by Nikki Wild
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Part III
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Part IV
Epilogue
Velocity
Nikki Wild
Chapter 1
Kara
I was staring out the window at the tarmac when the announcement we’d all been dreading blasted out through the loudspeakers above our heads. “Ladies and gentleman,” a bored voice said, sounding very much like he’d rather be anywhere else, “we at Chicago O’Hare International Airport regret to inform you that all scheduled flights are cancelled until further notice. The approaching storm has made it unsafe to fly. Please remain calm and see a ticketing agent for information concerning possible accommodation and rescheduling.”
Remain calm? How was that supposed to happen? Other passengers and their angry murmurs started to swirl around me immediately, and I stood there reeling, feeling like I’d just been punched in the stomach. When I looked at the throngs already rushing to surround the crowded ticket booth, I could see the same question in everyone’s eyes that was echoing over and over in my mind… There was no way they could just spring that on us, right?
I wasn’t the only one with a stunned expression on my face, and I could tell by the shouting that was erupting around me that I wasn’t going to get anywhere by pleading my case to the ticket agents. They had enough to handle just stopping people from reaching across the counter to throttle them.
There was a sick, fluttering feeling running through me as I realized that this was ‘it’. The moment when the world I’d been trying so hard to build came crashing down around me. This storm was going to be the straw that broke this beat-down camel’s back. After everything I’d gone through to make this trip happen, it was over already…
I could feel my vision blurring ever so slightly as the inevitable tears pressed in on me, but I grit my teeth and refused to let them flow. No way. Not this time. I had too much on the line to just lay down and let this happen.
If there was a way out of this city, I was going to find it…
I needed to get to Florida. It was do or die, but I had a feeling that whatever sob story I told the airline employees was going to fall on deaf ears. It wouldn’t even matter that every word I spoke was the gospel truth. They couldn’t stop the storm from coming any more than I could, and that was that.
Was this the way my dream was going to die? Every cent I had was wrapped up in the outcome of the Florida conference. I had to be there. Not only was I organizing the whole damn thing, but my boss had been good enough to give me a chance to speak to some of the biggest movers and shakers in the fashion industry at the final awards dinner. That would be my opportunity to pitch my baby, the new company that I was sure would get off the ground if only I could get a little buzz and a lot of cash behind it.
But I knew for a fact that if I was a no-show, my new business was going to go down in flames. On top of that, the conference would probably implode. I’d get fired, not to mention probably blacklisted from every decent job in the industry.
Then, a lightbulb went off in my head. Get to the rental car place, now! I told myself, on the edge of panic. If I could grab a car and ignore the speed limits, popping caffeine pills and only stopping for gas, there was a chance I could make it in time.
I’d Googled a road map of the US last night. There were a little less than twelve hundred miles of freeways and Interstates between Chicago and Orlando. I could drive that in… What? Seventeen hours? Sixteen? It was Thursday afternoon and the conference started on Sunday morning.
I could make it.
But, if I was going to try, I had to get the hell out of here. I only had to look at the bruised yellow of the sky to know that all the planes would be grounded for hours. I’d grown up in Illinois, and I recognized the sky’s distinctly bruised-yellow hue. There was a tornado on the way. The only hope I had of getting to Orlando in time was to get to the rental car counter before the rest of this angry mob figured that out too.
“Excuse me,” I said to the lady beside me as I tried to get by her. She stared through me, her eyes almost as wild as an animal’s, ready to snap my head off for simply brushing past her. Tensions sure were high, and I felt the mood of the crowd start to turn. They weren’t interested in waiting in line to try to convince the employees they deserv
ed a hotel voucher, and they certainly didn’t relish a night’s sleep on the hard linoleum floor of O’Hare.
I didn’t want to run, but it was all I could do to keep myself calm enough to stride briskly back through the airport, away from the gates. My heels click-click-clicked as I hurried down the hall. The staccato rhythm soothed me. That sound reminded me that I was a professional. I wasn’t going to let something as trivial as the wrath of Mother Nature keep slow me down.
The rental car counters were at the end of this hallway and, with any luck, I’d be able to-
I came to a screeching halt, frozen in my tracks as I caught a glimpse of my destination. The rental car counter was already mobbed! I couldn’t help it now… I broke into a run, dragging my lurching, slightly bent wheeled suitcase behind me like a lunatic escaping from the asylum.
Even before I got there, I could tell by the disappointed looks on the faces of the people in the line ahead of me that there was no chance a set of keys would save my career. Everyone was hurrying off to pursue their various Plan B’s, but I didn’t have that luxury.
I needed a car, and I wasn’t going to let them stop me.
“Excuse me, sir? Do you have anything left?” I asked the guy at the desk desperately. I needed to get out of here, and I could hear the panic in my own voice. There was a copper taste in the back of my throat that told me I was only a couple of minutes away from my brain grinding to a maddening halt. “Please?”
“Sorry,” he said, not even bothering to meet my eyes. Instead, he stared at the computer screen like it had all the answers in the world, slowly tapping away at the keyboard.
If he was hoping I was going to go away like the rest of the crowd had, he was going to be disappointed. “Are you sure?” I begged. “There’s got to be something you can let me rent. I’m desperate. I’ll take anything!”
Something in my tone made him look up at me at last, but he quickly glanced away. In that moment, despite my own troubles, I felt bad for him. After all, it wasn’t his fault that he had nothing but bad news, and he clearly didn’t want to be the guy who had to let everyone down. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing left in the lot.”
“Maybe…” I let my voice trail off, my mind racing. There had to be another way. There were tons of these rental car places. If I could get him to call some of the others, or check their inventory on his computer and reserve me something…
“And before you ask,” he told me, clearly seeing the spark of hope light up my eyes momentarily, “they’re out too.” he said in a calming voice, waving a hand toward the long counter of rental companies.
“I’ll take a cab. Find me a car anywhere in the city and I’ll walk if I have to,” I replied.
“It’ll be too late. There’s a couple thousand people trying to hail a cab out there. If I were you, I’d settle in and wait for tomorrow. If you hurry to airport services you might still be able to grab a hotel room…”
Normally I’d have given up. I wasn’t the type of girl to make a scene, and the very thought of confrontation made me sick. But I needed this so badly that instead I found myself stepping forward and latching on to the counter with a steely grip. If he wanted me gone, he was going to have to have somebody drag me away. It was as if I were starting some sort of one-person protest, a sit-in that was going to make a difference. Occupy the Airport, or something…
“Ma’am,” he said, his voice tired. “I promise I’m telling you the truth. You’re going to be here a while.”
I swallowed hard and felt myself hold on to the counter even tighter. I lowered my voice and tried again. “You don’t know how important this is. Please, I need to get to Florida. My whole future depends on it, and if I’m stuck in this shitty airport in this shitty storm sitting on my ass, my entire life is going to go down the drain. I don’t care what it costs. I don’t care how you do it. I need to be on the road and I’m desperate!”
I expected him to shrug at my plight and send me on my way. Either that or pick up the phone and call security. That’d be the perfect end to this day; getting hauled away by burly guys and stuffed into a room to wait out the storm with the threat of arrest hanging over my head.
To my surprise, he bit his lip and started typing with a little more determination. Could it be? Was there a chance?
“One second,” he said, and that second felt like a thousand of them as I waited, desperate for him to find me a way out of this miserable situation.
“I’ll take anything,” I said. “Give me something with four bald tires and a door missing and I’ll baby it all the way to Orlando. Please.”
He stopped typing and a grimace spread across his face. “It’s not like that.”
“Not like what?”
“There’s a car... It isn’t even ours, at least not really.” He took a deep breath, and I could tell that he was probably breaking rules even telling me this stuff. “We’ve got a partnership with an upscale rental place in another part of the airport. The cars are reserved for VIPs and celebrities to use when they’re in town… They’ve still got a Bentley Mulsanne available...”
“I’ll take it!” I said, already reaching for my wallet.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I’m not supposed to do this…”
“It has four wheels and an engine, and that means it’s mine. You’re saving my life here.”
He looked me dead in the eye. “It’s incredibly expensive…”
“I don’t care!”
I got the sense that he was worried about the hot water he was about to get us both in.
He sighed. “And we’ll have to run a quick credit check just to make sure that you’re able to pay for any damages, should they arise.”
“Okay!” The way he was talking made it sound like he was renting me a house instead of a car. I had no idea what a Bentley Mulsanne was worth, but at that moment I’d have signed on the dotted line for the chance to rent anything faster than a stagecoach.
I could probably cover the cost of the rental. All but a couple of my credit cards were maxed out, but I still had a little overhead. Starting a new fashion line was anything but cheap. I was juggling payments and invoices and a full-time job, and throwing an ‘incredibly’ expensive rental on top of it all wouldn’t make things any easier.
It didn’t matter.
The time for sensible decisions was over the second my flight was canceled.
I handed him my Driver’s License and my Visa and watched as he swiped the latter. I even crossed my fingers, just in case the universe needed a little convincing to make this work for me. After all, if the Bentley fell through, I was stranded. And probably jobless…
“Strange,” he muttered, swiping the card again and then one more time. “Looks like the network’s down. Must be this damn storm.”
My heart sank, but I didn’t let him hear it in my voice. “Well, I guess that settles it. You’ve got my card and my ID. Record the info and hand me over the keys,” I said, batting my eyes. “After all, if there really is a huge tornado getting ready to make Chicago it’s new home, the best thing you could do is get that car out of here. If you think about it, I’ll be doing you a favor when I drive it off your lot…”
I didn’t think that would work, but the guy was too stressed and too far out on a limb offering me the car in the first place to pull out now. He typed some of my details into the computer, even going so far as to photocopy my Driver’s License, just to be sure.
“All right,” he said, after a couple of minutes. “Take this receipt to the valet next to the VIP flight lounge and they’ll hook you up. Try to look important so they don’t ask questions.”
I reached out and snagged the keys. “Thank you so much!” I gushed.
He nodded with more than a little shyness. “Just be careful with the car, okay? One little scratch on that thing and it’ll be my job and your credit up in smoke…”
I grinned. “I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise.” I hurried off in the direction he pointed
. I didn’t even know there was a VIP lounge at the airport, and now that I did I was more than a little tickled that I was going to get a bit of first class treatment.
As I pushed through the angry crowd of stranded travelers, it felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. It would be hard to get to Orlando in time, but it was possible. I had a shot, and that’s all that I needed. Nothing was going to stop me now.
All I wanted was one chance to make my dreams come true. I was risking everything, and butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I made my way toward my future. Here it was, right in front of me. All I had to do was summon up the guts to reach out and grab it.
Chapter 2
When the valet I’d given the receipt to pulled up in my new ride, my jaw practically hit the cement. The car was amazing; black and sleek and sexier than hell. I could feel the purr of the engine through the soles of my feet, and the front of it looked like it had about a mile of shining, tempered steel.
Even though the guy hopped out right away and held the door open for me, I couldn’t help but walk around the car once. At least being a buyer for the high-end fashion firms had let me wear kick ass, trendy clothes. I certainly couldn’t afford this beast, but I might look like I could. He probably thought that I was just making sure it didn't have any scratches I'd get blamed for, but in reality I was just admiring the Bentley’s curves.
Even though I was about to drive away at last, I couldn't help but feel a like the guy behind the counter that had rented it to me in the first place. After all, I was fairly certain that I was looking at this car the way he'd just looked at me…
That was fine. I was in the wrong industry to pretend that looks didn’t matter. I dressed the way I did because it formed an impression in people’s minds, and the designers of the Bentley sure knew what they were doing. The car was nothing short of amazing, and once I'd given it a once over I thanked the valet. He was holding out his hand, and I pressed one of my last twenty-dollar bills into it. I didn’t have much left, but I could buy enough gas to get to Orlando.
That was all I needed. At least, that’s what I told myself as I slid behind the wheel.
Everything was top-of-the-line too, of course. The leather seats were perfectly constructed and the brightly lit digital display that stretched across the dash made me feel more like I was driving a rocket than a car.