Island of Secrets and Scars

Cameron picked her way slowly through the woods toward her home. Her confrontation with Ian had left her drained. No longer was she used to the riot of emotions she experienced around him. Always, he’d made her feel more than anyone else. One look from him made her body tingle and her heart pound. The very first time he’d touched her, her body had flared to life in ways she hadn’t known possible. Apparently, she still reacted similarly. Despite the pain and anger now clouding the air between them, her body was again awake with sensations she hadn’t felt in years. Desire. Lust. Longing. She wanted Ian. Her body ached with the need to feel him against her, within her.

But her heart hurt. Ian had never been the man she’d thought. He’d betrayed her with Mallory. He hadn’t wanted their child. And he’d become a man who would drink and get behind the wheel, knowing how his actions could affect others. The man she loved would’ve never been so careless.

And yet.

When he talked of her walking away, she could swear he genuinely hurt. Although she’d been gone almost six years, her leaving still seemed to cause him pain. Which made no sense. She’d left to give him the freedom she thought he wanted.

Scrubbing her hands over her face, she tried to erase the feel of Ian’s skin beneath her palm and the desperation in his dark eyes. He’d said he tried to drown. She hadn’t left to hurt him. Despite the ways he’d hurt her, she still loved him too much to purposefully inflict that same pain on him. Leaving him was supposed to free him and heal her.

“Hey, Doc. What’s up?”

Cameron froze and lifted her gaze. Keso stood on the porch of her tiny cottage. Just what she needed.

“Ara’s still resting. Brodie’s still unconscious. I thought I’d come see how you’re doing.” He stepped off the porch, his flip-flops slapping against the dirt of the path she and Ara had worn to the beach. Stopping in front of her, he shoved his hands into the pocket of his worn khaki shorts and studied her. “What’s wrong?”

Where to begin? He’d be better off asking what was right. That answer would be short. Ara was alive. Her daughter surviving was the only positive in the past two days.

She couldn’t share her concerns about her ex-fiancé with Keso. He didn’t know it yet, but he hated the doctor who’d saved their daughter. For years, Keso had blamed Ian for Cameron’s inability to commit to him. Though if he were honest, Keso would admit what Cameron already knew—he didn’t really want her to commit. He thought they should for Ara, but he didn’t love Cameron enough to only want her forever. Besides, Cameron believed Ara was better off in a home with only a mother than with two parents who didn’t love each other enough.

Instead of venturing into her problems with Ian, she told him, “We need to talk about the plane.”

Keso flinched. “The plane? The one that crashed?”

“No. The one that blew up. The plane someone blew up.” She stepped around him and made her way to the porch.

“Why would someone blow up a plane?” He followed her and now stood just inches behind her.

“Do you know who owned the plane?” She glanced over her shoulder to gauge his reaction.

His face went completely still. Not one speck of emotion broke through. Her heart squeezed painfully. Keso was about to lie to her.

“I haven’t heard.”

She closed her eyes and gave her head a slow shake. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Not true. Keso was an excellent liar. They both were. They’d had half a decade of practice. But she knew him too well for him to be any good at deceiving her.

He lifted one broad shoulder. “So what if I know? I just didn’t want you to worry.”

“Not worry?” She spun to face him. “How can I not worry? If Victor Roberts’s plane is here, he’s nearby. Our family isn’t safe. You’re not safe when he’s near.”

“I’m working on—”

“That’s what I mean,” she yelled. “You’ll do anything to punish him. That man isn’t the only one whose actions can hurt our family.”

Keso studied her through narrowed eyes. A muscle in his jaw ticked.

“Did you have anything to do with blowing up that plane?”

He glared at her, refusing to answer.

“Keso, I swear if you had something—”

“I didn’t blow up the damn airplane. I’m a boat captain. What the hell do I know about blowing up planes?”

Probably nothing, but he spent plenty of time in the seedier parts of the big island. He could find someone with the necessary skills.

She dropped her yoga mat on the porch, then perched her hands on her hips. “Ara could’ve died. Brodie may still die, because of that plane. If you did that—”

“I didn’t do it,” he bellowed.

She flinched. Keso never raised his voice. Even when he was upset or angry, which rarely happened, he kept his voice low and managed an amiable smile.

“I won’t lie. I want him dead, Doc, but I’m hardly the only one.”

Oh, he’d lie. When it came to Victor Roberts, Keso would lie to protect those he cared about. Until now, she hadn’t thought he’d lie to her though.

“Innocent people were on that plane.” Tears filled her eyes at the memory of the young bodies pulled from the water.

“No one associated with that bastard is innocent.” Keso’s mouth barely moved as he bit out the words.

“Keira.”

At the mention of his younger sister, new anger flared in those signature Lawrence eyes. “Don’t,” he whispered.

“Girls like her were on that plane. Innocent girls who—”

“They’re luckier than Keira then. She deserved quick. Painless. Instead . . .”

No need to continue. Cameron couldn’t forget the agony Keira suffered before her small body finally gave up. Cameron had done all she could, but Keira’s body had no more fight left. The girl had fulfilled her goal. She’d secured Keso’s promise, then she’d surrendered.

A tear slid down Cameron’s cheek. She swiped at it uselessly. Others raced to take its place. “I understand you hate him and want vengeance.”

Keso huffed. “No, you don’t. She wasn’t your sister. You didn’t see how he changed her, how he ruined her.”

“How he murdered her?” She jabbed her thumb at her own chest. “Keso, I’m the one who couldn’t save her. I’m the one who promised her she wouldn’t die and then held her as she did just that because there was nothing I could do. Don’t tell me I don’t know what he did to her.” Her voice broke as a sob clogged in her throat.