Island of Secrets and Scars

The men behind the intruder inched forward. He lifted a hand to stop them. A slow smile stretched his lips. She dropped her gaze before that damn dimple showed itself again.

“Dr. Crawford, I need to see who is inside this clinic.” He spat the word. “You can allow me of your own free will or…”

He didn’t have to continue. She knew what happened after or. Keira happened after or. Still, she couldn’t let him inside.

Her knees shook. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that. There are rules. Laws. That prohibit me from revealing the identity of patients.”

He laughed, so close to her face she could smell the mint on his breath. “Laws?” He turned to his companions, still laughing. “Did she say laws?”

The men shrugged.

Roberts turned back to her. Stone-cold anger replaced the humor on his face. “I am the law, Dr. Crawford.”

Fear scrambled through her veins. He spoke the truth.

“Check the beach. While you’re doing that, I’ll talk with the patients. If they agree to meet with you, you can speak with them then.”

“Hey Creek, look who’s ready to see you.”

At the sound of Ian’s voice, Cameron turned to find him striding toward her with Arabella perched in his arms. If she’d been afraid before, she was petrified now. Panic erupted in her chest. Her heart beat explosively. She swung her gaze back to the gangster, his attention now held by the tiny girl smiling so proudly at her mother.

“Get her out of here,” Cameron barked, turning her back to the men on the lawn.

Ian’s eyes grew wide. “What the—”

“Go.” She pointed to the back of the clinic.

Ian’s gaze darted to the man in the doorway.

“Who’s that?” the girl asked.

“Now,” Cameron ordered. Desperation filled her voice.

Without another word, Ian clutched Ara to his chest and hurried back down the hall.

“Mommy,” Ara cried.

Cameron closed her eyes against the fear and confusion in her daughter’s voice.

“She’s your daughter?” Roberts’s voice held a smirk as if even now he calculated ways to use the girl to get what he wanted from Cameron. He’d be right to think that tactic would work. After the attack in Africa, Cameron feared very little. She’d faced death. One day she would again. No one escaped their ending. She’d been burned, bloodied. She’d survived. Her own pain and death no longer scared her. But she couldn’t stand the merest thought of either for Arabella.

Pasting a hospitable smile on her face, she turned back to the men contaminating her island with their presence. “The quicker I’m able to check with the patients, the sooner you’ll have your answers about your friends.”

The man pulled his gaze from the hallway and back to her.

“I’m truly not trying to be difficult, Mr. Roberts. Your friends are not here. I’m sorry, but we couldn’t save anyone from the plane.” As she said this, images of the bodies they’d found flashed in her mind. “If you go to the beach, you’ll find a morgue of sorts. Maybe you’ll have better luck there. I believe the authorities are planning to transport them to the mainland soon.”

At her words, his eyes went wide before he quickly shuttered any emotion.

“Everything okay here?” Ian came to a stop behind her. His chest brushed against her back. The warm, solid weight of him bolstered her courage. Ian might hate her for hurting him, but he wouldn’t let Victor Roberts and his men harm her or Arabella.

She nodded. “This is Mr. Roberts. The owner of the plane that crashed.”

Ian released a sigh that ruffled the wisps of her unruly hair. Pressing closer to her back, he reached past her to extend a hand to the other man. “Ian Gauthier. I’m sorry about your plane and your friends.”

Victor’s glare only briefly left Cameron as he shook Ian’s hand.

“Mr. Roberts is here to see if any of our patients were on his plane,” she explained.

Ian gave his head a slow shake. “I’m sorry, Mr. Roberts, there weren’t any survivors.”

“Yes,” the other man snapped. “The doctor has said that. I think I’ll check the beach for my friends.”

Cameron made a show of checking her watch. “You might want to hurry. The boat transporting the bodies should be here any minute.”

Roberts eyed her as he straightened his suit jacket. “Thank you for your help. I’ll go see my friends. You should see to your daughter. She’s a beautiful little girl. Must take after her mother.”

For the first time since the men’s approach, anger overtook the fear inside Cameron. She clinched the doorjamb to keep from launching herself at the bastard on her clinic’s doorstep. How dare this asshole speak of Arabella? Rage burned through her veins. Now she understood Keso’s desire to kill the man. They couldn’t count on him sticking to the big island and out of their lives. But she couldn’t make herself a target either.

She swallowed her fury. “I’ll do that. Have a nice day.”

The boss man motioned to his thugs. The three of them turned and disappeared into the trees lining two sides of the clinic.

Tears stung Cameron’s eyes. She sagged against the door frame.