The Hunted (OPSIG Team Black) by Alan Jacobson

Author:Alan Jacobson [Jacobson, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

37

When the door slammed, Lauren bolted upright in her bed. The room was dark. She was dressed in her clothes—that much she could tell. But where was she?

She was so disoriented. She rubbed at her eyes, but that just made them burn more. She swung her legs off the bed and realized her shoes were still on her feet. Although she had been sleeping, she was still exhausted.

She felt around the room and found a wall-mounted lamp. The sudden burst of light made her eyes ache, but she could at least see she was in a motel room.

Think, Lauren, think.

Michael—cabin—gun—Bradley—plane. Okay.

Just then, there was a hard knocking at the door.

“Lauren, you in there? Lauren!”

“Coming,” she said, stumbling forward.

She peered through the peephole, then turned the knob.

Bradley’s head was tilted in curiosity. “I tried knocking before, but you didn’t answer. I figured you weren’t back yet, so I waited.”

“I was asleep. I heard a door slam and it woke me.” She found her way to a nearby chair. “I’m still a little out of it. What time is it?”

“Seven.”

“I remember getting back from the mall around five-thirty. I laid down and that was it, I must’ve fallen asleep.” She sat down heavily in the chair.

“I take it Michael didn’t show.”

Lauren rubbed her eyes. “It was one of the more boring days in my life. Sitting in a mall, watching the people come and go, isn’t the most intellectually stimulating activity in the world.” She rose from the chair and walked into the bathroom to splash her face with water. “If there’s one good thing in all of this, it’s been a hell of an effective treatment plan for my agoraphobia. The ultimate in cognitive therapy.”

“I wish I could say my day was better than yours, but so far, my guys haven’t turned anything up. I hit some well-known places, even the Metro Police. Nobody knows anything, let alone seen him.”

She dabbed at her face with a white towel. “So now what? Back to the mall tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow we call doctors’ offices and hospitals.”

“I feel so damned helpless. We’re in the same town and he’s one person among millions. Unless we hear from him, how are we going to find him?”

“We’ll check your credit cards again. Maybe we’ll get lucky. If he’s charged something, we can interview the vendor, see if Michael mentioned anything about where he’s staying. It’s a long shot, but the idea is to assume nothing and investigate everything.”

“If he had his credit cards, he’d know his name.”

Bradley nodded. “Okay, scratch that. No, try it anyway. It can’t hurt. I’d also call your home machine, see if he’s left a message. Then check your e-mail. At the moment, our best lead will come from Michael himself. While you’re doing that, I’m going to go get us a couple of Cokes over by the office.”

Bradley left and Lauren went to work. With her heart tapping out a fast rhythm, she picked up the phone and called home. But there were no messages.

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