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6
Elias
Thunder cracked through the sky,and frigid air blasted me in the face as I jumped out of the helicopter on the Finishing School’s helipad. I was well over an hour late, because my family’s usual pilot wasn’t available due to an injury, meaning I had to wait until a substitute could be found. The high wind speeds had also made it difficult to get over to the island.
One of the guards dashed toward me as I strode over to the main entrance of the mansion. “We thought you weren’t coming,” he shouted over the roaring winds, shielding his face from the rain.
“Had some issues getting a pilot, but I’m here now. The helicopter’s a twin-engine so it can fit ten passengers and do several flights without refueling, if we need that,” I replied. “How’s it going so far?”
“There were twelve society members here, but they left on the first two choppers, along with the art. Then—”
I cut him off. “Hold up. Did you say art?”
“There’s been a lot of priceless artwork added to the collection here over the years. Your father wanted to ensure all the valuables were taken out first, along with the members, so we—”
I cut him off again. “Fuck the art! Who gives a shit about that when there are fucking peoplehere?”
“I’m sorry, Elias, I was just following your father’s orders. He said he wanted you to do all this stuff, but you didn’t get here in time.”
I let out a sharp, angry snort. I should’ve known today’s ‘emergency’ involved some bullshit like this. My father didn’t want me to help oversee the island evacuation to make sure everyone got off safely. He wanted me to make sure any priceless family treasures were airlifted to safety before anything else. I guess to him, people could always be replaced, but an original Modigliani couldn’t.
“How many others have been evacuated?” I asked, taking a deep, steadying breath.
“Ten of the girls so far. All the kitchen and cleaning staff are still here along with the nurse and the rest of the guards. Several more choppers are due to land any minute now to get everyone.”
“Right.” I waved my hand back at my helicopter. “Like I said, that can fit ten passengers. We’ll get the rest of the girls onboard now.”
“Got it. They’re waiting inside.”
I strode into the mansion with him, and my eyes narrowed as I counted nine remaining girls in the entryway.
“I thought you said you only evacuated ten girls, not eleven,” I said, turning to the guard.
“That’s right.” His brows furrowed.
“Care to explain this, then?” I said, waving my hand at the gaggle of fearful girls.
His face paled as he counted. “I… I don’t know what’s going on. Hold on.” He dashed over to another guard, who was holding a clipboard. Then he returned to me, flipping up a piece of paper. “We’ve been keeping track of everyone who left so far. There were definitely only ten girls on that rescue chopper.”
I scanned the list, and my guts began to churn. When I didn’t see Tatum in the entryway, I assumed she was on that helicopter, but her name wasn’t on the list.
“Where the fuck is Tatum Marris?” I shouted, addressing everyone in the large foyer.
There were some shrugs and murmurs, but no one seemed to know. Fuck.
“Come on, has anyone seen her?” I said, a note of desperation in my voice.
“She was here a second ago,” a petite dark-haired girl murmured. “I… I thought I saw her go outside to get on the first helicopter, but I guess I was wrong.”
I turned back to the guard. “Good fucking job, man,” I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm.
“I’m sorry, sir, I have no idea what—”
I held up a hand. “Get these nine girls on my helicopter, and the nurse as well. That’s ten.”
“What about Tatum?”
“I’m going to find her. We’ll get on one of the next ones.”