Free The Island by Lisa Henry Page A

monsters, he was afraid of becoming one. He knew Callie would never let it happen. Not without a fight.
    Lee, sleeping, turned over on his side to face Shaw. Shaw took the opportunity to angle the laptop slightly and photograph him. Proof of life would go a long way. He sent the picture with the e-mail, and then deleted them both from the hard drive. His encryption levels took care of the rest, scrubbing everything clean. There was nothing on his laptop that Vornis could use to accuse him of breaching his trust. Because trust was all there was in this business, apart from force, and it was the most fragile of things.
    He logged into a social media site next and checked his messages. There was a new one from Stuart: Hi! Can’t wait to see you! XOXO!
    Shaw smiled at that. Stuart sounded more like a flirt every time. He messaged back: Hi Stuart. Great to hear from you. Love to catch up soon . He logged off and closed his laptop. Shaw liked hearing from Stuart. Stuart was a sure thing, and there were so few sure things in Shaw’s life.
    He looked at Lee, who appeared even younger when he was asleep. His face was untroubled, and Shaw envied him that. He was no stranger to nightmares after six years in the business. He wondered why Lee didn’t wake up screaming. Was it because he believed he was safe in Shaw’s bed? Or were the drugs still flooding his system?
    Lee shifted in his sleep and moved a hand up to his face.
    Shaw looked at the raw skin and the bruises around Lee’s wrist. He must have struggled at some point. Like an animal, Hanson had said. Shaw expected that Vornis had encouraged it. Vornis liked to break his enemies, and this one was well and truly broken. Shaw wondered if Lee knew that. Had he realized that Vornis was probably already bored with his dazed compliance and would kill him sooner rather than later? He wouldn’t have let Shaw play with his toy if he still coveted it. And eight weeks, by all accounts, was a long time for Vornis to keep a prisoner. Lee’s odds grew shorter every day.
    Shaw rolled onto his back and watched the ceiling fan spinning lazily. There was that crazy fantasy again, poking at the edges of his mind: the boat, the ocean, and the salvation. Focus . He was about to sell a painting for ninety-five million dollars. He was about to meet a group of the world’s most powerful men. And Shaw lived for moments like these. So why did he feel like shit? Why did he feel like he should be doing something more for Lee? Common sense and a sharp instinct for self-preservation told him there was nothing else he could do. Now was not the time to have a crisis of conscience.
    Shaw rose from the bed and headed outside. The night was dark and peaceful, and the stars were brilliant. There was nothing like waves rolling endlessly on a beach to put things into perspective, like staring up at night into a timeless field of stars. The little things didn’t matter anymore. Even the life-and-death things faded.
    Shaw stood in the shallows for a while, letting the tiny waves crest and crash around his ankles. The water was cool, and Shaw sank deeper into the sand. He breathed for a while, just stood and breathed, and then turned and trudged back to the bungalow. Lee was still asleep.
    Shaw realized he stank of sweat and cum. It wasn’t the sort of scent that usually turned his stomach, but under these circumstances? Yeah, he needed to get clean. Running a hand through his hair, Shaw headed back down into the starlit bathroom and stripped off. He stepped back into the shower. His third shower in a day. That had to be some sort of a record.
    He scrubbed his skin clean, looking up at the flawless sky. His bare toes sank into the crushed coral, and Shaw sighed. God, he’d love a place like this one day, without someone like Vornis breathing down his neck. Without the fucking complications.
    The cool water stung his shoulders, and Shaw realized he’d burned earlier. Now that was the sort of distraction he