Sophie dug deep in her online research into her mother’s secret organization, confident in the multiple VPNs she had set up that protected her identity and location. The police department’s firewalls were a final layer of obfuscation; though she’d hardly found those effective against her own penetrations, having the location end up at Hilo PD would keep anyone from finding her individually.

There wasn’t much available about the Yām Khûmkạn online, and Sophie had expected that. If this was a secret organization, then having a website that advertised their services would hardly be smart.

She applied search keywords to DAVID’s parameters and got up to do a quick series of sun salutations on densely carpeted floor, limbering up muscles left stiff from sitting too long. She did jumping jacks and push-ups and was completing a series of stomach crunches when her computer emitted a tone, signaling that it had found all available matches.

Freshly energized, Sophie sat back down, put on her headphones, and delved in.

The Yām Khûmkạn was referred to in various articles and books as a “secret military police” a “black ops spy organization” and “the strong-arm gangster organization protecting the elite of Thailand.”

Recruitment was unknown. Training was unknown. Length of service, rate of pay, even a clear description of how the organization was set up was unknown—but its existence was confirmed.

Sophie dug deeper, going into the untraceable posts of the dark net. This search yielded more. She was even able to find a site that cataloged coups and assassinations credited to the clandestine group.

So her mother wasn’t a raving lunatic—but then, Sophie had never believed that she was.

But she had hoped that, in reaching out, Pim Wat had been making an effort to truly connect with her daughter. She’d been wrong. No such love existed.

Sophie had to tell her father.

But how? What untold number of security breaches had occurred because the ambassador had been an unwitting pawn in her mother’s schemes?

Perhaps what Sophie needed to do was get more information from and about Pim Wat and the Yām Khûmkạn. Pretend to go along with recruitment and penetrate the organization. See how far the security breach with her father went, what the group’s agenda was, and break the news to the ambassador when she had something real to share.

Ellie Smith, the intelligent and capable Secret Service agent she had worked with another time when her own security breach had threatened her father, might be a good place to start to come up with a plan.

But even telling an agent Sophie trusted that she’d been approached could have huge ramifications. If Sophie broke silence now on the subject, there was no telling what the Secret Service would do. They might lock her up, believing that she was involved with the organization. Her life would be scrutinized. Picked apart. She would be detained, questioned. She’d lose the momentum she’d fought for so hard in charting her own destiny.

She had to plan her next steps very carefully.

The Ghost might be someone who could help her navigate this minefield.

No. The thought of more involvement with Connor tied her stomach in knots; she couldn’t be indebted to him. She was already sick about losing intimacy with Jake, and missing Alika’s solid friendship and support as more secrets grew between them like mushrooms after a rain. She couldn’t tell any of this to her law enforcement friends, Marcella and Lei.

She had no one to talk to about this situation but Dr. Wilson.

She’d forgotten her appointment! Sophie glanced at the clock. She should have met the psychologist over an hour ago.

Sophie texted an apology to the psychologist with a request for a reschedule. Clearly, she needed a break to clear her thoughts. “I need exercise,” she muttered.

Sophie closed up her computer and detached her headphones.

She could walk the dogs at the park, stretch her legs and get a cup of tea. She texted Jake. “I’m taking the dogs for a run at Hilo Bay. Let me know when and where to pick you up when you are done working with the detectives.”

She waited a moment for a reply, but there was none. Likely he didn’t have phone reception inside the correctional facility, but he would get her message after he was out of the building.

She would have felt better getting a response from Jake. Hopefully nothing was wrong.

The dogs bounced and pranced on their leashes as Sophie set out from the Banyan Tree Motel. It felt great to get into the rhythm of running, her heartbeat a thunder in her ears echoed by the smack of her shoes on the sidewalk encircling the park. The dogs pulled at their leashes, one in each hand, playful and excited. The waning light of afternoon slanted the shadows of the coconut palms across the velvety green grass.

Sophie did a lap of the entire park, beginning to limber up as the dogs settled down, their restless energy from being cooped up in the motel dissipating. She passed the bench where her mother had surprised her.

What was she going to do about that?

If Sophie did go in deeper, contact her mother, let her think she was intrigued by the idea of being a part of the Yām Khûmkạn, she had to talk to the Secret Service first and get the idea approved. They’d never believe she wasn’t a part of it if she went to them later.

But what if they turned her over to the CIA, or even, Jupiter forbid it, the FBI? What if Sophie had to deal with an investigation, and her friends came to know about it?

Her reverie was shattered abruptly as a van roared up onto the sidewalk in front of her, stopping with a screech of brakes. The side door flew open to reveal a dark-skinned man dressed in fatigues with a ski mask on, pointing a silenced pistol at her.