Chapter 10. Safe and Sound

This all happens prior to Take This Heart.

"Hello, Phil," I grumbled. "Is Bella home?"

"Well let me see if she's around here," he said in a sickening sweet voice. "Oh Bella," he called out in a sing song voice. "Daddy Charlie is on the phone for you." After waiting a few moments he came back on the line and said, "I'm sorry Charlie, she doesn't seem to be home at the moment. Can I help you with something?"

"What about Renée, where is she?" Knowing what kind of man Renée was attracted to, I was sure Phil knew exactly where she was.

"I honestly don't know," he lied. "Like I said, can I help you with anything?"

Yeah you can go off yourself, I thought. A vision popped into my mind of Phil's body damaged, bloody, with broken bones, blood pouring from his nose and ears, and his severed penis lying on the floor. The fantasy made me smile.

"Phil, will you tell Bella to call me when she gets home?"

"Will do," Phil lied.

I hung up the phone and turned to Isaac. "Okay that's done. How long do I keep calling before I catch on that Bella is missing?"

"We will keep this charade up until late June or early July. At which point you will file a missing persons report with the Phoenix police. When they find Bella within one day it will help you in your court case. We will bring up that if Phil and your ex-wife had filed a missing persons report when Bella disappeared they would have found her quickly."

"Thank you so much for doing this Isaac." I decided to bring up a topic I had avoided to this point. "How much are you going to charge me for all of this?"

Isaac chuckled. "I'm retired Charlie, I don't make money anymore. If there ever comes a time when I need some money I might call you up and ask you for some. But since I'm quite old, I'll probably die before that happens. To keep myself entertained I watch the newspaper for interesting cases, which I like to help out with. Depending on the person's monetary means I will either offer my services pro-bono or for a very small fee. Since you're a cop, I know you have very little money, which is why I won't charge you. If you feel like it's necessary, when I die you can put a check in the casket for whatever amount you think my service is worth."

I chuckled. My curiosity got the better of me so I asked him, "Exactly how old are you, Isaac?"

He raised one of his eyebrows. "Old enough to know that it's rude to ask a person his age." Isaac laughed. "I'm eighty years, seven months, two weeks, and one day old Charlie. I've been practicing law since I was twenty five."

Isaac passed me the custody papers he had been working on. Handing me a very nice fountain pen, Isaac said, "Sign these. I'll date them after we have started the process of getting custody of Bella transferred to you."

I looked over the papers he had been working on. The documents were a little over my head but I got the general gist of what they said. Basically, this was going to be a major modification to the divorce agreement. We were going to show just cause for Bella living with me, and that Phil and Renée had created a neglectful environment. After signing, I looked up and asked Isaac, "Is it going to be hard to get this taken care of in Washington? Or will we have to go down to Arizona?"

"I'm going to pull some strings and make sure it's all taken care of here in Washington. I don't want you to be in court any more than you have to. I'm anticipating you testifying one, maybe two days, but it shouldn't be very difficult for you. If Renée and Phil even get wind of the modification, they won't be able to hire an attorney that can beat me. Don't you worry, Charlie, we'll have your daughter safe and sound before the summer is out."

"Safe and sound," I mumbled. I immediately thought of the times my temper had taken control of me and I had hurt Bella. I was not going to hurt her anymore. I really wanted her to be truly safe and sound.

"So," I said to Isaac, "what's the next step?"

"Mostly, we're going to have to play the waiting game. Be sure you don't give any indication you know where Bella is. Keep calling every few days to see if Phil and your ex-wife know. If she needs more money, let me know and I'll take care of it. Only call her on her disposable cell phone. Anything you want to send to her, give it to me and I will get it to her. We need to make her disappear as much as possible, and we don't want to leave any bread crumbs that might lead back to you."

I knew that the waiting game was going to be the hardest part.

"Is there anything else we need to do today?"

"Just one more thing. Have another drink with me."

"Gladly."

We sat down and he poured us each another glass of the heavenly scotch. We talked about the life experiences we had had. It was just us getting to know each other a little better, but all the while Bella was never very far from my mind. I wanted her home with me. I wanted her to be safe and sound.