Rescuing Mila (Squadron 6 #1)

Chapter 1

Mila Watkin blinked. It couldn’t be. She tracked the blonde head of hair weaving above the mass of dark-haired Indonesian locals at the market, hoping her eyes were deceiving her.

They had to be.

No way on earth Vance Bradley would be on a remote Indonesian island without indoor plumbing, paved roads, or any modern conveniences besides a single bar and small medical centre.

It was way beneath him.

Heart pounding, she ducked into a fruit stall, greeted the owner, and peered out into the square.

Stylish beach-blond hair, a too-perfect nose, aqua polo shirt to bring out the blue in his eyes, pressed beige linen slacks and boater shoes.

Yep, it was definitely him.

Her chest tightened, and she exhaled.

What was he doing here?

Though she wanted to believe he’d travelled all this way from Sydney to beg her forgiveness, and profess his undying love, she wasn’t delusional.

Not anymore.

Not since she’d caught him in bed with another woman.

Bastard.

“Is something wrong, Mila?” Ibu Minar asked in Indonesian.

Mila jumped and looked down at the older woman who owned the stall.

“I’m not sure.” As she watched, Pak Agus, the man who controlled the island, joined her ex-fiancé.

They smiled and shook hands as if they were best friends.

Agus was dressed in a similar style to Vance, which would have appealed to Vance’s snobbery.

Money didn’t buy you class.

Concern filled her. How on earth did Vance know the smuggler? More than likely, Agus had made it a point to introduce himself when word reached him that a rich white man had arrived on the island.

But if Vance was looking for her, he could have told Agus things about Mila that she’d gone to great lengths to hide from Agus.

She had avoided Agus since she’d gone through the obligatory meeting with him when she’d arrived.

He liked to know who was on his island and had questioned her extensively about her background.

His far too casual body language had triggered her wariness.

Years of her mother picking out those most likely to cause trouble whenever they went out had rubbed off and Mila had kept quiet about the fact her mother was a major-general in the army and her father owned a very successful business back home in Sydney.

Instead, she’d played the role of the backpacker trying to find herself.

Which wasn’t far from the truth.

“Oh, there is Pak Agus!” Ibu Minar waved and called out, “Pak, please try one of my rambutans.”

Mila winced, but it was too late to hide. Agus turned and spotted her. He tapped Vance on the shoulder and pointed.

Damn it.

“Mila!” Vance cried, and several people in the square turned to look. Foreigners weren’t common here as Pulau Tengah wasn’t set up for tourism. Usually only die-hard surfers ventured all this way looking for the perfect wave.

It was one reason Mila was here—to teach the locals English so they could expand into tourism.

Mila moved out of the stall, not wanting to get stuck in a confined space. “Vance. What are you doing here?”

He grinned that bright smile of his which she’d once thought was charming. “Looking for you, of course.” He smiled at Ibu Minar and pulled out a ten dollar note, handing it to her. “I’ll have some of those.”

Ibu glanced at Agus who translated for her and told her he would convert the note into rupiah for her, and then she pocketed the money and happily bagged the rambutan.

Vance liked to splash money about, but hadn’t even taken the time to get the correct currency. His apparent generosity had appealed to her until she’d realised he’d only done it when he’d had an audience.

“Why?” She hadn’t had the energy to yell at him when she’d caught him in bed with another woman, but she’d been extremely clear in her breakup text.

He had the grace to look bashful. “I never had the opportunity to apologise. The guilt has been gnawing at me.” His sincerity was so convincing Mila took a half step forward before she stopped herself. Vance’s earnest smile slid its way around her. “Can we talk at your place?”

She shook her head. This was all an act, though worthy of an Oscar. She couldn’t be fooled this time. “No.” She wasn’t letting him into her little one- room long house. It was her sanctuary and she didn’t want any association of him there.

“Why don’t we go back to my place for a drink?” Agus suggested, his tone smooth and friendly, but his dark eyes never left her like a snake ready to strike.

Goosebumps leapt on her skin. He knew she’d lied, maybe even knew who her mother was. That was the only reason he’d take time out of his day to help Vance track her down.

Going to his house was an even worse idea, but before she could come up with an excuse, Agus smiled at her, his eyes hard. “I insist.”

Damn. Fear gripped her and she glanced around, but there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Her mother and brother, Jared, who had also joined the military, would tell her not to go with him, but she had no choice.

No one refused Agus.

He gestured towards his brand new black four-wheel drive on the edge of the square. One of Agus’s bodyguards was with the car, and the other was behind Agus.

Vance seemed oblivious to Agus’s implied threat. As the son of Australia’s Minister for Defence he would have had security training, but knowing Vance, he hadn’t paid attention. “Please, Mila. It’s just a chat. There are things we should discuss.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Like how long you’d been sleeping with that woman?”

Vance held up his hands, but she caught the flicker of annoyance in his eyes before he was all contrite. “Please.”

She didn’t have a choice. “I have a class in an hour. I need to be back by then.”

“I’ll make sure you are,” Agus assured her. “I wouldn’t like my people going without.”

His people. Mila caught herself before she rolled her eyes. Sure, some people like Ibu Minar saw him as a saviour because he’d built the bar and the little medical centre, but most realised any favours came with a lot of sticky strings attached.

She climbed into the four-wheel drive and Vance got in next to her, with one of Agus’s men on her other side. Definitely no escaping.

Her mind whirled. If Agus knew who her mother was, Mila couldn’t stay. It would be too dangerous.

She only had herself to blame. If she’d told her parents where she was going, her mother would have warned her.

But no, she’d wanted to be decisive for once and had arranged the trip through one of the women her mother had kept in contact with over the years.

It was only after she’d arrived, she’d discovered her mother had arrested Agus when he’d stolen supplies from the relief effort after a tsunami. His engagement to the chief’s daughter had been broken and Agus had vowed vengeance.

No one knew exactly what had happened after Agus got out of gaol, but ten years later, he had arrived at the island and taken over.

He’d told everyone her mother had been the thief, not him, and vowed to pay her back someday.

Which meant Mila needed to leave before Agus decided what he wanted to do to her.

The air-conditioning cooled her whirling mind on the ride from the village to the cliff top where Agus’s three-storey house was located. Mila closed her eyes as she tried not to panic.

“You look good,” Vance said.

Mila didn’t answer. She wore a light summer dress she’d picked up at a market on the mainland before catching a boat here. It was cheap and colourful, and exactly the thing Vance would normally suggest she save for dinner with her parents rather than going out in public where people might see her.

He wanted something from her.

Of course he did. Why else would he be here?

It had taken a couple of months before she’d admitted to herself the main reason she’d accepted his proposal was because she was sick of being so indecisive.

She’d flitted from a commerce course, to working with her father, then trying the army reserves and back to do an arts degree, without anything appealing.

Both her brothers had known exactly what they wanted to do after university—one working for her father, the other going into the military—and Mila felt inadequate, flighty even. People had started looking at her with pity or amusement when they asked where she was working.

So when Vance had proposed, she’d not wanted to appear indecisive in her love life.

The car pulled up in front of Agus’s concrete monstrosity.

Aside from the medical centre in town, it was the only building made of concrete, but it had been painted a rich earthy orange similar to a Spanish hacienda. The gardens out the front were beginning to take hold and were full of frangipanis, bougainvilleas, and other lush tropical plants.

Two men with a Belgian Shepherd came around the corner of the house. Security.

Did Agus actually have to worry about his safety, or was this all for show? Mila wasn’t certain what illegal activities he took part in, but from the rumours she’d heard, it sounded as if he was part pirate, part smuggler. Maybe he’d made powerful enemies.

As she walked down the path to the front door, she noted another two guards with a dog coming from the other side.

Did he have more covering the back, or didn’t they realise how easily someone could scale the cliffs and get in via the back while both guards were at the front?

She hoped the latter, particularly if Agus decided to keep her here.

Inside, the house was cool. Two doors led off the main hallway and stairs led to the next floor.

The corridor in front of her led to another door on the opposite side of the house facing the cliffs.

She followed Agus and Vance into a lounge room which contained heavy sofas covered in thick brocade, a stupid fabric for this kind of humid climate.

Though the air-conditioning was blasting, so perhaps he didn’t have to worry about such things as mould.