Cal moved slowly but determinedly as he sat at Sully’s desk and logged in to his laptop. I swallowed down my worry and focused on deleting such a big part of Sully’s life.
Cal called Arbi and told him to bring the goddesses back from Lebah. He rang some guy on their payroll to update passports and documentation required for the five girls who would be going home. And contacted Sully’s bank manager to have two million dollars in cash delivered to his private hangar in Jakarta.
Four hundred thousand per girl.
He wrote down Sully’s passwords while we waited for the boat to arrive from Lebah and gave me access to the curtain I’d tried to see behind for so long. He popped a few painkillers and hung up on Dr Campbell when he called to ensure Cal was taking it slow, and we fell into a comfortable allegiance.
An hour or so later, the grumble of a motorboat echoed from the bay.
“You go. I’ll catch up.” He waved me out the door, and I jogged down sandy pathways, beneath sun-stencilling palms, and into bright skies as Sully’s Euphoria harem arrived.
I stood with braced shoulders as they climbed from the boat and padded barefoot up the main beach of Sully’s empire.
Five girls.
A few I’d seen around but not officially met and one who’d begged to be released by a guest who’d known my name. Jewel with her red hair bowed her head in respect as they lined up before me.
What did they think of me? Standing as Sully’s overseer instead of beside them? Did they hate me? Pity me? Not care in the slightest?
Cal arrived out of breath and fighting a body unwilling to walk through soft sand after being wounded by bullets. The girls stiffened as his green gaze swept over them. Only I heard the strain in his voice and the wheeze in his chest as he nodded at each and recited their names.
“Sailor, Trinity, Jewel, Diamond, and Blossom. Welcome back to Batari.”
Sully had said there were seven goddesses on his island, including me.
That left six to free but only five were ready to leave. Jess and I would stay, but none of us were possessions any longer.
The girls fidgeted in matching wardrobes of the gardener’s uniform on Lebah. Either they’d been put to work tending the produce while they’d stayed in staff quarters or they’d run out of clothes and had to borrow from the employees. Regardless, they all looked healthy and well-kept, if not bored and sullen.
Cal clasped his hands in front of him. “You’re to return to your villas. Rest, bathe, and pack whatever belongings you wish to take with you. Whatever trinkets guests have given you, you may keep. Whatever memories you have from this place, you may remember. However, from this day forward, you are no longer a goddess and you will no longer be trapped here.”
Five pairs of eyes swooped to his. Hope sprang, suspicion glowed, and a flurry of energy trickled through the girls.
“Tomorrow, you will be escorted to a main airport where you will advise where you wish to fly to. You will be provided with the necessary documentation to get home. You will be compensated for your service here. And…” Cal’s eyes turned lethal. “You will be threatened with the typical warnings to protect our anonymity. You speak of this to no one. You will be watched to ensure you do not break this final rule. You will slip back into the lives you left, and we shall all go our separate ways amicably.”
He stepped forward, glowering at each goddess. “If you stay silent, you are free. If you spill our secrets, you will be hunted, eradicated, and all those you told will suffer the same fate. Is that clear?”
Slowly, the girls nodded.
“Good.” Cal rubbed his chest and stepped to the side with his arm spread. “Go on then. Relax on your final day here. Swim, sunbathe, and order whatever you want from the kitchens. Be prepared to leave at noon tomorrow.”
* * * * *
11:52 a.m.
I stood on the beach, squinting in the bright noonday sun at the sleek silver helicopter, ready and waiting to escort Sully’s goddesses back home.
Yesterday, Cal had returned to his villa to rest. I’d returned to Sully to whisper in his ear and run my hands through his hair. We’d all spent the night doing whatever we desired and now…now five girls slowly appeared from the treeline. They no longer wore slinky, sexy bikinis or kimonos. Each wore an outfit appropriate for travel. Each carried a large duffel with whatever mementoes they wished to take with them. And each gave me a relieved smile as they headed toward their glossy transportation.
Cal appeared, keeping his distance and lurking in the trees for shade.
I stood in direct sunlight, dressed in a cream maxi that fluttered softly around my ankles. I wanted to wave goodbye to them. We might not know each other, but we’d share things that linked us forever.