CHAPTER ONE

      ‘NO!’

      Adam Chandler slammed his hand down on the desk. It was rare that he ever lost his temper and he could see the surprise on people’s faces as they turned to see what was happening.

      The office was packed that day with members of his team and every single one of them had been hand-picked by him for their skills. Joan Simpson, for instance, was one of the world’s leading authorities on dengue fever—a virulent tropical disease—while Gordon Thompson knew more about typhus than any person alive.

      Adam’s own speciality was reconstructive surgery and he knew without a shred of vanity that there were few people who could match him. This team was the cream of the crop and it had taken him months to put it together so it had been a huge blow when one of their anaesthetists had gone down with appendicitis the previous day. They were due to fly out to Mwuranda the following night and finding a replacement at such short notice had not been an easy task, so he’d been delighted when Shiloh Smith, the head of Worlds Together—the aid agency which was funding the trip—had phoned to tell him that he’d found the ideal candidate to go with them.

      Adam had been on his way to Theatre at the time so he’d asked Shiloh to call at his office that afternoon and let him have the details then. There would be a lot of paperwork that would need to be completed before the newcomer could travel with them but he’d been confident he could get it done in time. Everything had been working out perfectly, in fact, until Shiloh had arrived and dropped his bombshell.

      ‘There is no way that I’m taking Kasey Harris along on this trip.’

      ‘That’s what she said you’d say.’ Shiloh laughed. ‘OK, so what’s the story? Do I take it that you two have a history?’

      ‘Ask Kasey,’ Adam replied shortly, standing up. He poured himself a cup of coffee, hoping Shiloh couldn’t tell how rattled he was. He and Kasey most definitely had a history although it wasn’t something he was prepared to discuss even with his oldest friend.

      ‘I already did and she gave me the same answer as you just did.’ Shiloh grinned. ‘I’m starting to build up a picture here. Do I take it that you and the lovely Dr Harris were rather more than colleagues at one point?’

      ‘You can take it any damn way you like,’ Adam retorted, refusing to be drawn into talking about that episode in his life.

      He picked up the cup and carried it back to his desk, thinking about what had happened five years ago. He had fallen head over heels in love with Kasey Harris, had honestly believed that she had been in love with him, too, but he’d been wrong. She had simply used his feelings as a way to pay him back for what she’d believed he’d done to her brother and it was hard to accept that he’d been so gullible. He’d never been someone who allowed his emotions to run away with him but, as he had discovered to his cost, love made fools of