Had all the dishes been put away? Had they left evidence that more than one person slept in the hut? He assumed all was as it should be because Tempest and her younger sister were diligent in making certain no evidence of their existence was left out because they all feared situations like this could happen.
He hoped they hadn’t been lax today.
He was just stepping onto the terrasse when three soldiers came around the side of the hut.
“Search the hut.”
He stepped in front of the door. “Hold up. For what reason?”
“To search your house.”
“Why?”
“A woman and her sisters.”
“Woman?” He hoped his question and surprise fooled them.
“An informant told us they were here.”
“I can assure you that they are not.” He stepped aside so that they could enter then nearly held his breath as they tore the place apart and prayed nothing had been left behind.
“Where are they?” a soldier asked after they returned outside.
“I have no idea who you are talking about,” Rhys insisted. “I have not seen a woman or her sisters. That is something I would remember.”
“You are?” another asked.
“Rhys McNaught.”
“The English fellow whose mother was from here,” another soldier answered.
The soldier in charge studied him and nodded.
“My family is from Antigua. My father just happened to be English.”
“You attended school in England.”
“That does not make me English and why I am here.”
The soldier turned and shouted. “Search the area.”
His heart pounded. What if they discovered the boat? Worse, what if they looked under the boat?
Rhys hurried after the soldier as he marched in the direction of the very place he did not want them to go. “Why do you think a woman and her sisters are here to begin with?”
Tempest prayed that her sisters remained quiet and that they were fully concealed.
“An informant told us they were here.”
That must be a soldier.
“Informant?” Rhys demanded. “Nobody has been here but me.”
“He was recently on a cutter out of Barbados and the woman and children were being taken back to Dominica. Their father is an English diplomat. When the cutter began to sink, they were put in a boat and sent here.”
“Are you certain?” Rhys asked. If she did not know better, she would be convinced that he was perplexed.
“Where did this come from?”
