Cursed by S.J. Harper Read Free Book Online Page A

reaches out and touches the frame. “Isabella Mancini, I reported her missing about two months ago. I’m afraid the police have given up on her.”
    Zack pulls out his notepad and pen. “What is the relationship between you and Isabella?” He writes something down.
    “She lived here. We’ve known each other since we were kids. Grew up in the same neighborhood.”
    “Where was that?”
    “Central Los Angeles. Times were tough back then, for both of us. I got lucky. After graduation, I went to art school in New York on a scholarship.”
    “And Isabella?”
    He smiles. “That girl’s a fighter. For seven years she worked nights and attended classes during the day. It took her a while to get her psychology degree, but she stuck with it. When she got accepted to grad school at San Diego State, she was so excited. It was a dream come true. I had room for her here in the house, so I invited her to move in.”
    He stops to draw a ragged breath. “Is it too much to hope you could look into her case, too? The police aren’t doing a damned thing. I’m beginning to think the PI I have on retainer isn’t, either.”
    “We’ll definitely be looking into Isabella’s case. What’s the PI’s name?” Zack asks.
    Dexter opens a drawer to the end table and withdraws a card. “His card.”
    Zack jots the name and number in his notebook and returns it and the pen to his inside pocket. “Will you tell us what you told the police?”
    “Absolutely. I’ll be happy to go over it again, anything to help you.” Dexter takes a moment to compose himself. “The night before Isabella disappeared, everything seemed normal. She came home after finishing her shift at the detox center. We had dinner, watched a movie. When I woke the following morning she was already gone, presumably to class. But that night she didn’t come home.”
    “She was employed at a detox center?” Zack asks.
    The questioning is taking its toll on Dexter. He looks utterly exhausted.
    “Do you want to take a break?” I ask.
    He shakes his head. “No. I’m fine. Isabella was doing her internship at the Alcohol Detoxification Center on Island Street for part of her master’s program. That’s over now. They said they couldn’t hold the position open any longer.”
    I’m familiar with the place. “Tough neighborhood and tougher population.” The downtown facility has been the location of the county detoxification center for decades. It mostly houses chronic alcoholics who have been picked up by the police. “Did she ever have a run-in with any of the patients?”
    “Not that she mentioned,” he says.
    “What about any of the teachers at State? Another student perhaps?” I ask.
    Dexter smiles. “When I said she was a fighter, I didn’t mean it literally. Isabella wasn’t dealt an easy hand in life. Her father left when she was a kid. Her mother climbed into the bottle. She had dreams. We both did. But, despite a boatload of hard knocks, Isabella never quit.”
    Zack puts his glass down on the coffee table.
    Michael leans forward and not so discreetly slips a coaster under it; then he chuckles. “It’s strange, the things I worry about. I may eat ice cream for dinner these days, but my boyfriend’s a neat freak, so I still worry about rings on the table. It’s new. We just bought it a week ago.”
    The reference to a boyfriend catches me off guard. “You and Isabella weren’t involved?”
    Now Dexter laughs in earnest. “God, no. She knew I was gay before I did.”
    “Did your boyfriend live here the same time as Isabella?”
    “No. He moved in about a month ago. He met her once or twice before . . .” He pauses, closes his eyes an instant. “Before she disappeared.”
    “Do you know if Isabella knew Amy?”
    He considers my question for a long moment. “No. I don’t think so. At least I don’t recall ever introducing them. Amy and I weren’t all that close. She kept mostly to herself.”
    “Can we ask you to check your cell?