“I just wanted to give you a heads up. The woman, Destiny, has disappeared.”
At first the words made no sense, and he had to remind himself of who Destiny was. Then his jaw clenched. “What do you mean she’s disappeared? She was in a locked cell, underground, with no windows. How the hell could she disappear?”
“We have no clue.”
Luther got to his feet. He paced the length of his office and then back again to stand in front of Silas, who appeared entirely too unconcerned, considering. Though Silas had no idea of Destiny’s role. Luther hadn’t shared that with anyone except Elvira Yang. And he would have to decide what to do about that when the woman was of no further use.
“Could someone have helped her?” But who? She knew no one except for Dr. Yang and Silas. He trusted Silas with his life and Dr. Yang had too much at stake.
“We don’t know,” Silas said.
“Hell, is there anything you do fucking know?”
Silas ignored his show of bad temper. He was used to him. Luther took a deep, calming breath. Where could she go? She was alone on a strange world. She’d maybe just noticed that some imbecile had left the door unlocked and wandered off. She would come back when she got hungry. But who the hell had left the door open? “Tell me what happened.”
“We had an alert earlier this evening. One of the new sensor alarms went off down on the lower level. A patrol was sent to investigate but found nothing untoward. While they were down there, they checked on Destiny and found she was gone. The door to her cell was locked, but she wasn’t inside.”
“How the hell is that possible?”
“Again—no clue. Obviously, no one is owning up to anything. They’ve started searching, but the place is a warren. We hadn’t realized how extensive the tunnels are.”
He frowned. “Man-made?”
Silas grinned. “Unlikely man-made. But not natural, that’s for sure.”
Had someone betrayed him? But who? No. It was just a stupid mistake. Someone had left the door unlocked. Destiny had left and closed it behind her. She’d come back on her own. Or Silas’s men would find her. He had everything under control.
Luther rubbed at his chest, felt the familiar ache, a twinge in his arm. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply. In. Out. Until the tightness left him and he could breathe easily again.
“I want you to take lead on this, Silas. You need to get her back. And soon.”
Silas frowned. “Why? Who is she? Why is she so important? Do you have a thing with this woman?”
“No. Of course not. And it doesn’t matter, because you don’t need to know. But take whatever resources you require and find her.”
“You want her alive?”
“Hell yes, I want her alive.” He took another deep breath. “I need her back. That’s all you need to know.”
Silas raised an eyebrow. “Okay. I’ll go look for her.” He turned and headed to the door. “I liked her, you know. Destiny, I mean. She’s a bit of a cookie, but she’s a nice woman.” And he left.
Luther hadn’t needed to hear that. He didn’t need to know how nice Destiny was.
He crossed to the window and stood staring down at his new kingdom.
The building work was going on even after dark, under the flare of solar-powered flashlights. His people all laboring away. They were building something good here. Something worthwhile. And everyone had their roles to play. His was to provide the vision, others to build it. Destiny had her own role, and Dr. Yang had assured him she was compliant.
Where the hell was she?
Chapter Thirteen
“…joy takes a strange effect at times, it seems to oppress us almost the same as sorrow.”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
Destiny was on the point of exploding, and she hugged her arms around herself as though she could hold all the excitement inside. But she couldn’t.
She’d never felt anything like this.
Unruly emotions bubbled up inside her and a big grin kept trying to escape. No doubt Dr. Yang would have taken one look at her and given her something to calm her down. But Dr. Yang wasn’t here.
Milo was. And his friend Dylan, who, while not having quite the same effect of twisting up her insides as Milo did, was still very exciting.
But thoughts of Dr. Yang did sober her a little. Dr. Yang had given her everything and all she had asked in return