Mendez & Larson occupied the bottom floor of a refurbished 1930s house six blocks west of the capitol. It was a prime location, and when Leigh first started working there, everything about the place had seemed romantic—the wide front porch, the dormer windows, the flower boxes. It was so impossibly quaint that Leigh hadn’t fully realized the maintenance headaches in store when she committed to the lease.

She walked up the steps and glanced at the porch swing where their resident tabby lazed in the sun. Watermelon yawned and gave her a perturbed look, possibly holding her responsible for the racket going on overhead. Leigh stepped into the office and looked at the ceiling.

“What are they doing up there?” she asked Bella.

Their receptionist leaned back in her swivel chair and moved the mouthpiece of her headset out of the way. “Something in the bathroom,” she said.

Leigh winced. “Don’t tell me it’s a leak.”

“It is, but it’s the sink, supposedly.”

Bella’s curly blond hair was piled on top of her head today and secured with a pencil. Her expression brightened as Leigh set a pair of coffee cups on the marble reception counter.

“Is one of those for me?” she asked.

“Yep. Skinny latte.”

“Oh, bless you. I missed lunch.” Bella adjusted her headset and held up a finger telling Leigh to wait. “Yes, I’m on hold for James Khagan?”

Leigh reached over the counter for the iPad where Bella kept a log of phone calls. She swiped at the screen and scrolled through what looked like a busy afternoon.

Bella adjusted the headset and sighed. “Still holding,” she said, then took a sip of coffee.

“So, any chance a police detective came by here earlier?” Leigh asked.

“Yes. Oh my lord, talk about packin’ heat! Did he find you?”

“Yeah.”

Bella grinned. “You’re welcome.” She adjusted her headset again. “Yes, I’m still holding for James Khagan?” She rolled her eyes and then turned to Leigh. “What are you looking for?”

“I’m not sure. Have we had anything from a Vanessa Adams lately?”

“No. Why?”

Leigh tapped on the previous day and scrolled through the calls.

“You can do a search, you know. Just—hello? Mr. Khagan? Hi there, it’s Bella over at Mendez and Larson. How was your fishing trip?”

Leigh grabbed her coffee and left Bella to her work. Besides being a kick-ass receptionist, she had a knack for collecting unpaid invoices. Leigh thought it was her voice. The sugary Southern accent caught people off guard, and before they knew it, they’d pulled out their credit card and agreed to pay over the phone.