She’d stood on the beach and looked at the carnage and felt sick to the stomach. Dear God…

Where was her little boy? Nowhere. By the time she returned to the hospital she was shaking so badly that her chief nurse took control, holding her arms in his broad hands and giving her a gentle shake.

‘What do you mean, you can’t find Benjy? Isn’t he with Kira?’

‘Kira’s dead. Shot in the back, Pieter. That kind, loving old lady. And Benjy’s gone. There’s no one on the beach at all.’ Her breath caught on a sob of terror. ‘Where would he have gone? Why isn’t he here?’ She was close to collapse, and the big islander pushed her into a chair, knelt before her and took both her hands in his.

‘Maybe he’s with Jacques.’

‘I don’t know where Jacques is either. Oh, God, if he’s…’ She buried her face in her hands.

But Pieter was hauling her hands down, meeting her gaze head on. He was the island’s most senior nurse, sixty or so, big and gentle and as patient as any man she’d met. The look of fear in his eyes now made her more terrified than she’d been in her life. If Pieter was scared…

But he had himself more together than she did. ‘So Benjy’s probably with Jacques,’ he told her. ‘Or he’ll be hiding. It’s a good sign, Lily. Benjy’s the most sensible six-year-old I know. If we look for him or for Jacques, it’ll only jeopardise us all. You were crazy to have left the hospital yourself.’

He hesitated then, but they had to face facts. ‘I’m sorry, but you need to block Benjy out, Lily. You’re our only doctor and we need you. Trust Jacques to take care of him. For now Benjy’s on his own and so are we.’

It was dusk as the Chinook carrying Ben hovered over the northern beach, its searchlights illuminating the sweep of sand while they assessed whether it was safe to land.

‘We have the north beach secured,’ they’d been told on a shaky radio connection by a deputy head of council who’d seemed to be having trouble speaking. ‘They don’t seem to be near. And the hospital’s ours. That’s all.’