She then began to think about her colleagues, the board, her boss. Her boss, a man she despised. But she enjoyed working with the rest of her colleagues and she liked the members of the board.
“Mrs. King, I would be remiss if I didn’t inform you that you are on a time limit. If that plane should leave the ground and you have not done what I have asked, I will detonate the bomb.”
The tennis ball sized knot had now grown into that of a bowling ball. She twisted the lid from the bottled water that she had planned to take to the meeting and took a long drink. The more she thought about it, innocent people were at risk in both scenarios, but she could not get past what she had seen on the video. If anyone deserved to die it was Kyle.
“I will not kill my co-workers. I will not have their blood on my hands. You go right ahead and blow that plane out of the air with that cheating bastard.”
The stranger simply shook her head. “I had a feeling you would say that. Perhaps, I should give you two more crucial pieces of information. As it turns out, I know you plan to make a move for the CEO seat at the meeting today,” she paused.
Veronica’s eyebrows narrowed as she glared intently at the intruder.
“Somehow, CEO Stein has caught wind of this as well. He and the members of the board have been in a close good ole boys club for ages. They are all for you becoming the next CEO; however, they will not go against the wishes of Stein after he gave them this last night.”
The intruder slid over a copy of an agreement to provide additional shares in the company for each year Stein stays at the helm as CEO. “Sure, it’s highly illegal, but believe me, it has been done and frankly, this isn’t the only time a deal like this has been struck.”
Veronica skimmed the document as the bowling ball in her stomach had now grown to a weighted medicine ball. She could not believe what she was hearing – what she was reading. The board, her last chance to obtain what she rightfully deserved, was siding with Stein.
“One last thing,” she said bringing the phone back to her mouth, “Please bring up the third angle.”
Understanding the queue this time, Veronica immediately looked down at the tablet. Unlike last time when the new image seemed to appear immediately, this one seemed to be taking longer than the first. She could feel her breaths growing shallow and her chest tightening. Moments later the image redrew on the screen and a new video played.
“NOOOOOOO!!!”
Sitting on the other side of her husband, already buckled into her seatbelt sat her 3-year-old daughter, Gina.
The knot in her stomach gave way and she reached for the trash receptacle next to her desk and vomited nonstop for 20 seconds.
In a frankly cold voice, the visitor spoke, “If you do not agree to my request, not only will your cheating husband and his mistress become a casualty at 30,000 feet, your precious daughter, Gina, will suffer the same fate as the other innocent people on that flight.”
The reality of her situation was finally, and unbelievably, dawning on Veronica. Her husband of five years was planning to leave the country with their daughter and his mistress. He was going to a country that didn’t have an extradition treaty with the US and she would never see her daughter again.
“I know what you’re thinking. They are already on the plane and your daughter is lost to you. Well, I’m willing to amend the parameters of our deal. Let’s call it a negotiation. The plane your husband has boarded is scheduled to depart at 12:15 p.m. They are currently boarding the remaining passengers but that will only last for the next two minutes. At which time, the flight attendant will alert the passengers that the doors will be closing and this is the last chance for anyone that would like to exit the plane to do so. I can ensure that your husband is removed from the plane, along with his mistress, and your daughter. I can ensure your daughter exits from the gate. As for your husband and his mistress, let’s just say they will never be heard from again. The flight manifest will show that he and his mistress continued on the flight and no one has to know that he disappeared.”
Hope began to spread over her face as she began to contain her breathing.
“You will; however, need to execute your peers, and the board. In addition to that, you will become an official employee for my employer.”
“Your employer! Who is your employer? Why are you doing this to me?
“You have 1 minute and 15 seconds to make your decision.”
Veronica’s head was spinning, and she could feel the nausea encroaching once again. She could not lose her daughter – she would not lose her daughter. The lives of her peers and that of the board did not compare to the life of her daughter. She didn’t believe she could take a life, but she would for her daughter.
“I’ll do it,” she said full of resolve with her head held high. “I’ll do it. Get my daughter off of that plane and do with my husband and that woman, whatever you like. You ensure my daughter is safe, and I will do as you have asked.”
Buckley pulled the phone to her face once again, “We are a go.” She pressed the end button on the phone and placed the phone into her pocket. She stood casually and walked behind Veronica as the image on the screen changed.
The perspective was that of a person standing, walking down the isle of the plane. It seemed as if the person had on a pair of glasses that transmitted the video directly to the tablet. The person stopped at the trio of seats containing her husband, his mistress, and their daughter. There was no sound emanating from the tablet but she could tell by Kyle’s expression that he was not enjoying the conversation. Reluctantly, he and the woman stood up. He turned to their daughter and disengaged the seatbelt.
The three of them walked in front of the person wearing the glasses toward the front of the plane. Upon exiting the plane, the view on the tablet turned back toward the door just in time to see it closing. Satisfied the door was closed and secure, the view turned back toward the walkway leading from the gate to the plane. At that point she saw her husband in protest with airport security, as their daughter was being walked away.
Veronica could feel the knot returning to her stomach as she saw her daughter being led away by an unknown person, separated from her father. The view on the tablet swung toward the door at the end of the walkway that sits across from the entrance to the plane.
The familiar yellow sign with red writing Authorized Personnel Only was visible momentarily before the door swung open. In a flash, two blurs passed in and out of view of the tablet. Veronica once again could feel the tightening in her chest as the image began to shift past the door, toward the ground outside.
Both hands shot to her mouth as she saw the figure of her husband and his mistress laying on the ground. Just as fast she saw a cart carrying luggage appear. Two individuals stepped from the cart, scooped up both bodies as if they were rag dolls, and tossed them onto the cart. They unfolded a previously unseen tarp, lay it over the bodies, and drove off.
Before the image on the tablet went dark, the person wearing the glasses watched after the departing cart. There were no other planes visible from that viewpoint and thus no one saw the bodies tumble to the ground.
“If you do not follow through on our agreement, your daughter will be carted away with your husband. Do you understand me?”
Veronica, unable to speak simply nodded her head.
“Good. Let’s walk through what you need to do.”
December 11th – 12:00 p.m.
CEO Edward Stein sat at the head of the 16-person board room conference table. The table, said to be made in one piece from an oak tree handpicked by his grandfather, had to be lifted into the new headquarters by a crane during construction. Stein refused to have it cut into pieces to be reassembled in the board room and instead opted to pay for it to be placed into the board room during the framing of the building. This request caused the engineers and building crew some challenges but they were well compensated for their troubles.
As the others began to file into the room Stein turned aro
und and admired the hand-painted portraits of his granddaddy and his father. Per tradition, once the CEO retired from the company, an artist was commissioned to create a portrait of the existing CEO sitting behind the table in the board room. Stein recalled with a sense of pride watching the artist take a blank canvas and transition it into a still replica of his father's living essence.
The shine in his firm, dark eyes. The creases that crossed his forehead as a result of his aging. The strong set of his jaw mixed with the hollow smile on his lips. He could still remember his father dressing the morning of the painting in his freshly tailored and cleaned solid black suit, white presidential button-down shirt, and his red power tie in the familiar Windsor knot. As he put the finishing knot in his tie, his father said to him, “Edward, one day you will sit in this seat, to have your likeness captured for eternity and to sit along me and your grandfather. When that day comes, I want you to look back on your career and feel comfortable saying you've made the world better off than when you took the reins today. Make us proud son.”
Stein thought fondly back on that day and knew today would be a much different day. Today, in front of his direct reports and the board, Veronica King would make a play to push him out of his seat. However, today he would put her in her place and send her ass packing. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when all members of the board, even those that backed her rise in the company, gave her a vote of no confidence and for her insubordination, would ask for her resignation. At that point, he would smile and watch as she left with her tail between her legs.
Everyone, seated in their normal positions, talked in hush tones around him. Looking down at his watch he noted it was six minutes after noon. He thought to himself that Veronica was never late. In fact, she was typically early for these meetings. Maybe she got cold feet and decided to tender her resignation silently instead of proceeding with this farfetched plan to overthrow him from power.
One minute later he realized this was not the case. Through the glass walls of the conference room located on the top floor of the GIS building he could see Veronica striding with purpose and determination. As she swung the door open their eyes locked. The cold, vacant, murderous look that covered her face sent chills down his spine.
December 11th – 12:00 p.m.
Witnessing the death of her husband, and now being told by this stranger that she needed to execute the members of her company’s board, along with her peers, caused something to snap within Veronica King. However, for the sake of her daughter, she needed to hold it together and do what she considered to be unthinkable. She was being asked, make that forced, to commit mass murder. And to make matters worse, she got the sense from this woman that once this deed was complete, she still would not be free.
The woman, who she was told to call Bree, stated she would be asked to complete a few other tasks from her employer, The Syndicate. And when she was called upon, she simply needed to perform the duty she was asked to complete, and everything would be ok. If she refused, she would one day have the corpse of her daughter emailed back to her piece by piece. Today would be her first test of loyalty, today would go a long way in determining if she was with them or if she was against them.
Bree walked her through what she needed to do step by step. If she followed directions, she and her daughter would not be harmed. In the end, once everyone in the board room had expired, Veronica who was next in line, would take over as CEO, a position she had come to the office that day to fight for, and she could replace all of her colleagues with handpicked successors.
As Veronica rode the elevator to the top floor of the GIS headquarters building, a sense of numb calmness overcame her person. She no longer felt in control. She was operating on autopilot. An autopilot that was being controlled by the crazy woman that appeared in her office only 20 minutes prior.
When the doors of the elevator opened, she knew there would be no retreat. She clutched the bag affixed to her shoulder and began to stride toward the double doors to the board room. With her assured tardiness, all members of the board and her peers would already be seated in the room awaiting her arrival. The seat closest to the door, opposite to Edward Stein, always belonged to her.
She strode from the elevator determined. The only picture that was firmly implanted in her mind, was the image of her daughter being walked away by a faceless person just prior to her husband plunging to his death. As she reached for the handle of the door, she locked eyes with Edward Stein. For a brief moment he had the look of triumph in his eyes; however, as their eyes locked his look faded to concern.
She walked into the board room and the hushed conversations ended abruptly and all eyes were now focused on her. She sat her bag on the table and unlike the remainder of the room’s occupants, Veronica King stood planted in place.
Her eyes roamed silently around the room connecting momentarily with each person. As she looked at Mike, the CIO, she thought about the two kids he had, a boy and a girl, ages 13 and 10. They both played sports and looked up to their father. She lingered on Tonya, the head of HR. She had three more years until retirement and was looking forward to spending time with her husband, Jake, who had retired earlier this year. Her eyes watered as she looked at Bev.
Bev was a member on the board who was the CEO of a non-profit organization who helped at-risk youth. Bev had been Veronica’s biggest source of support and the only female member of the board. Finally, her eyes moved to the head of the table and landed on Edward Stein.
From the time she initially locked eyes with Stein until the moment she was now staring at him, the look on Stein’s face had once again shifted. The look that originally conveyed concern, was now a look of horror. Everyone at the table followed the glare from Veronica and turned their heads back to CEO, Edward Stein.
Veronica pulled back the flap from the messenger bag that she had carried into the board room. She extracted the canister that she was given by the woman calling herself Bree and sat it down with a thud on the table. Without a moment’s hesitation, she pressed the button on the canister, retrieved the bag and walked back out of the door she had entered. Upon exiting the room, she affixed two door stoppers underneath each of the glass doors moments before Mike rammed into the door. The glass that surrounded the conference room was designed to be shatterproof and in a few moments, it wouldn’t matter.
A fine, green mist exploded from the canister and quickly began to disperse to the four corners of the room. For one additional moment, Veronica looked into the room catching an uncomprehending look of dismay from Bev as her eyes questioned, “Why?”
Veronica pressed the down button to the elevator which still lay in wait on the floor. She entered the elevator car and pressed the button marked with the letter “G” which denoted the exit and the garage level. From there she would walk to her car in her private parking spot and drive to her house where she was told her daughter would be waiting.
Chapter 6
December 11th – 12:30 p.m.
“M
r. and Mrs. Thompson, thank you for stopping in today. The baby is looking great. Continue to do what you are doing and minimize stress as much as possible. I want to keep an eye on your A1C levels. I see from the panel we did during your last visit that they are a little more elevated than I would like.”
Dr. Prince could see the look of concern on both Marcellous and Jasmyn. Placing a delicate hand on top of Jasmyn's hand, “There is nothing to fear. Having a baby is hard work and your body goes through a multitude of changes, especially with the first one.”
She shot a reassuring smile to Jasmyn and followed up with the same genuine smile in Marcellous’ direction. The small gesture immediately put the couple at ease and brought a smile to their faces.
“Now, let's talk about the gender of your bundle of joy.” The radiant smile on Jasmyn's face widened at the mention of her baby.
On their ride over to the hospital the couple continued to go back and forth on knowing the sex of the baby. T
his discussion went on until the moment Jasmyn laid back on the examination table awaiting the arrival of Dr. Prince. By the time the exam started they still had not decided. Even though Jasmyn was a nurse, she still had trouble making out the details on an ultrasound.
Marcellous, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to any of the details, but when the aide pointed out the heartbeat on the monitor, he swelled with pride and instantly looked for that continuous flutter on subsequent visits. Other than that, he might as well be reading a foreign language.
The moment of truth had come at last, "Are you guys ready to know what you're having?" Dr. Prince asked, anticipating a gleeful response. Instead, she received blank stares and uncertainty. Reading the situation for what it was, she hopped in.
“Well, it seems like you are on the fence.”
She received nods.
“How about this. I have already determined the sex, but I do not need to tell you. I can seal the gender within an envelope and if you decide at some point prior to the birth to know the sex, all you need to do is open the envelope.”
Both parents looked at each other, hope spread across their faces.
“I've heard of countless couples doing a gender reveal party with family and close friends. You can take the envelope to your local baker, have them bake a cake and the color of the cake will reveal the sex of the baby.”
The light illuminated for both Jasmyn and Marcellous at the same time.
“Why didn't we think of that? It's a brilliant idea.” In that moment the couple made a decision, a decision to delay the decision even further.
“This envelope contains the sex of the baby as we discussed. The reveal is totally in your hands. I look forward to hearing how you go about the reveal. I've had some really creative ones.”
Dr. Prince began walking the couple back toward the reception desk.
Hour of Reckoning (Donatella Book 2) Page 7
