Page 77 of Wired Justice

Chapter Forty-Eight

Sophie kepther gaze on the man’s face as the van drove, projecting all the hatred she felt for him. She cursed in Thai, a low monotone aimed to intimidate. “Slimy bloated stench of demons! Chief among the underworld’s soulless slaves!”

She hoped Jake could hear what was happening. Maybe he could find some way to track her; she had to hope. She moved her hand away from the phone. “I will enjoy throttling you slowly, so you know what’s happening and fully experience your death, dog killer. I’m going to make you sorry you ever grabbed me from that park.”

The cruel mouth revealed by a slash in her attacker’s ski mask gave a slow smile. “You talk too much, bitch.”

Sophie stared at Ski Mask, focusing on shutting out the throb of the stab wound in her back. She was good at compartmentalizing, at separating herself from her body, at relegating pain to a mere sensation that didn’t deserve her attention. She had Assan Ang and his tortures to thank for that ability. She needed to conserve her strength and be ready for whatever came next.

And that came sooner than she’d hoped for as the van swung a hard left onto a rough road, bouncing her and the masked man around inside the van. She couldn’t see anything about where they were except a glimpse of green trees through the windshield and the small back window.

Ski Mask grinned as they bumped down the road. “I bet you think we’re going to the jungle by the ditch. Nah, done with that. We’re going somewhere new. The great thing about missing persons is, there’s no murder without a body. But we know how wrong that is on the Big Island, don’t we?”

“May you die screaming in agony and your pain never be extinguished.”

“Whatever you just said, worse is coming to you, bitch.”

Sophie half-closed her eyes and looked away from the despicable maggot.Conserve strength. Don’t waste energy on emotion.

The van drove a little further and then pulled to a stop with a lurch.

“We’re here.” The driver scowled through his mask at the man seated on the van’s floor. “Dump her out so we can get going.”

The silenced weapon came up so quickly Sophie was hardly sure she had seen it. The silencer spoke twice with a sound like a melon seed being spat with force. The driver collapsed against his door, a red spray marking the window behind him. “Thanks for driving us here. Now no one will ever know this location.”

Sophie palmed the phone into her pocket and scrambled backwards, reaching for the handle of the back door. She pulled it down, but it refused to budge.

“Locked. A basic precaution.” Her assailant peeled his ski mask up. He had a surprisingly handsome face with the buttery-brown skin of Asian and Hawaiian heritage. “Akane Chang. Going to enjoy killing you.”