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what he was in to and how he manipulated people. He was planning to extort money from me using Charlie, and I knew he was selling drugs and would love to make a quick million dollars. I can keep Charlie safe from people like him. Besides, I found Charlie using simple logic. What’s stopping others from doing the same?”
    “Only if they talked to Charlie. Or followed you. It’s that I’m afraid of. Thankfully, Charlie only used the phone once.” Ian then pursed his lips, stopping his words as though something else had occurred to him. With a heavy sigh, he stood and pushed the chair into the desk.
    Behind him, the door to the clinic opened slowly. Hearing it, Ian shoved Liz behind him. His hand reached behind his back to free up his weapon.
    He had his gun out before Charlie could completely enter into the room. The boy’s eyes went wide and he scurried behind Monica, who was coming in right behind him carrying a tray of snacks. She jumped when she saw the gun, and the glasses rattled together.
    Immediately, Ian slipped the weapon out of sight.
    Stricken, Charlie raced over to Liz. As well intentioned as Ian MacNeal wanted to seem, and as incredibly engaging as he might appear, with his position of pastor and his outward care for Charlie, there was no way, Liz decided, that she was going to get herself mixed up with him. He was exactly what Charlie didn’t need in his life—another man with a gun. Charlie didn’t need the extra stress.
    And nor did she need a man who could so easily move from compassionate Christian to cold-blooded bodyguard in a blink of an eye.
    Her sister had been fooled by Jerry, who’d gone from charmer to drug dealer that quickly. Those kind of chameleon men only hurt women like her who trusted people.
    The sooner she and Charlie left the island, the better. Except getting past Ian, the man with a gun, wasn’t going to be easy.

FOUR
    T en minutes later, after he called his supervisor and detailed what had happened, Ian called the local police to say an ambulance wasn’t needed. Liz listened as he stated briefly that she’d been sideswiped by a car that roared up out of nowhere, just at the start of the causeway. Nothing more, she noted, saying as little as possible.
    Within an hour, the police arrived, and together with the two officers, they returned to the causeway to stare into the murky water of the blocked-off strait.
    “Why were you coming over this causeway, when you said you noticed that it was under construction?” the bigger officer asked Liz.
    “The concrete blocks were at the side. There was only one sign that said Construction Ahead. It didn’t say that the road was closed.”
    “The causeway is supposed to be closed to all traffic. I don’t know why the blocks were moved.”
    “There’s a resort being built here,” she pointed out. “How did they get their equipment there?”
    “Special permission. The causeway will hold vehicular weight, but it’s just not finished yet, hence the fact it’s closed.” The highway patrol officer peeled off his sunglasses and his broad-brimmed hat and stared out at thestill, dark water. He shook his head. “It’s going to take some doing getting that car out of there. No one likes to get in with the snakes.”
    Snakes? Liz grimaced. “Should I call a tow truck or will you?”
    “I can, ma’am. I know which company to call. But I don’t know when he’ll be able to get out here.”
    The other officer walked toward the island for a few feet and then turned around again. “Did you see where the car went?”
    Liz shook her head. “I don’t know. The engine revved a bit. I remember that, but that’s all.”
    The officer inspected the ground. “It looks like it turned around here a few times.” He looked at Ian. “Any new cars on the island that you know of?”
    “No.” Ian indicated the direction of the resort. “You may want to check with the resort, though. They have several vehicles. The smaller ones are vans bringing