Meredith and Linda with very much love xxx
STEPPING OFF A plane could be more than stepping onto unfamiliar ground.
Sometimes it was like stepping back in time.
The heat of the early evening was the first thing that Luke Wilson noticed. The kind of heat laced with moisture that felt like the anteroom of a sauna. Why on earth had he chosen to fly in a suit?
Because that was what internationally renowned specialists in tropical diseases wore when they were invited to be a keynote speaker at an exclusive conference?
The smell was the second thing that hit Luke as he walked from the plane towards the golf cart that was clearly waiting to transport him to his accommodation at Wildfire Island’s newest facility—a state-of-the-art conference centre.
He’d already shed his jacket on the small private plane that he’d boarded in Auckland, New Zealand—the last leg of a very long journey from London. Now he loosened his tie and rolled up his shirtsleeves as he breathed in the scent of fragrant blossoms like frangipani and jasmine being carried on a gentle, tropical breeze.
And it was the smell that did it.
It smelled like …
Oh, man … it smelled like Ana.
The emotional reaction slammed into him with far more force than he had anticipated. A mix of guilt. And loss. And a longing that was still powerful enough—even after so many years—to make him wonder if his knees were in danger of buckling.
He shouldn’t have come back here.
‘Let me take that for you, Dr Wilson.’ The smiling young island lad held out a hand to take his small suitcase. ‘Hop on board and I’ll take you to your bure. You’ve got just enough time to freshen up before the cocktail party.’
Cocktail party? For a moment, Luke hesitated—his brain fuzzy from a mixture of displacement and the opposing time zone. Oh, yes … this was the ‘meet and greet’ session before this exclusive conference started tomorrow. A chance to reconnect with his esteemed colleagues from all over the globe who shared his passion—the ambition to make a real difference in the world. Harry would be there, too, of course. More formally known as Sheikh Rahman al-Taraq, Harry was a patient turned friend who was bringing that ambition close enough to touch …
Luke’s suitcase was strapped onto the back of the cart and the young man was giving him a curious look, clearly aware of his hesitation.
‘You ready, Dr Wilson?’
Luke gave a single, curt nod, defying jet lag as he focussed on what lay ahead for the next couple of days. The nod dispelled any ghosts as well. Anahera didn’t live here now. She’d moved to Brisbane almost as soon as he’d left Wildfire Island nearly five years ago. The weird sensation—a curious mix of opposite ends of the spectrum between dread and hope—was nothing more than a waste of mental energy.
‘I’m ready.’ He climbed onto the cart, smiling at his chauffeur.
‘I just don’t get it.’ Sam Taylor, one of the permanent doctors at Wildfire Island’s small hospital, shook his head as he stirred his coffee. ‘All the comings and goings and the research centre being fenced off for so long. Now we have private jets coming in and it seems that we have a boutique international conference venue on Wildfire Island. Why here?’
Anahera Kopu shrugged. ‘It’s a gorgeous place. Different. Exotic enough to attract people who might need an inspiring break as a background to sharing knowledge and doing the kind of networking that’s important in the scientific world.’
‘I get that. But I still don’t understand why someone would choose a place as exotic as the M’Langi Islands. How did they even know about us? And can you imagine how much it has cost? Who’s behind it and why has it been such a secret?’
Anahera shook her head. ‘I have no idea. But it’s not the only secret on this island, is it?’
Oh, help … what an idiotic thing for her—of all people—to say. She had been keeping something huge a secret from all the people who meant the most to her—her mother and her colleagues and friends who were her wider family.
Sam grinned. ‘Do tell, Ana … you must know a few more than me. You grew up here and I’m just a newbie.’
Anahera kept her tone light enough to make the conversation impersonal. She’d had plenty of practice at steering conversations in a safe direction.
‘No, you’re not. You’ve been here for years now.’ She turned on the hot tap and reached for some dishwashing liquid. ‘You arrived just after I went off to Brisbane to do my postgrad training, didn’t you?’
‘Mmm … when the research station was just that. A research station. Now we find out it’s been added to and turned into some exclusive resort that’s going to be used for medical think tanks and—not only that—there’s a rumour that apparently there’s been some amazing breakthrough that’s going to be announced. Something that could change our lives. Don’t you think someone might have told us about that? What do you think it is?’
‘No idea. Unless they’ve come up with a new vaccine, maybe?’
‘Doubt it. That takes years and years and more money than anyone would want to throw at an isolated group of Pacific islands. I reckon it’s got something to do with that M’Langi tea they make and how it seems to protect some islanders from encephalitis. Did you know that research started on that decades ago?’
Oh, yes … Anahera had known about that. Not that she was about to share any details. She didn’t want to think about it, let alone tell someone else. Unbidden, a memory surfaced of sitting in a swinging chair as a tropical twilight morphed into night. Of arms—heavy but so welcome—resting on her body as she lay back against the chest of the man who was telling about his curiosity regarding the tea. She shook the memory off with a head shake that was visible but fortunately appropriate to a dismissive comment.
‘I think they’d decided that the only benefit of the tea was some sort of natural insect repellent so that mosquito bites were less likely and therefore people were less likely to contract encephalitis from them. It’s hardly going to change our lives.’
Sam sat down at the table. ‘I guess not. What we really need is for the aerial spraying to happen to control the mosquito problem. I wonder if anyone’s managed to get in touch with Ian Lockhart yet. He’s the person who should be organising it.’
Anahera shrugged. ‘Not that I know of. He seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear he’s in Vegas, gambling away any recent profits from the mine.’
‘If it doesn’t happen soon, we could be in for a few nasty cases this year. We don’t want another Hami, do we?’
‘Heavens, no.’ Anahera could feel her face scrunching into lines of distress. She would be in tears in no time if they started talking about the little boy they had lost to encephalitis a couple of years ago. It had been the most heart-wrenching case of her nursing career so far. Almost unbearable,
