They were both exhausted, since neither had slept well during the flight. Lauren’s dream of her father had degenerated into a nightmare, and after that she was unable to fall back to sleep. They rented a Chevy Malibu and drove to the small Best Western hotel rooms Bradley had reserved for them. The day they arrived, Bradley checked in with some of his contacts, a handful of private investigators and law enforcement people he had come to know over the years. Meanwhile, Lauren visited the mall where Michael had been when he sent her his message. Only a year ago, a simple visit to a mall would have been a devastating experience. Now, however, although her situational anxiety was still present, it was largely manageable. Lauren had touched the panel of the GlobalNet kiosk and imagined her husband sitting there, his fingers playing across the keyboard, typing out the message that had given her hope and perhaps the will to survive while being held captive. Lauren then spoke with merchants in each store, small and large, in an attempt to uncover some morsel of information she could add to the puzzle.
