Stephanie Doyle: Calculated Risk

When she walked toward him, she beamed. And the brighter her smile got the more his body tensed. He reached out and found the arm of the person he’d brought to help him separate from her.

“Caroline, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

On cue, like the perfect political hostess she’d been raised to be, she turned and offered her hand to Sabrina. The contrast was startling to him.

Caroline was perfectly coiffed, perfectly poised, her cool blue dress was classic and conservative, and her blond hair was pulled back into a smooth tight bun. And her smile, although it was as sincere as she could make it, didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Sabrina on the other hand was all lean and wild energy. Her hair flew about her face, her strapless dress molded her body. It was a choice made by a woman confident in her sexuality and who didn’t care who knew it.

“Q?”

“Q,” Caroline laughed, the sound an elegant tinkle. “What a horrible nickname. Really, Jack, I do wish you would let people simply call you by your name.”

“Quinlan is my name.”

“And soon it will be mine,” she murmured into his ear. But loud enough for Sabrina to hear. That’s what he wanted. That’s what he’d been waiting for.

His eyes met Sabrina’s and he watched as she began to understand. But it wasn’t happening fast enough. Like any kill he’d ever made, the quicker the better.

“Caroline, this is Sabrina Masters. I’ve told you about her.”

“On a number of occasions,” Caroline confirmed. “So you’re the phenom. Quick, do something brilliant.”

He looked away from Sabrina’s gaze.

“Sorry, I didn’t bring my magic wand to do any tricks.”

Caroline laughed politely, but he could hear the acid in Sabrina’s tone.

“Well, there is one trick I have to thank you for. I think your…we’ll call it graduation…was what finally inspired Jack to make his move. Can you believe I’ve been dating this man for three years and finally today, completely out of the blue, he comes to my house and proposes.”

“Wow,” Sabrina replied, her eyes on him the whole time. This time he didn’t look away. He schooled his expression, knew it was impassive, and let her look all she wanted. It was for the best.

“No ring, mind you, but we’ll fix that shortly. I still can’t believe it.” Caroline turned to him then, her voice soft and sweet. “I knew waiting for you was the right decision.”

He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’m so glad you did.”

Sabrina’s eyes didn’t water up. She didn’t scream at him. She didn’t slap him dramatically, or blurt out to Caroline that her fiancé had been buried deep inside her for most of the previous night.

But she was paler and he knew he’d succeeded. This betrayal would penetrate. Right to her core. She might have been able to forgive him for breaking her bones. But she would never forgive him for this. He could feel it.

It was for the best.

“Congratulations. I wish you all the best, Caroline. You, too… Jack. I hope you get everything you deserve.”

Then she turned and walked away, and he decided, he hoped, he would never have to see her again.

Present

The boat flew across the water as she piloted it over the soft swells. Kahsan kept one eye on her and managed to keep the boy under his physical control, too. Although, given the state of shock the kid was in, it wasn’t a difficult task.

“So you’re the great Sal Ploxm,” Sabrina said, trying to engage the kid enough that he would begin to understand she was not his enemy. Or at least less of a threat than Kahsan. “You know that’s a lousy anagram.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kahsan chimed in. “Smallpox is the worst of all viruses.”

“What’s your real name?”

The boy looked at her, saw what he believed was a killer and blanched to a shocking shade of white. Or he could have just been seasick.

“Your name, kid,” she tried again. “It’s not like it’s a hard question.”

Sabrina figured there had to be some sass in him. He’d been fearlessly and illegally hacking into seemingly impenetrable systems for more than a year and leaving his calling card at every turn. Underneath the pimples had to be someone with a healthy ego. She just needed to push him a little harder to find the right buttons.

Unfortunately, time was quickly running out as the island in front of them seemed to get larger. She’d spotted a small dock jutting off the shore and aimed for it by turning the wheel of the boat slightly to the right.

“Come on,” she pressed. “I’m not asking for your secrets or anything. Just your name.”

“Kev-Kevin,” he stuttered. “Kevin Pollard.”

“Sabrina Masters.”

“I read about you,” he said. “In some CIA files. They talked about what you could do. I didn’t really believe it.”

“No? That hurts, kid.”

“Frankly, I don’t believe it, either.” This from Kahsan, who held his gun, a SIG-Sauer, somewhat casually now. That was a good sign. He was beginning to believe that she wasn’t a threat.

“And why is that?”

“A female genius. Seems somewhat of an oxymoron to me.”

He chuckled and she smiled, but inwardly Sabrina listed one more reason why she hated this guy. Chauvinist pig.

They were almost upon the small island, so she pulled the throttle in reverse to stop their momentum. The boat glided in the water until it bumped up against the crude dock that was only about four feet in length. Sabrina found a rope that was already secured to the motorboat, hopped out quickly and secured it to one of the beams.

She turned around to assess the situation in the boat, looking for an opening to act, but saw that once again Kahsan had his gun pressed to the boy’s side. Kahsan was known for not taking any chances and he was living up to his reputation.

He motioned to Kevin to follow her on to the dock and then quickly stepped up behind him. Sabrina noted for the first time that he carried a small backpack over his right shoulder and couldn’t help but wonder what else he was carrying. She didn’t think it was camping supplies.

The cabin was down a path directly in front of them, snuggled in a thicket of trees. Arnold’s own little world. Sabrina couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sorrow. No doubt he would be irritated with the time she was wasting trying to take on a terrorist when there was work to be done. She only hoped that her instincts about Arnold would bear out.

And she was also sort of hoping that Quinlan was on his way.

It had been an excellent angle. It was a question of trusting the shot. Trusting in her abilities as she never had before. But if he had moved, if he had jerked at the last moment before the bullet hit, if he truly hadn’t trusted her and he had tried to duck…then he was dead.

Or dying.

Her heart and body clenched at the thought. If he was dead at her hand…

No, she wouldn’t think it. She couldn’t believe it and still function.

He was coming eventually, or he was unconscious, in which case she was on her own for the time being. Either way, he’d been spared from being shot by Kahsan. And she was prepared to finish the job. Another gun would have been a plus, but it wasn’t necessary. She had been trained by the best, after all.

Sabrina was the first to approach the cabin. The door swung open, clearly unattached to anything that would hold it in place.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such disarray,” Kahsan noted. “They could have at least locked the door on their way out.”

“There is nothing inside that is valuable to anyone.” She looked at the boy pointedly. “Except to a chosen few, that is.”