Page 39 of SEAL Ever After

“Maybe she thought she’d meet you down in the lobby,” Patrick said. “Did you check the ladies room downstairs?”

“No, we should’ve looked there,” Morgan said, her face crumpling.

“It’s fine,” Patrick assured her. “I’ll try calling Sarah’s cell. We’ll head back downstairs in a minute after we check the room again.”

Ryan palmed his pocket, pulling out his wallet and grabbing a key card. He slid it into the door and pushed it open. “Sarah! Are you in here?”

He looked down at the floor, frowning. “What is all this stuff?” he asked, glancing at the bags near the doorway overflowing with hair products and styling tools.

“The hairstylist’s bag. Where’d she go anyway?” Bree asked, looking around. “She was up here with Sarah. She said she’d wait with her while we checked on things downstairs.”

“She’s missing, too?” Patrick asked with a frown.

“I guess. I mean, she was here earlier and wouldn’t just leave all of her things.”

Morgan paled. “She’s friends with that creepy guy, Juan.”

Ryan and Patrick’s heads both swiveled toward her. “What creepy guy?” Ryan asked, his voice deadly.

Morgan looked momentarily startled but began talking. “Sarah met him on the beach or somewhere near her office. She mentioned needing a hairdresser for her wedding, and this guy had a friend who was a hairstylist with an opening today….” Her voice trailed off as she exchanged a glance with Bree.

“We all met her,” Bree said. “We went there one night to try out wedding hairstyles. She has a salon here in Virginia Beach. Other stylists work there, too—it’s legit.”

“So what was wrong with this guy Juan?” Ryan asked, narrowing his gaze. “Sarah never mentioned him.”

Morgan blew out a breath. “Well, nothing specifically. I just got a weird vibe from him. Sarah met him by her office, but then we ran into him at the bridal shop one day which is all the way across town.”

“He was in the bridal shop?” Patrick asking, raising his eyebrows.

“Just outside of it,” Morgan clarified. “It’s not anywhere near her office, so I thought it was kind of strange that he saw us there. He said he was getting a massage nearby. Anyway, he just seemed too interested in things if that makes sense.”

“Do you know his last name?”

She shook her head. “No, and I don’t even think he lives around here. Sarah said he was on vacation or something.”

Ryan nodded, processing this information. He walked further into the room, his gaze sweeping the area.

If Sarah wasn’t here in the hotel, he’d need to pull surveillance footage from near Sarah’s office or the bridal shop to get an ID on this guy. Or ask around and see if anyone knew who he was. He was getting ahead of himself though, because there was still a possibility Sarah was around here trying to clean her dress or sick from something she’d eaten. “Where’s the room service tray?” Ryan asked, looking around the living room.

“Oh, in the bedroom—” Morgan didn’t even finish her sentence before Ryan and Patrick were moving. Patrick knelt down on the ground by the teacup and soiled carpet as Ryan’s eyes darted around, not missing a thing. Sarah’s cell phone was on the dresser, her purse off to the side. Her suitcase and garment bag were near the closet. She hadn’t been robbed or run off somewhere. She was just gone.

Ryan peered out onto the balcony but didn’t touch the sliding glass door just in case they’d need to fingerprint it.

“She was drugged,” Patrick said.

“Drugged?” Ryan asked as he whipped back around, his pulse pounding.

“By her hairdresser?” Morgan asked in disbelief.

Patrick nodded from where he still knelt on the floor. “Something smells off. I know Sarah likes weird tea, but this isn’t right. And we don’t know who drugged her,” he said, looking at Morgan. “The hairdresser seems to be missing as well.”

Ryan crossed the room to Patrick, clenching his jaw. His gaze landed on the teapot and tray, the assortment of food and crackers, and the lone teacup lying on the floor. He’d been downstairs ready for their wedding ceremony to start without a care in the world, and someone had been up here, in Sarah’s hotel room.

Someone had taken her.

His stomach churned.

“You said you didn’t hear her order any room service?” Patrick asked as he stood.

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