37 - Jocelyn
~ 37 ~
JOCELYN
Back in the kitchen, we found four people on their hands and knees working frantically with towels. Apparently Dorothea had knocked over an entire tray of stuffed mushrooms, or artichokes, or only God knew what. The mess it made was catastrophic.
“Get the mop,” ordered Kayden. “Don’t do that.”
We cleaned quickly, and fell into the prep work necessary for tonight. For at least an hour, no one bothered with us at all. Not Raif, not Evelyn, not anyone. The sudden silence blanketing the manor was almost a little creepy.
“When we leave tonight,” Kayden muttered, pulling me off to one side of the kitchen, “you need to be ready. Forget about your things. Forget everything except following our signal.”
“And what signal will that be?”
He looked up; to make sure we were still semi-alone.
“Trust me, you’ll know it.”
I wanted to tell him I trusted him with my life, and that I’d follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked me to. Right now though, our private conversations were limited.
“Okay,” I conceded.
He gave me an appeasing smile, then dashed off to complete whatever tasks head chefs were responsible for next. It made me nervous, not knowing where the others were. Bishop was gone, and so was Andre, but neither of those disappearances seemed to bother Kayden.
Eventually, the sound of a distant helicopter reached our ears. It grew progressively louder, until it was obvious the aircraft was approaching the island. Kayden and I shared a knowing glance.
Be ready, he mouthed silently.
Everyone in the kitchen stopped whatever they were doing and just looked at each other. Raif barged in; looking extremely worried, and demanded to know what was happening. When everyone shrugged, he flew out of the kitchen just as fast.
“Finally something that’s not on his itinerary,” I joked, and the kitchen staff laughed.
“There’s gonna be a lot of that soon,” Kayden leaned in and whispered.