I nearly drop the phone. “Alissa plays the flute?”
“Yeah. She has two degrees in flute performance. She got them before she decided to switch to nursing. Apparently she had auditioned for the Chicago Symphony in the past, and they remembered her. They have an opening for a new flautist and were interested in hearing her again.”
“Okay…”
“She said she’d come to the audition. But never showed up.”
“When was the audition?”
“It would have been the week after she and Maddox skipped town. My friend in the box office overheard the assistant conductor talking about it in the lobby before a performance. They thought it was super unprofessional for her not to even give notice that she’d be missing the audition.”
I rub at my forehead. “That’s not like Alissa.”
“Exactly my point. Even if she had gone on some romantic vacation with Maddox, she would have at least emailed them to cancel the audition. Plus, playing for the CSO is a really big deal. They could have waited until after the audition to skip town.”
My heart thrums. “I don’t like this, Dinah. I don’t like this at all.”
“Me neither.” Dinah’s voice cracks. “Doctor, I’m scared that something terrible happened to her. I always got the feeling that she wasn’t a hundred percent in love with nursing. That part of her regretted not sticking to her musical career a little longer before giving up on it. I don’t think she would have let this opportunity slip by.”
“I think you’re right. And I know Maddox. He wouldn’t have let her allow the opportunity slip by. He would have insisted she give it a shot.” I look down at the overdue notice in my hand. “I just found something else that might be a clue.”
“What?”
“I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, you just focus on your job. But I’m on this, Dinah. Don’t you worry.”
“But—”
I end the call before she can ask any more questions.
Maddox not paying his speeding ticket on time, and then Alissa not showing up for what could have been a life-changing audition.
A part of me has always been concerned since Maddox and Alissa ran off with such little notice. It didn’t really line up. But I always figured it was two people in love doing something crazy before their hormones ebbed and they landed back on the ground.
But now, with these two new pieces of information…
I’m officially concerned.
Hell, I’m more than concerned. I’m fucking terrified that my best friend’s life might be in danger.
I need to get to the bottom of this, and fast.
22
BIANCA
I spent the bulk of my Sunday resting. Harrison dropped a lot of information on me last night, and processing it and then giving my all in the performance last night burned up all of my energy.
We used to go to church every Sunday. Mom and Dad would dress us up—red for Rouge, white for me—and take us to St. Sylvia’s Catholic Parish in Wilmette. We were never in Sunday school. Dad wanted us in the service, paying attention to what the priest had to say. We were bored out of our minds, and we were usually too young to understand what the sermons were about.
We didn’t go because Mom and Dad were particularly faithful people. At least, our father wasn’t. We went because it was expected of them, because it gave Dad something of a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card whenever people got suspicious of his business practices at Aces. Surely a man who went to church every Sunday would never do anything dubious.
I’m not exactly sure what sort of shady business went on at Aces when he ran it, but it’s nothing compared to what Harrison thinks my sister is doing. Could she really be behind Maddox Hathaway and Alissa Maravilla’s disappearance?
Rouge didn’t continue going to church after she took over the club. Instead, she garnered immunity by rubbing elbows with every elite in the Chicago metropolitan area. The mayor, city council, local celebrities, and the heads of police stations and hospitals. She’s so far up all their asses that no one would ever be able to pin any kind of crime on her without the most concrete evidence. Even if they could, I’m sure she’s got damning shit on all of them.
I stopped going to church when Rouge did. It didn’t do a lot for me. I’m spiritual but not religious. I’m pretty sure there’s something up there—some element of divinity—that we as humans cannot truly comprehend, and that going to church is meaningful to a lot of people.
I wish it were for me. I could use some guidance right now.
