Free Delta: Revenge by Cristin Harber Page A

husband and keep him faithful? “I think I’m okay—”
    “There’s a young woman in Honduras,” her mom started, stealing Sophia’s snarky thoughts. “She has a great deal of influence and is helping us already in Bolivia with a cartel intelligence project.”
    “Wait, what?” Had Mom just said help with cartel intelligence ?
    Mom speared another strawberry, remaining silent as though the shock of her talking about something other than society culture had shocked them both.
    Dad took a bite of his breakfast, watching Sophia try to hammer through the dynamics of what was being said while her hangover was screwing with her.
    “I don’t understand,” she said.
    “Your mother’s idea.” Dad swallowed another forkful. “There’s an opportunity for you to expand on a relationship we’ve been cultivating.”
    “In Honduras?” Her eyes swung to Mom.
    “Yes,” she said primly.
    “Doing?”
    “Do you want to go to Honduras?”
    Hell yeah, she did. “Probably.”
    Mom smiled. Smiled. What was going on? Was there a society bigwig or a press op Sophia couldn’t pinpoint?
    “You would do a good job,” Mom said.
    Sophia’s heart jumped through a fiery ring of disbelief. Her mom had not only suggested but encouraged her going to Honduras. “What’s the catch?”
    “None,” Dad answered.
    Sophia narrowed her gaze on the society queen in front of her. Some people relaxed and let their hair down, but never her mother. Never were Sophia’s grades high enough, friends good enough, or fiancés—well, cut that. Mom loved Dr. Josh. It was Sophia she didn’t think her mom liked. Mom loved her. Sophia loved Mom. They had a good relationship, mostly, though it was formal more often than not, and there was always something missing.
    “Go to Honduras, Sophia Marie. Take the job.” Mom delicately took another bite of strawberry as Dad nodded. He never played second fiddle to her mom. They acted as equals, which Sophia respected even if she didn’t understand how her father could put up with all the PR-focused crap her mother lived for. But had there ever been an order like this from Mom?
    No. Never. So there was one answer, even if Honduras didn’t already sound like Sophia’s kind of gig. “Yes, ma’am.”
    And that was that.
    Sophia didn’t need twenty-four hours to consider the travel and work that Josh had seen as a weakness—and that he’d used as an opportunity to cheat. She was always ready to leave for a job, and each one grew in intensity. They were the adrenaline-filled, never-sure-what-was-next missions that her parents—mostly her dad —had helped organize her for.
    Mom smiled. Dad nodded. And Sophia dug into her eggs Benedict, ready for the distraction a job could give her. Two out-of-country surprises in one day. Not bad.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Six Months Later
    Honduras. US Embassy.
     
    The worst part of the addition of armed “company” at the Honduras embassy was that it meant they were sequestered. Sophia chewed on her bottom lip. They already lived in a concrete bunker surrounded by armed troops. The last few months had seen highs and lows in regard to safety and threat levels.
    Only twice in her time there had they required the assistance of off-the-books teams. Hiring out a military endeavor meant the US government had deniability and their allies could turn a blind eye—much as they were doing with her in the middle of this hellhole. Sophia was the face of American compassion. She was the aid worker willing to walk the streets of the “murder capital of the world,” where women were seen as the lesser sex. Sophia did so to foster a health program with a local senator, Marco Ferrera, led by his wife, Hana.
    What that local politician did not know was that his wife wanted out of the marriage, out of Honduras, and away from the horrors she’d seen perpetrated. She was willing to trade information on his position of leadership in the Primeiro Comando in exchange for an eventual free pass