Page 41 of Return to the Island

23

Tack

“I think we’re all clear, Boss,” Marco said to me to as I helped him secure the wooden hurricane panels across my office windows. We’d emptied the hotel of guests and staff. Only a few people remained, scattered here and there. We convinced most people that the window of opportunity to leave was now or accept what came next. Some visitors had lived through several hurricanes and decided to weather the storm, not wanting to cash in on their vacation insurance. A few workers stayed at the hotel, finding the higher altitude and solid structure more protective than their village homes.

“Thank you, Marco,” I said as I stepped back and found Branson entering the office.

“Is everyone on the planes?” I swallowed the small lump in my throat. She’d left me. In my anger, I told her to go, and she did. After all that I’d learned, that she’d been forcibly removed from the island and had tried to see me at my father’s offices, I realized she’d never intended to leave me before. She’d kept her promise to find me. This time was different.

I’d been consumed with rage earlier, my arm sweeping the contents of my desk to the floor after the door clicked shut with her departure. I stepped behind it, examining the heap of papers I’d stacked on the smooth surface. My laptop and phone were thankfully not broken.

“Yes,” Branson answered. Hesitation in his voice forced me to look upward at him. His hair stood upright as if he just ran his fingers through it.

“What?” I barked.

“Where’s Juliet?” he asked, looking around the room.

“What do you mean where’s Juliet? You just said everyone boarded the planes.” My fist clenched and knocked at my desk, adrenaline slowly seeping into my veins like a junkie.

“She didn’t go.”

“What?” I shouted, slamming my fist downward.

“I was watching her, like you asked. One minute she was with Miller, and the next she was racing through the airport. I caught her just before the entrance. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was coming back.” He paused. “She said she was coming back for you, actually.”

I slowly sat, stunned at the admission.

“So where is she?” I asked him as he stood there wondering the same thought.

“I said I’d bring her here, but she slipped away.”

“What about Miller?”

“He got on the plane.”

“Okay,” I shook my head, still processing that she hadn’t left. She was coming back for me, but where was she? The rumble of my hurricane panes reminded me of the imminent danger around us. I stood abruptly.

“We need to find her. I want this entire resort searched. Get Marco to help you if he’s still here.” I walked around my desk and headed for my own search.

My first stop was her room, finding a T-shirt on the bathroom floor covered in tropical fragrance.

“Where are you, Mouse?” I murmured to the tile, taking in the fragrance I’d had perfected to match her. I set the shirt on the sink counter and returned to the hall.

I’d been through all the main areas. The storm was coming closer, the wind careless of trees and flowers. The sky was a solid gray. I considered that I should have stayed in my office in case she returned there looking for me, but I could never have sat still, knowing she was out here trying to get to me. I’d already let her walk away once, and I should have followed then. I should have protected her from Lillian, but it hadn’t occurred to me she was in danger.

Blink, she’d said to me, and I didn’t understand at first. She didn’t feel safe with me, and it crushed me. I couldn’t think of a single time I’d threatened her or given her cause to misunderstand my intentions. Even when we were rougher, I made certain it was clear she had the power. She could stop me.

My heart leapt with hope. Had she reconsidered? Had she decided she was safe with me? There was nothing to be afraid of, if we were together. I swiped a hand through my hair as I headed for the elevator. The electricity was spotty, and although we had a generator for lights, I’d shut down the elevator. I took the front emergency stairs two at a time, noting a few people who pulled bedding into the stairwell. This was the safest place for anyone once the storm hit. I prayed it would dissipate, but a hurricane was more likely. It would cover us, wreaking havoc until the eye crossed us, if it even did. Like an everchanging sea urchin, the storm might only dust our shores then sweep on to the next island. I burst into the hall of the third floor and stalked to my office.

Where are you, Mouse? I entered my office and walked into my private suite. I quickly changed out of my suit pants and dress shirt for casual clothing. I swiped two pillows off my bed and rolled the duvet over my arms. There was a stairwell outside my offices, rarely used by general guests and staff. I decided I’d put some supplies there and begin my search for her once again.

With my hands full, I reached the door and I tried to use my elbow to release the handle. The door didn’t open.

“What the fuck?” I said aloud, setting down my things. Using my shoulder, I rammed against the door and it swung open, a loud bang resounding through the well. I looked down the first set of stairs.

“Juliet?” Her name was a whisper as if I was imagining her there. Blinking twice for focus, I said her name again, racing down the stairs.

“Don’t…,“ she said, raising her hands and I stopped on a step. A large slam followed my descent and we were enveloped in darkness. “…let the door close,” she amended.