Chapter Two
Grateful for the interruption, Wes Cade removed Serena’s arms from around his neck and pulled himself up from the couch. What was he thinking? He crossed the room to where his suit jacket was lying across a chair. He wrestled the ringing BlackBerry out of his jacket pocket.
From behind him on the couch, Serena Manchester hissed at him. “Did you really need to answer that call?”
Wes ignored Serena, like he should have done earlier, when she requested he come inside her apartment. He glanced at his phone. Voice mail had already kicked in. The missed call was from his mother’s cell. He clicked the voice mail button and then held the phone to his ear to listen to his mother’s message.
Wanda Cade’s panic-stricken voice alarmed him. “Wes, I need you. Your grandfather . . . I can’t find him.”
He groaned. Not again. Wes Cade clicked the button on his phone to end the voice mail. His mother’s voice sounded tired and panicked at the same time. What would it take to convince his mother that Pops had grown to be too much for her? The old man’s memory had been affected for years. Some days he no longer recognized his daughter or his grandson. He turned around to his female companion for the evening. She glared at him.
“Is everything okay?” Serena sounded more like she wanted to slap him.
Wes was drawn to her steely but seductive brown eyes. “I’m sorry. You know my grandfather has Alzheimer’s. He’s missing again, so I need to go.”
Serena’s eyes softened as she rose from the couch. She slinked toward him, placing her hand on his arm. “Again? Shouldn’t you put him in a place where he’s safe?”
Wes stepped away from her and started putting his jacket on. “Believe me, I know.” He’d been fighting an uphill battle with his mother, a nurse for eighteen years, who was convinced she could handle everything. As a single mother, Wanda Cade was a strong woman, but at this rate he needed her to be around for a few more years. The woman was killing herself trying to keep up with Pops.
“I have to go.” He moved toward the door, but not before Serena placed her hand on his shoulder. Before he could protest, she squeezed in front of him, blocking his hand from reaching the doorknob on the front door.
“We need to finish this. Soon.” She reached for his neck and drew his head down toward her lips.
Knowing in his mind that he shouldn’t, he kissed her back. When she moved away, he refused to look at her. “I’ll see you in the newsroom tomorrow.”
Not until he was safe inside his Honda did he exhale. Wasn’t there a rule that said a person shouldn’t get involved with a coworker? Especially one as hot as Serena. More importantly, what had happened to him practicing celibacy? If the phone hadn’t rung, he doubted he would have stopped. This was what he got for being super busy and not honoring his commitments.
It had been a year and a half since his last relationship, and he really wanted to settle down and find the right woman. He was approaching thirty, and something in him longed for family life. At a men’s conference last year, he’d made a commitment to stop dating and remain celibate. He’d been doing great until Serena started messing with his head. There was no doubt in his mind, Serena was not a woman he wanted to get involved with, but he kept being drawn toward her.
He blew out his breath and dialed his mom’s cell number.
“Hello.”
“Mom, did you find Pops yet?”
His mother let out a deep, long sigh. “We found him. Praise the Lord! My next-door neighbor and I went looking for him. He was sitting at the park with some of his old buddies. Bless their hearts, they looked out for him. I just can’t figure out if he walked there or hitched a ride. It’s almost a mile from the house.”
“Mom, don’t you think it’s time?” Wes couldn’t picture Pops sitting in a nursing home. They both knew Pops preferred being around family. He used to be such a vibrant and fun-loving man. At least when he was sober. Despite Pops’s love for alcohol, the man was the father Wes never had.
He nudged her. “Mom, did you even look at the brochures I dropped off last week? Those nursing homes are well rated. One of the reporters at the station did a broadcast series on them not too long ago.”
“I’m still not ready.”
“What is it? Money? You know I would help you.”
“No. I’m just not—”
“Ready. I know,” Wes responded sharply. He couldn’t stand this arguing every week. “I know he’s your dad, but he’s my grandfather. You’re my mother. You got to think about you now. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how worn-out you’ve been. I can’t lose both of you.”
“Wesley Cade. I will be just fine. I just need to pray about it some more. Don’t worry about me. Okay. Look, if you get a chance, come by and see him on Sunday.”
Knowing he’d hit a nerve, Wes adjusted his tone before responding. “Sure, Mom.” He added, “I love you.”
“I love you too, son. Have a good night.”
Wes disconnected the call. He didn’t enjoy visiting with Pops these days. The man rarely remembered him. That hurt more than Wes wanted to admit.
He glanced over at the home he’d just left. What did Serena want from him, really?
Wes had heard that Serena’s vice was to get what she wanted using any tactic necessary. What bothered him more was Serena’s curiosity about Pops. If there was one thing he had in common with Serena, it was that they both loved investigating a good story. What reporter didn’t?
But there were some parts of his grandfather’s life that were a mystery even to Wes, and he wanted to protect Pops from Serena’s digging. For many years, Pops was a detective in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Missing Persons Unit. Even as his memories were fading, Pops could remember some of the cases with a vividness at the oddest moments.
From what Wes remembered, when he was about nine years old, there was one particular case that seemed to change Pops. He drank more and grew further and further apart from both Wes and his mom. About six months ago, Wes found out from his mother that the case that had haunted Pops involved the missing daughter of an old friend, guitar legend Nick Roberts, with whom Pops had played for about ten years in a band. When Roberts died, Pops had been lucid enough to attend the funeral. Since the funeral Pops seemed more depressed, tumbling farther down the slippery slope of Alzheimer’s disease.
Why that particular case? Was it because the missing young woman hit so close to home? Wes, the grandson and investigative reporter, felt a strong need to help put his grandfather’s ailing mind at rest.