Page 44 of Property of Crypt Keeper
Fair.
“So?” I prompted.
His expression darkened. “She didn’t show up for work two weeks ago.”
Something cold slid through my chest.
“That was before Zara showed up,” I said quietly.
“Yeah,” Hack agreed.
The room seemed to tighten around us.
“What else?” I asked.
“The woman on the phone sounded concerned,” Hack told me. “Too concerned. Like she was trying very hard to sound normal and sincere.”
I crossed my arms.
“And?”
“And it felt fake,” he replied. “She asked when Ms. Parker was in for her testing. I told her that was a HIPAA violation to reveal that. The woman said if they heard from her they would tell her to call. Then she said if I reached her, to tell her they missed her. That they hoped she was okay.”
My wolf stirred uneasily. Not concern. Monitoring. Tracking. Containment.
“They were looking for her too,” I deduced.
“Exactly.” Hack turned back toward the screen, typing again.
“And then I decided to dig into Zara.”
Something in his tone made my stomach tighten.
“What’d you find?”
He hesitated. Which I didn’t like. At all.
“I hacked the hospital records listed on her birth certificate,” he confessed carefully.
My body went still. Despite Hack’s talent behind the keyboard, we didn’t make a habit of hacking into things that could get us caught.
“And?”
Hack slowly glanced up at me. “There were no baby girls born there that day.”
Silence. I simply stared at him.
Hack swallowed once before continuing. “Crypt…” he quietly murmured. “I know we suspected it, but I’m certain now.”
My pulse slowed. Dangerously calm.
“That woman wasn’t family,” he continued. “And I have a feeling she stole something important from whoever she worked for.”
Something. Or someone.
Hack’s eyes met mine.
“I believe she was hiding that something.”
