Page 15 of Operation: Unify

Even though there was nothing outwardly scary about the man other than that he seemed really young to her, Lacy felt her heart beat faster and her palms tingled in apprehension.

“Pretty early, huh?” he said glancing at her then quickly looking away.

“Yeah, didn’t expect anyone else to be out here.” There was nothing odd about him. He was clean, not overly muscled, and other than his shifty eyes gave off no warning signs. Yet her chest was tight. Mentally, she was convinced he could have singled her out because she was alone.

Lacy stood and looked down the hall. Because of the hour, everything seemed dim and there wasn’t anyone else around. If she went into her room to get away from this guy, he’d know which room she was in.

“Have you been to the sauna? It’s really nice here,” he said to her back.

She tensed. Who would ask about a sauna with someone they don’t know? “I haven’t used it. Um, see you around.” She didn’t want to be rude in case her weirdo-meter was off-plumb, but she wanted nothing more than to get away.

“I’m sure you will,” he said as he stood and headed for the vending machine again.

Lacy strode to the lobby, her long legs eating the distance between her and the creepy guy. She found the front desk empty. Why wasn’t anyone around? From the corner of her eye, she saw the man heading toward her. She clenched her fists, ready to react if he did anything to her.

“Do you need something?” he asked her.

He wasn’t wearing the logo shirt that the hotel staff wore, so why did he keep following her? “I just need a toothbrush.” Yes, it was a lie, but she couldn’t exactly tell this guy he was giving her the creeps. Having literally anyone else around was better than being alone.

“Oh, that’s easy.” He went behind the desk and riffled through a few baskets of items. After a few seconds, he pulled up two toothbrushes in clear plastic like her dentist used to offer.

“Blue or Green?” He laughed.

“Blue,” she said hesitantly.

He handed it to her. “They are complimentary.”

“Do you work here?” She crossed her arms, tucking the unnecessary brush under her arm.

“Yeah. I always work this shift because I can usually sit here and read without much happening. I heard you talking at the end of the hall and thought I’d be nice. Sorry I scared you.” He shrugged. “I didn’t mean to.”

Lacy took a deep breath and tried to settle her racing heart. “I’m sorry. Yesterday was a very long day and my radar was up. I was on the lookout for trouble.” She handed him the toothbrush. “I was just worried about being alone with a guy I didn’t know.”

“Understandable.” He took the brush back and tossed it into the basket. “I can be . . . odd, or so I’m told, but I promise I’m harmless.”

The interaction was making her feel worse the longer she stood there. Having intuition wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t always right. “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure what else to say so she waved and headed back to her room.

Inside, Melinda slept in the bed furthest from the door with the blankets wrapped tightly around her and her hands tucked under her chin. She’d cocooned herself deep under the covers even though the room was barely cool.

Making sure she made as little noise as possible, Lacy dug her laptop out of her bag and headed for the desk in the corner. She sat it on the edge so she could angle her computer away from Melinda and give her more time to sleep without the glaring light in her eyes. Looking at her yesterday, with dark circles deep under her eyes, Lacy was pretty sure a long time had passed since Melinda had a good sleep.

She pulled up a search engine and typed in Tod McFarland. He had no social media to speak of, which wasn’t surprising. Lots of people flaunted their evil deeds like they were something to be proud of, but many still kept their secrets firmly hidden.

If Melinda was right and her husband was attempting to kill her and make it look like self-defense, he had to leave no doubt or evidence for the police to find. Social media could easily be used against someone.

She looked up the address where Melinda lived and found out the home was a rental and owned by a firm. That, too, was not surprising, though she wondered if they’d bothered to check the state of the home recently. It had the look of being inhabited by the same people for a long time, and that those people didn’t care very much about it.

Melinda shifted in her sleep, then awoke, sitting straight up. “Where am I?” Her voice was less than a whisper, more like a squeak.

“You’re in a hotel room with me and you’re safe.” At least for now she was. There was no telling what the day would bring.

“Lacy.” Melinda closed her eyes. “I just had the worst dream. I was being chased in the streets by Tod and no one would help me. They all looked away. Then I realized that’s my life.”

“I’ll help you as much as I can. We started that yesterday by putting a dent in his armor of defense. If he is the aggressor, and we know he is, then what he does can’t be self-defense.”

“And you think that one little report will help? He has made many claims with them over the last few months that make him look innocent.” She brushed through her tangled hair with her fingers. “I don’t want to go to prison, but part of me wonders if it would be better than what I’ve been living with.”

“That’s ‘no way out’ thinking. We need to find you some hope, my friend.” Lacy opened her email and typed up a quick note to Connor, letting him know exactly where she was and how he could reach her, just in case anything happened to her phone.

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