a black mamba that had sunk its fangs into her throat.

She got herself under control and glanced at the connecting door. It was oddly silent in the other room. Jake must have gone out.

“And I hardly blame him,” Sophie said aloud, remembering the riveting sight of his naked body as he changed in front of her while talking to some other woman. Hurt and rejection had radiated off of him in waves as he made a fuss of changing and leaving.

She was never in doubt about how Jake was feeling at any given time.

Sophie slid the phone into her pocket. She wished she hadn’t taken the call. She wouldn’t take a call from her mother again. She got up and opened the connecting door.

Jake and the dogs were gone. The trash from dinner was neatly tidied away, but he’d left a couple of containers of food out for her.

Jake could sleep with the dogs tonight, instead of with her. A twinge of regret lanced her. It would have been so nice to end the day in his arms, as she had planned. But that was not to be, because explaining any of this to Jake was impossible, and he was already clearly upset because she’d taken a phone call that she didn’t want to explain.

She carried many secrets. That would continue. He had to be okay with it, and clearly, he wasn’t.

Sophie drew the drapes, turned the bolt on the door, and locked the connecting door. She switched off the light, stripped off her clothing, and got into bed.

Darkness was a familiar friend that folded her close in its arms, and dragged her down into oblivion.

Sophie and Jake walked side-by-side into the hotel lobby at the downtown Hilo Bay Hilton.

Jake had unlocked the door between their rooms in order to wake Sophie in the morning, and had roused her with difficulty. He’d been kind, but withdrawn, and she was barely functioning.

Sophie felt fragile, as if anything might push her back into the black depression. Her skin felt thin and sensitive, as if to touch it would burst it, and all that would come out would be a river of tears. She fisted her hands, suppressing the voice of the depression murmuring how hopeless and cursed she was.

“I wonder why the Weathersbys wanted to see us before the meeting at the station.” She spoke for something to say as the elevator rose to the top floor of the hotel. “I am not particularly eager to speak to them about finding Julie’s body.”

“Part of the job. I’d think you’d have a tougher hide about that by now.” Jake hadn’t looked at her all morning and he’d barely spoken. She missed the sight of his eyes.

“You forget I worked in the computer lab—I was never a field agent. Our cases have been the most activity outside an office that I’ve ever had,” Sophie said.

Jake gave a brusque nod.

Sophie opened her mouth to ask him why he was so upset, but the elevator dinged. Jake touched her back so that Sophie could precede him out of the elevator, and she felt the tiny, polite brush of his fingertips echo through her body. Moments later, they stood in front of the Weathersbys’ room, and Sophie rang the bell.

A young woman wrapped in a white robe opened the door.

Sophie recognized her instantly: five foot six inches, one hundred and thirty pounds, long brunette hair, blue eyes, freckles on her nose.

Julie Weathersby.