AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 18
Shane
Icheck all of my pockets for my keycard but it’s not in there. I’m sure I picked it up this morning. I knock on the door instead and wait for Jessie to answer. She doesn’t open and I knock louder before I shout.
“Jessie! It’s me.”
Still nothing. I take my cell out of my pocket. She must be in the shower. Before I can dial her number, one of the hotel maids steps out of the elevator. She smiles at me. “Good evening, Mr. Ryan.”
Everyone in this place seems to know my name. “Evening. Could you let me in here?” I nod toward the door. “I forgot my key.”
“Of course, Sir,” she says as she walks over and swipes her card.
“Thank you.” I smile at her and she giggles before I step inside the room.
“Jessie!” I shout again as I look around the suite and head to the bedroom. I walk inside and she’s not there either. The bathroom door is open and I don’t hear her in there, but I go in and check anyway. Where the fuck is she? My heart starts to race a little but I tell myself that there’s a reasonable explanation. She has gone to the spa downstairs. To the pool, like she said she would. Or maybe to the restaurant or the store.
My cell is still in my hand so I dial her number. A second later, her current ringtone, Like I Can, plays loudly in the bathroom and my racing pulse starts to thunder. She would never have gone out without her cell.
I run back into the bathroom and see her phone sitting there, flashing and vibrating while Sam Smith sings at the top of their voice. I end the call and put my cell back into my pocket before picking hers up. She has a missed call from me and one from Conor half an hour ago. I grip it tightly in my hand and walk back out into the suite.
“Jessie!” I shout louder now. I mean, she’s so small she could have fallen asleep under a table or something, right?
“Jessie. Where the fuck are you, sweetheart?” I shout again as I search every inch of the room even though I already know she’s not here. So many emotions flood my senses that I don’t know which one to deal with. Suddenly, I am reminded of that day in New York when we came home to find she’d gone, leaving only a brief note to explain her absence.
I scan the room again, ashamed for even thinking it, but there is no note. My heart sinks as I realize that’s worse. Because if she didn’t leave of her own accord, then someone fucking took her.
Using the phone in the room, I call down to the front desk.
“Good evening, Mr. Ryan,” the desk clerk answers.
“Have you seen Mrs. Ryan today?” I ask, not bothering with formalities as I don’t have the time.
“No, Sir,” she says, “but I’ve only been on shift for a few hours.”
“Can you check the spa for me? Or the restaurant? Basically, every single place in this hotel. I need to know if she’s here,” I snap, unable to contain my anxiety.
“Of course. Hold on for one moment.”
I sit on the sofa with the phone against my ear and my head in my hand, waiting for her to get back to me and tell me that Jessie is down there somewhere. Because that’s still a possibility, right?
The wait feels like forever until she finally comes back to me. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ryan, but Mrs. Ryan isn’t in the hotel.”
“You’re sure?”
“As you’re one of our exclusive guests, I contacted security and they have checked everywhere. She isn’t here. I also checked with my colleague on the desk who’s been on shift all day and he hasn’t seen her leave.”
“You have CCTV though?”
“Of course.”
“Tell your security manager I want to see him at my suite right now,” I snap.
“Of course, Sir.”
I put the phone down and take out my cell again. I dial Conor’s number as I keep searching the room for clues that will lead me to some plausible explanation for her absence. There’s a half empty cup of tea on the table near the window next to the easy chair. Jessie never leaves a cup of tea. She says it’s rude to not finish a drink someone has gone to so much effort to make, even if the effort was only hers. I feel the side of the cup. It’s cold.
“Hey, bro?” Conor answers.
