You Can't Hurry Love

Chapter Forty-Three

'Dorothy, you cannot be serious!' Lincoln whispers, grabbing me by the arm and halting my progress as I attempt to hot-tail it after mum. I'd wanted to walk with her, keen to use her stature to get inside the hotel but after mum had said goodbye, Lincoln demanded answers. So I'd explained, as quickly as I could. The only problem now was that she was nearly out of sight and he was thwarting any hope I might have had at a victory.

'It's not a big deal, quit worrying,' I tell him confidently. 'I'm just going to go in with mum, find somebody Marco works with and try to get them to tell me where he lives.'

'And you think it's going to be that easy? You think somebody who works in security will be perfectly fine handing out a colleague's home address?'

'Mm-hmm,' I answer distractedly.

'You haven't thought this through, Dorothy. What are you going to do if they ask who you are?'

'I'll think of something!' I pull my arm from his grasp and take a step back. 'Look, it's the only way. You have no idea how important this bracelet is to mum. I need to get it back.'

'But-' He stalls, looking pained. 'This plan has got so many flaws. What if you get your mum into trouble?'

'I'll be careful. And anyway, you're forgetting something . . .' I grin at him. 'I'm a journalist. It's my job to wrangle information out of people. It'll be a piece of cake.'

Glancing over my shoulder I find mum reaching the back entrance, fishing around for her staff key card and I bounce impatiently on the balls of my feet.

'Sorry, Lincoln, but this isn't up for debate. MUM!' I turn around, yelling loudly to get her attention. 'Hey, mum!'

I chase after her and she turns to look at me in surprise.

'Do you mind if I sneak in and use the loo?'

'Of course, sweetheart. You can go in the front way if you want. The toilets are just on the left behind the foyer. If anyone asks, say I sent you in.'

'That's okay,' I say steadily, falling into line with her. 'I don't want to be a nuisance. I'll just use the staff one. Lincoln?' I turn to stare at him with wide eyes. 'Are you coming?'

He was pacing by his car, shooting furtive glances up at the expansive hotel and at the sound of my voice he starts, looking a tad shell-shocked.

'Dorothy, I don't-' he starts.

'You can wait out here if you want to?' I cut him off, glancing covertly at mum.

'No. Let's just get this over with,' he sighs, stepping forward and locking his car with a click of his fob and he moves quickly to join us as we walk in, emerging into the staff area inside.

There were several people milling around, all looking like they were deep in their separate discussions and I strain my ears to pick out the person most likely to know Marco. (If I'm being totally honest with myself, I was rather hoping I'd find someone wearing a guard outfit who I could collar right away.) But I was sorely disappointed when all I was met with were two women discussing a late menu change for one of the hotel's restaurants and a group of well-dressed individuals getting briefed by an elderly gentleman with a notebook pressed under his nose.

Not only did they all look a bit intimidating but they also looked incredibly busy and I didn't want to interrupt them, so I follow on behind mum as she makes her way through the room towards the lockers up ahead.

'It's through there, sweetie.' She points to a door on the right. 'But I'm going to have to run if that's alright with you? Are you going to be okay getting out of here?'