“Why didn’t they take you?”
“I wasn’t their mission, Vance was.I stayed to help here.”
“Then why were you hiding in the jungle?”
“I wasn’t hiding, I was coming to the village, but I must have got a little turned around.”She gave a helpless shrug.“It’s hard to walk in a straight line in the jungle.”
“Why run from me then?”Ali asked.
“Because you stole my laptop and do whatever Agus tells you to.I didn’t want Agus to know I was still here so I could help people without him bothering me.”It would have been the truth if Damien had left her here.
Ali grunted a non-committal sound.
She casually scanned the ocean, trying not to make it obvious she was looking for Damien.Relief swept through her when he raised his hand in acknowledgement.
He would come for her.
Five minutes later, Agus’s luxury cruiser motored into the bay.Of course.With the road damaged, this was the only way to get around the island.
It mustn’t have spotted Damien because she was certain Agus would have stopped and there hadn’t been enough time.
A small tender was lowered from the cruiser and motored into the bay.Agus wasn’t on board.
Getting his minions to do his dirty work.
Would Damien rescue her before the boat got to the shore?
She fought the urge to look behind her, not wanting to tip off the others that he was still here.
The tender reached the shore, and she limped over, hissing at the pain in her ankle.
As they motored out, she stared at the shoreline where she’d waited for Damien.She’d hoped he would reach her before the cruiser arrived, but he hadn’t.
He was probably working on Plan E.The thought made her smile.
“You’re happy to see Agus?”Ali asked.
She turned her attention to the luxury cruiser where Agus was standing on the deck.Today he wore a red polo shirt and beige slacks and appeared as if he’d had an excellent night’s sleep.His wide smile wasn’t at all comforting.
Mila on the other hand was covered in mud and scratches and fatigue weighed heavily in her head.
She exhaled.She could do this.The villagers had only seen her with Damien before the extraction.
One man on the cruiser grabbed the tender’s rope and held it steady while Ali helped her off.She winced as pain shot through her ankle and awkwardly hopped her way up the steps to the main deck.
“Mila, you are injured?”Agus stopped a metre away from her and curled his lip as he took in her filthy appearance.
“I sprained my ankle.”She was tempted to brush off some of the dried mud from her legs onto his pristine white deck, but it would be better if she let him believe she was more subservient after her ordeal.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t have run from Ali.”
“He scared me.”She took in a shuddery breath.“It’s been a hellish few hours.After the earthquake I was caught in the tsunami and almost died.Then Vance and the special forces men used me to escape, without taking me with them.”
Agus shook his head as he gestured for her to follow him.“I’ll protect you.Come.I have first aid downstairs.You can shower and I’ll find you some more clothes to wear.”
She glanced back to the island but still couldn’t see Damien.Would Agus lock her below deck?“Where are we going?”
“Back to the village.The doctor has reopened the medical centre.We can get your ankle seen to and then you can rest at my house.”
