taxi drivers always drive like wild men, swerving between cars and going faster than is safe, but I swear mine is going ten miles below the speed limit all the way from the airport. I want to shove him over and drive myself.
Another thing in the movies is that the person doing the crazy thing to save the one they love always makes it just in the nick of time. I hope that part holds. My insides are a quivering mess, and my outsides are barely holding it together. If anything’s happened to Rob, I don’t know what I’ll do.
I keep trying to imagine a scenario in which coming back to a city where people might want you dead is the right decision. So far, I haven’t come up with any.
“God, please let him be okay,” I whisper. I haven’t seriously prayed since Mom died. We went to church every Sunday as a family the whole time I was growing up. She never missed, no matter what. But she died all alone in the middle of a lonely road anyway. I guess I just stopped believing after that.
The driver flashes a glance at me in the rearview mirror. Trying to decide if I’m insane, I’m sure. I probably am.
If they find him there, they’ll kill him.
Lee’s words keep crashing through my mind, obliterating any other thoughts and most of my common sense. I don’t even know who they are. I have no idea what I’m walking into. All I know is I have to get Rob out of there before anything bad happens.
That will be too late.
It’s almost ten when the cab finally pulls up to the front of a hotel near the water. I jump out, throw a wad of money at the driver, and sprint to the front desk. There’s a man in a suit already talking to the only clerk. I try to wait, but he’s asking sight-seeing questions and it’s taking forever.
“Excuse me,” I say, edging closer to the desk. “Is there anyone else who can help me?”
“I’ll be with you in just a moment,” she says, gesturing that I should step back with a flick of her eyes.
“I’m really sorry, but it’s an emergency,” I hope the fact that I’m nearly hysterical might convince her.
It doesn’t.
She pulls her glasses off. “I’m sorry, but it will be just a moment before I can assist you,” she says. It’s clear from her tone that she’s anything but sorry.
“It’s okay,” the middle-aged man she’s helping says, smiling at me. “Go ahead and help the young lady.”
“Thank you so much,” I gush, then turn to the clerk. But when I open my mouth, I realize I have no idea who I’m asking for. Then I remember the photo I took of him on the manatee trip. I pull out my phone. “One second.”
“I’m very busy,” the clerk says, turning back to the man. She’s snippy and rude, and I decide her bun must be pulled too tight.
“I’ve got time,” he says with a smile and a wink at me. “No rush.”
I smile back when I see that he finds the clerk’s irritation amusing. I find the picture and turn my phone for her to see. “Is this man registered here?”
She barely gives the screen a glance. “We have hundreds of patrons. If I wasn’t on duty when he registered, it’s unlikely that I’ve ever laid eyes on him.”
“But do you recognize him?” I ask, shaking my phone. “This is extremely important. Please.”
“Nice-looking young man,” the guy says from over my shoulder, and I realize he’s looking at the picture.
I nod as the woman behind the counter shakes her head. “He looks familiar, but I see hundreds of faces,” she says. “If you have a name, I’ll look him up in the registry.”
My heart stalls. He’s here. “It’s Robert—” What? I know he’s not registered under Davidson. If what Lee said is true, and people are truly trying to kill him, I’m not sure it’s smart to be throwing his name around. “Never mind. Do you have a room available?”
She bangs on her keyboard. “Just one night?”
“Yes.”
She pounds some more. “All I have is the honeymoon suite, on the top floor overlooking the lake.”
“That might come in handy if you ever find your man,” the man says with a nudge of his elbow into mine.
“How much?” I ask.
“Four ninety-five, plus tax.”
My stomach sinks to my toes. There goes Frank’s new crankshaft. “I’ll take it.”