Free Hell's Belle by Marie Castle Page B

tucked the tissue away, focusing his red-rimmed eyes on me. His voice seemed calmer as he said, “My daughter Isabella called me last night.” He passed me a picture of a pretty young brunette with her father’s hazel eyes then clenched his hands. “She was upset. I didn’t understand what she was saying. I told her to calm down and explain.” His words were tumbling out. “Maybe if I’d just left then for Hattiesburg…” He shook his head as if forcing those thoughts away. “She said there wasn’t enough time, asked me to pack. She was coming home. We’d leave together. She was so…scared.” His voice slowed.
    We both waited while his breath shuddered in and out. Finally he said, “I told her I would come get her, to wait there, but she kept saying she had to leave right then.”
    Mr. Richmond looked at his hands. My heart ached for him already, and we weren’t through the entire story. I watched his hands clench and unclench.
    “So I waited, but Isabella never made it home.”
    Just then, Mynx walked in with a tray loaded with my aunt’s brown sugar pound cake and two steaming cups. Most people would consider ten in the morning too early for something so rich, but our family was a big believer in the Southern tradition of soothing grief (and every other ailment) with food. Fortunately, witches had high metabolisms. Mynx sat the tray down on a side table as I said, “Mr. Richmond, I’d like to introduce you to my distant cousin and business partner, Mynx Delacy.” They’d met when he’d barged into our offices, but no formal introduction had been made. Mynx smiled slightly. Maybe it was from calling her a cousin when she was actually my ancestor’s cat familiar…or maybe because I’d finally convinced her to take the more-than-deserved title of partner. Goddess knows we wouldn’t make it around here without her. Now we just needed a new secretary.
    As testament to his extreme distress, Mr. Richmond stared into his coffee, not sparing Mynx’s gorgeous body a second glance. Mynx silently left, hopefully to go keep Jacq out of trouble. Our clients’ cases were confidential. The last thing I needed was the law present. It didn’t matter that she was out of uniform. A po-po could hide in a clown suit and the people in this area would still see a cop with a red nose and big shoes.
    I picked up my tea, sipping my favorite spiced chai. We sat in silence while Mr. Richmond gathered his thoughts. I wanted to reassure him that there was nothing he could’ve done differently. Rushing to Hattiesburg wouldn’t have halted his daughter’s disappearance. But platitudes would have to wait. We hadn’t reached the point where he’d trust my judgment. Plus, I had the sinking feeling that I needed to hear the rest of this tale.
    Fera’s case had been on my mind all morning. Nicodemus hadn’t yet opened a gate, so he must need something. More power and another victim were the obvious answer. I’d been on the phone with my local contact at the PD to see if any girls were missing when Mynx had announced Mr. Richmond’s arrival. There were no scheduled appointments for today, which was why my loosely knotted hair was still damp against my shirt. But when the panic-stricken father had told Mynx his daughter was missing, she’d shuffled him into my office. I was looking for a girl to go missing, and he had one. Mynx, like all the Delacys, didn’t believe in coincidences.
    After another moment, a steadier Mr. Richmond continued, “I waited, but Isabella never showed. I called her cell over and over with no answer. Part of me didn’t want to leave in case she showed up. What if she’d forgotten her phone? I could pass her on the road and never realize it. I waited four hours, enough time for Isabella to get from her apartment in The Burg to our house in NOLA. I called her boyfriend, Kyle. He tends bar at a club in NOLA. Kyle was at work and hadn’t heard from her. I couldn’t wait anymore.”
    I jotted