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

See if we can nail down the time and date you went to see her?” I ask.
    “Of course.” Dexter stands with effort, then slowly walks over to the desk where the phone is. A few touches later he answers, “It was the twenty-eighth. She called me around four. I’d guess I was there by four thirty, four forty-five.”
    Zack’s followed him, looks over his shoulder and verifies. “Do you have the number of the taxi service?”
    There’s a nod from Dexter. “It would be the very next one.”
    Zack pulls the notebook back out and makes another quick note.
    I pull out one of my cards and join them.
    I’m tempted to ask to see Isabella’s room, to ask if it’s been disturbed. This revelation has my head spinning as a thousand follow-up questions take form in my mind. Before we jump in further, I want to pull the case files, look at them side by side, and consider the possibilities.
    “Call me if you think of anything else that might help us,” I say, offering Dexter my card.
    He takes it, his expression hopeful. “You’ll really look into Isabella’s case?”
    “We will,” I promise.
    Dexter shows us to the door, holds out his hand. Zack grasps it first, then me. “Thank you,” he says.
    I leave with the usual stock reassurances that I will stay in touch. After all this time, it would be a miracle if we found Isabella alive, or Amy for that matter.
    We came here looking for information on one missing woman. Now suddenly we have two, and I can’t shake the feeling they’re somehow connected.
    “Now what?” Zack asks as I pull out of the driveway.
    “I say we head back to the office and pull Isabella Mancini’s file.”
    •   •   •
    I call ahead and request Isabella’s case file from the SDPD. By the time we get to the office, it’s waiting on my desk along with another. The second is for a twenty-three-year-old male named Adam Markham.
    “Someone waiting for the Markham file?” I call out.
    Garner, one of the older agents, raises his hand. “That would be me.”
    I stroll over and drop it on his desk. “Another homeless person?”
    He nods. “His conservator says he hasn’t cashed his check for three months. Who knows how long he’s been gone? This one makes eleven. How’s your case coming?”
    I hold up Isabella’s file. “I’m hoping for a break.”
    By the time I return to my desk, Zack’s perusing the information I put together on Amy. He runs his finger down the list of appointments I’d prepared. “I don’t see an appointment with Dexter on the list.”
    “No, but . . .”
    He looks up, catching my hesitation. “What?”
    “Another connection.” I remove a sheet of paper from Isabella’s file and hand it to him. “Check this out.”
    “What am I looking at?”
    “There. Middle of the page. The transcript of Isabella Mancini’s voice mail messages.”
    His eyes scan the page, then go back to the list of Amy’s appointments. “Dr. Alexander Barakov. Amy had an appointment scheduled with Barakov five days before she went missing.” He looks again at the sheet I handed him. “And Isabella had an appointment reminder from the same Barakov. For the day she disappeared.”
    “That’s quite a coincidence.”
    Zack continues to read from Isabella’s police report. “According to this, she never made it. Barakov was questioned but not considered a person of interest.”
    “Until now.” The excitement of the chase starts to build. “I don’t know about you, but I just became
very
interested. I think we should pay Barakov a visit. I wonder why Dexter didn’t mention Barakov. Think that’s odd?”
    Zack shrugs. “Maybe he didn’t know about it?” The voice mail came from her cell phone dump. My guess is the police didn’t share the information with him. Zack picks up his desk phone and dials, then listens. “The office is closed for the next hour for lunch. Let’s grab some ourselves.”
    He’s already reaching for his keys.
    I grab my purse. “It’s your