Page 80 of Shattered Hearts

I dig through Ingrid’s file—the information Zane had a courier drop off at the office. I find her sister’s email address and introduce myself, ask what the police have told her in regard to her sister’s disappearance and if she has any new information, and add that I would be looking into the case on Zane Maddox’s behalf. That might be a little presumptuous, but it could be she’ll appreciate it. After living with the Maddoxes for a year and a half, I’m sure Ingrid considered them family, and I know Zarah returned the sentiment. I want Ingrid’s sister to know they care and they’re taking initiative in finding her.

I click Send and rummage through more of the information Zane sent over. I email Ingrid’s employment agency and ask if she’s contacted them. Zane gave her a nice severance package, so maybe she decided to go on a vacation and didn’t check in. Simple as that.

I wonder if shedidgo on a vacation without telling anybody. For all intents and purposes, Zane and Zarah fired her, and it’s possible she ran off to avoid humiliation. Or maybe she was attached to Zarah and needed to get away. Ending relationships is always tough, even if they’re professional friendships. No one will know the truth until we can talk to her. I call the airport, throw my weight around, and I’m transferred to a sleepy deskagent who’s willing to look up Ingrid’s name to hurry me off the phone.

No one by that name has flown in the past two weeks, and I thank him for his time. Flying isn’t the only way out of King’s Crossing, so I don’t scratch a vacation off the list just yet. We have the train, and she could have ridden the bus. She could have driven herself out of town.

I call the train station, but no one answers their customer service line until seven and it’s only five o’clock. I’ll have to wait and hope I don’t forget to call later. The first bus out of King’s Crossing leaves at five, and I call the bus depot hoping someone will be in the office. An irritated woman picks up the phone. I explain my situation, that I’m looking for someone who’s missing, and the woman slurps coffee, interrupting every other word.

She doesn’t give a shit about helping me, and the sharptap tap tapof the keys on the keyboard broadcasts her annoyance loud and clear.

“There’s been no Ingrid Flannigan on the buses in the past two weeks,” she says, her voice muffled. She’s eating a doughnut now and doesn’t care I know it.

“Thank you for looking that up. I appreciate it.”

“Yeah. You could try the other bus company.”

I straighten. “There’s another bus company?”

“Do you live here?” she asks, sneering. “Yeah. Unity Bus Line? Smaller than us, but still manages to steal half our business.”

I bite back a retort. I don’t need an explanation as to why. “Thanks.”

“Have a good day and thanks for calling Aero Bussing.” She hangs up.

The old guy who answers Unity’s toll-free customer service number sounds just as crotchety and uncooperative as thewoman who answered at Aero, and I have to repeat my request several times before he understands what I’m asking.

“Ingrid O’Flannigan?”

“No. There’s no O.”

“What?”

I huff a sigh and run up to my loft. If I yell any louder, I’ll wake Zarah. “Flannigan. No O. It’s just Flannigan.”

“All right, all right, you don’t have to holler. It’s too early in the morning and the coffeemaker’s broken. Let me look, hold your horses.”

I pace my office while he clacks on a computer, his heavy breathing scratching over the phone line like static or a creeper who made naughty phone calls before Caller ID ruined their fun.

“She bought a ticket four days ago.”

I perk up. “She did?”

“Says so right here. Ingrid Flannigan. Bought an 8 AM ticket out of King’s Crossing.”

“Where was she going?”

“Eh. Looks like Chicago.”

Christ. My knees buckle in relief, and I sink into my desk chair. “Did she board?”

“The driver scanned her ticket.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Ah-huh.” He hangs up.

I let out a sigh and trot downstairs to the kitchen. Later, when everyone else in the world is awake, I’ll contact Ingrid’s sister and find out what there is in Chicago and why she thinks Ingrid didn’t tell anyone she was leaving town.

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