Chapter 11

Pulling the door closed, she made her way quickly to the small restaurant at the other end of the motel. Her hair was pulled up to hang loosely around her face, still damp from the shower she’d had earlier. She was still shocked she’d fallen asleep after it. When Jac woke her from the nap to tell her they’d be in the restaurant, she’d gotten up and felt a nervous buzz fly through her that caused her to scramble around and get ready. As she stepped through the door and looked at the three sitting with their heads together, her gaze stopped at Brent. He looked up and grinned at her. Well, at least she understood now that the buzz was from him and not something else.

Brent stood up so she could slip into the booth. “Did you get some rest?”

She shrugged out of her jacket and tucked her bag beside her feet. “A little bit.”

Jac gave her a sympathetic look. “I hated to wake you, I’m sure you needed the rest.”

Picking up the menu she opened it. “Yes, I was plagued with images all night and was awake more than asleep.” She looked up to meet Brent’s eyes for a moment and she knew he understood the images that had made her restless most of the night. He smirked at her causing her cheeks to suddenly feel hot. Looking away she looked back down at the menu. “Have you ordered?”

Reid set his cup down and sighed. “We would have if we’d seen anyone to give the order to since we got our coffee.”

Jac looked around the almost empty room. “Maybe it was the way you growled at her.”

“I didn’t growl. I ordered a coffee.”

Brent chuckled. “You growled for a coffee.”

Reid snarled at him. “You know mornings aren’t my thing.”

Jac patted his hand. “No, people aren’t your thing, Reid.” Reid bared his teeth at her playfully then squeezed her hand.

Brent grinned again and looked at the menu. “Is there anything on here you can eat, Felicity?” He read down the list trying to see if there was anything without bacon or ham.

“What do you mean she can eat?” Jac looked at him.

He spotted a cheese omelet. “Felicity is a vegetarian. I found out last night it’s not easy to find food.” He looked up at Jac for a second then to where her eyes were looking. Turning his head, he saw that Felicity was still holding the menu, but with a grip that had turned her knuckles white. Leaning over he looked at her eyes and saw that blankness there again. “Shit.” He whispered it.

“Here comes the waitress,” Reid whispered into his menu. Lifting his face and turned towards the waitress almost to the table. “Would we be able to get another coffee Miss?” He wasn’t sure if she was a Miss or Mrs., but at this moment he really didn’t care.

“Oh, and four orange juices please,” Jac added with a big smile.

The woman nodded and turned back towards the counter.

Brent looked up from the position he’d taken of half leaning over Felicity to hide her from anyone else’s sight. He looked at Jac, then Reid, and both were watching her intently. “I don’t know if she’ll come out of this quietly, it will depend on what she saw.”

Reid looked over at the waitress and then back at Felicity. “We’ll cover it.”

Brent nodded and leaned back over to hide Felicity from view again. She took a deep breath and blinked. Dropping the menu, she put her hand over her mouth and looked around quickly. Her eyes flew to his, her hand still covering her mouth. Looking quickly to see where the waitress was, he then pulled her into his chest and hugged her. “Take a few breaths, calm down a bit.” She dropped her hand and nodded.

She glanced at the two on the other side of the table and spoke against Brent’s shoulder. “There was a doctor.” She whispered. She peeked around his shoulder and saw the waitress coming towards them with a tray. “I need to go to the bathroom.” She looked up to see the concern in Brent’s eyes. “I just need a minute. Order me something.” He nodded and let her go. He stood up and turned so she was still blocked from the waitress seeing her. She stopped a few times and took a few trembling steps when she finally spotted the washroom sign.

Brent watched her and was ready to follow her when Jac jumped up. “I’ll go, Brent.” She smiled at Reid. “Order some food so we can get out of here soon.” Reid nodded.

Brent sat back down and looked over at his partner. “If she saw the doctor’s face…”

“Yeah.” Reid nodded and pulled out his notebook. “We’ll track down the cleaning staff while Jac runs a search for all the doctors near here.”

Brent was nodding as he turned to see if they were coming back from the bathroom yet. “Is there some sort of database we can tap into that would have photos’ for registration or anything?”

Reid frowned. “I’ll get Alec to check into that from the station.” He pulled out his phone and looked around. “Why don’t you go track down that waitress and get the food happening; it’s going to be a long day from here.” Reid pulled the menu closer and glanced at it. “Just order four of whatever – see if we can get them to take back to the room.”

Brent nodded as he stood up.

***

Felicity pushed the plate aside. “I can’t possibly eat anymore.” She looked over at Brent. “You ordered enough for three of me.”

Brent leaned back in the chair and grinned. “As soon as Alec gets back to us, we may be running for the rest of the day. I thought we’d better eat while we could.” He nodded towards the sketch pad sitting on the couch beside her. “You get those finished?”

She picked it up and studied it for a moment. “I think so. They had to have moved him sometime in the night; this is not the same dingy room he was in before.” She reached over and handed him the sketches of the small parts of the room she’d seen.

Brent looked at it for a moment then grinned. “Looks like they have him somewhere respectable now.”

“We’re never going to find him if they keep moving him like this.”

Brent set the sketches down and got up to stretch. His night hadn’t been very restful either; with the taste of her lingering all night. “Actually, the more they move around, they increase the chance of being seen.”

“Oh. I hadn’t considered that.” She got up and started picking up the papers. “I’m going to organize this now; in case we’re moving on.”

The door flew open, and Reid stuck his head in. “One of the cleaning staff remembers what room they were in.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Jac wants to see if she can find anything.” He held out the keys. “Felicity, can you get the kettle and thermos out of my car and make some tea to go.” He scowled. “She’s insisting on hitting the road as soon as she finds anything.”

Felicity went over quickly and took the keys. “Go with her.” She turned and motioned to Brent. “You too, I’ll get everything ready.” Brent nodded and flew out after Reid. Felicity went out the door to the car.

Felicity wondered how busy the motel was. Wouldn’t there have been too many people through for Jac to find anything? She wrote a short list of things they had to pick up on their way to the next location. A cooler for one, would be a great investment on this journey. Juice and some sort of fresh food would be wonderful. She looked at the clock again; it had only been about six minutes and it felt like it she had been waiting an hour.

With the thermos filled, she capped it and set it beside the bottles of water she’d gotten from Brent’s car. Sighing, she began packing up her papers and notebooks. She left the laptop set up, just in case they needed it before they left.

Finishing that, she looked at the clock again. Fifteen minutes had now passed. She hadn’t even asked what room they were going to. Walking over she opened the door and stood just outside it. Turning, she saw Brent coming from the back of the building talking on his cell phone. Right behind him was Reid, carrying Jac. Stepping out of the way, she held the door open and waited.

“I could have walked Reid,” Jac said quietly as they came through the door. “I’m just a little shaky this time.”

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief as Brent came through the door. “Alec found a database for licensed physicians, but they don’t have any photos.” He closed the door and headed to the laptop. “What was that name again Jac?”

Jacinda leaned back on the couch and took the water Reid offered her. “Rising Sun.”

He typed it quickly into the search bar. Straightening he looked over at Felicity. “When we get the location of this place, we’ll have to get pictures of any doctors in the area for you to look at.”

She nodded and turned towards Jac. “They were going to someplace called the rising sun?” Jac nodded.

“Bingo,” Brent said softly. Everyone turned to watch him. “It’s a little over two hours from here.”

Reid came over and looked. “That would tie in with what the cleaning woman said she’d overheard.”

Brent nodded and turned around. He studied Jac for a moment. “You up to a car ride?”

Jac pushed herself to the edge of the couch. “Just a little shaky. I might have a nap part of the way, but I’ll be fine.”

Felicity set the case for her laptop on the desk. “I packed everything up.” She shut the laptop and unplugged it. “Brent, can we stop somewhere along the way to pick up a few things?” She turned to look at him. “I thought maybe a little cooler for juice and things, in case we need them on the road.”

Brent finished writing in the notebook and nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.” He glanced at the clock. “We’ll get the cars loaded and head out now.” He ripped a page out of the notebook and handed it to Reid. “This is where we’re headed. I’ll call Alec and get her to find us a list of all doctors and medical facilities in that area.”

Reid stuffed the paper into his pocket and nodded. He turned and looked at Jac. “You, stay while I get this stuff in the car.” He went out the door without waiting for an answer.

She smirked. “Yes sir, detective sir.”

Felicity laughed and picked up her bags and headed towards the door. “There’s tea in the thermos.” She whispered. “You should get him to drink some too.”

Jacinda chuckled. “I might just do that, maybe he’d stop pouring it down my throat.”