Private 02 - Private Paradise

keeping the guests' anxiety under control.
    “ Are you sure it's safe for us to take the ferry?” fretted a rail thin blond with a strong New York accent. Her husband, a senior partner in a major investment firm, looked equally concerned.
    “ The ride to St. Thomas is only about forty-five minutes,” Sam said, his deep, measured voice betraying none of the stress he was feeling. “As long as the ferries leave the dock in the next hour there should be no problem avoiding the first wave of the storm.”
    Despite his reassurances, there was an anxious murmur among the guests as they milled around, clutching purses and carryons, taking turns looking wide-eyed out the windows over a sea that had grown choppier in the last several minutes.
    Carla couldn't blame them for their fear. Though the storm was still a hundred miles away from Holley Cay, it had already passed Puerto Rico and inflicted major damage to the strip of hotels along the island's south west tip.
    She could only pray that the storm would lose some of its force by the time it reached Holley Cay.
    In the next several minutes, she helped Sam and the rest of the staff get guests loaded onto the resort's fleet of golf carts to be shuttled down to the dock. Despite the stress working with Sam had put on her in the past week, now she was grateful for his presence.
    Not only did he remain unruffled even as Carla struggled to keep her cool in front of the guests, his aura of leadership, combined with his height and muscle mass were more than a match for the massive egos of several of the resorts' guests.
    Anyone who questioned the methods of evacuation or the order in which guests were being transported was politely but firmly put in their place as the rapidly dwindling crowd was taken to the docks.
    Soon the lobby was empty, but as Carla did a quick tally in her head she realized the occupants of one villa were unaccounted for.
    “ Where are the Waters twins?” Sam echoed her thoughts.
    Carla didn't bother hiding her frustrated groan. “Probably still sleeping off whatever they did last night.”
    “ I'll go drag them out of bed,” Sam said, his voice grim.
    “ No way. I know you were special forces and all, but I wouldn't put it past them to tie you up and hold you as their sex slave, never mind the storm coming in.”
    Sam actually blanched at the thought. Carla suppressed a grin, wondering if he knew how many points he scored with his visible revulsion to the idea. “You go help Rodney make sure everything is locked down, and I'll meet you at the dock.”
    She grabbed a golf cart and sped off to the twins' villa on the windward side of the island. As Carla parked the cart the wind picked up, whipping her ponytail against her cheek. Though the air was warm and moist, goosebumps prickled on Carla's skin.
    The reality of the storm looming closer lent an urgency to her knocks as she went to round up the twins.
    A muffled, “go away” was barely audible over the gust of wind whipping over the island.
    Carla knocked harder. “Kayla, Karena, you need to come with me to the dock right now.”
    When the door remained firmly shut, Carla took out her own key and unlocked the front door. Fortunately, the twins hadn't thrown the deadbolt. The door swung open to reveal the girls lounging on the couch in the main room. Two pairs of identical green eyes glared up at her.
    “ Like, what the hell do you think you're doing?” Kayla said.
    “ Yeah,” Karena chimed in. “We're like, paying guests. You can't just barge into our room.”
    Carla bit back a snotty retort, reminding herself that these evil little snots were her guests and had to be treated as such. “Ladies, I'm so sorry to intrude, but there's a major storm headed our way and we have to evacuate the island.”
    Karena blinked sleepily. “Like, leave?”
    “ Yes, like, leave.”
    Neither made any move to get off the couch. “Look, I'm kinda hungover,” Kayla said, gesturing to the array of half empty liquor bottles scattered across the low table in front of the couch, “and I don't really feel like going anywhere. So I think we're cool just, like, waiting it out.”
    Carla took a deep, calming breath and pasted what she hoped looked like a sympathetic smile on her face. “Wow, I know, hangovers are a total drag, and I can see why you might want to take it easy today, but the evacuation is not optional. It's not safe for you to stay here.”
    Karena settled deeper into the cushions and cocked an