Like snapshots in an old photo album, she saw an image of the open gate, saw Anuata frozen in the act of throwing an unconscious man over her shoulder, and saw terrified children huddled in a bedroom. “Two weeks? It was two weeks ago?” “Yes.” Alex tried to take her in his arms, but she pushed him away. “No, that can’t be. It’s impossible.” Arms clasped tightly over her chest, Ree rocked back and forth, sickened by the pain of her failure ... her betrayal. “I promised to help them,” she said. “I promised.” “So Anuata told me.” He grimaced. “Ree O’Connor, you are a great trouble to me. Will you never cease making bad situations worse?” “How could I make it worse? I abandoned those helpless children. They could all be dead by now. Probably all murdered by that awful man and woman. Or sold to perverts.” “As dead as those baby dolphins in the cove?” His voice grated. “The ones who heard their mothers being slaughtered first?” He checked himself.
