Second Chances Read Free

muttered under his breath.
    “Pardon?” Gil was close enough to have heard him.
    “Eddie Izzard.” Lyle explained. Gil smiled in understanding.
    “Exactly,” Pierce said, ignoring their muttered comments. “Just tell anyone who asks that you will be away at least six months on a Humanitarian mission.”
    Aiden groaned and dropped his head into his palms, muttering to himself. “I’m going to lose my teaching certificate. Shit.”
    “We’ll supply you with whatever you need,” Pierce said and added with another dismissive flick of her hand, “including any relevant documents…”
    “Are there any decent roads where we’re going? I don’t want to leave my bike behind, but if there are no good roads there’s no point in taking it. I’ll need it shipped home if I can’t take it with me.” Gil glanced across at Miles. He noted that the doctor had been suspiciously quiet for a while. “Miles? Nothing to add?”
    “Up to you.” Miles shrugged. “I ain’t going anywhere.”
    “You are aware this will get you killed quite quickly?” Pierce asked.
    “Miles?” Gil was concerned. He hadn’t foreseen this development.
    “You’re making the assumption I care whether I live or die, Ms Pierce.”
    “Do you care about your friends? You will most likely be tortured for information.”
    “Well, I’m certainly not putting myself in the hands of a couple of people I don’t know from Adam who waltz in here and try to take over my life. If I need to disappear, I’m quite capable of doing that by myself, thank you very much.”
    Pierce chuckled mirthlessly. “No, you can’t. You’ve worked overseas, yes? You know how truly corrupt most institutions are. For the right price, anyone is for sale.”
    “You’re assuming that when I disappear I’ll keep working as a doctor. Australia is a big place, lots of ways a man can blend into the landscape. I don’t and won’t be going.” Miles stood and pulled at Roofie’s chain.
    “Let me get this straight. You’re fine with yourself dying, your friends getting killed, and the natives of Rapatoka Island suffering horribly as well?”
    “Spare me the melodramatics, hon. I’m sure once some photos of little kids with bloated stomachs hit the internet, the place will be swarming with volunteers let alone crews from the Red Cross and Medecins sans Frontiers. Been there, done that. I can’t for the life of me see how putting us in that environment will be any more secure than me finding a nice hidie-hole somewhere the back of Bourke and going native. Heck, until I cleaned up recently I looked the part anyway.”
    “You will be dead the moment your foot touches Australian soil, presuming you’re lucky enough to survive the flight. As for the natives, no pictures will be hitting the internet. No one knows the island exists; it couldn’t be more off the map. They’ll simply die, unknown by the world. Much like you.”
    Gil watched the exchange thoughtfully. He hoped Miles was simply pushing to see how far he could go to get Pierce to react. He hoped. He actually hadn’t thought about any one of them refusing. It worried him more than he was comfortable with that Miles might actually be serious.
    Miles snorted. “Since when could three or even four people make that much of a difference? You need a team of people for disaster relief: equipment, money, facilities to treat the injured, materials for rebuilding. The whole thing sounds like a lot of hoo-ha to me.” He shortened Roofie’s lead; the dog’s hackles had risen at his tone of voice. Seemed his mutt was the only other intelligent person in the room. “Plus, given the way you referred to Flynn, why should I have anything to do with you? You certainly don’t come across as a bunch of bleeding hearts. Why would you care what happens to us?”
    “You’re that afraid of failure again, Doctor Sutherland?”
    “Failure? If you’re referring to the fact I was thrown out of Somalia, that had nothing to do