Chapter 17
To say that hanging out at Sophie’s apartment was awkward is an understatement. Here I was with a woman who had lost out to me not once but three times. She had every reason in the world to hate me—I’d be tempted to hate me—and that was before we showed up at her door bringing danger.
But Sophie turned out to be one of the sweetest people I’d ever met.
She did everything to make me feel at home while I was practically crawling out of my skin waiting for Code to come back safe.
Sophie had tried calling her brother after Code left, but she went straight to voicemail.
She looked devastated as she left him a message in a breezy voice, asking him to call her back, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Excellent acting on her part.
I could see why her brother might break the law to make her happy.
Not that I was condoning what he did. The guy was a psycho out to ruin my life.
But as Sophie bustled around her kitchen looking for a can of sweetened condensed milk for the Vietnamese coffee she wanted to make because it was ‘fancy’ she kept up a steady stream of conversation with a soft smile on her face.
Only once did I see her hand tremble as she poured the milk into the coffee cups.
“Sophie,” I said as I took one of the mugs, “I’m so sorry we had to meet this way. I can’t imagine what you must be thinking right now.”
Sophie’s smile faded as her eyes filled with tears.
“Just that you must think I’m terrible person and that Russell is worse.
” She laughed nervously. “Not that I expect you to believe me, but growing up, he was my hero. He was good. As much as he shielded me from bullies, I know he was being bullied, too. But he never complained to me about it. He didn’t want to upset me.
” She wiped away a tear threatening to roll down her cheek.
“I know you’ll never forgive him for this, and I don’t blame you.
” She shook her head as she looked down into her coffee. “But he was coming from a good place.”
Her eyes snapped back up to mine. “Sorry. That must sound like—”
“Like a loving sister defending her brother,” I finished for her. I reached out and grabbed her hand. “When this is over…” I started. “Whatever happens, I’d like to try and help you.”
“Help…me?”
“Yes. I do have some pull with a couple of directors. I could get you in front of them, for lunch. Something casual, where they could get to know you.”
“You’d do that for me?” A tear fell into her coffee.
“I would, yes.” I felt my cheeks heat. “I feel like I owe you something after taking three roles that should have gone to you. I meant it when I said you shouldn’t give up on your dreams, Sophie.” A thought came to me. “Do you have a demo reel?”
“Of course.”
“Can I see it?”
She nearly choked on her coffee. “You want to see my demo reel?”
“I do.” I smiled. “Show me what you’ve got. Maybe I could give you some pointers.”
“That would be amazing.” Sophie set her coffee down and went over to her kitchen table. She grabbed her laptop and brought it back to the counter. “It’s only about two minutes long.”
“That’s a perfect length,” I told her. “Directors look at hundreds of clips and you’ve got to catch their attention within the first few seconds.”
Sophie queued up the video and hit play.
Two minutes later, I realized exactly why her brother would blackmail me.
“Sophie. When I take you to lunch—and I will—I won’t be doing you a favor. I’ll be doing the directors a favor.”
She waved me off as she looked away. “You’re just saying that.”
“I’m not. Sophie, you’re amazing! I can’t believe you haven’t had a leading role yet.” Then I remembered exactly why she hadn’t.
Well, I’d fix that.
“Do you have any other clips—”
My ringing phone stopped me cold. I grabbed it and answered.
"Code, where are you? Are you okay?" I blinked back sudden, relieved tears.
"I'm fine. Stay at Sophie's apartment. I'm coming to get you."
"What happened?"
"Not on the phone. Thirty minutes." He disconnected.
“Is he all right?” Sophie asked.
“He said he was. He said to stay here, he’ll be here in half an hour.”
Those thirty minutes were some of the longest of my life.
Finally, we heard Code at the door. I jumped up off the stool, knocking it over. I sprinted across the room, only stopping at the last second. What if it wasn’t him?
“It’s me. Let me in,” I heard him say on the other side of the door.
Relief flooded through me. Sophie was standing right behind me as I undid the locks and the door flew open.
“We’ve got to leave. Now,” he said.
“Your face! My God, what happened?” I asked.
But he was looking at Sophie. “You’re coming with us.”
“What? I can’t—”
“You don’t have a choice. We don’t have time for you to pack a bag, just grab your purse, your wallet, your passport if you have one.”
“Oh my God.” She went completely pale.
“Go,” Code ordered, his voice sounding almost ragged. Sophie yelped and headed for her bedroom. “I’m getting my passport,” she shouted over her shoulder.
“Code,” I said, taking his arm. “Please, tell me what happened. Are you all right?”
“Later,” he said. “We’ve got to get to a safe house.”
“Are you hurt anywhere else? You seem—”
He cut me off with a deep kiss.
The safe house was in Koreatown, tucked between a dry cleaner’s and a restaurant. Code pulled into an underground parking garage beside the restaurant and killed the engine.
"Simon uses this place?"
"Friend of his owns it. Keeps it for situations like this." He grabbed his laptop bag from the back seat beside Sophie and winced.
I caught the movement. Something was wrong, something other than his swollen face.
We quickly walked past the restaurant to the tiny walk-up apartment building and went inside. We took the stairs to the third floor. Code moved carefully, his breathing shallow. The apartment was small but clean. Generic furniture, no personal touches, the kind of place designed to be forgettable.
Code unlocked the door, then punched numbers into a panel on the wall, disabling the alarm. He locked the door behind us, engaged two deadbolts and a chain, and reset the alarm. He set up his laptop on the dining table. Sophie crossed her arms over her torso and looked around, looking terrified.
I stood in the middle of the living room and crossed my arms. "Now tell me what the hell happened. All of it."
He looked up from his laptop. "Katherine."
"Don't you ‘Katherine’ me. You left Sophie's apartment four hours ago. You came back with a bruise the size of a grapefruit on your jaw, and you're moving like you're eighty years old. So, talk."
He closed the laptop and leaned back into the chair. "The house in Laurel Canyon wasn't empty."
My stomach dropped. "Russell was there?"
"No. Two Russian operatives were there. Searching the place."
Russian. My throat went dry.
"As in from Russia?"
"As in working for a Russian tech investor named Viktor Sokolov. He has ties to the FSB, Russia's intelligence service. I tracked his cyber operations in Ukraine for two years."
Sophie sank onto the couch. "I don't understand. What do Russians have to do with my brother blackmailing Kit?" She glanced at me as her cheeks turned red.
Code stood and moved to the kitchenette.
He filled a glass with water and drank half before answering.
"NewVation, Your brother's old company, was funded by Viktor through shell companies.
When I looked at their financials, I saw the same pattern I'd seen in Ukraine.
Russians backing American tech startups to steal intellectual property. "
“Russell was building deepfake tech at NewVation?” Sophie looked confused.
"He built it after. But he learned a lot of what he needed to know while working there. Probably had access to research, algorithms, maybe even some of the base code." Code set down the glass. "After he got laid off, he built his own system. Used it to blackmail Eddie Pope."
"Who's that?" I asked.
"That’s NewVation’s CEO,” Sophie said. “Russell didn’t get along with him. That’s why he was laid off.”
“That tracks,” Code said. “Russell created a deepfake of Eddie confessing to murdering a prostitute. Completely fake, but impossible to prove. He demanded money. Eddie panicked and went to Viktor for help."
Sophie covered her mouth and blinked back shocked tears.
The pieces started clicking together in my head. "So, Viktor sent people to find Russell."
"And to find the technology. Viktor wants it back before Russell can use it again or sell it to someone else. The Russians at the house tonight were looking for Russell, looking for the deepfake system, looking for anything that could lead them to either one."
I studied his face. The purple bruise. The cut above his eyebrow. The careful way he held himself.
"What happened when you got there?"
"Krause was already watching the house. Former SEAL who Simon knows.
We went in together." He said it so casually, like walking into a house full of armed Russian operatives was a normal Tuesday night.
"The Russians were searching and tearing the place apart.
We tried to take them quietly but one of them got a shot off. Fight got messy."
"Messy how?"
"Krause took a bullet through the shoulder.” He hesitated, studying my face for a reaction. “I injured and interrogated one of the Russians before the police showed up. I had to put down the other one."
The room tilted. "You killed someone tonight?"
"Yes."
Just yes. Like it was that simple.
"Code."
"He was going to kill Krause. I didn't have a choice."
"I'm not." I pressed my hands to my face and felt Sophie’s hand on my shoulder. "I'm not judging you. I'm just trying to process that you went into that house and fought armed men, and you could have died."
"But I didn't."