36. Chapter 36
”Mama, the pilot is delayed, so we”re still waiting,” I told her over the phone as I looked through my email on the plane. ”Look, I need to go. I have calls to—”
”Take care of yourself, son.”
”Yeah, Mama.”
I immediately called the Rhodes Hotel, Houston”s general manager to get an update on the three people, two employees, and one guest, who were in the emergency room being treated for life-threatening gunshot wounds.
I felt helpless, and worse, I felt alone. I wished I hadn”t had to cancel on Aurora. I knew how she”d feel, but this was a legitimate fucking emergency. I”d make it up to her, I told myself. I just didn”t know how.
”Any news?” I barked on the phone.
”Still waiting,” my GM said. ”Hey, Sandy from PR has been calling me and—”
”I”ll handle that. You stay with your people. Don”t worry about anything else. I”m on my way.”
I hung up and called my head of PR, and as soon as she answered, I pounced on her. ”Gareth has two people who may die, so you don”t call him to do a fucking press conference,” I said tightly.
”Mr. Rhodes, we have to do damage control and—”
”I need to take care of my people first. How is everyone at the hotel doing? The staff? The guests?”
”Mr. Rhodes, the media is—”
”Fuck the media. It will be what it will be. Are my people okay?”
”I—”
I hung up and called Willa Acker, my head of HR.
”I”m on it with my person in Houston. We”re getting counselors in place.”
”You have anything on the gunman?”
”Disgruntled husband, certain his wife was cheating on him.”
”Was she?”
”Yeah. She was in a suite with her latest boy toy.”
The gunman had shot a bellboy, twenty-two-year-old Dennis, and thirty-year-old Kim, who worked the service desk. He also managed to hurt a guest, Staff Sergeant Nichols, who was there with his wife for a night out on the town away from the kids while he was on a week-long break from deployment in the Middle East. Thanks to Staff Sergeant Nichols, who had tackled the gunman, the casualties had been low, but the gun went off and now he was fighting for his life.
”You”re making sure Mrs. Nichols is taken care of?” I asked.
”Yeah.”
”Thanks. I”ll be there soon.” I hung and heard sounds outside the plane.
”What”s going on?” I asked the steward who was at the front of the plane.
”Ah, you have a guest.”
I raised an eyebrow. The steward stepped back, and I saw Aurora.
I put my laptop aside and walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. God, it was good to hold her. I needed this. I needed her. I”d never needed anyone before. I could work through any crisis, no matter how bad, but it was infinitely better to have her soft and warm in my arms and her scent filling me up.
”What? How?”
”If you want to be alone, I”ll go back, but this is going to be hard, and I didn”t want you—”
”I don”t want to be alone,” I whispered. ”But we”re taking off in a bit and—”
”I have a suitcase,” she smiled at me. ”If you want me to come with you.”
I rested my forehead against hers. ”Yes, I want you…period.”
I raised my head and looked at the steward. ”Can you make sure Miss Aurora Turner is added to the flight plan?”
”Yes, sir.”
”You”ll have to give him an ID.” I couldn”t stop looking at her, couldn”t stop feeling this immense joy of just having her with me.
I held her hand as we were about to take off. ”How did you know where I was?”
”I called your mother.”
That explained why my mother had wanted to know where I was.
She looked at me as the plane soared into the night sky. She put her hands on her my cheeks and said softly, but clearly, ”I love you.”
”Thank God,” I said gratefully.