Date With Destiny

by Mason Dixon

  Rashida turned to face her. “You’d be bored with me in no time.”

  “Not a chance.”

  Destiny ran a finger over the planes of Rashida’s face, committing every inch to memory. She could feel their time together growing shorter. In a few days, Rashida would most likely be out of her life forever. If she couldn’t see Rashida in person, at least she could carry her image in her heart.

  “You’re incredible.”

  Rashida’s cheeks warmed. She looked away to hide her embarrassment, but Destiny saw through her defenses.

  “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that?”

  “During but not after.”

  Destiny didn’t return Rashida’s smile. She wanted to give the moment the seriousness it deserved.

  “I’ve never met anyone like you,” Destiny said. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “What makes you think you will?”

  “Past experience. Whenever I get something I’ve yearned for, I’ve never been able to enjoy it for long.”

  Rashida pulled her into her arms. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, so I guess you’d better get used to having me around.”

  Destiny closed her eyes. For one of the few times in her life, she felt safe and secure. How long would the feeling last?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tuesday, March 14

  11:00 a.m.

  Savannah, Georgia

  Destiny watched the armored car park in front of the bank for its normal weekly delivery. Two armed guards climbed out of the back of the reinforced vehicle. The driver remained in his seat. The guard holding the shotgun kept a watchful eye on the street while the one with the pistol on his hip unloaded boxes of coins and plastic-wrapped stacks of bills. Curious passersby slowed but didn’t stop, no doubt dissuaded by the guards’ obvious firepower.

  Megan Connelly, the head teller, met the guards at the door and led them toward the vault. Destiny’s mouth watered as the money rolled past her. Over half a million dollars in cold, hard cash. Add in the gold and jewels that were supposed to be stashed in the safe deposit boxes and you were looking at a take of over two million. Harry wanted the gold bars, which were worth a million and a half. Destiny and her crew were supposed to split the rest. Harry’s share might be larger, but it wouldn’t be as easy to fence. Cash was portable and jewels could be sold at any neighborhood pawn shop without attracting too much of the wrong kind of attention.

  Destiny followed the money with her eyes. The payday she had been dreaming about for weeks was so close she could touch it. Rashida was even closer. For the first time since she was a teenager, Destiny wasn’t servicing a woman. She was seeing her. The phrase was ironic considering Rashida had no idea that the woman she was seeing wasn’t who she appeared to be. That the woman in her life—in her bed—was nothing but an illusion. Perhaps one day soon Destiny would be able to set things right.

  “Have you made an appointment with HR yet?”

  Jackie’s voice in her ear almost made Destiny jump out of her skin. She had a feeling Jackie didn’t completely trust her. She had come around a bit after the incident with the missing cash, but Destiny’s slowness to comply with the edict to have her fingerprints taken was eating away at the goodwill she had engendered.

  “No. I meant to do it yesterday, but the head teller in Springfield ran out of tens and I had to make an emergency trip up there to restock the vault.”

  Destiny had taken every precaution, but she had felt like a rolling target the entire way. Even though she had been in uniform, would a cop have believed her story if he pulled her over? Her heart had filled her throat each time another driver looked at her sideways. She would have felt safer carrying the nine millimeter she kept stashed next to her bed, but she couldn’t afford to get popped on a gun charge. She had to be a Girl Scout for three more days. Then she would be home free.

  “Do me a favor,” Jackie said. “You have Friday off and this branch is going to be slammed with customers all day Thursday. Tomorrow, I want you to go to the operations center and get your prints done. Let me know when you’re planning on leaving, and I’ll get Wynn to come in and cover for you.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Williams.”

  Destiny didn’t try to make an excuse because she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Her time had run out. Jackie had obviously reached the limits of her patience. Harry had said she’d take care of Jackie. Once more, she had fallen down on the job. Destiny knew she would have to solve the problem herself. One way or another, she needed to create a distraction big enough to divert Jackie’s attention away from her and onto something new. That was in addition to figuring out what to do about Harry. She was running out of time.

  Think, DJ. Think.

  Planting something in the ventilation system was too risky. There were cameras everywhere, and she couldn’t be certain no one would have an allergic reaction to the chemicals she used.

  Then it came to her. The elevator was the key.

  There were no cameras inside the elevator car, a security lapse Jackie said she planned to fix but had not yet addressed. If Destiny opened the access panel and crossed the right wires, she could bypass the motor’s idle function and cause it to run nonstop. Once the motor overheated, the oil inside would burn. The resulting fumes would be odious but not toxic. The building would have to be evacuated as a precaution and, most likely, need to remain closed to be cleaned, which meant her crew would have all the time in the world to crack the vault on Friday and empty it out. She wouldn’t even have to be there.

  Her plan was perfect. Everyone could get what they wanted without anyone getting hurt. Harry could have the gold, her crew could have the money, and she could have Rashida. Until Rashida discovered she wasn’t as innocent as she seemed.

  Who was she fooling? Did she really expect to be able to stick around after the heist went down? Did she expect Rashida to stay with her after she told her who she really was? Was it too late to salvage the situation?

  I don’t know, but I’ve got to try.

  Chapter Twenty

  Wednesday, March 15

  9:45 p.m.

  Savannah, Georgia

  Destiny could tell Rashida was distracted. Their time together was limited to a few hours each night. Tonight, Rashida was filling way too many of those hours with talk about work.

  While Rashida obsessed over an offer she had received to become the new CEO of Low Country Savings, Destiny wondered how well her own plans were progressing. How long would it take for the elevator motor to overheat? A few minutes, a few hours, or a few days? Techno had said it would take about twelve to fourteen hours for the oil to reach the optimal temperature, but Destiny half-expected Rashida’s cell phone to ring any moment with news that the fire alarm had gone off downtown. She needed the smoke to billow during business hours, not after.

  When Destiny finally dragged herself out of her own head, Rashida was still going on and on about the job offer she’d received and all the secret meetings she’d been having both at work and after hours. Destiny didn’t want to hear about buyouts or corporate maneuvering. She wanted to feel Rashida’s body moving against hers before it was too late. In two more days, she might not experience a night like this again.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she said, trying to stop Rashida from stressing out over something that was probably part of the shell game Harry was running. Destiny thought Rashida had the goods to run the bank, but was the carrot being dangled in front of her real or imaginary? She didn’t want to see the look on Rashida’s face if the gig turned out to be as phony as Destiny’s work history. “No matter what you decide in this instance, you’ll make a great CEO one day.”

  Rashida’s eyes searched hers, seeking confirmation for something that was obvious to everyone except her. “How do you know?”

  “Because your heart’s in the right place.”

  Rashida placed her hand over Destiny’s heart, which had begun t
o fill with love for the woman whose fate she held in her hands. “This is crazy.” Rashida moved away. “How can I feel so close to you when I barely know anything about you?”

  Destiny’s heart hammered as a conversation she had dreaded began to take shape. “What don’t you know?”

  Rashida posed a series of questions. Destiny wanted to stay up all night honestly answering them and any others Rashida might have, but she couldn’t share herself. Not yet. She needed to hold herself back for a few more days or everything could blow up in her face. Unfortunately, Rashida stubbornly refused to wait.

  “Come for me.”

  Destiny felt herself grow wet, but she couldn’t give Rashida what she wanted. She couldn’t let Rashida make love to her under false pretenses. If Rashida wanted to be with her in that way after the truth was revealed, fine. Until then, she would continue to take Rashida over the edge but wouldn’t follow her over the precipice.

  “I don’t need to.”

  “Are you sure?” Rashida parted Destiny’s folds with two fingers. Her touch was electric. Destiny stiffened, jolted by the shock. “You’re so wet I ought to put up flood warnings.”

  When Rashida pinched her swollen clit, Destiny nearly popped her cork.

  “Are you sure you don’t need to come?” Rashida asked with a teasing smile.

  Destiny thought she’d die if she didn’t. “Okay,” she said, giving in. “Prove me wrong.”

  Rashida’s fingers resumed their explorations. “Do you want fast or slow?”

  Destiny should have said, “Neither,” but need and desire overwhelmed reason. “I want you.” She pulled Rashida closer. Their bodies met as Rashida thrust her fingers inside. Destiny’s hips matched their rhythm. “God, that feels good. You feel good.”

  Rashida’s mouth met hers. Destiny felt like she was being kissed for the first time. She let her façade fall.

  “Who are you?” Rashida asked as Destiny’s body convulsed in blessed release.

  “I am the woman who loves you.”

  For Destiny, truer words had never been spoken. As a result, the next two days were going to be the hardest of her life.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Thursday, March 16

  10:20 a.m.

  Savannah, Georgia

  “Come on. Come on,” Destiny said under her breath as she held the burner to her ear.

  Harry sounded irritated when she finally picked up. “What is it?”

  “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” If Harry gave the right answer, she had time to reverse what she’d done to the elevator and no one would ever know what they had planned to do in a day’s time. “I don’t think we should—”

  “So you are getting cold feet.”

  “Never. I’m just—”

  “Developing a conscience. Take my advice. Don’t. It isn’t a good look for you. Remember what I said the last time we spoke. Friday happens with or without you. Now I’m asking you for the last time. Are you in or out?”

  “I’m in,” Destiny said through clenched teeth. “In case you were wondering, Friday starts now.”

  “What?”

  Destiny ended the call, cutting off Harry’s squawk of surprise. Then she stepped away from the front door. She could feel the temperature on her side of the lobby beginning to rise, but the oil in the elevator motor had not yet begun to burn. She could, however, smell it heating up. Before she caused a scene, she needed someone else to notice the smell, too.

  Winter came out of the break room, where some of the corporate lenders had already begun to gather for their daily lunchtime poker game. Winter had a reheated cinnamon roll in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. The roll was a leftover from the box of pastries one of the tellers had brought in this morning. The coffee was fresh, courtesy of a customer who loved plying his favorite Low Country Savings employee with gifts. If Destiny didn’t know better, she’d swear the guy was planning to rob the place by forging an alliance with someone on the inside. Too bad Harry had beaten him to the punch.

  Winter wrinkled her nose as she crossed the lobby.

  “What is that ungodly smell?”

  “The elevator has B.O. today,” Destiny said.

  “I’m not surprised. The whole building’s haunted. Sometimes, when I’m working late, I swear I can hear voices echoing in the lobby. It sounds like someone’s throwing a fabulous party and forgot to invite me. And each morning when I come in, the painting behind my desk is crooked, even though I straighten it every night before I go home.”

  “Uh huh.” Destiny nodded as the first wisps of smoke began to drift out of the elevator. The smell immediately grew exponentially worse. “Don’t panic, but I think we need to call someone.”

  Winter’s eyes drifted to the elevator. Her face grew pale. “Is that smoke?”

  “Yes.”

  Winter’s mug and saucer slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor. The loud noise of the breaking ceramic dinnerware prompted several heads to whip around. Someone saw the smoke and screamed. One customer made a mad dash to the door, the deposit she had planned to make clutched tightly in her hand.

  So much for not panicking.

  Destiny’s nose burned as fumes quickly filled the lobby. She held her arm over her face to act as a makeshift gas mask. A woman waiting in line in front of Megan’s teller window slowly crumpled to the floor. A man in another line soon followed.

  Winter, her eyes bugging in shock, stood frozen in place. Destiny squeezed her arm to snap her out of fantasy land. “Winter, call nine one one.”

  “Right.” Winter stepped around the spilled coffee, sprinted to her desk, and picked up the phone while Seaton and Megan tended to the fallen customers.

  Destiny placed her hands on the elevator doors. The metal was warm to the touch but not burning hot. She pressed the Down button. When the car arrived and the elevator doors slid open, she locked the doors in the open position so no one could access the elevator. Then she pulled the fire alarm. With the elevator disabled, the people on the third floor and on the basement level would have to use the stairs to exit the building.

  “I need everyone out of the building now,” she said over the sound of the blaring alarm.

  The tellers secured their work stations and followed the customers out the door. Seaton, Winter, and Megan stayed behind. Destiny ran down to the basement. After finding it empty, she headed up to the third floor, where staff members continued to work despite the warning bells.

  “Out! Everybody out! This is not a drill!” Ignoring their protests, she hustled them downstairs as quickly as she could.

  “What’s going on?” Jackie asked as she, the corporate lenders, and the executive staff flooded the lobby.

  Destiny loosened her tie to get more air. Out of breath, she pointed to the elevator, which was filled with thick, bluish-gray smoke.

  “Crap.” Jackie kneeled next to one of the stricken customers. “How’s he doing?”

  Seaton shrugged. “I’m not a paramedic. He’s breathing, but he’s not conscious. That’s all I know.”

  “Same here,” Megan said. Her voice was raspy, her face beet red.

  Jackie placed a hand on Megan’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  Megan reached for the inhaler she always kept nearby. “I’ll be fine. It’s Miss Edna I’m worried about.” She patted the hand of the elderly woman sprawled on the floor.

  Winter hung up the phone. “The paramedics are on their way. The fire department, too. The police department probably won’t be too far behind.”

  Destiny’s mouth went dry. Two people were passed out and Megan might make it three. Though none of the sick looked likely to kick, she didn’t know if they would remain that way for long.

  “We’ve got to move them,” she said. “They need fresh air.”

  She bent to pick up the frail woman Megan was comforting, but Jackie held her back.

  “We can’t take the risk,” Jackie said in a fierce whisper. “If they ha
ve neck, back, or head trauma, moving them could make their injuries worse, and we could open ourselves up to potential litigation. I know how you feel, but let’s wait until someone who has more medical training than we do gives the okay.” She released Destiny’s arm and began barking orders. “Seaton, print a notice saying this location is going to be closed until further notice. Then lock the vault. We need to make sure the contents are secured when emergency personnel swarm the lobby.”

  “What about the teller drawers?”

  Jackie looked at the thick plume of smoke polluting the air. “Put the drawers in the vault and set the timer for the full complement. I hope we’ll be able to reopen by Monday, but I won’t know for sure until the smoke has cleared and the cleaning crew can come in and take a look at things. Either way, we’re done for the day. We’ll worry about balancing on Monday.”

  Seaton went to his office, tapped a few keys on his computer, and hit Print. He taped a piece of bank-branded letterhead to the front door and headed to the vault. After the teller drawers were locked away, he set the timer and closed the heavy steel door. Then he spun the circular handle to make sure the vault was secure.

  Leaving the vault open would have made it easier to empty it out, but Destiny’s crew would have plenty of time to get the job done. She had yet to meet a safe they couldn’t crack or a vault they couldn’t break into, no matter how reinforced the steel or sophisticated the alarm system.

  The whine of approaching sirens competed with the fire alarm for noise supremacy. Six firefighters burst through the door first, followed by four EMTs. The paramedics examined the customers, placed oxygen masks over their faces, and wheeled them outside. Destiny looked around at what she had wrought. She hadn’t meant for the situation to get so out of hand.

  “This is wrong.” She held her hands to her head. “This is so wrong.”

  “I need you to evacuate the building, ma’am,” one of the firefighters said while his colleagues went to work on the elevator. “Are you the last one?”