The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

Keep going.

Don’t let him hurt you.

She was next to the tentlike enclosure now. Her hand was shaking as she pushed aside the cloth to go inside.

The heat blasted her face as she entered.

Dear God.

The fire was in the center of the room. But to the left of the fire was a pallet on which lay the corpse of a young girl, maybe eleven or twelve. She was naked, her eyes were wide open, her hands tied above her head. Her expression reflected a terrible horror.

Maya couldn’t stop staring for an instant. But then she couldn’t stand it any longer and turned her eyes away.

And that was when she saw the red streamer fastened across the tent with a single name dancing in the heat of the blaze.

Bailey.

It was too much. She staggered to the opening of the tent and threw up again and again.

Then she was aware of Riley beside her, holding her steady as her stomach was wrenched by spasms. “Cade! What the hell did you do?” Riley was gazing around the tent with the same horror Maya had felt. “Why did you let her come here?”

“I couldn’t stop her,” he said roughly. “I should have known you’d run after us. I didn’t want you to see this.”

“Why?” Riley repeated.

“She said she had to come,” Cade said. “You heard her. She wouldn’t be told no. She would have come by herself if I hadn’t brought her.”

“You shouldn’t have paid any attention to her.” She was wiping Maya’s face with a handkerchief. “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”

“No,” Maya said hoarsely. She took a deep breath and then turned and went back to the naked girl on the pallet. “We can’t leave her here. Look at her face.” She gently closed the girl’s eyes. “She must have already gone through hell and now Nadim is using her as part of this hideous charade. I won’t have it.” She turned to Cade. “Take down this tent and wrap her in it. Have her taken back to the village. We’ll find her parents and give her a decent burial.”

He nodded. “That’s exactly what I would have done if you hadn’t insisted on seeing Nadim’s ugly scenario.”

“No choice. I had to do it. I knew it had to be something horrible like this. I couldn’t let him force me to hide my eyes and pretend I didn’t see it. I can’t let him take anything away from me or anyone on the island. I can’t let him beat us.” She swayed and closed her eyes for a moment. “But dear God in heaven, what he’s done already.”

“Can we go now?” Riley slipped her arm around Maya’s waist and was helping her from the tent. “We’ll do anything you want after we get you out of here. I think you’ve had enough for one day, Maya.”

“I’m sure Nadim thought so, too,” Maya said as they started to cross the field toward the village. Her voice was still shaking. “He must have taken a long time setting up that horror for me. His instructions to that sniper team must have been very explicit.”

“Don’t think about it.” Riley kept her grip strong around her, giving her whatever support she could in a world where she must be feeling bereft of all humanity and solace. “I know it’s hard but try not to let that bastard do this to you.”

Maya looked at her wonderingly. “How can I help it? You saw what they did to her.”

Riley didn’t know what to say. All she could do was tighten her grasp and look behind her at that column of smoke spitting up from that damn tent. She couldn’t see Cade. He must still be in the tent, taking care of getting that poor child away from that hellish cocoon where they’d placed her. But Kirby was only a few paces behind them following them back to the village. As he saw her glancing back, he put his hand on his rifle and nodded. Cade must have sent him to guard them in case Nadim had planned some other beastly addition to this hideous night. Riley nodded back at Kirby and increased her pace until they reached the stone wall.

Then she turned to Maya and said gently, “I believe we’ll go to the first-aid room so that you can have privacy. I’ll see if there’s anyone else I can help.”

Maya looked at her dazedly and then shook her head as if to clear it. “No.” She sat down beside the wall. “I’ll stay here until they bring that child to the village. She’s the one who should have privacy. They can take her to the first-aid room while we try to find out who she is.”

“I can do that for you,” Riley said.

“Yes, you could. But it’s my job, and they’ll talk to me.” She looked her in the eye. “Don’t argue with me right now. It’s difficult for me to think. There’s one other thing I have to do before I concentrate on helping that child.” She took her phone out of her pocket and punched in the number. “I have to call Tashi…” Two rings and Tashi answered. She cut her off before she could speak. “I can’t talk right now. I just have to ask you a few questions. Are you at the temple?”

“Yes, I told you that I would be.”

“Is Bailey still safe?”

“Of course.”