Page 131 of Hard Heart

“I’ll ask Alexa to check.” Ari pulled a face. “You didn’t hear me say that.”

“Right now, I don’t care if Alexa hijacks a military drone to fly through the baggage claim.”

“Funny you should say that…”

“Actually, wait. I should be able to find Flora’s phone from mine. We have family location sharing set up.”

Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I fumbled for the app, and Flora’s phone was still turned on and close by. But then I noticed something else.

“Her suitcase is gone.”

“What do you mean?” Ari asked.

“She has an AirTag in her suitcase, and it’s moving along a road near New Baltimore. Ah, crap. Someone stole her luggage from the carousel, didn’t they? And she’s still in there waiting for it.”

“That’s possible, but it doesn’t tell us why she isn’t answering the phone.”

No, it didn’t. But what other explanation was there? Ari took my phone and began fiddling with the settings, and I didn’t like her expression. Concern mixed with…fear?

“What? What is it?”

“The locations aren’t super accurate, but her phone looks as if it’s between here and customs.”

“So she’s cleared customs? Or has she been taken somewhere for questioning? She’s only here on vacation, for Pete’s sake.”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”

Neither did I. “Should we speak with the staff here?”

“Let me make a few calls.”

CHAPTER 39

JEZEBEL

“Her what? Her suitcase is missing?”

Spider and Dice had offered to take the airport run while Jez paid a visit to Commander Byron Lyle (retired), a former SEAL who’d agreed via Priest to talk in person between chemo sessions. Lyle had spent thirty-seven years in the US Navy, including eleven years in special forces before an injury landed him behind a desk.

Jez had shown him the video from Blackstone House, and he’d given her a shortlist of four possible names, men with both the skill set and the known physical attributes who were around a decade ago.

Rob Cooper

Grafton Fisk

Joe Baltimore

Michael Ribeiro

In Lyle’s opinion, all four also had the character flaws that would make them a fit for the Blackstone House op—arrogance, misogyny, and a healthy dose of psychopathy. The problem? He didn’t know their current whereabouts, although he thought Cooper had moved in with a girlfriend in Kansas City after his dishonourable discharge. He’d recommended we start by looking at domestic violence reports for the area.

Echo would need to start digging, but only after they resolved yet another new problem.

“Flora Hennessy hasn’t come through to the public area,” Ari said. “Her phone—which she isn’t answering—is still somewhere in the terminal, and her suitcase is on the road near New Baltimore. You’re closest to the suitcase.”

“New Baltimore, Michigan? I’m nowhere near Michigan.”

“No, New Baltimore, Virginia.”