Chapter 50
Troy
I stood from my desk, my eyes glued to my phone screen as I walked down the hallway toward the elevators. Veronica’s cryptically cold words repeated in my mind. I could see that the blip on the screen was still moving down the interstate, further away from the city and gaining speed. I ran my hand through my hair, stressed, as I thought about how I could get to Monica. I passed Kathy’s door for the elevators, trying to think of a plan.
“Troy?” she called out curiously.
“I have to go,” I said, barely stopping.
“Please. Talk to me.” The worry in her voice caught me off guard. I slowed my steps.
“You’re as white as a ghost,” she said, walking toward me.
“I think Monica is in trouble.”
She swallowed hard as the seriousness of my words registered. I looked down at my feet and shook my head slowly.
“I can’t lose her,” I whispered, feeling my eyes burn with tears threatening to fall. I blinked them back. I hated letting Kathy see me like this, but my emotions were getting the best of me. My fears were consuming me.
“You love her, don’t you?” she asked in almost a whisper.
I looked up at Kathy and saw a knowing sympathy in her eyes. There was no snide satisfaction in knowing that she had been right about us secretly being together, no matter how many times she had tried to catch us or rat us out to my father. No, there was an understanding in her eyes. I wondered if it was because she also loved someone she couldn’t have. My father. I couldn’t let that thought get to me now.
Not when the woman I loved was in danger and I could do nothing to stop it in this moment. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her. I had brought this world of trouble on to her, had brought this awful woman in her life. Veronica had made her life hell at the gala, at my apartment, and now this. I thought I had done what I could to protect her. Us. Still, it wasn’t enough.
And after everything she had been through with her own stalker, Monica must be absolutely terrified right now. I hated myself for it.
“Yes.” I nodded slowly, wiping at my eyes with the back of my hand.
Kathy put her hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “What can I do?” she asked, her eyes intent.
“Call for a helicopter, and hurry.”
She nodded and rushed back into her office. I watched her as she picked up the phone and dialed quickly. I looked back at my phone, feeling helpless as the blip on the screen moved further away from the city. I heard the click of the phone on her desk. That was fast.
“I was able to get one of your father’s in the next twenty minutes down to the pier at the East River. You have to leave now,” called Kathy after she hung up the phone.
“Thank you,” I said with a nod.
“Be careful, Troy,” she said softly.
It was probably the nicest thing she had ever said to me. I stepped into the elevator and rode down to the lobby, thinking about how different I had seen this day play out. If only I had gotten here sooner, then I could have stopped Veronica’s plan. There were a lot of things I could have done sooner, like cut Veronica off from me and my family a long time ago. Or quit this job. Or stand up to my father. Or fight for Monica from the very beginning. The woulda, coulda, shouldas wouldn’t help me now. I shook my head free of them and headed out the open elevator doors.
As I strode for the heavy glass doors that Monica had just passed through not even half an hour before, I felt the receptionist at the front desk eyed me warily.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Veronica? It should have been the first thing you said when I walked in this morning,” I said, turning on her.
“I-I…” She looked sick with unease.
“I thought we had security measures in place!” I said gruffly, barely slowing down.
“Mr. Gunner, I tried to stop them. But Monica…”
“Monica what?” I asked, softening my voice. Maybe she had some sort of clue about where they were headed. Anything would help.
“Monica left with her. She seemed willing…” she shrugged.
I wondered what Veronica had said to her to convince Monica to go anywhere with her. I was sure she came up with something diabolical and unfortunately Monica fell for it. I couldn’t blame her. Veronica was a conniving woman.
“Well, do you have any idea where they were headed?”
She shook her head.
“Did they say anything at all?”
“N-no, sir.”
“What direction did they go?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Useless. Completely useless. I sighed frustratedly.
“That woman is dangerous. I should have you fired. And you…” I pointed at the security guard at the door who looked down at his feet.
I didn’t have time to waste here anymore. I strode out the doors and hailed a cab, then clambered inside and gave him the address to the pier. It wasn’t far, but the traffic added on minutes. I kept a careful eye on my phone screen and my watch, fretting as the minutes ticked by and the miles grew between Monica and me.
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the pier. I had the cab drop me off as close to the landing platform as possible, which was busy with traffic from other helicopters. I ran across the runway, the wind from other crafts deafening as it whipped through my hair. I searched frantically for the sleek, black helicopter belonging to my father. Finally, I spotted it at the end of the runway.
I picked up my pace, ignoring the warning yells from the other pilots and runway directors. I didn’t care about anything but getting to Monica. I spotted the pilot inside the helicopter, rushed in doing his safety checks. I knocked on the window, startling him.
“We have to go!” I yelled through the window.
He hopped out of the helicopter and rounded to the other side to pull open the heavy door. I slid inside and pulled over my seatbelt and put on my headphones.
“What’s our destination, Mr. Gunner?” asked the pilot, as he settled into the seat next to me.
“I’m not sure.”
He looked at me, confused.
“I need you to follow this map.” I held up my phone and showed him the tracking on screen. “Can you do that?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
He put on his own seatbelt and opened the throttle, and the rotors above us whirred faster as he lifted the helicopter up from the runway with ease. We were soon above the river and making our way to the interstate. I could see that Monica was miles and miles ahead of us, but traveling by air would close the distance quickly.
As the miles between us became fewer, I could still see that they were moving quickly. Too quickly for a cab driver to allow. Veronica must be driving. I shut my eyes, trying to block out the image of her little red sports car smashed into another car of the interstate wall, with Monica inside. The thought made my stomach lurch. I had to get to her before Veronica did something truly stupid.
Soon I could see from my phone that we were practically on top of the red dot I had been following on my screen. I looked out the window and down at the interstate. My eyes darted from car to car until it landed on the bright red one I was looking for. I sucked in a breath.
“There!” I shouted, pointing at it.
“What do you want me to do?” asked the pilot, unsurely.
I didn’t have an answer for him. Now that we were here, and so close, I had no idea what to do. No idea how to stop Veronica. I was still helpless, but now I was hundreds of feet in the air.
Veronica had to be nearing 100 MPH, weaving in and out of what little traffic there was. Her movements were haphazard and reckless. I wanted to close my eyes to avoid seeing every near fateful collision that made my heart stop, but I kept my eyes on the car, willing her to slow down.
That was when I saw the flash of red and blue. Then several flashes. I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly, but there they were. At least a dozen squad cars speeding down the interstate in pursuit of Veronica’s red sports car. They had come.
I let myself feel a slight reprieve, until I saw Veronica pick up even more speed. She was approaching a speed that would be difficult to control. She must have seen the cops in her rear-view mirror, must have heard the sirens. She didn’t care that they were after her. She wasn’t stopping. I could only imagine what Monica was feeling being trapped inside the car, and I couldn’t do anything.
“Shit!” I yelled frustratedly, banging my hand against the top of the control board.
“Are we a part of a police chase, Mr. Gunner?” asked the pilot, not tearing his eyes away from the scene below as more squad cars joined the pursuit.
“I’ll pay you triple,” I muttered into my headset.
Had I put Monica in more danger by calling the police? Clearly, their pursuit wasn’t stopping Veronica. Maybe this was what she wanted. A big show. Her grand finale. Something to grab my attention. To grab everyone’s attention.
That was all she ever wanted in life, to be the center of attention. All eyes on her, whether at a party in a slinky dress or half naked on the cover of Sports Illustrated . She lived for the attention. That was why she married me. To be on the arm of one of New York’s youngest billionaires as the cameras flashed and the interviews came rolling in about our whirlwind romance. She ate it all up, and then I ended the show, the facade, and she hated me for it.
That was why she had been so desperate to weasel her way back into my life, whether it be through my own mother or by cleverly getting me drunk on expensive bourbon and letting a thin strap of her dress fall. I was weak, and even after our divorce, I let her in my life. In my bed. I had selfishly taken advantage of the times she had thrown herself at me so I could find some fleeting pleasure in my boring life. She was a familiar reprieve.
I didn’t know it was anything other than that, or that her feelings were stronger than just a fling. I should have known better. Should have seen the quiet, desperate look in her eyes when we said goodbye or when I walked into a family party and saw her standing there. She still loved me. And now, because of it, I had risked the life of the woman I loved.
I knew love could drive you to do some insane things, but I never knew what Veronica was capable of, or what lengths she would go to. She had always been kind of crazy. In a way, it was what drew me to her. She was the supermodel party girl who drank too much champagne and danced on tables or leaned off balconies at parties, knowing someone would pull her to safety, shaking their heads with a little laugh and a “Oh, that’s Veronica.”
But this was different. This was truly a scary version of her I had never seen before. I didn’t know how to stop this Veronica.