“He’s flying out of San Francisco for Dubai? On the company jet?”
A pause.
“Okay. Is he the only traveler listed on the flight manifest?”
Another pause, and her eyes meet mine.
“Okay. Well, I’ll just call Nora then. Thank you, Darleen.”
She pushes end and I can see her finger shaking.
“What’s wrong?”
She looks at me again. “William and Nora are taking the corporate jet to Dubai this evening. It was supposed to fly out this afternoon, but there’s been some sort of delay at the airport. Something about the flight patterns, etc. That’s not important. The important thing is that Nora is leaving with William. There’s no reason that she would do that, unless somehow, he’s making her.”
My stomach drops and the hair rises on the back of my neck as I remember the way William watched Nora at the dinner party, at the way his eyes undressed her. It gives me chills even now.
Camille puts her hand on mine. “Please. I know you care about Nora. I know it because I can see it. She didn’t leave you willingly. I feel it. I know it. William is an evil man. Nora is… she feels trapped in her life, helpless to change it. But I know things that can free her. Please. She won’t answer her phone. Can you help me get to her? I have a feeling she’s planning something… dire.”
The wording of her text is strange. Either way, everything is finally going to be ok.
Either way what?
I nod. “Okay. I’ll help. But San Francisco is a big place. We can’t possibly know where they’ll be until their plane takes off.”
Camille shakes her head. “I know exactly where they’ll be. San Francisco is thirty minutes from Nora’s apartment. She kept it, even though her father told her to let it go. She told me that she needed a place of her own, a place where she can be alone. There is no good reason that she would take William to that apartment, but I know she is, even though she absolutely hates him. Even though she fears him. Darleen told me that William is already in California, far ahead of their departure time. So what in the world is going on between now and this evening?”
Camille’s voice is rushed and cold and afraid.
And I know she’s right. We’ve got to get there. Nora would never choose to be alone with William.
I know that as sure as I’m breathing.
She’s been hiding something this week. Her attitude was fidgety, nervous, unsettled. I didn’t know why.
A sense of urgency presses against me, and my instincts roar to life, even through the haze of the beer. Something is very wrong and all she’d said was it’s fine.
My instincts had been right. She’s not fine.
She was lying.
I pull out my phone and try to call her, but it goes instantly to voicemail.
“Nora, call me when you get this. It’s important.”
I look at Camille. “Let’s go.”
She nods and takes my arm. “Greene Corp has a second jet at O’Hare. We can use it.”
My heart pounds against my ribs as we tear down the road in Camille’s Mercedes. Adrenaline pumps through me and I realize something with a start.
The reason I’m so devastated by Nora’s leaving… is because I love her.
When we get to her, whether she still wants to leave me or not, I have to tell her. She needs to know, and I have to say the words.
I wanted to say them last night, and something held me back. And if I can’t get to her today, she’ll never know.
I’ll have to live knowing that the beautiful, seemingly confident