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

by York, Rebecca

  He glanced toward Paula. “Is there an inside room where everybody could wait while I go outside and see what’s happening?”

  “The business center?” she asked.

  “How about another office.”

  She pointed across the lobby toward an ornate desk. “There’s an office behind it.”

  “Okay. Everybody can go in there,” Mack said.

  “Like a storm shelter?” Jenny asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Todd snorted. “What good is that going to do?”

  “So far Preston hasn’t gotten in here. Let’s assume that an interior room is safest.”

  As the others hurried toward the office, Grant hung back. “I want to see what’s going on.”

  “It could be anything out there from a dragon to a squad of little blue men with ray guns.”

  “Let’s go meet them.”

  Mack was torn as he considered his last encounter with Preston’s effects. Grant was here as a volunteer. It wasn’t fair to put him in danger.

  “Okay,” he finally agreed as he watched Lily usher people across the lobby. When everyone was inside, she turned to him, and he could tell from her face that she wanted to talk to him. Not about the situation here. About the two of them.

  But there was no time for that now.

  She must have been reading his face, too.

  “Don’t shut me out,” she whispered.

  He wasn’t sure how to answer. That’s exactly what he was doing on an emotional level because he didn’t know if he could handle anymore disappointment.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, avoiding the personal issue. When he started toward the exit they’d used to get to the bar, she turned and went into the office.

  As Grant came up beside him. Mack couldn’t stop himself from looking back at the closed door.

  “You should give her a chance,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Because she cares about you,” Grant answered.

  “And you know that how?”

  “By the way she looks at you. The way she talks to you.”

  “She made up a story to tell me and everyone else. She could have made an exception with me—after I fucked her,” he spat out.

  Grant winced. “That’s how you think about it?”

  “Okay. No. That’s why I hate that she lied to me.” There was a lot more he could have said, but he wasn’t going to share his anguish with his brother.

  Instead of pressing him, Grant said, “She was sent in here with a job to do. And did you ever consider that Hamilton may be using her right now?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe she’s his control normal.”

  “Oh great.”

  He hadn’t considered that perhaps her role in the research project might not be exactly what she’d assumed.

  But that wasn’t the most important thing he had to worry about. Keeping his voice low, he asked, “What’s your opinion of the others?”

  “With regard to what?”

  “With regard to Lily’s thinking that a ruthless killer named Avery Sterling might have special motives for putting one of them in here.”

  Grant winced. “If you put it that way, we should tie them up and start conducting our own interrogations.”

  “We don’t have that option.”

  “Well, I haven’t known them as long as you have. A lot of them are hostile. Like that Todd guy. And Roper and Wright.”

  “Yeah. But it would be nice to know if it’s just because of the situation—or something unusual.”

  Another clap of thunder punctuated the conversation, and they picked up their pace.

  “What if it’s not what we think? What if one of the patients is working with the hacker?” Grant asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mack said. “Why would they?”

  Grant shrugged. “Hard to say without more information.”

  When they stepped into the courtyard, lightning flashed above them, followed by another thunderclap.

  “The guy’s in the woods,” Mack said, pointing to the trees on the other side of the wall as he ducked into the covered walkway that skirted the lawn between the hotel and the wall. When they came to the end of the pavement, the door in the wall slowly opened. Mack braced for what might come out. This time it was a surge of red and gold flames that charred the wall as they curled around the edges.

  “Jesus,” Grant muttered as he tipped his head to the side, studying the effect. “Interesting. Can magic fire burn us?”

  “Unfortunately, you have to assume it can. Like coming in here did a number on you until Lily gave you a stimulant.”

  As they watched warily, they saw vague figures moving in the flames, then something took more concrete form and rushed out, heading toward them, trailing fire. For the first time, Mack was seeing the hacker’s effects break through into the hotel property.

  In the woods he’d commanded a small army of hostile little men. Now his proxy had taken the form of a devil with horns on its head and a long, curved tail. It was bare-chested and wearing tight black pants. In its hand was a pitchfork, which it jabbed in their direction.

  Mack and Grant both ducked back around the corner of the building, putting the wall between them and the . . . what?

  “Yeah, what?” Mack repeated.

  Grant looked toward him. “You heard me say that—in my head?”

  “I don’t know. It was a natural question. Is it him taking that form, or is it a projection?”

  “Maybe it doesn’t make a difference.”

  Mack stopped talking and sent his brother a mental message. Grant looked toward him.

  “Halloween costume devil,” he said aloud.

  “That’s definitely what I was thinking,” Mack answered. “Not very original. I guess I’m not worth the clever effects you told me about.”

  “Yeah. You’re just a second-class resident,” Mack agreed, trying to keep up the banter.

  They both looked cautiously around the corner, and a wave of fire swept toward them, filling the air with acrid smoke and singeing their eyebrows.

  “Cut it out,” Mack shouted.

  “Make me,” a voice boomed.

  “Why don’t you just tell us what you want?” Mack suggested, trying to sound like you could have a reasonable conversation with this guy when every breath he took felt like it was burning his lungs.

  “That’s not the way the game works.”

  “It’s not a game,” Mack countered. “It’s our lives.”

  “Such as they are.” He paused. “Except for your brother and Dr. Wardman. They should get the hell out of here while they can.”

  “I like it here,” Grant called back.

  “Oh sure,” the voice boomed, and for good measure, a large cloud of thick and nasty black smoke shot toward them. “Let’s cut to the chase. I want the rest of the people out here so I can talk to them.”

  “Just talk?”

  “Right.”

  “And then what?”

  “Nothing bad.”

  “Oh sure,” Mack answered. “Like nothing bad happened to me and Lily in the woods.”

  “That was just a taste of what I can do. If you don’t cooperate, you’re going to be sorry. As you can see, I’m getting more power over this place.”

  Mack winced, wishing it weren’t true. But maybe he could give the guy a nasty jolt.

  “Why don’t you just tell us what you really want, Preston?” Mack called out.

  The answer was a string of curses. “Where did you get that name?”

  “Unfortunately for you, Shelly told me.”

  More curses.

  “I guess it was a mistake sending her into Lily’s room. But how did you manage it?”

  “Like I’d tell you.” Preston snorted. “She’s just a stupid kid. I mean, she hasn’t learned anything since she was five, has she?”

  “Then what did you think you were going to get out of using her?”

&
nbsp; There was no answer, but a shiver traveled over Mack’s skin as a logical explanation for Shelly’s visit grabbed him by the throat.

  “What, Mr. Nice Guy? Did you think hurting her sister would persuade Lily to help you? But there was no way for it to work because Lily wasn’t there when you sent the kid in.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Mack was pretty sure he’d figured out that nasty little part of the puzzle.

  “Tell us what you want, and we might be able to help,” he said.

  “Like I believe that.”

  “Then stop messing with us,” Mack growled.

  “He’s only got so much power,” Grant whispered, “Or he’d be all over us.” Mack was about to agree when the walkway under their feet started to crumble as though an earthquake had swept through the hotel grounds. Only the spot where they were standing was the only thing affected.

  They leaped back, but Mack smashed into Grant who was too close behind him. He bounced forward off his brother’s broad chest, lost his footing, and started falling into the gaping hole that had opened where the lawn and the sidewalk met. An involuntary scream welled in his throat when he saw the bubbling lava below him and felt the surge of heat licking at his legs.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Mack pictured himself plunging into the boiling lava and burning to a cinder.

  Then he felt fingers tangle in the fabric of his tee shirt. It was Grant, stopping his downward plummet, then pulling him up.

  Get back. You’ll go in too, he shouted inside his head. But his brother’s hands stayed in place.

  He could feel the fabric starting to rip as he clawed at the sides of the pit. Dirt and rock broke loose and tumbled down, landing with sickening sucking sounds in the molten pool below. Mack knew he was going to follow them into the burning liquid.

  No Grant silently shouted.

  Mack looked around desperately and found a root sticking out from the side of the hole. As he grabbed for it, his fingers clawed at the wet surface, then gained some traction. He closed his fist and hung on to the projection, helping to stabilize himself. But not for long. He could feel the root slowly pulling out of the dirt as it sagged under his weight.

  Before he went down, Grant gave a mighty heave, yanking him back to the surface. The two of them tumbled onto the paved walkway. Mack banged his elbow, but he and Grant both scooted back from the edge of the hole.

  They were dragging in drafts of air as they watched the fault close up as though it had never been there.

  Grant stared at the spot where the earth had opened up like a Florida sinkhole—with brimstone instead of water. “I guess you can get killed in here.”

  “I think so,” Mack agreed as he stood up and brushed off his clothing. He’d thought his shirt was tearing, but it seemed to be okay now. Cole was also brushing himself off.

  “I’m glad he didn’t get you,” a small voice said from the direction of the lobby.

  They both turned to see Shelly standing on the walkway, dressed in the jeans and shirt she’d been wearing earlier.

  Grant tipped his head to the side, studying her. “You’re Lily’s sister?” he asked. “The girl we were talking about?”

  She nodded gravely. “I didn’t know how nasty the Preston was. First I thought he was being nice bringing me here.” Her face contorted. “Then I found out he didn’t care about me.”

  “Unfortunately,” Mack agreed. Instinctively he reached for her, and pulled her close.

  She clung to him for long moments.

  “I like you,” she whispered.

  “I like you too.” He dragged in a breath and let it out. “I told Lily you were here, and she was sad that you left. She wants to see you.”

  “I want to see her. That’s why I came back,” she said, but she didn’t sound entirely sure.

  They all started for the main part of the hotel, with Shelly skipping ahead. When she reached the lobby, she stopped and looked around.

  “Where is she?”

  “I told her and the others to wait for us.” He crossed to the office door and knocked. “It’s Mack.”

  Lily opened the door. When she saw her sister, she rushed out, ran across the space that separated her from the little girl and caught her up in her arms, hugging her tightly as she swayed back and forth.

  “Shelly! Oh Lord, Shelly, thank you for coming back. I’m so glad to see you.”

  Mack heard the tears in her voice, saw them in her eyes. Lily had said that this little girl was the reason she’d become a doctor, and he could understand that better now. She loved the sister who had been ripped away from her, and she’d grabbed at the chance to help other people who were in the same position.

  “Me too,” the child answered.

  Lily set the little girl down, but kept hold of her hand, leading her to where the chairs had been pulled into a circle.

  “I missed you,” Shelly said.

  “I’ve come to visit you a lot.”

  “Sometimes I could hear you.”

  “Good.”

  “I tried to see you, but I couldn’t.”

  Mack and Grant had remained near the door of the office.

  “I’ll go in and tell them what happened,” Grant said.

  “Well, don’t make it sound too scary,” Mack advised.

  “I think they have to be aware that the situation’s changing. Especially those guys who are already on the edge of rebellion. Going outside could be fatal.”

  “Yeah, their best option is staying in the hotel.”

  “I’m not sure they believe it.”

  Mack nodded. “Right.”

  As Grant went into the office, Mack walked toward Lily and the girl. Remembering how his own encounter with Shelly had ended, he had a bad feeling about the meeting.

  The little girl was talking. “When you visited me in the hospital, it wasn’t the same as this. It always seemed like you were far away.”

  “Far away from what? I mean, where did it seem like you were?”

  The little girl shivered. “In a dark place. It was boring. This place is much nicer.”

  “Yes.”

  “Can I stay here with you?” she asked in a plaintive voice.

  Lily glanced toward Mack, a resigned expression on her face, and he knew she was thinking that was out of her control, at least until they got rid of the hacker.

  He started toward them, just as the air around the girl rippled, and she vanished.

  Lily leaped up, and reached for the spot where her sister had been. She gasped, then gave him a helpless look, tears in her eyes again.

  “He gave both of us hope, then snatched it away. And now she’s in a dark, awful place again,” she whispered.

  “Maybe not awful,” he said.

  “What else could it be?” she asked, sounding utterly defeated.

  He didn’t say what he’d figured out earlier—that it was lucky for Shelly and Lily that Preston still couldn’t do much in the hotel proper.

  Instead he said, “When this is over, you can bring her here and hook her into the system with the others.”

  “If it’s ever over.”

  “It will be.”

  Mack had told himself he needed to distance himself from her emotionally. Now he knew that was impossible. Crossing the space between himself and Lily, he took her in his arms, feeling her shoulders start to shake. He could tell she was struggling not to break down, and he knew she was losing the battle.

  Looking around, he saw other doors off the lobby. Because Lily needed to be alone, he picked her up and carried her to one of them. The first one he opened led to a supply closet. The second one opened into a small sitting room with a long couch and several overstuffed chairs.

  He carried her inside, kicking the door closed behind him, then crossing to the couch where he sat down, cradling her in his lap.

  She pressed her face to his chest and gave up the effort to keep from sobbing.

  He caressed her back and ran his fingers int
o her hair, hoping he could make her feel better. As he stroked her, he kept speaking. “It’s okay. We’ll figure out how to get her over here on our terms—not his. She said she liked the hotel. She liked the ice cream. Even if she doesn’t need to eat, she can enjoy the stuff any kid would want.”

  As he spoke, he felt Lily struggling for calm, and finally she wiped away the tears and raised her eyes to his with a look that made him flash back to when the earth had opened up under his feet.

  “We don’t know that. We don’t even know how long this place is going to exist.”

  The words were like an icy knife plunging into his flesh. She was right. Hamilton could pull the plug any time he wanted. Or the other guy, the one who had provided the money. Or Preston could make it unlivable.

  When Lily reached to clasp the back of Mack’s head and pull his mouth down to hers, there was no thought of resistance. He had tried to tell himself that getting involved with her had been a mistake. Now he silently admitted that he’d felt like she was using him. And he’d been protecting himself by shutting her out.

  It hadn’t done him any good. He could feel an icy wind blowing at his back, reminding him that he might not have much time to enjoy what life he had left. But what time he did have he wanted to spend with Lily. The admission was like a giant weight being lifted off his shoulders.

  He kissed her with a shocking desperation, as though she might be snatched away from him at any moment. Unfortunately it was true. If Hamilton wanted to bring her back to the lab, there was nothing stopping him from doing it.

  And there was his own life to consider. It hung by a fragile cord that could be chopped in half at any time.

  Not just by Hamilton. By the bastard named Preston who had hacked his way in here and was up to no good.

  He pushed away those unwelcome thoughts as he turned his head one way and the other, feasting on the woman in his arms, feeling his desperation mirrored in her response to him. And when he wrapped her more tightly to himself and lay back on the couch, she came with him willingly, her body sprawling on top of his.

  She raised her head, looking down at him.

  “I was afraid I’d ruined everything.”

  “No.”

  “You were angry with me.”

  “I’ve got my head screwed on straight now.”