Found Missing (Decorah Security Series, Book #14): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel by REBECCA YORK
Authors: REBECCA YORK
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couldn’t have arranged things better if she’d tried, she slipped along the wall, then out into the reception area.
She felt a pang of worry—and guilt. Lily and Mack must be in trouble, but it was only in the VR, she reminded herself. Nothing permanent could happen to them there, could it?
From what Lily had told the patients, Jenny knew Dr. Hamilton’s original lab was in a fancy office building in Bethesda. Grant had said they’d been moved to a much more modest facility in an industrial park between Baltimore and Washington.
The lobby was pretty small. She stuck close to the wall, using it to keep herself steady as she approached a security desk.
To her relief, it was unmanned, because security was lighter here than at Hamilton’s facility. Mack had gone into the VR with Lily, and Grant had stationed himself where he could monitor the situation. Now they were both busy with whatever emergency Lily had encountered when she’d tried to introduce the new guy into the Mirador environment.
That knowledge brought another pang of guilt. Since they were running a minimal operation unknown to the public, they thought they didn’t need a lot of protection. But they didn’t know that some very bad men were looking for Jenny Seville. Well, not Seville, she reminded herself. That wasn’t her real name. And she was praying that would keep them from figuring out where she was.
She took a deep breath, wavering on her feet as she bent over the desk and started opening drawers. Grant had told her they kept weapons here as a precaution, and she found an automatic pistol in the top middle drawer. Taking it was another reason to feel guilty, but she did it anyway.
She checked the action, put the gun into Lily’s purse, and headed for the door. Outside she found herself facing a narrow parking lot, backed by ugly one-story cinder-block buildings, with a strip of grass along the margin. After the blue skies of the Mirador Hotel, it was startling to see gray clouds hiding the sun. And after the sparking clean grounds of the hotel, the warehouse area looked grubby.
The heat was another shock to her system. At the Mirador, the temperature was always a pleasant seventy degrees. Now the full force of a Maryland summer enveloped her. It was like stepping into an overused laundry room, and she struggled to draw in a full breath of air.
The change of scene was a shock, but this was the real world, where she’d have to function now. And she’d taken a lot of chances getting to this point.
She didn’t know which car was Mack and Lily’s, but she pressed the unlock button on the ignition key and heard a chirp. Pressing several more times, she followed the sound to a newish-looking Honda.
After clicking once more, she opened the door and slipped into the fiery interior. When she leaned back against the headrest, the hot seat cover burned her neck, and she hunched forward, taking several deep breaths of the overheated air. She was amazed that she had gotten this far, but it wasn’t far enough. At any moment, Grant could come charging out of the building shouting at her to come back.
Knowing she had to get away, she turned the ignition, hoping the air conditioning was going to cool the car soon. She had to get away from the lab and find somewhere to hole up. But how far could she go in this condition?
After wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm, she glanced toward the building, but apparently nobody had discovered her absence yet. Taking a chance on staying a little longer, she clicked on the GPS. It displayed a map of the area, and she saw that the industrial park was off a major north-south highway—Route 1. There ought to be convenient motels out there, but she’d better not pick the first one she came to.
She closed her eyes for a moment, praying that she had the strength to do this—and that she wasn’t going to die of heatstroke before the AC kicked in. Then she backed cautiously out of the parking
She felt a pang of worry—and guilt. Lily and Mack must be in trouble, but it was only in the VR, she reminded herself. Nothing permanent could happen to them there, could it?
From what Lily had told the patients, Jenny knew Dr. Hamilton’s original lab was in a fancy office building in Bethesda. Grant had said they’d been moved to a much more modest facility in an industrial park between Baltimore and Washington.
The lobby was pretty small. She stuck close to the wall, using it to keep herself steady as she approached a security desk.
To her relief, it was unmanned, because security was lighter here than at Hamilton’s facility. Mack had gone into the VR with Lily, and Grant had stationed himself where he could monitor the situation. Now they were both busy with whatever emergency Lily had encountered when she’d tried to introduce the new guy into the Mirador environment.
That knowledge brought another pang of guilt. Since they were running a minimal operation unknown to the public, they thought they didn’t need a lot of protection. But they didn’t know that some very bad men were looking for Jenny Seville. Well, not Seville, she reminded herself. That wasn’t her real name. And she was praying that would keep them from figuring out where she was.
She took a deep breath, wavering on her feet as she bent over the desk and started opening drawers. Grant had told her they kept weapons here as a precaution, and she found an automatic pistol in the top middle drawer. Taking it was another reason to feel guilty, but she did it anyway.
She checked the action, put the gun into Lily’s purse, and headed for the door. Outside she found herself facing a narrow parking lot, backed by ugly one-story cinder-block buildings, with a strip of grass along the margin. After the blue skies of the Mirador Hotel, it was startling to see gray clouds hiding the sun. And after the sparking clean grounds of the hotel, the warehouse area looked grubby.
The heat was another shock to her system. At the Mirador, the temperature was always a pleasant seventy degrees. Now the full force of a Maryland summer enveloped her. It was like stepping into an overused laundry room, and she struggled to draw in a full breath of air.
The change of scene was a shock, but this was the real world, where she’d have to function now. And she’d taken a lot of chances getting to this point.
She didn’t know which car was Mack and Lily’s, but she pressed the unlock button on the ignition key and heard a chirp. Pressing several more times, she followed the sound to a newish-looking Honda.
After clicking once more, she opened the door and slipped into the fiery interior. When she leaned back against the headrest, the hot seat cover burned her neck, and she hunched forward, taking several deep breaths of the overheated air. She was amazed that she had gotten this far, but it wasn’t far enough. At any moment, Grant could come charging out of the building shouting at her to come back.
Knowing she had to get away, she turned the ignition, hoping the air conditioning was going to cool the car soon. She had to get away from the lab and find somewhere to hole up. But how far could she go in this condition?
After wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm, she glanced toward the building, but apparently nobody had discovered her absence yet. Taking a chance on staying a little longer, she clicked on the GPS. It displayed a map of the area, and she saw that the industrial park was off a major north-south highway—Route 1. There ought to be convenient motels out there, but she’d better not pick the first one she came to.
She closed her eyes for a moment, praying that she had the strength to do this—and that she wasn’t going to die of heatstroke before the AC kicked in. Then she backed cautiously out of the parking
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