CHAPTER NINE

      THE sound was unfamiliar at first, a tinny bleating that had Lizzie stiffening, then suddenly twisting away from Cormac. Her body still tingled with an unquenched fire but her mind was cold. Clear.

      ‘That’s my mobile.’

      ‘Let it ring.’ Cormac smiled, his hands reaching for her once more. ‘Lizzie…’

      She shrugged him off, icy dread pooling where desire had only moments before. ‘No, Cormac. Only Dani has my number. Only for emergencies.’

      He stilled, his face turning blank as she scrambled off the bed and dug through her bag for the phone.

      ‘I’m sorry…’ she breathed as her fingers curled around the mobile. Then she spoke into the phone. ‘Dani?’

      A hiccupy sob greeted her.

      ‘Dani!’ Lizzie’s voice was sharp with fear. ‘What has happened? What’s wrong?’

      ‘Oh, Lizzie, I’m in such a mess.’

      She sank on to the bed. ‘It’s all right, sweetheart. Tell me.’

      ‘You’ll be angry…’ Another pitiful sob.

      ‘No, I won’t,’ Lizzie said firmly. ‘No matter what it is.’ It was a promise she’d always given, would always give. She would be there for her sister. Always.

      Behind her, she heard Cormac shift. She felt him kiss the back of her neck and she barely suppressed a shiver.

      ‘Come back to bed,’ he whispered. ‘Come back to me.’

      Knowing how tempting his offer was, Lizzie moved from the bed to a chair. ‘Dani, tell me,’ she urged.

      ‘I’m in trouble,’ Dani admitted in a low whisper, and Lizzie’s heart lurched.

      ‘All right,’ she said, striving to keep her voice neutral, matter-of-fact. ‘What happened?’

      ‘It was so unfair.’ Dani’s voice was high with sudden indignation. Whenever Dani was in trouble—for poor marks, bunking off class or being caught smoking behind the school sheds—she always tried to justify it. It wasn’t fair. They didn’t understand. It hadn’t happened the way they said.

      Lizzie knew she had sometimes been too lenient with Dani, not knowing how to act like a mother, feeling somehow guilty that Dani had been forced to grow up as an orphan.

      ‘Tell me, Dani,’ she interrupted her sister’s mournful litany of excuses.

      ‘I’ve been expelled,’ she finally admitted sulkily.

      ‘Expelled?’ Lizzie repeated in numb disbelief. ‘You’ve only been there a week! What on earth happened?’

      ‘I was at a party…’

      ‘And?’ Lizzie drove a hand through her hair.

      ‘I was drunk,’ Dani continued reluctantly, ‘and a friend and I got a bit…silly.’

      ‘They don’t expel you from uni for being silly,’ Lizzie retorted sharply. ‘Tell me the truth, Dani.’

      ‘A group of us broke into the photography lab, meaning to take some pictures and well…a few things got broken. Expensive things.’

      Lizzie closed her eyes, wondered how much they would be liable for.

      ‘They’re just trying to make an example of us,’ Dani complained. ‘It wasn’t…’

      ‘It sounds like it was.’ Lizzie took a deep breath and tried to gather her scattered thoughts. ‘I should ring the university—’

      ‘No. I don’t even want to go back.’ Dani’s voice trembled, and Lizzie realised just how young and afraid her sister really was.

      ‘Oh, Dani. Let’s not make any hasty decisions, all right? I’ll be home in two days—’

      ‘I need to be out of here tonight.’

      ‘Tonight?’ It really was serious. Lizzie sucked in another breath. ‘All right. Well, you can take the train home and I’ll be there as soon as I—’

      ‘Don’t hate me, Lizzie.’ Dani began to cry, softly, and all of Lizzie’s anger melted away.

      ‘I could never hate you,’ she said quietly.

      ‘I couldn’t bear it if you did.’ Dani was crying loudly now, noisy, gulping tears. ‘I know I’ve made such a mess of things. I’ve only been here a week—I’m sorry…’

      ‘It’s all right, Dani.’ Lizzie spoke as if to a child. And really, Dani was a child. Her child. ‘We’ll sort this out.’

      ‘I know you’re far away somewhere,’ Dani said with a gulp. ‘But can you come home? For me? Now—as soon as you can? I…I need you.’

      Lizzie’s heart fluttered briefly with fear before grim determination took hold. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Of course I’ll come home.’ Cormac would understand, she told herself. He’d shown what a truly sensitive man he was tonight. He knew about her situation with Dani. Besides, there was really only one more day left.

      Her sister needed her. That was all that mattered…that had ever mattered.

      Behind her she heard him move. Closer.

      ‘I might be able to get a flight tonight,’ she said, wondering if one of Jan’s staff could take her to Bonaire. ‘But it will be a while, Dani, if you can hold on…’

      ‘Yes, I can.’ She gulped. ‘Now that I know you’re coming.’

      ‘Good.’ Lizzie spent a few more moments soothing her sister, telling her to just get the train home and wait for her there, before she severed the connection and dropped the phone in her bag.

      She looked