Free Pieces of the Puzzle by Robert Stanek

advance.”
    “And the room number?”
    “Already told you, against hotel policy. Discreet, we’re very discreet. Take great pride in it. I can dial her room for you
     if you’d like? She can tell you herself then.”
    Scott leaned in close. “Can we talk privately?”
    The clerk grinned and walked to the far end of the counter. He watched Scott’s hands as if he expected something.
    Scott leaned against the counter. “Can we keep this just between us?”
    The clerk nodded greedily.
    “I’m her husband, Bob. We’re having difficulties. I’m afraid my wife is very distraught. She’s diabetic, you know.” He paused
     intentionally, then added, “She didn’t take her insulin with her. I’m afraid—”“Room 908,” the clerk said in a hushed tone,
     “I’ll make you a card key… I hope she’s all right.”
    “I hope so too,” Scott said, his voice grim.
    The clerk made a card key. “Do you want me to call the paramedics, just in case?”
    “No, no. Helen here knows how to administer the insulin. Things’ll be fine now. Thank you. You may have saved my wife’s life.”
    The desk clerk stood a little taller. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all, call down to the front desk, and I’ll
     see you get it.”
    Scott and Helen went to the elevator. The elevator doors opened on the ninth floor. Neither had spoken during the brief ride,
     and the closer they got to Room 908, the faster Helen’s jaw quivered.
    He said, “If there’s something you haven’t told me, now would be a good time.”
    She looked up at him. Her eyes full of tears. “She really is diabetic, you know. I don’t want to know if it was a guess or
     if you actually knew, but I hope nothing else you said comes true. Jessica’s all I have left, except maybe May, but May’s
     not family.”
    “I’ll take that as a no,” Scott mumbled. He passed the card key through the reader, looked up and down the hall to make sure
     it was empty, then took out his gun. He looked directly at Helen. “Stay here until I say otherwise.”
    He turned the knob and slowly opened the door. The room was dark. The NVGs were still in the car, he hadn’t expected to find
     a darkened room. He didn’t know if it was a good sign or a bad sign, but he didn’t wait to find out. He slipped into the room
     and eased the door closed behind him. His heart was racing in his ears. He felt strange, good. The way he always felt during
     a mission—but usually not after.
    He crouched to his knees and made his way through the room an inch at a time. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, but everything
     was still bathed in shadows. A bathroom door was to his right, he continued past it.
    He sniffed the air. He didn’t smell anything. No perfume, no aftershave, not even the scent of shampoo from the bathroom.
     He continued into the room. Closets came next on the left, a bed was on the right. He snaked around the right side of the
     bed, raised his hands to where a person’s head should have been and found nothing. He circled to the left side of the bed,
     and again found nothing. The bed was empty, that didn’t mean the room was.
    A lamp was next to the bed. He put his back to the wall and switched it on. Gun at the ready, he turned it in a swift 180
     around the room. The room was thankfully empty. He looked under the bed. He went to the bathroom and jolted the door open.
     The bathroom was empty. The shower walls were dry. He checked the closets next and found empty hangers.
    He opened the door and waved Helen in. “No one’s here. The bed hasn’t been slept in recently. The shower walls are dry. No
     clothes in the closet.”
    She buried her face in his chest. She whispered, “Make me feel. I need to feel.”
    He put her at arm’s length. “You’re tired. You don’t know what you want. Rest, I’ll see if I can find out the last time Jessica
     was seen here in the hotel. Do you have a picture of her in your purse?”
    Helen began unbuttoning her