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Veronica had fought her demons, faced them head-on, and was winning the battle. He would do no less to see her again.
But seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes into hours. His strength failed him, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep his eyes open.
Desperation sunk its teeth into his soul. He was on borrowed time, breathing borrowed air. His breaths grew shallow, quick, and he could taste the bitter tang of death in the back of his throat.
Veronica.
The name was a chant, a mantra, the only thing keeping him tethered to reality. She was waiting for him, he knew it. She was looking for him, just as he knew she would be. They had always found each other before, in spite of life’s efforts to keep them apart. This time wouldn’t be any different.
He had to hold on.
His fist hit the box again and again, but each strike seemed to echo back at him with mockery. The darkness pressed against him from all sides, a living entity intent on swallowing him up whole. The whispers of unconsciousness began to beckon him into its seductive arms, promising sweet oblivion. But he fought it, fought with every fiber of his being because he knew that if he succumbed... it would be the end. He knew a final chapter when he saw it. The irony wasn’t lost on him that he was facing his own end when his new book still didn’t have one.
Would it have been happy or sad?
Would he have ended it with hope or fear?
It should’ve been happy, he thought as he slipped into unconsciousness. Should’ve been a happy ending...
* * *
Overhead, Veronica circled in the plane and watched the rescuers dig. She couldn’t see much through the trees behind the Firestone house, but she could clearly see the metal coffin-sized box on the ground penetrating radar. She checked the phone still propped among her instruments.
The timer hit zero.
“Oh, God.” Air stalled in her lungs as she searched out the window for any sign that Zak and the others had reached him.
They were still digging.
“Zak,” she said into the radio, fighting to keep from sobbing. “You’re out of time.”
“I know,” came his gruff response over the static-filled line. There was a desperation in his voice that mirrored her own. “We’re going as fast as we can.”
The world seemed to move in slow motion. Every passing second felt like an eternity. She mentally willed them all to move faster, work harder. She wanted to be down there with them, scooping away handfuls of dirt, but if she had been on the ground, if she hadn’t thought to fly over the Firestones’ property, they never would have found him. They’d needed her to stay in the air to pinpoint his location until they got there. Now it would take too much time to land the plane and drive there. She didn’t want to be out of contact for even a moment.
“Please hurry,” she whispered as if they could hear her. “Please.”
Then she saw Zak--she could tell it was him because of his prosthetic leg—wave his arms frantically toward the group of firemen standing by with a hydraulic lift. More bodies rushed towards the site, a blur of movement in the growing twilight.
“Almost there.” Her hands were clenched tight around the controls, knuckles white from the strain. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the cockpit window, trying to see everything. “Don’t you dare give up, Connelly Davis.”
Radios crackled with urgent orders and pleas. Lights flashed high beams into the growing darkness, casting an eerie glow on the frantic scene below.
The radio went silent for a handful of heartbeats.
“What’s happening? Zak? Ash?” Her voice rose an octave with each name. “Someone tell me what the fuck is happening!”
“Veronica.” Zak’s voice finally crackled through the static on the radio. “We’ve got him. We’ve got him, and he’s alive.”
chapter thirty-six
Connelly stayed in the hospital for two nights, and despite his protests, Veronica didn’t leave his side. She slept in the chair next to his bed and didn’t once think about the fact she wasn’t in the safety of her home.
The morning of the third day, as they were preparing Connelly for discharge, Ash stopped by with news. “Jeremy Firestone just died from his injuries.”
Connelly gripped her hand. “Will there be any repercussions for Vee?”
Ash shook his head. “No. The airport’s security cameras caught the entire attack. It was an obvious case of self-defense, but if you’re worried, you can contact Cal. He said he’d be happy to defend you.”
