It was well past three in the early hours of the morning, and the Princetons, their guests, and staff were gathering in the living room for the second meeting after a fruitless search of the island. While the men once again went through areas on the map where they had searched and discussed where to go next, the women sat in a group on the other side of the room.
Haruka was distraught, her eyes red from crying. Her slender body trembled as she silently prayed for her daughter’s safety. Beside her sat Akira, who, too, was worried sick for her friend’s safety.
“We’ll find her,” Brenda said, patting Haruka’s shoulder. “Sakura is a strong girl. She’ll get through this.”
Mary, Katherine, and Beth nodded firmly in unison.
Mary said, “If anyone were to get through something like this, it’ll be Sakura. She might not look it, but she’s a survivor.”
Katherine agreed. “She is,” she said as she gently stroked Michael’s hair, who was sound asleep, his head resting on her lap and a blanket over his body.
Beth said quietly, “She’s been through so much, that girl.” The jolly woman chuckled as she looked at Haruka. “She won’t give up. She has too many people she loves to come back to.”
Their kind words warmed Haruka’s heart, and she smiled at them gratefully.
On the other side of the room, James instructed the staff members, along with Sosuke, Jim and Peter—who had now familiarized themselves with the terrain of the small island by studying the map—to start searching in area that they had yet to cover. Despite the stormy weather, which was now a little milder than before, they had to keep going, as the aid they had requested from the coast guard had yet to arrive. Of course, James had also called his private team for help, which he hoped would be here soon, with helicopters and a special search unit.
The Princeton brothers—now in warm, dry clothing and looking rather tired after their two rounds of tracking and searching—discussed where else Mrs. Clark could have taken Sakura, especially in this weather. They knew the woman and her accomplices would need a dry place to hide before they could leave the island. Of course, the brothers and their staff had searched every beach house along the island as well as caves in the forest and along the coastline, but so far, they hadn’t found any trace of the intruders.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Logan said tiredly. “They can’t just disappear into thin air.”
Tristan nodded. “The weather is shit, so they have to be somewhere dry. They obviously can’t leave the island until morning, right?”
Sebastian thought about this for a moment, a dark frown on his face. “Wait, we have to think backward. Never mind about the weather. Mrs. Clark’s sole purpose is to get Sakura.”
Tristan nodded. “That’s right.”
Nicolas said, “We know the woman wants to get rid of Sakura because she’s a witness, but why would Mrs. Clark choose now to do it? Surely, she knows we’re going to be here for two weeks and there’d be plenty of opportunities.”
James nodded in agreement.
Hayden said, “Unless she has no choice because, remember, the police are after her.”
Conrad said, “That’s true. Maybe she’s desperate.”
Darcy nodded. “So desperate she must act now, even in this storm?” He narrowed his eyes. “The storm. Getting rid of Sakura.”
Sebastian flicked ideas and possibilities through his mind, searching for links between the snippets of information they had so far. The storm. Sakura. They had to link somehow. Then he widened his eyes in realization. “Shit!”
Everyone turned their gazes to him then.
Sebastian said, “The storm. Getting rid of Sakura! Mrs. Clark isn’t desperate. In fact, if we link everything together, this is the perfect opportunity for her.”
Darcy thought for a second, and then his mind clicked as well. “You’re right.”
Nicolas nodded. “An accident. If anything were to happen to Sakura, it’s because she’s on St. Thomas Island and because of the storm. It won’t link back to Mrs. Clark, who wasn’t on the island from the start.”
Darcy raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “Then we have to find out where they could be right now. Sakura could be in more serious danger than we think.”
“Hold on. Let’s think clearly,” Nicolas said. “Where would be a good place to get rid of somebody, especially on a stormy night like this.”
Sebastian said, “The cliffs. There’s lots of them here near the beach, though. On a stormy night like this, a simple slip would do the trick.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Or the forest up in the mountains. A slip there would seriously injure anyone.”
“Tree branches, too,” Hayden said. “Who’s to say the lightning didn’t strike one and it fell and hit Sakura?”
“Fuck!” Darcy swore loudly. “There’s just way too many possibilities.”
Conrad said loudly, “What about Sakura’s vulnerability? She hates the sea, doesn’t she?”
That got everyone’s attention, including James. The head of the family said, “Sakura can swim. Sebastian taught her a year ago. I’m sure she’s confident in her ability.”
Conrad nodded. “Yes, but she told me today when we were touring the yacht she still hates the sea. I mean, she was looking forward to swimming and everything, but only in the shallow near the beach. She said the sea sometimes reminds her of what happened when she was young, and it scares her.”
Sebastian and Darcy looked at each other, realizing Sakura hadn’t yet gotten over the trauma of her near-drowning episode when she was young back on St. Joseph Island.
Darcy opened his mouth and was about to say something when his cell phone rang. He frowned as he took it out of his pocket, annoyed at the interruption.
Hayden said, “Now? At this time of night?”
Darcy looked at the screen. He glanced at his siblings and father and said, “It’s Alaina.”
Sebastian said, “Then pick it up. She might be able to give us clues about Tara’s whereabouts. That could lead us to Sakura.”
Tristan nodded in agreement. “True. Why didn’t we think of that earlier?”
Darcy swiped to answer the call. After he’d put it on loud speaker so everyone could hear, he said, “Alaina?”
Through the line, they could hear Alaina’s panicky voice. “I’m so sorry, Darcy. I didn’t know how bad it was. I really didn’t. Please… I’m so sorry… I don’t know what to do. What am I supposed to do?”
Darcy shook his head. “Alaina. You’re not making any sense. Calm down and then tell me what’s going on.”
On the other end of the line, they heard her say brokenly, “Okay, I’m calming myself down…”
They heard her breathing in and out deeply and slowly a couple times. Then she said, “I’m so sorry, Darcy. Look I couldn’t help myself, and… I talked to Tara and everything. Hmm… Anyway, I was curious and I sneaked into her hotel room. I mean, it was easy since I am a Princeton and everything, but… Anyway, I sneaked into her room tonight because I saw her leaving with her mother and her new boyfriend and everything, and I know they won’t be back until like tomorrow or something… I thought they were going somewhere together as a family, but I just found out that I’m wrong.” She paused, and they could hear her taking in a few more deep breaths.
“Oh, Darcy…” She was crying now. “I found Tara’s diary. We always wrote stuff in our diaries and shared what we’d written since we were young, you know. And in there I found her latest entries… You’re not going to believe this, but I’m so scared.”
Darcy was running out of patience now, as was the rest of the brothers and their father.
Sebastian said firmly, “Alaina, please just calm down and get to the point. We’re seriously in a hurry here. Sakura is missing, and we can’t afford—”
“Sakura’s missing? Already? Oh God, I knew it,” Alaina said. “I’m so sorry, Sebastian.”
Her words got their attention, and they eyed one another with concern.
Sebastian continued, “What is it? You knew this was going to happen?”
“Yes… I already told Darcy that something bad was going to happen, didn’t I? Well, I found Tara’s diary.”
Nicolas said, “Tell us what’s written in the diary, Alaina.”
With broken voice, she said, “Okay. I’m going to summarize it for you guys. It’s something about sneaking into the great house on St. Thomas Island. The storm is perfect for the plan. Get Sakura. Use chloroform. Take her to the yacht. In the middle of the sea. Dispose of Sakura’s body.”
“Fuck!” Darcy swore loudly.
It was James’s turn to talk. With a calm voice, he said to his daughter, “Alaina, it’s your dad here.”
“Dad?” her voice came through.
James smiled. “You did a good job phoning us. Keep yourself safe now.”
“Okay,” came her reply. After a short pause, she continued. “Darcy… Sebastian… Everyone, please save Sakura. And I’m sorry I did all those means things to her. I really am. I was stupid.”
Darcy said, “We know, Alaina. We’ll talk later. We have to go now.”
“Okay. Please, you guys, be safe.”
Darcy hung up his cell a moment later and returned his attention to his siblings and dad.
“Shit!” Tristan said. “This is serious.”
Nicolas said, “So that’s their plan. A perfect accident during a perfect storm.”
It was then the security guard rushed into the living area. “Mr. Princeton, sir!” the man said loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. “The security system found the signal of a boat in the sea.”
Sebastian and Darcy glanced at each other.
James said, “Then let’s get moving. I’ll inform the choppers of the location. You boys get to work saving Sakura.”
Nicolas said, “We’ll head over there now.”
James nodded. “Good luck, sons.”