Island of Secrets and Scars

Ian shoved the man to the ground and began looking her over. “Your ribs? Are they broken?”

Trying to pull in a breath, she choked on the smoke surrounding them. “Ara? Keso?” She struggled to sit up.

Ian eased her back down. “Ara’s safe. I sent her away.”

“Keso was with her. I left them to see you.”

He turned back to the house. “Ara said he’s inside.”

Pushing against the sandy earth, she tried to rise. “I have to get him. He can’t die in there. I have to—”

Ian gripped her shoulders to hold her steady. “You can’t move. If your lungs haven’t already been punctured—”

“I don’t care.” She slapped his hands away. “Keso cannot die. He can’t. I owe him. He can’t—” A desperate sob stole her words. “Ian, please help me.”

“If you go in, you’ll die.”

“I’d already be dead without him.”

Tears filled his eyes. He misunderstood. In his eyes, Keso was competition. The other man.

“He gave me Ara. He gave me a purpose. A reason to live. Ian, I can’t let him die.”

Heaving a sigh, Ian shoved a hand through his disheveled hair and turned to the house.

As what he meant to do settled in, she protested. “You can’t go in there. You’re hurt you…” She couldn’t lose him. Not to death. Not permanently. What would a world without Ian even be like? She never wanted to know. “Ian please.” Clutching his arm, she pulled him closer. “Don’t. I’ll go. I can’t lose you.”

His eyes narrowed as he studied her. “And I can’t lose you. If he’s the reason you’re still here, then I owe him too.” Prying her fingers from his arm, he planted a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t move.”

He ran toward the fire.

“Ian,” she screamed. “Ian no.”

Fueled by desperation, she rolled to her knees, then tried to crawl toward the fire. The pain stole her strength and her breath. “Ian.” Her voice barely reached her own ears. And then everything went black.

* * *

Heat slammed into Ian, forcing him back a step. Fire hadn’t consumed the house yet, but with the way the flames ate their way up the walls and across the floor, eventually it would destroy the cottage. Remembering the boots he’d seen earlier, he headed toward the hall. The man lay face down. Blood pooled beneath the body. Not Keso. This man was large, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt. One of Roberts’s thugs.

Where the fuck was Keso? Sinking low, Ian duck walked down the hall. No sign of anyone in the kitchen or bathroom. Inside Ara’s room, he found her father. The man lay on his stomach, slumped beneath her window. Blood oozed from a hole in his back. A small table lay splintered beneath him. Had he been trying to climb out? Or push his daughter to safety?

Ian couldn’t leave him. Even if he was dead, he deserved to be laid to rest by the family who loved him. Ignoring his own gunshot wound and the smoke making his eyes water, Ian rushed into the room and latched onto Keso’s shirt. In his condition, dragging Keso out was the best Ian could do.

“No,” Keso mumbled.

Ian froze. Keso still lay face down.

“Keso.”

“Can’t have her.” Keso’s arm twitched as if trying to fend someone off.

Ian dropped to his knees beside the other man. “Keso? Are you awake? Can you—”

“Doctor,” Keso whispered when his dull eyes landed on Ian.

Holy fuck.

“Come on.” He tried to lift the other man, but with one arm, he couldn’t get him off the ground. “Keso, you got to—”

“Ara. He got Ara. You have to get her. Roberts. He took—”

“She’s safe. I swear. Roberts is gone. I… I shot him.” He could still feel the weight of the gun in his hand, the kick as he’d fired into the man’s skull. Roberts would’ve killed Cameron. No way could Ian have allowed the bastard to take her from him.

“Come on. Help me.”

“Doc. Ara.” A man’s shouts came from the front of the cottage. Thank God some help.

“In here,” Ian called.

Seconds later, Edmund appeared in the doorway. His normally soft eyes turned hard. “What the hell happened?”

“Victor Roberts,” Ian mumbled. “Help me get Keso. He’s alive but barely conscious.”

Edmund hurried forward. “I have him. Where’s Doc and Ara?” The other man pulled Keso up, then scooped him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“Cameron’s outside. I sent Ara away.” Ian led the way down the hall. He didn’t check to see if Roberts’s man was alive. He had no interest in saving him. When Ian got outside, Luci and Aimee knelt over Cameron, who lie unconscious between them. A man rushed forward to help Edmund with Keso. They moved him to the edge of the property and lay him on the ground. The two men spoke briefly, their words occasionally reaching Ian where he slowly made his way to Cameron. Now that Keso was out and the women were seeing to Cameron, his own strength faltered.

The men went to Victor Roberts. Edmund scooped up the dead man’s shoulders while his friend grabbed his feet. They lifted him, then began walking toward the house.

“Wh… What are you doing?” Ian blinked away the darkness clouding his vision.

Edmund motioned for the other man to stop. “We can’t save the house. And we can’t assure no one will come looking for this man. Best to make sure there’s no trace of him.”

Ian nodded, and the two men continued carrying Victor Roberts straight into a hell of his own making.