But with the Indonesian military on the ground there was hope for Mila.
“We need to get you to the village,” Dobby said.“You can tell the Indonesian military who you are, and they’ll take care of you.”
She brushed the tears from her eyes and sniffed.“What about you?”
He shook his head.“There’s no record of me entering Indonesia.”
Mila’s eyes widened.“Oh.”Then she shook her head, her vulnerability of a moment ago disappearing.“I’m not leaving you here when you sacrificed your safety for me.”
He scowled.“I’ll be fine.I can steal a boat tonight and get away.”
“No.We don’t know if Agus has any contacts in the military.”
“That’s a big leap.”
“Think about it.Someone outside the island must know what he does, but no one has stopped him.He has to have contacts in the police or military.”
It was a stretch.“You’re a major-general’s daughter.They’d be foolish to risk word getting out.”
Her mouth set in a determined line.“It would be easy for them to deny seeing me, and to hand me over to Agus.”
There was a very slim possibility she could be right.Could he take that risk?
She stood before him, bedraggled and filthy but with a defiance that made her breathtaking.
He swore.“Fine, but you do exactly what I tell you to do.”
Her smile was full of relief.“Of course.”She hugged him.
He held her close as he scanned the debris-ridden ocean.Nothing but trunks, leaves, and parts of houses which had washed around the island.
A boat would be their best bet.Some people may have taken their boats out into deeper water after the earthquake hit in preparation for the tsunami which meant they would still be in one piece.
They were a couple of kilometres away from the bay where the team had first landed, but the zod was no longer there.
The water swirled and pulled and would be a mess of rips and whirlpools for several days at least.
The whole coastline was going to be like this, so swimming to the islet to at least get off the island wasn’t an option.
They were both filthy, tired and needed sustenance while he made a plan.
“Let’s sit down and eat.”He pulled her behind a tree with large roots and pressed her to sit on one of them.
She exhaled.“Thank you.If it wasn’t for me you’d be flying to safety right now.”
Annoyance made him sharp.“I wasn’t leaving without you,” he said.“You rescued my whole damn team and that idiot Vance.If it wasn’t for you, we would have had a far more difficult extraction.”He shook his head, taking in her exhaustion.But it hadn’t stopped her pushing to her absolute limit.
“There’s no chance in hell I’m leaving you behind.”
Chapter 10
The fierce way Damien vowed not to leave her soothed Mila.She worried she was being selfish not going to the Indonesian military.Would he find it easier to escape on his own?But she couldn’t in good conscience leave when he’d come after her and given up his chance for an easy extraction.
She rubbed her exhausted eyes.She was wet and filthy, and men with guns were only a short motorbike ride away.
An overwhelming wave of fatigue had tackled her after the team had left and she’d given into the tears.
But for the moments when Damien had held her, she’d felt safe and had been able to rebuild her resolve.
