Rx Missing (Decorah Security Series, Book #10): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel (17 page)

She screamed.

“Shut up,” he ordered.

She quieted, her eyes wide with terror as she looked around at the crowd. They stared back in horror.

“I’m going to cut to the chase. Bring me George Roper,” Preston ordered, “or I kill her.”

“George Roper?” Mack asked. He could see Preston’s look of triumph that he’d finally gotten some control of the situation in the VR. But Mack could also see his desperation. He hadn’t been mounting these attacks on a whim. He was on an important mission.

Was he going to get into bad trouble if he didn’t accomplish his goal, whatever it was? It would have been easy to say he was just crazy. He was exhibiting behavior you could call insane. Specifically megalomaniac. But there had to be method behind his madness. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to get into this place. All to grab George Roper?

“How do you know you want Roper?” Mack called down.

“I’ve eliminated everyone else.”

“What do you want with him?” Mack pressed.

“You don’t need to know.” Preston turned his attention to the crowd in the lobby, his expression hopeful as he scanned the faces.

Everybody else was doing the same thing.

“Roper’s not here,” Todd finally said.

“What do you mean—not here?” Preston said. “There’s nowhere he can go.”

Grant moved back toward the room where he’d kept the patients quiet. His brother came out moments later and shook his head.

“He’s not in there.”

Preston made a sound of frustration. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“I think he came in here with everybody else,” Grant said. “But then he and some of the others walked out.”

“Find him.”

“Why is he important?” Mack tried again.

“You think I’m going to tell you?”

“But you’re sending us around the hotel to search?” Mack asked.

“Like you said, there’s nowhere to go but in here.”

Roper could go into the woods, but he’d be a fool to do it after what he’d heard from Mack.

He nodded. “We should keep to the buddy system.”

“Why?” Preston snapped.

“Safer.”

The hacker laughed. “There’s nothing gonna hurt you in here, except me.”

“Or Roper. He could assault anyone who catches up with him.”

“Fair point,” Preston conceded.

Assuming that sticking with Lily was going to be okay, Mack clasped her hand, leading her back the way they’d come. At the same time, he was frantically sending a message to his brother.

Meet me in room 250. Meet me in room 250.

He couldn’t be sure the message was getting through, but he kept a tight hold on Lily as they climbed the stairs.

Neither one of them spoke while they were within sight of the man who held Paula. When they turned the corner in the hall, Lily finally spoke.

“Where are we going? I mean, he’s right; we can’t get out of here.”

“Um—that’s not exactly true. You left, using that thing in your closet.”

She gave him a wide-eyed look. “How do you know?”

“That was the only logical explanation for your disappearing. And I’m hoping Grant will come up here.”

They reached her door, and she fumbled in her pocket for her key.

When they’d stepped inside, he left the door ajar.

“Okay, what are we doing?” she asked.

“You’re going back to the lab. Then you’re bringing me back there and waking me up.”

She caught her breath. “I can’t let you do that. You . . . might not be able to function without life support outside the VR.”

“You said I already woke up.”

“Very briefly. There are layers of consciousness.”

“You said there was a good chance I could recover.”

“Yes, but we can’t just jump in with both feet.”

“I think we have to.”

When the door opened, they both tensed, but it was Grant, who had gotten the mental communication.

“What?” he asked.

“We’re all going back to Hamilton Labs.”

“What do you mean—we?”

“Just what it sounds like.”

His brother’s reaction was the same as Lily’s. “Not you!”

“Something’s going on there that we have to figure out,” Mack said.

Grant looked at Lily, “Even if he can wake up, what kind of physical shape will he be in?”

“Under ordinary circumstances, a patient who’s been in bed for weeks can’t just get up and walk around without help. But that special bed will have kept him flexible and kept him from getting bedsores. Plus he’s been getting regular physical therapy for his muscles,” she answered, then added, “But I wouldn’t recommend just trying to bring him back to full consciousness. His neck—”

“Was twisted,” Mack finished. “And I’ve had time to heal. You said I was responding to you.”

She gave him a helpless look. “You could die.”

“I’m betting I won’t.”

“It’s a bet I don’t want to make.”

“I’m the one making it, and it’s got to be done,” he said. “Open the closet, and show him.”

She sighed and went to the touchpad.

“It’s my birthday, she said. 4, 30."

“Okay.”

After she’d pressed the right code, she opened the door, revealing the hidden equipment.

Grant looked torn, then said, “I’m going to stay here. If we both leave, the others will be unprotected.”

“You mean Jenny will be unprotected,” Mack said.

Grant gave him a startled look. “You noticed.”

“Yeah.”

Lily crossed to the machinery and activated a control. A screen appeared with a picture of the lab. They could see Hamilton and another man Mack hadn’t seen before. The visitor to the lab was taller than average with a trim build, dressed in dark slacks, a white shirt and a conservatively cut dark leather jacket in a conservative cut. He moved like a man in his forties, but he had white hair and lined features that made him look like he could be older.

Two other hard-faced men stood by the door but didn’t join in the conversation.

“Can they see and hear us?” Mack asked as he watched Hamilton and the other guy. Even without the sound turned on, Mack could tell that Hamilton was on the defensive with the visitor.

“No,” Lily answered.

“Who’s he talking to?”

“Sterling,” Lily said. “The big shot who came in with the funding. He had several meetings here.” As they watched, he walked over to one of the beds and looked down at the patient.

“Who’s that?” Mack asked.

“Roper,” Lily answered.

Mack nodded. “Figures. It’s not just Preston who is interested in Roper. He must be the guy Sterling paid Hamilton to put in there.”

Lily had turned on the sound from the lab, and they heard the men talking.

“I paid you to keep him alive in there,” Sterling said, his voice hard as glass.

“And I’ve held up my part of the bargain,” Hamilton answered.

“Have you? I think you’re hiding something.”

“Of course not.”

“I want to talk to that hotshot programmer of yours. What’s his name?”

“Landon, and he’s busy.”

“Doing what?”

“Keeping the place running.”

“Doesn’t it run by itself?”

“There are always little adjustments.”

“Let’s go talk to him.”

Panic flashed on the doctor’s face, but apparently he didn’t feel he was in a position to refuse.

“I’ll tell him we’re coming.”

“No. Well just walk in and see what’s going on up there.”

Hamilton looked like he wanted to argue—or throw up. Instead he headed for the door.

Mack’s breath was shallow until Hamilton and the two thugs had left with Sterling.

“I’m not sure how much time we have,” he said to Lily. “You’d better go in there while you have the chance.”

She gave him a tight nod.

“How long does it take?”

“It happens right away,” she answered, looking like she was on the edge of panic, then made an effort to get control of herself as she glanced at Grant. “Except that I had Landon wait to send you in so I could be here when you arrived. But going back, it’s immediate.”

“Okay.”

She gave him a direct look. “You’re sure you want to follow me?”

“Yes. But. . . ”

“But what?”

He didn’t want to entertain the possibility that he was living the last few minutes of his life, but he had to be realistic. He was in this VR environment because his bailout had put him in a coma.

“If I don’t make it, you have to get out of the lab.”

“And what?”

Grant spoke. “And contact the organization I used to work for. Decorah Security. They’re in Beltsville. Tell Frank Decorah everything. He’ll help you.”

“Frank Decorah,” she repeated the name and the phone number he gave her, then glanced at Mack.

“Yeah, that’s an excellent idea. Everything I’ve heard about Decorah Security is good.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s get this show on the road, before the thug and your boss come back. Or maybe they’re all thugs.”

Lily nodded. “Landon made it pretty simple for me to get back.” She swept her hand toward the interior of the portal, which was about the size of an old-fashioned telephone booth. “You stand against the back wall, then press this button.”

He watched where she pointed.

She was about to step inside the device. Instead she turned and reached for Mack, pulling him into her arms and holding tight.

He made a strangled sound, clinging to her for heartbeats. They could be saying good-bye, he thought, with a sudden tightening of his chest. He prayed not, because that would mean one of them was dead—probably him.

Another thought struck him. Hamilton and Sterling could come back and catch her in the midst of acclimating herself to the real world.

“You’d better go,” he whispered.

“I know.”

“How long before I can follow you?” he asked.

“You can see me on the screen. I’ll get out of bed, then tell you to come on.” Her voice rose as she said the last part, and he knew she was worrying about his making it back.

“Okay. Better do it while we’ve got the chance.”

She was about to step to the machine, when he said, “Wait.”

“What?”

“Is there a weapon in the lab, in case I need it?”

“Mine,” Grant said.

“I put it in the desk drawer,” Lily answered.

“Okay.”

Stiffly she stepped into the machine, closing the door behind her.

oOo

Mack’s heart started to pound as he imagined her winking out of existence like in the Star Trek transporter room. Maybe it was something like that, because in the VR, her body was only an electronic representation of her real self. Like his own current body.

As he heard equipment whirring, he kept his gaze fixed on the computer screen. Lily had been here moments earlier. Now she might as well be on another planet. Again he thought of the Star Trek transporter.

The sides of the beds blocked his view of the patients. Then one of the sleepers reached a hand over the rail, a small feminine hand.

“Lily?” he whispered. “Let me know you’re okay, sweetheart.”

As though she heard him, she sat up and looked toward the monitor, then shot her gaze toward the door before she took off the cap she was wearing and started pulling leads and wires from her body.

She grasped the side of the bed, glancing around like she was having the same science-fiction reaction as Mack. She’d gone from here to there in the blink of an eye. He knew she’d done it before. Was it different for her now because of their relationship? He struggled to put the relationship idea out of his mind. She couldn’t have a real
anything
with a guy in a coma

She stayed where she was for a few moments, then looked toward the door to the lab again before standing up. As she did, he saw relief flood her face.

Turning toward the computer screen, she said, “They’re gone. Give me a minute to get dressed.”

He watched while she crossed the room to a cabinet, where she pulled out a scrub suit, then took off her hospital gown and shoved it onto the bottom shelf before dressing.

He saw her take a deep breath before looking toward him. “Come on.”

“Here goes nothing,” he answered.

After embracing Grant, he broke away. He didn’t have to read Grant’s mind to know his thoughts.

“I’m gonna be okay,” he said, hearing the thickness in his own voice.

“I almost didn’t make it here,” his brother answered. “I needed Lily to help me.”

“She’s already waiting for me. You go down and make sure Preston doesn’t do too much damage.”

“When I know you’re safe.”

He wanted to tell Grant the people in the lobby needed him, but he only turned and stepped into what he had come to think of as the transporter.

He had assumed he would be in the dark once he closed the door, but there was a warm glow emanating from hidden lights along the ceiling. He could see the button Lily had showed him. It was also faintly glowing. As soon as he looked at it, he realized they wouldn’t want you fumbling around in here when the door was closed.

Before he could change his mind he reached out and stabbed it with his finger.

He felt a sensation like a mild electric current coursing through his body, and then he was nowhere.

oOo

From the screen in the VR, Grant watched what was happening in the lab. Lily was anxiously hovering over one of the beds. Mack’s bed, he presumed.

She was looking down at the patient, speaking in a low voice. Then she looked at the screen.

“Is he all right?” Grant shouted.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “This may have been a very bad idea.”

“Christ, no,” he whispered under his breath, wanting to shout the words but knowing that might call Preston’s attention to his location.

“Save him,” he said.

“You stayed to help the people in there. Go do it,” Lily said.

“No.”

“You can’t do anything here. And you’re just distracting me.” She sounded angry, probably because Mack had put himself in danger, yet she couldn’t direct her anger toward
him.

As she spoke she turned back to Mack, her whole focus on him.

She’d told Grant there was nothing he could do. But maybe he could help get through to his brother.

Mack
he shouted inside his mind.
Mack wake up.