Free Found Missing (Decorah Security Series, Book #14): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel by REBECCA YORK

anxiously
    “No. This is the first place I tried. But we’ve got a screwy problem. The clerk wanted to call the hospital to confirm that a patient with a medical problem had left.
    “And I did.”
    “But she took your ID.”
    “I wasn’t thinking about that.”
    “Neither was I until I had to give your name.”
    “I can be Doctor Bradley.”
    “That will work, if I don’t have to give my name. Then we’re back to weird again.
    “Well, let’s try Dr. Bradley. Technically that’s still me, although it’s not my professional name. But it’s not like the Hamilton Lab. This facility is owned by Decorah Security, not me.”
    “Right.”
    He could hear a phone ringing now.
    “That’s Mack,” she said.
    “Can you make it a three way?”
    “Yes.”
    As they spoke, he drove out of the motel lot and continued down Route 1 to the next chain motel. By the time he reached it, Mack had agreed to also use the name Dr. Bradley for the patient’s doctor. And the brothers had refined their technique. If the next motel clerks asked, they would say the patient had a tropical infection that was not contagious but it was life threatening.
    The results at Grant’s next three motels were similarly frustrating. Lily Wardman had not registered. And he knew from his mental conversations with Mack that his brother was having similar luck.
    Had he been wrong in his assessment?
    By some force of will, had Jenny kept driving out of the area? And she was in Delaware by now, in some off-brand fleabag where nobody would think to look? If she’d gotten that far, there was little hope of finding her. But he didn’t think she’d pick a fleabag to stay in. He’d known from her reaction to the Mirador that she was used to luxury, and she probably wouldn’t want to stay in a place where there might be actual bugs.
    He pressed doggedly on, prepared for another disappointment when he drove into the next place, another two-story chain, offering a free breakfast along with a room.
    This time the clerk was a woman in her twenties who was reading a book at the counter. She quickly put it away when he came through the door. His spiel was well rehearsed now when he said, “I’m looking for a woman who might have gotten a room a couple of hours ago. She was in the hospital but checked herself out against medical advice. Her name is Lily Wardman. She’s in her twenties. Short caramel-colored hair and light eyes.”
    To his surprise, the clerk said, “Yes, she did check in. I thought she looked sick, and I gave her a room around back on the first floor. Room 152.”
    At first Grant could hardly believe what he was hearing. But as he absorbed the news, he felt a flood of relief—coupled with a stab of dread. This was what he had been hoping for, and at the same time, the knowledge that he was going to come face to face with Jenny again made his heart skip a beat, then start up in double time.
    “Don’t tell her I’m coming. I don’t want her trying to run out on us again.”
    “Of course not.”
    He hurried back to his car, trying to picture the coming confrontation. He had half expected that Jenny would be impossible to find, and now she was only a few yards away—unless she’d changed her mind and skipped out of the motel.
    That worry had him gunning the engine as he headed for the back of the two-story building. But he had to slow to read the room numbers.
    As he drove along the row of parking spaces, he was relieved to see Mack’s car sitting in front of room 152. He continued past and parked several slots away so she wouldn’t know that the car outside had anything to do with her.
    Walking back quietly, he kept his gaze fixed on 152. He could see that the curtains were drawn, with a thin line of light showing at the sides.
    Now that he was here, another thought occurred to him and almost choked off his breath.
    What if Jenny had escaped the VR so she could meet someone from outside? A friend? A lover? A partner in crime. Up till