Rx Missing (Decorah Security Series, Book #10): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel (7 page)

All eyes were on Mack and Lily when they rejoined the group. His gaze shot to Tom Wright, who was at the bar, smirking. Mack braced for a barrage of personal comments.

When none came he wondered if the jerk had decided there was no percentage in blabbing that he’d found them locked together in the grass.

Still, everyone was turned in their direction, expecting word of what had happened outside.

“You look shook up,” Paula Rendell, the travel agent, said.

“Yeah,” Mack acknowledged. He stalked to the bar, stepped behind it and pulled down a bottle of Jack Daniels. He poured a couple of fingers into a glass and was about to drink it down in one gulp. As it registered that everyone was still looking at him, he took a moderate swallow. It warmed his throat, but he didn’t feel any immediate effect from the liquor.

When he glanced at Lily, he could see from her face that she expected him to do the explaining.

He took another hit of bourbon and said, “I recommend staying away from the wall that separates this place from the woods.”

“Why?” Tom Wright, who had interrupted their public display of affection, demanded.

Mack set down the glass. “While we were out there, I was lured into the woods, and Lily followed me. Maybe I wouldn’t have escaped if she hadn’t hauled me back through the door.”

“Why wouldn’t you have come out?” Jenny Seville, the teacher, asked in a small voice. Mack hated the fear he saw in her eyes, but at the same time he was glad she’d voiced the question. He’d expected her to wait for someone else to take the initiative.

“Because it felt like something had taken control of my mind. I was seeing all kinds of weird things that couldn’t be real.” Before anyone could press him, he went on to explain, “I felt a compulsion to go in there. And then a bunch of strange stuff started happening. Like I was attacked by three-feet-tall men carrying spears—and a large animal like a prehistoric beast chased us to the exit.”

“Oh come on. Do you have a bottle hidden in the lobby or something?”

For the first time, Lily spoke up. “He’s not making it up. I saw it too, and I assure you I haven’t been drinking.”

She looked like she was about to say something else but changed her mind.

“What?” Mack asked.

She dragged in a breath and let it out. “Okay, I was thinking that from here the forest looks normal. But when you get in there, the foliage can be any color. And all of the trees were shaking—except that one was staying still, and there was a man standing on a branch looking down at us—like he was the cause of it all.”

“What did he look like?” Roper demanded.

“He had a shaved head, and he was dressed like a biker. He was telling us that we’d be killed if we tried to leave the woods, only I was pretty sure it was the other way around. If we stayed there, we’d end up dead.”

She stopped talking abruptly, looking like she was astonished at how much she’d revealed about the incident. Or maybe she was finally coming to grips with what had happened to them in the forest.

“Thank you. We needed to know that,” Paula Rendell said in a reassuring voice.

Chris Morgan gave her a sharp look. “Why, exactly?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ben Todd asked, sounding like he was badgering a witness in court. “So we can avoid the same thing happening to us.”

“Can we?” George Roper demanded. “I mean, if shit like that can pop up out of nowhere, what’s to stop
any old thing
from happening?”

“So far there’s been nothing like that in the hotel,” Mack said.

“Doesn’t mean it can’t,” Roper countered.

“Let’s hope not,” Ben Todd, interjected. “I’d like to know there’s somewhere we can count on being safe.”

Although Mack understood the sentiment, he wasn’t willing to count on it. Still, he nodded in agreement. Nothing wrong with hoping.

“How did you get out of the woods?” Paula asked.

“We fought our way out.”

When someone winced, he modified the observation. “Well, not exactly fought,” he said, thinking about the pitched battle with the spear carriers, which he didn’t mention. “An elephant-sized animal with scales and horns charged us, and we made it through the door in the wall. He was too big to get through.”

When Mack stopped talking, there were several moments of silence as that last piece of information sank in. Ben Todd finally said, “That’s quite a story.”

Mack shrugged. “I know it sounds fantastic, but it’s what happened. I’m not making it up.”

“I wish we were,” Lily said in a barely audible voice.

“So stay away from the woods,” Mack repeated what he’d said earlier. He glanced around the room, hoping he was getting silent agreement from everyone.

“I’m staying right here,” Jenny Seville said, confirming his assumption about her as she looked around at the rest of the hotel guests like she hoped others were going to keep her company.

Paula and several of the men nodded in agreement. Mack noticed that Lily wasn’t signing up for the group sit-in.

Neither was Tom Wright, the car salesman. “I’ve had enough of other people telling me what to do. I think we’re okay if we stay in the hotel.”

“Based on what?” Mack asked.

“Maybe because that’s what I fucking well
prefer
to think,” Wright said, his voice rising as he spat out the words.

“Keep your comments civil,” Paula said.

“Why should I?”

Lily shook her head. “Because it’s better to be polite. Foul language can only make things worse.”

“How could they be worse?” he shot back.

Mack waited for her answer, but she didn’t offer any insights.

George Roper stood up, walked to the back of the bar and snatched a bottle of Dewar’s from the shelf. He poured himself a tumbler full and held it up to the light, looking at it like the secret to the “Hotel California” might reside in its amber depths.

“If I drink all the Scotch here, do you think there will be more in the morning?” he asked.

It was a very interesting question, but nobody had an answer.

“If we all just sit here, we’re going to get on each other’s nerves,” he said, shooting Jenny a look.

“What do you suggest?” Ben Todd asked.

“Each of us could write down what we’re feeling,” Lily suggested.

That drew several derisive laughs from the men in the room. “You want to turn this adventure into a therapy session?” Tom Wright asked, his tone mocking.

“I guess not.”

“Is it an adventure?” Todd asked.

Roper made a disparaging sound. “Like being dropped in the middle of Disney World with no cast members to tell you what to do.”

Again Mack watched Lily, trying to gauge her reaction. She didn’t seem to like the comparison.

“Nobody else reported what they found,” Jenny said, sounding hopeful.

“That’s right,” Lily quickly agreed. What was she expecting? Some revelation, or was she seeing the exchange as a way to pass some time? And then what?

“Well?” Mack asked. “Did you find anything we should know about—or anything particularly interesting?”

The other teams gave reports. Nobody had found anything besides a luxury hotel—with an abundance of upscale facilities. But no staff members in the place. The only unusual trip had been into the woods, and Mack was thinking they could have avoided it if they’d just stayed where they were supposed to be.

Supposed to be? He wondered what that meant exactly.

“I’ve got a question,” Paula said. “Was the—unpleasantness—in the woods designed by the management to keep us in the hotel? Or was it an outside influence?”

“Good question,” Mack said, looking at Lily. “Outside influence or part of the setup?”

“How would I know?” she shot back.

He shrugged. “Just trying to get your opinion. Do you have one?”

“Outside influence,” she finally said.

“Why do you think so?”

She was ready with a quick answer. “Because there’s nothing to be afraid of in here.”

“Except the guy who tried to choke you,” Mack reminded her.

“But he’s disappeared.”

“Has he?”

“I hope so,” she answered quickly, and again he couldn’t help thinking that she knew more than anybody else.

When she didn’t volunteer anything else, Mack looked at Roper, who had made the comment about the liquor to the group in general. “Anybody sleepy?” he asked.

They all considered the question. Nobody answered in the affirmative.

“Here’s another one. Anybody have to go to the bathroom?”

Again nobody was feeling a full bladder.

“And we’re all in tip top physical condition?” Mack asked.

He watched the people in the room taking inventory. Some stood up and stretched. Others raised their hands above their heads or bent over and reached down toward their toes. Jenny turned her head from side to side.

“I had a stiff shoulder,” Todd said. “It’s better now.”

“Yeah, and my knee isn’t giving me any problems,” Paula reported.

“That’s all good, isn’t it?” Lily said.

“Hopefully,” Mack answered.

“You don’t want to feel good?”

“Sure I do. But the last thing I remember is ejecting from a fighter jet. You’d think I’d have some aftereffects? At least some muscle pulls or something? Do you have a medical opinion about that?”

“A medical opinion?”

“You’re a nurse, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

He thought he saw a shadow cross her face, but it was gone before he could be sure it was really there.

“So let me ask the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question,” Mack said. “Now that we’ve been here awhile and thought about our physical condition, where do you think we are?”

He saw various reactions around the room.

“A prison?” Chris Morgan muttered.

“Why do you think so?” Ben Todd asked him.

“Because we can’t get out.”

“If it’s a prison, it’s pretty plush.”

“How about a mind-control experiment?” Todd asked.

Jenny winced. “Do you really think so?”

“It’s as good a guess as any.”

At the side of the room, Tom Wright stood up, and Mack looked toward him.

“You have a theory?”

“Not that I want to discuss.”

“But you’re thinking something,” Mack pressed.

“I’m thinking I’ve had enough cheerful togetherness,” the man clipped out. He headed for the door, then stalked out of the room. Mack waited for several moments, then stepped into the hall, seeing the defector striding toward the lobby. He followed, staying near the wall and several yards back as he watched the man stalk across the expanse of marble floor and turn right into the main hallway. Wright marched into the business center and closed the door behind him.

Mack walked quietly to the door, pausing at the side of a potted palm, and waited several seconds to let Wright think he was alone. Finally he eased the door open a crack and looked in. The car salesman was seated at one of the computers. He turned it on and waited. Mack held his breath. Did this guy know something that the rest of them didn’t? Like did he have a way to communicate with the outside world? Long seconds passed, and then a message flashed on the screen, “Unable to load mail.”

“The fuck you say. I mean, what is this?”

Wright slapped the desk next to the machine, then began pressing buttons. The tactic didn’t produce a mail program, but the screen flashed with an announcement of games and movies.

“Oh right,” Wright muttered. “Canned stuff. Just what we need to keep us occupied.”

Mack might have stepped into the business center, but movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He stayed still, facing the door, but he swiveled his eyes in time to see Lily climbing the stairs. She looked like she was in a hurry—with a known destination in mind. Maybe following her was more productive than trying to figure out what Wright was up to.

oOo

Mack eased farther behind the palm, watching Lily pause at the top of the stairs and scan the lobby. She had gotten out of the bar pretty quickly. He’d like to know what excuse she’d made to the others, since they’d already established that nobody had to go to the bathroom or were tired.

As he watched, she headed down the hall. He waited again, then made a dash up the stairs, noting that he could run up the flight without feeling winded.

When he turned in the direction she’d gone, the hall was empty, and he clenched his fists in frustration. Then he remembered she’d said she was in room 250. It could be a lie, but the way she’d said it argued for its being the truth.

He moved along the carpet, stopping at room 250. He could have knocked. Instead he tried the knob. It was locked, and he felt a surge of disappointment. And also surprise at his own actions. Since when did he walk into a woman’s bedroom unannounced? And without an invitation.