“Yes, Sir.” She had tears in her eyes. Carol was a submissive and disappointing me killed her.
“You have fifteen minutes to find out what happened to Lucinda and how she got off of my boat without you or I knowing.” I gripped the edge of my desk to ground me, flexing and releasing my fingers.
“Anyone involved, is gone. No excuses, you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.” She turned to walk out the door.
“And for fuck’s sake. Find me Marcus Davenport.”
She nodded and closed the door behind her.
In my gut I knew Marcus had let the cat out of the bag. I didn’t think he had some great moral epiphany, but perhaps he wanted her for himself. No excuses would matter. He had disobeyed me, and I needed to find out why, but that was another problem for another day. Today’s problem was finding Lucinda.
I went back to the security cameras, combing through footage, trying to find out where she’d gone.
After entering her room at three-thirty and accepting room service delivery at four-thirty, she never stepped foot outside.
That would mean someone fucked with the cameras. I couldn’t imagine anyone on my staff betraying me.
What was I missing?
And then I spotted it.
Around twelve-thirty in the morning. A woman dressed in a black hoodie and leggings, her face not visible on the camera, entered Lucinda’s room. Five minutes later she left alone, appearing surprisingly shorter than when she’d entered.
“Son of a bitch.” Another camera picked up movement on the helipad. The young woman and Marcus climbing the steps to my helicopter and ascending into the sky.
I threw the remote across the room. It shattered in a million pieces. I stabbed at the first number on my phone.
“Hey, Boss.” Harold. The poor guy shouldn’t have answered.
“Who the fuck stole my helicopter?”
“What do you mean?” he huffed. “It’s on the helipad at your house. Did you want it to stay on the boat?”
“You took off right off after dropping me off?” I stormed down the halls, looking for anyone else on my staff to terrorize.
“Yeah, Marcus and another guest needed to get back to the mainland.” He hesitated, obviously realizing he’d done something wrong. “We dropped them off in Jacksonville and then headed back to the house.”
“Who was the guest?” I made it to Lucinda’s room and didn’t bother knocking. I used my passkey and let myself in. Her bed was freshly made, her closet and bathroom, empty.
“I don’t know, Boss.” Harold grunted and snapped at someone. “Just assumed someone Marcus had met on the boat. It was late. I didn’t give it much thought. I’m sorry, Boss. Who is?—?”
“I want my helicopter back here within the hour.” I didn’t give him a chance to finish his questions. I hung up the phone and turned to find Carol in the hallway.
“I told you to keep an eye on her.’
“Sir, I am so?—”
“Did you know she was leaving?” I stepped in front of her. “Did you help her leave?”
“No!” She blinked and took a step back. “I am just as shocked as you are, Sir. But. . .”
“But, what?” I took off again, back toward my stateroom. Carol followed closely on my heels.
“I’m not sure I understand why it matters?”
I stopped and Carol bumped into me. I turned. Her hands shot out to steady herself.
