31. Dylan

31

DYLAN

O nce I had the numbers in hand, I didn't understand why the guy at Managed Spaces had made such a big deal over providing us with numbers. They were good, really good.

I scanned over the spreadsheet Robertson had finally managed to get. I didn't even need to do a data analysis. I could tell these were the kinds of figures we wanted.

The kill-switch in the pre-contract wasn't even going to be needed. Thompson was going to be pleased with this new deal.

I called Robertson. "Unless you have any concerns with this data, I'm going to have my assistant populate the proposal with the information."

"You don't have any areas you need clarified?" he asked.

"None. Their data is super clean and clearly presented. I wish everyone had such clean numbers. As far as I'm concerned, we are good to go."

"Fantastic. I'll let my contact know. How long do you think Thompson will sit on this?" he asked.

"Until it hatches. He really dragged out the Carmichael situation," I said.

"Yeah, but didn't that end up being a good thing?" Robertson asked.

"In the end, it did. But that was simply a matter of coincidence. I don't know anyone with any connection to Managed Spaces."

Robertson laughed. "Are you so sure about that?"

I knew he was joking around. I ended the call and emailed the spreadsheet to Sarah. I crossed the office and leaned on the door that separated our work spaces.

"I just sent over the Managed Spaces numbers," I announced.

"Great. I'll start pulling all of that together in just a bit," Sarah said, her attention on her computer monitor. "I just need to finish this email."

"How long before you have something for me to look over?"

"I honestly don't know. I won't have an idea until I open everything up. How soon do you need it?" she asked.

"Before the end of day, ideally. I'd like to really review it thoroughly before I send it out."

"Of course. That only makes sense. Without seeing what kind of a mess I'm working with, let's say two hours," she suggested.

"Two hours? I'm going to go home for lunch and see my son and Jessica. It feels like I haven't seen either of them awake for days."

Sarah chuckled. "It has been days. You've been working late for over a week. Go see your people. Have a nice lunch, and I should have your proposal done by the time you get back."

She didn't have to push me out the door for me to get going. I grabbed my phone and my keys and left.

As I pulled into the drive, the nurse was coming out of the front door.

"Hi, is everything okay? You're leaving early," I said as we stepped up to each other.

"You really should have had someone call the office to let us know we weren't needed today," she said. Her expression was pinched, and she sneered, completely unhappy with me.

I shook my head, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

She twisted and made a broad sweeping gesture with her arm. "She doesn't need my help because she's not here. She shouldn't be up and walking around too much, and she really shouldn't be driving."

I stared at her, letting the words sink in. Jessica was not here.

"I did not realize she had an appointment," I said, unable to fathom any other reason she would not be home.

"And no one inside knows, either. This is a waste of my time, and you should know you are still getting charged for not having canceled my services for the day."

I nodded. "I hear you. I'll be sure to confirm with your office for tomorrow."

She huffed and rolled her eyes at me, clearly not pleased with whatever she had to deal with when she got here and Jessica wasn't.

I went straight upstairs. My bedroom was completely empty and the bed was made. There was no sign of Jessica. Her padded walking boots were gone, as were her medicines from the bathroom counter. I rushed across the hall and burst into the nursery.

"Mr. Anderson?" Mrs. Coleson exclaimed.

"Daddy!" Max ran at me at full speed. I caught him and swung him up into my arms.

"How's my boy? Have you seen Jessica today?"

His little face twisted up in a grouchy expression. He crossed his arms and looked as mad as he could. "No."

I cast Mrs. Coleson a questioning look. Was Max mad because he hadn't been allowed to see Jessica or because she was gone?

"We haven't seen her today. I assumed she was spending time downstairs when we tried to visit earlier and she wasn't in the bedroom. But she wasn't there, either. The nurse came by and was looking for her not too long ago."

"And she isn't visiting with my mother?" I asked.

"I really couldn't say. We haven't paid a visit to her yet today." Mrs. Coleson was very precise in her schedule of Max. I didn't know when, or how often, they visited with Mother.

"Has Max had lunch yet?"

"I ate macaroni and cheeses," he answered.

"And you like that?" I asked.

"It's my favorite."

"Good to know," I said.

A chime sounded, and Mrs. Coleson stood and announced, "It's nap time."

Max pouted in my arms. I kissed his head and set him down. "Be a good boy. Have a good nap, and I will be home later."

Reluctantly, he walked back to where she was holding her hand out to him.

"You haven't seen Jessica at all today?" I asked one more time for confirmation.

She shook her head and then turned her attention to Max. I left and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, my cook, Lori, was doing some kind of meal prep with earbuds in. I caught her attention.

"Oh, hi. Haven't seen you for a while. Did you need something? A special request?" Lori asked.

"Have you seen Jessica?" I asked.

Lori blinked a few times and looked perplexed. "Now that you mention it, I don't even think she had breakfast sent up. Is she ready for lunch?"

"No, I'm trying to find her. No one seems to know where she is."

"Maybe she's out on the deck. She was up and walking around yesterday. Maybe she's feeling better. She's not with your mother, is she?"

I shrugged. "That's next."

I left and walked down the hall to Mother's rooms. I knocked. Clara opened the door a crack.

"Your mother is asleep."

"Asleep? So, Jessica is not in there?" I asked.

"Why would she be here? She can barely walk. Your mother had a good visit with her yesterday out in the living room, but Jessica was having a hard time when she had to return upstairs. Could barely move and was crying, her feet hurt so bad. I'll give her points for not making a fuss about it, though. She was hurting pretty bad and tears were running down her face, but she soldiered up those stars with the help of that nurse. She's a fighter, she is."

I stared at Clara for a moment. She never spoke kindly about Jessica. I'd have to find out what that was all about, but it was good to hear. Maybe they had finally found common ground.

"Yeah, she is. I can't seem to find her," I confessed.

"I heard. The other staff have been muttering about her. I take it the nurse showed up and they discovered Jessica is gone and no one knows anything."

"I'll let you rest while Mother is asleep," I said before walking away. Jessica wasn't in the house. I didn't remember seeing her car in the drive.

I pulled out my phone and reread Jessica's messages from this morning. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had a knack for texting me right when I was in the middle of needing to focus.

I sent a quick text. Where are you?

I sat in one of the side chairs of the living room and watched my phone, waiting for her to respond. I don't know how long I stared at my phone before I remembered that after the incident with Ryan, I added Jessica to my devices list. I opened the tracker app on my phone.

There was a blue dot for my phone, but nothing indicating a second phone. I hit the icon for Jessica's phone, and the map jumped. She was not here. I had to zoom out the map before I could see where she had gone. She was at the mouth of Carmel Valley.

It took a few moments before comprehension kicked in. She was at the same hotel where she had taken Max. But why? My gut clenched. The last time she had been there, well, I didn't want to think about it, didn't want to dwell on things that didn't happen, but I was still concerned.

The drive to the hotel didn't take very long. I simply didn't understand what she was doing there. Why had she left the house? Why hadn't she mentioned leaving to anyone?

When I arrived, I saw her car right away. She was here. Inside the lobby, the place seemed deserted. Through the large glass doors, I could see several housekeeping trolleys parked outside the rooms, the centrally located pool, and the lounge chairs.

In one of the lounge chairs, fully reclined and under an oversized umbrella, I spotted her. Her tote bag rested in a heap on the cement, and her feet were propped on the end of the chair that was supposed to support a person's back. I strode through the doors and outside.

She looked uncomfortable.

"Jessica," I said.

She let out a familiar moan. It was a sound she made when she wasn't happy in her sleep. She shifted around a bit but didn't really move. I walked around and sat in the chair next to her. She was curled up on her side, her face pinched with pain in her sleep.

I sat and watched her for a while. When I determined she was going to stay that way for a bit longer, I headed inside to see if I could find her some water. She was going to need her pain meds when she woke up.

The hotel clerk was behind the desk when I stepped back inside.

"Hello, checking in?" she asked.

"No, no. Do you have a bar or vending machines where I can get some water?" I asked.

"We do have a bar, but they don't open until four. If you just want some water, I can get you a glass. Would that be okay?"

I said it would, and she left, returning a moment later with a large plastic cup full of ice water.

"Thank you. Could you tell me how long Jessica has been here?" I pointed through the glass doors to Jessica.

"She arrived pretty early. Her room won't be ready until two."

"She's already checked us in? Good. Did she get a king bed, or two doubles?" I don't know why I decided to play along that we were checking in, but there was no reason to bring this woman into our drama.

"Oh, she didn't specify that. Your room is a double-double. She just wanted something close to the front. Because of her feet, I guess?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. If you could upgrade up to a king, I'd appreciate that. Thanks."