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I don’t know that I’m going to survive until Aaron gets here.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Aaron
After spending the day with Nick, I got the call from Stanley that Emily had managed to give him the slip. I’m pissed, but part of me expected that she would try at some point. I never expected that she’d succeed. I clearly underestimated her, as did Stanley. He and I are going to have some words. Later. For now, I need to get to her place as quickly as I can.
The terror in her voice, when she called, was palpable, even through the phone. And hearing the screaming and banging in the background only served to light a fire under my ass. Being as stubborn as she is, I’d figured that she’d come back to her place at some point, so I was already heading over there when she called.
I’m not too far away now. I can only hope I get there in time.
Screeching to a stop in front of her building, I jump out of my car to the blaring of horns from the cars behind me. Ignoring them, I sprint into her building and run to the security desk.
“I need an elevator pass,” I shout. “Emily Hall is being attacked in her condo.”
The man behind the desk, a portly man with thinning hair, looks up at me, his eyes skeptical. He eyes me up and down, his mouth turned down into a frown.
“We don’t have time for this shit,” I growl at him. “She just called me. There is somebody in her condo attacking her right now. Give me the fucking elevator pass.”
The man looks conflicted for a moment, torn as to whether to believe me or not. My rage is growing by the second as he sits there and continues to do nothing. All the while, Robert might be upstairs killing Emily for all we know.
“Come with me if you don’t believe me!” I yell. “I don’t give a shit. But we need to get up there right fucking now.”
“Nobody’s come through here since she got home,” the man informs me, as if that means anything. “I doubt –”
“Yeah, because you guys are a crack team of security agents,” I roar. “It’s the same asshole who got by you guys before and left her a threatening letter – under her front door. Now get off your fucking dead ass and let’s get up there.”
“Listen mister, I don’t –”
I slam my fist down on his desk so hard, every pen in his cup rattles and his drink nearly topples over. He looks at me with wide eyes that suddenly narrow as he clenches his jaw. I look around, frantic to find another way up. This is taking too long. Emily doesn’t have this kind of time.
“I think I need to call the police,” he says.
“Yeah, do that,” I snap at him. “Just sit there and do fucking nothing while one of your tenants is murdered in her home. Fucking brilliant.”
Still looking around, my eyes fall on the door to the stairwell. I’m sure it only opens from the inside, though, meaning I’d still need this asshole to open it for me.
“Why don’t you just have a seat and try to calm down,” the guard says. “Let me call my supervisor and we’ll –”
“We don’t have time, you dumb son of a bitch!”
My voice is so loud, it echoes around the lobby. The man’s face grows red as he stares at me. He’s clearly getting pissed – but is still unwilling to do a goddamn thing. As if God himself reached down from the heavens, the door to the stairwell opens and an older black man steps out – another security guard.
I turn and dash for the door, desperate to make it before it slams shut behind him. The man at the desk shouts after me, but I don’t even break stride. I manage to get to the door before it closes. the older man looks shocked when I bolt past him.
“Emily Hall’s place,” I shout back at him. “Call the cops. Now!”
I don’t stop to look back at him, just trusting that somebody down there doesn’t have their heads so far up their ass they don’t call for help. Taking the stairs two at a time, I bound upward, my heart racing hard – though not entirely because of the physical exertion.
For the first time in my life, I’m genuinely scared for somebody. More precisely, I’m genuinely scared about losing somebody. My talk with Nick really helped put things in perspective for me and helped clarify my thinking. He also helped alleviate some of my fears – or at least helped me put them in a more manageable context.
I can’t lose Emily. I just can’t lose her. I love her. I fucking love Emily Hall, and I cannot lose her.
I reach the seventh floor and practically tear the door off the hinges getting through it. My breathing is labored, and my legs are burning from the run up, but I force myself to push past it. I force myself to run down the hallway and to her door.
After what seems like an eternity, I get there. Without hesitation, I raise my foot and deliver the hardest kick I can. The thump is solid, and I hear the wood splintering, but it remains standing. I deliver another vicious kick, sending a booming echo through the hallway. This one does the trick. The door crashes inward in a spray of wood and metal pieces.
I step over the debris and run into her place, wary, but frantically searching the area. There is nobody in the front rooms, meaning Robert and Emily are in the back. I strain my ears, listening hard, but hear nothing. My heart jumps into my throat. I turn and run toward the back, hoping and praying that I’m not too late already.
