Sophie was glad they’d taken the dogs back to the motel after their interview at the hotel with the Weathersbys. The dogs had been exercised and fed, and would be fine until they got back. She felt like she had reentered her body as they quietly left the interview observation booth, exited the building, and got into the Jeep.

She didn’t know exactly what the connection was between the disparate-seeming elements of the investigation, but she felt that Chernobiac was a key as soon as Jake said it.

Jake turned on the Jeep and the energy of the hunt banished the dregs of her latest skirmish with depression. Gratitude filled her that he had reached out to her, had taken her hand. Now, as he gripped the wheel and pulled out onto the road, she reached over and squeezed the muscle of his arm. “I am glad you are no longer angry with me.”

“I don’t like it when you shut me out, Sophie.” Jake’s eyes were the color of iron as he gave her a quick glance. “But I’m determined to respect your signals from now on. When you pull away from me, I am going to let you do it.”

That should have relieved her. Instead, Sophie felt a wave of anxiety. She turned and stared out the window. “Space” was what she wanted, wasn’t it? For Jake to respect her, not crowd her and demand more than she was willing to give?

Jake guided the Jeep onto the main thoroughfare toward Volcanoes Park. As they moved out of Hilo’s congested traffic, he gripped and then released the steering wheel, clearing his throat. “I find I’m not really okay with ‘partners with benefits’ after all. I thought you were taking Alika’s call and talking to him last night. The whole thing made me kind of crazy. I needed to get my head straight, so I took the dogs for a run and thought about the situation.” He navigated a traffic snarl, gunning through a yellow light. “I don’t like secrets, and walls, and other people being between us. And the more we are together and the closer we become, the less I like it. So, I guess we better end the physical part of our relationship before my jealousy gets to be even more of a turn off.”

“I wasn’t talking to Alika last night.” Sophie concentrated on the one thing she could respond to clearly. Irrational anxiety thickened her voice and constricted her throat.

“I realized that when I came in to change and heard you were speaking in another language. Far as I know, that guy is just another American. But I realized that it wasn’t just the possibility that it was him. It was all the secrets and lies and other people that are in your life.”

“I haven’t lied to you. I just haven’t told you everything, and I cannot. And I do not foresee a time when I will be able to. There are forces at work, things in play that do not concern you.” Sophie’s lips felt stiff and she hated her stilted words.

“Everything about you concerns me, Sophie. The fact that you don’t understand that, and that it’s not the same for you . . . well, that’s what I’m talking about.” Jake’s voice was flat and harsh.

“Please don’t . . .” She couldn’t find words. Fear was choking her. “You matter to me, Jake. I very much enjoyed the things we did together. Physically. I don’t want that to end.” She twisted her fingers together in her lap. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Jake reached over and picked up her knotted hands. He kissed the back of her knuckles, and the heat of his tongue gave her a zing. “You won’t lose me. But we’re not having sex anymore until you’re willing to say I’m your guy. Stand up in front of others and say it. Choose me over Alika, and any other contenders that might be out there that I don’t know about—dudes who speak lots of languages and drive fancy cars. They’re out there. I can smell them.”

He didn’t know about the Ghost, could he? There was no way he knew that her former lover was still very much alive and in the background.

Sophie fumbled for words. “I have tried to be as honest with you as I can. I am not ready to be in a relationship, to declare myself as you have asked. The last time I did that, my lover was murdered.” That would be all that Jake knew. The truth was even worse. “I respect that you need more from me. I’m sorry that I can’t give it right now. I wish you were okay with ‘partners with benefits.’” She turned her hands to grasp his, and lifted his fingers to her lips for a soft kiss, sucking lightly on his knuckles, feeling him shudder. “Let me know if you change your mind. I may close my drapes and lock my door when the darkness falls over me, but I found your method of therapy most effective. I would welcome such an intervention again, whenever you might choose to implement it.”

Jake groaned. “Damn you, woman. You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?”

“I cannot. The situation is what it is. Secrets will continue, and I am ambivalent about involvement. But I have been as honest as I can be, and I will continue to be. I respect you too much for anything else.”

“If I could bang my head on something right now, I would,” Jake muttered, and swore.

Sophie was too sad to savor any triumph in their little battle of trying to see who could affect the other more—right now, it seemed too much like they were both the losers. So she used the remaining time as they drove to check her Glock’s magazine and strap on her shoulder holster.

They reached the turn off for Ocean View Terrace, and turned up the windy, two-lane highway to Chernobiac’s abode. This time, they drove straight up to the driveway and parked in front of the house in the waning evening light.

The sensor light bloomed on, illuminating a scene much like the previous one when they had gone to search the house, but this time, Chernobiac’s big pickup truck was parked in the driveway, blocking in his fancy street rod.

“I haven’t really thought of how we’re going to approach this guy,” Jake said, checking his weapon.

“We should just play it by ear, as Americans say,” Sophie replied.

“Now you’re singing my song.” Jake was really handsome when he smiled.