“Texted them to join us here,” Honey says quietly as Seytan narrows her eyes at us.
“What’s going on?” Bones asks
“Seytan’s going to track Kayla’s chip. Find out where she is. But the chopper’s been taken.”
“Yeah, saw that message,” he replies, his voice tight.
Clancy returns a moment later carrying Seytan’s laptop and hands it over to her. She doesn’t thank him, placing it on the coffee table and sinking into the plush velvet sofa. She busies herself logging on while we all stand around waiting like spare parts. Maybe coming to Seytan should have been the first thing we did.
Finally, Seytan speaks up, her eyes flicking between the laptop screen and our faces. “Her chip isn’t registering,” she says, her voice tense.
“What? That’s impossible,” I say, my heart sinking with every passing second.
“I’m afraid it’s not. Her chip is being blocked by a signal jammer.”
“What the fuck?” I shout, my anger boiling over. “Who would do that?”
“I don’t know,” Seytan says, her expression grim. “But we need to find her. And fast.”
“How are we supposed to do that? We have no idea where she could be,” Bones says, his voice laced with frustration.
“We’ll have to search the island,” Seytan says. “Split up into teams and search every inch. Hatchet is already out there. I’ll join him as soon as I can. But first, let’s gather the staff and see if anyone has any information. She didn’t get off this island in a helicopter by herself.”
We follow Seytan out of her quarters and down the hallway towards the staff rooms. As we walk, Honey falls into step beside me.
“What do you think happened to her?” he whispers, his voice laced with worry
“I don’t know,” I admit, feeling a sense of helplessness wash over me. “But we’re going to find out. And whoever did this is going to pay.”
Honey nods, his jaw set in determination.
We reach the staff rooms, and Seytan knocks on the door, her voice firm as she calls out for everyone to come out. Gradually, they begin to appear, faces drawn with concern.
“Kayla is missing,” Seytan says, her voice ringing out across the group. “We need to know if anyone has seen or heard anything that could help us locate her. This is not a drill, people. This is serious. We need to find her.”
The staff nod, murmurs of agreement rippling through the group. Seytan then divides them into teams, sending them off in different directions to search the island. Ghost, Bones, Snow and Honey go with them. I stay with Seytan.
“Was anyone missing?” I ask her, when they’ve all gone off.
She nods, her face pale.
“Who?”
“Doctor Callaway. And Valentine.”
“Valentine? You think he’s taken her?”
“He’s the only one who can fly the helicopter.”
“But, why is the doctor missing?”
“I’m not sure. I need to search her office. Something isn’t adding up.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Seytan sighs and leads the way back towards the stairwell. We climb up to the next floor and make our way down the hallway towards the medical wing. A sense of unease settles over me as we approach, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Something about this entire situation is off, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Seytan opens the door to the medical wing and we step inside. The air is thick with the scent of antiseptic. The doctor’s office is at the back of the wing, tucked away behind glass fronted doors. Seytan leads the way, her hand hovering over the keypad that controls the locks. She punches in a code and the doors slide open with a hiss of air.
