by Toby Neal
“Well, it’s not a billboard,” Penny temporized. “Billboards are against the law in Hawaii. But it is the maximum signage size allowed.”
“I loved the image of the hula dancers,” Jake enthused. “We thought we’d like to get a package similar to what you provided for the Festival. You must really blanket the state and beyond to draw the kind of crowds into Hilo that the Festival brings!”
“The Festival is a unique event.” Penny was still smiling, but it had gone stiff at the edges of her mouth. “Merrie Monarch has a life of its own, a following that is dedicated to supporting it. Not much is needed to keep it visible in the public’s eye and imagination.”
“You don’t have a big budget with them?” Sophie raised her brows inquiringly. “I know I saw that sign by the airport. What else do you provide for them?”
“Well.” Penny put her glasses on and looked down at her notes. “As I was saying, these two things are apples and oranges. One is a big, annual, well-established event and has a lot of momentum and huge local support. Your event? Forgive me for being blunt, but no one cares about it. It’s going to need a lot of money and effort to get you even a margin of the same kind of visibility. I’m thinking TV and radio spots. Ads in the newspaper and local publications. An online presence on all the popular Hilo and Hawaii travel sites. You’re talking fifty to a hundred grand, depending on what options you choose.”
“Hmm.” Jake glanced at Sophie. “We’ve got some venture capital funds, but I think we should get a budget from you, a rough outline of what you could do for what kind of spend, before we make a final decision. Right, honey?”
Sophie liked the sound of the endearment—it definitely gave her a warm feeling to play the part and call Jake her boyfriend in public. “That seems like a reasonable plan. But first, tell us about your staffing. Do you have many people working for you, to put all this in motion?” She gestured to the closed door. “I didn’t see anyone but your receptionist.”
“We have several other employees, but most of them operate remotely. A lot of the work can be done via computer and phone,” Penny said. “What are your deadlines? Branding? I need a lot of information on your company to come up with a proper package.”
“Our date is flexible.” Jake was already getting to his feet. He took Sophie’s hand and drew her up to stand beside him. “We’re just shopping right now. Please put together your best offers for different spend levels, send it to this email address, and we’ll get back to you.” He handed her a business card with a name and logo they’d created. Follow Me Faraway Travel Agency was printed on the card, along with a burner phone number and email they’d use for this investigation.
“By the way. Are you related, by any chance, to Terence Chang?” Sophie tilted her head demurely. “I met Terence in college, and he told me he was from Hilo. I thought we could look him up since we are new to the area.”
Penny’s smile was a mere twitch of the lips this time. “Terence is my cousin. But then, so is half the island.”
Sophie chuckled politely. “Does he still live around here?”
“He does.” Penny’s dark brown eyes glinted coldly. “You want his number? Look in the phone book.”
“There will be many, many Changs in the information database.” Sophie frowned. “That is not helpful.”
Jake cut in. “Ah, ha! Not your favorite person. We get that. Friends you choose, and family you’re stuck with. I know the feeling. Thanks for your time, and we’ll look for your estimate on email, or give us a jingle on the phone.”
“You’ll hear from me,” Penny said. Sophie felt a shiver zip up her spine at the woman’s glare. Jake tugged Sophie’s hand, and she followed him out of the building and down to their SUV.
Evening cast long shadows over the narrow, two-lane, winding road as they headed back toward the Banyan Tree Motel with Jake in the driver’s seat. “What was that about?” Jake asked. “You spooked her. What does Terence have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know.” Sophie rubbed the scar on her cheekbone, her gaze on the tall, swaying grasses and spreading albizia trees edging the highway as Jake drove. “I just think Terence might be useful to us here. I know he has been trying to go legit. I’ve been thinking of reaching out to him.”
“But why would he help us with anything? You testified against his cousin!”
Sophie shook her head. “Perhaps it was a foolish mistake. But now we know that Penny Chang is not a friend of Terence. Maybe that could be useful.”
“And maybe she’s going to call him and tell him a couple of suspicious haoles were asking about him,” Jake grumbled. “I doubt she even does the estimate for us.”
“We’ll have to feed her more info about our travel company. Maybe even put down a deposit. But I could hear in her tone when talking about the Merrie Monarch what her rationale is for not spending all the funds. She thinks the Festival doesn’t need the advertising. She doesn’t think stealing that money is wrong.”
“I heard that loud and clear, too,” Jake said.
Sophie yawned. “I took that nap but I’m still tired. I wish we could finish the day now, but I need you to take me back to the office. I have to meet Hamilton for more work on our confidential project.”
Jake tightened his mouth but said nothing.
Sophie reclined her seat and curled up, tucking her hands under her chin. Was tiredness a sign of early pregnancy?
She really needed to just find the courage to take that test.
They drove toward Hilo in silence, and Sophie fell asleep again.
Chapter Fourteen
Connor stood in the doorway of the company jet, watching Sophie approach across the tarmac. He had flown back to Hilo from Oahu after meeting with Security Solutions department heads and reviewing quarterly statements. He’d already done a run around the rim of Kilauea Volcano, just to get the kinks worked out from all that sitting, and now, he savored the sight of Sophie walking toward him in one of her Mary Watson dresses.
Sophie’s legs had a beautiful line revealed by the dress. The sunset gleamed on her golden skin, the well-turned definition of her arms. She’d always reminded him of a human equivalent of his Doberman: sleek, graceful muscle, and elegant proportions.
Connor had spent weeks alone with Sophie on his private island as she recovered from her ordeal on the lava flow and awaited the Chang trial. His dog, Anubis, was good company at his private paradise, but far from enough—he’d missed Sophie acutely, and it had been hell trying to keep busy since he’d seen her last.
Trying to keep from watching her through various surveillance channels. Trying not to imagine her in bed with Jake.
There was a little more spring in Sophie’s step than he remembered seeing since the bomb went off on Oahu. He hated to even imagine how close she’d come to dying that day.
Connor was trying to protect Sophie any way he could—but discovering that Akane Chang had escaped was a major complication.
Akane was wily, staying off the grid and out of sight. Other than a few facial recognition pings from Oahu street cameras and at the Honolulu Airport, Connor had not been able to find any trace of him.
Now they needed to move forward with Sophie’s involvement with the Yām Khûmkạn, Thailand’s shadowy, cultlike spy agency.
Sophie ascended the jet’s steps and greeted him. “You could have come to meet with me at the office downtown, now that I’ve told Jake we’re working on a special project.”
“I prefer the increased privacy and security here on the plane.” Connor’s body tightened as Sophie slid by him into the interior of the plane’s main area. She seated herself at the built-in dinette table and unfolded a small tablet produced from her backpack.
Connor picked up his own tablet and joined her.
“What’s the plan?” Her eyes were down, her fingers flying as she launched an app.
“Our next step is to set up a meet with Pim Wat.” He blew out a breath. “I’ve been trying to locate Akan
e Chang, but I can’t get a solid lead on him.”
“That son of a goiter-riddled goat!” Sophie glared up at him, clearly enraged at Akane’s escape. “That maniac needs to die. Did you find out how he got loose?”
“Classic insider breakout. He’s being hidden by Chang connections somewhere in Honolulu, I think. However, I’ve heard there’s a shake-up happening in the Chang empire. Terence Chang is stepping up to lead the family, and he’s no friend of Akane. I’m sitting tight for now and watching what happens. Maybe Pim Wat might be interested in doing something about him.”
“What do you mean?” Sophie’s golden-brown eyes narrowed. “Are you suggesting that I manipulate my mother into killing someone for me?”
Connor tapped his chin with the finger. “A crude way of putting it, but yes. People like Pim Wat have their uses.”
“Spoken like the Ghost.” Sophie snorted. “I’ll fight my own battles, thank you very much. I will contact her after our discussion, though. Should I wear a camera or recording device? What do you think the CIA is going to want from us?”
“From my talks with them, they will want to monitor all interactions. I don’t know whether you will be searched by Pim Wat or her team, though. I wouldn’t want you to take the risk of going in with a wire or other recording device until she trusts you. And you want her trust, need it really. We will set up the meet in a public area where I can video and record your conversation. I have a location picked out. I will transmit the intel to the CIA if they require it.”
“I already know that Pim Wat wants me to go to Thailand to do the programming for the Yām Khûmkạn. It’s a setup; I won’t do it.”
“Agreed. That woman cannot be trusted, even though she is your mother. Tell her that you have a secure location from which you can access and work on her computer systems. You don’t need to go anywhere, and you shouldn’t.”
“And where would that secure location be, exactly?” Sophie cocked her head. “I don’t have anywhere secure enough to deploy programs like DAVID currently, let alone a place to tinker with Thailand’s government’s black ops software.”
“I’ve already sent workmen to the Security Solutions extension office to put in state-of-the-art rigs and load them with top-end encryption and multiple VPN routing capabilities. We’re making that third office into a computer room, and we’ll increase the security of the office location at the same time.”
Sophie smiled. “That is most thoughtful of you, Connor. I can always count on you to anticipate what I need.”
The compliment lit something inside of Connor, expanding his chest painfully. His heart rate sped up, but he concealed his reaction as he gave a brief nod. “Make the call to Pim Wat. I’ve got you covered with a location for the meet, and everything you need to stay safe. Set it for tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Fifteen
Day Three
The next morning Sophie walked, holding Ginger’s leash, into the pocket park near Hilo Bay that Connor had chosen for the meet with Pim Wat. She wore a Mary Watson dress and the swish of the skirt felt good against her legs. She sat on a bench and took out her tablet, holding it on her lap. Ginger relaxed beside her. Sophie enjoyed the chirp of cardinals, the coo of doves, and the chatter of a few mynah birds hopping on the grass. The dog’s soft golden head rested against Sophie’s leg as she scrolled, reviewing news items on social media, her eyes scanning the grounds from under the brim of a sun hat that wasn’t yet needed in the day’s early light.
Palm trees stood still as graceful guardians, surrounding an immaculate open grassy area. A small, chuckling fountain in the shape of a dolphin splashed into a pond filled with slow-moving koi. Tropical plantings enhanced the intimate little park—but the place’s best feature was the motel directly across the street, where Connor surveilled her from a second story window.
An elderly woman leaning on a cane approached, wearing baggy, worn clothing, her hands hidden in net gloves. A ball cap shielded her face. Familiar with this incarnation of her mother’s, Sophie ignored Pim Wat until her mother sat down. Ginger got up and approached, whining and thrusting her nose into Pim Wat’s lap for a pet.
“Still keeping this mangy animal, I see,” she hissed, thrusting Ginger’s head away. “She makes you a target.”
“A target for Akane Chang?” Sophie tugged Ginger away. “Surprised you care, Mother.”
Pim Wat scowled, a crease of her forehead, a pucker of her full mouth. Her face appeared as young as Sophie’s in the deep shade of the hat. “You have no idea what I’ve done, and will do, to keep you safe.”
“How touching. Pardon my skepticism while I recall how you sold me in marriage to a sadistic psychopath to be tortured and used as a bargaining chip for your precious agency.”
“We’ve been over this. Old news. Move on, Sophie Malee.” Pim Wat’s dark eyes gleamed in the hat’s shade. Her hands gripped the head of the cane so hard the bone of her knuckles showed through the mesh of her gloves. “When can you come to Thailand and execute the computer contract we need you for?”
“I told you I’m not going anywhere near the Yām Khûmkạn compound. Security Solutions has set up a computer lab for me with all the firewalls, protocols, and data storage I need to complete your project.” Sophie made sure her body was turned to face the window across the street, where Connor was observing and recording their meeting with a surveillance device. “Give me the name of someone in the organization who is handling your online presence. Someone that I can communicate with about what I’m setting up. Someone who knows your computers and what is needed to optimize and archive your data securely.”
Pim Wat’s pretty mouth tightened. “I could just…take you.”
Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Really, Mother? You’d kidnap me to do your dirty job in a third world country, surrounded by assassins? Because I’ve seen the Yām Khûmkạn stronghold, and short of taking me by force, I won’t be going anywhere near it.”
“How did you find that location?” Pim Wat’s voice was sharp.
Sophie shrugged. “The world is a small place these days.”
They exchanged a hostile stare.
Pim Wat sighed and looked away. “I had no idea that you’d grow up to be so difficult.” She reached into some hidden pocket and removed a stick drive. “All the information you need to get started is here. Your first payment will be wired into the bank account of your choosing.” She set the drive on the bench beside her and got up, walking away with an entirely authentic-looking hunched posture and nary a backward glance.
Sophie swiped the drive into her own pocket and got up, tweaking Ginger’s leash. “Come, girl. We have work to do.”
Striding across the park, conscious of Connor’s electronic eyes on her, Sophie made an effort not to hunch her shoulders or betray the unease that her mother’s threat had loosed.
She would have to get right to work on the project, whatever it was, and prove that she didn’t need to be kidnapped and carried halfway around the world to do good work.
Sophie had not found the courage the night before to take the pregnancy test. Pleading tiredness, she’d said good night to Jake and slept in her own room, away from him, for the first time since they’d been together.
And though she’d wanted to be alone, she hadn’t slept well; she tossed and turned, unable to stop thinking of how close she’d come to suicide, alone on that lava field. Worrying and wondering if she might be pregnant.
She’d had that emergency ketamine treatment for her depression—and if she was expecting, could it have caused developmental problems?
Then, the explosion at her father’s building. The stress, the medications she’d needed for her injured ribs—all of those things could impact a developing fetus.
She had to find the courage to find out. She was torturing herself about something that might not even be a problem.
Ginger tugged at the leash, bringing Sophie back to earth as she headed to the Security Solutions SUV. She had to wrestle
the dog into the vehicle’s back hatch area. Once seated inside, she called Connor. “Well, did you get the meeting recorded all right?”
“Yes. Seemed to go well. She accepted your alternate work site.” She could hear the rattle of a keyboard in the background—Connor was always multitasking. “Let me know what’s on that stick drive once you open it up.”
“I will.” Sophie gathered her thoughts. “You don’t have to hang around here in Hilo, Connor. I’m sure you have important things to do.”
“This is important. I’ll be here on the Big Island until Akane Chang is captured, and we have a good read on Pim Wat and her organization. I’m not going anywhere.” Irritation colored his tone.
“But what about Anubis? You have a home—your island. Your mission. You can’t keep living on that plane indefinitely…”
“Almost sounds like you care, Sophie,” Connor said harshly, and ended the call.
Sophie winced, hearing an echo of her own words to her mother in his parting sentence.
Chapter Sixteen
Terence mentally braced himself as he picked up the ultra-private phone he used only for his informant network. Good news seldom came through this line. “This is T.”
“T. I like that! Terence, I thought I should give you a call.” His cousin Penny’s receptionist had one of those breathy, little-girl voices he’d recognize anywhere. “Your cuz won’t call you, but I thought you should know a couple of haoles were asking about you. Supposedly they have a travel agency business, but I smell cop. Penny did too.”
“Tell me more.” Terence grabbed a pen and jotted down the girl’s descriptions of the visitors: a tall, pretty, mixed-race woman, and a large Caucasian man with “a military vibe.” He jotted down Follow Me Faraway Travel Agency and the email and phone number they’d left on a business card.