Chapter Twenty-two
“Alan, you are not serious, are you?” Wes looked incredulously at his news producer. “If Serena had this assignment, you wouldn’t hesitate to let her go through with her own story ideas.”
“I’m not saying you aren’t delivering, Wes. I just think with Melanie being a Charlotte native, we aren’t doing her story justice. Look at what CNN is reporting. We need a different angle.”
“I’m aware of the need to bring a unique angle. It was me who brought the exclusive interviews with Detective Darnell Jackson and Candace Johnson a few months ago.” Of course, it didn’t hurt that Wes had a connection. He coached basketball along with Darnell at the Victory Gospel Center. Since Darnell was dating the beauty salon owner, interviewing Candace had turned out to be a sweet deal.
“And we are proud of you for pulling off those stories. I need to see you do it again. I just think we need to throw around some ideas.”
Wes looked away and then back at Alan, whose thick eyebrows were a unibrow. Sometimes Alan’s obsession with getting ratings and an award-winning story was even too much for Wes. Not that he didn’t strive for the same goals. “I told you I believe we need to locate Melanie’s dad. No one knows what happened to him. It’s like he disappeared too.”
Alan waved his hand. “I don’t know, Wes. Would he kidnap his daughter or harm her? Why?”
Wes looked back at his notes from Lisa. “Both Lisa and Jay mentioned that Melanie was having a difficult time securing a record deal. There was a deal on the table, but she wasn’t talking to anyone about it.”
“Why not?”
“I guess because she had been pushed into the spotlight from the American Voices show. Most of the people I have talked to thought she had been voted off too soon, that she should have made it all the way to the finals. Her fans want to see her get an album out there, since she wasn’t a winner on the show. Melanie felt that pressure.”
“So a girl with that kind of talent . . .” Alan leaned back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head. “Why didn’t she have record companies knocking at her door?”
Wes shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not sure this has anything to do with her being missing.”
Alan leaned forward. “I know you are going with your gut here on the father, but I think we need to look at this from another angle. Give her fans something to hang on to. Who offered Melanie record deals? Why were contracts never signed? What was the latest offer? Why such a secret?”
After getting pelted with Alan’s questions, Wes thought for a moment. Finally, he answered, “Okay, you have a couple of points. I will focus on the record deals, but I still want to ask questions about the dad.”
Alan threw up his hands. “Fine. Just make sure we deliver the news story that Charlotte wants to hear. That all her fans want to hear.”
“I’m on it. By the way, where is Serena? I would love to know what her take would be on this story.”
“Told you Matt sent her on a trip up to New York. Something is brewing, but no one is sharing with me.”
“Must be a serious story for Matt to give her expenses.” Then again, Wes knew Serena could get anything she wanted, including permission from the station’s news director, Matt Lemon, to pursue a hot story.
“No telling what Serena has up her sleeve. In the meantime, Melanie Stowe is our biggest local and national story. Dig up some stuff.”
Wes arose from the chair and left Alan’s office. He wasn’t sure pursuing Melanie’s record deal failures would reveal anything about why she went missing, but he was intrigued. As he sat at his desk, he started to wonder if he wasn’t mixing up the cases a bit. Really, the father he wanted to talk to was the man Pops had tried to investigate in the Elisa Roberts case.
Two different missing person cases, but something was odd. He thought about what Angel had said over the weekend. There were a few similarities in the cases, even though they were twenty years apart. They were both dynamic singers, and both disappeared in their early twenties. Despite the vocal talent both these women had, life wouldn’t allow them to pursue the recognition they desired.
Wes tapped the keyboard to awaken the computer screen and logged into Facebook. He had made a note to check out Melanie Stowe’s profile page. She had a public fan page that had over twenty thousand members. Those were pretty impressive numbers. Wes scrolled through the posts, looking for any odd postings. Most of the posts were from fans wanting the young singer to be found safely. Many prayers were going up for Melanie.
As he continued scrolling, he stopped on one post, mainly because the avatar represented a person who was older than some of the other members. He’d posted, Melanie, girl, I can’t wait to work with you in the studio. You are going places, girl. World, watch out for your next big superstar. Was this related to the record deal? The message was posted about a week before Melanie went missing. Wes scribbled down the date and then clicked on the avatar to pull up the profile page. Minister J.D. Wes sat back. He knew this guy. In fact, Minister J.D. was the founder of the men’s conference Wes had attended last year.
The minister had an unusual background. In the nineties, he had a brief stint as a hip-hop artist known simply as J.D. After one big album that sold a million copies, J.D. found himself pulled into the darker part of the business. He was seen publicly in a drunken state, was charged with a few DUIs, and then finally ended up in rehab. The former hip-hop artist lay low for years before opening a small church in South Charlotte. During the past five years Minister J.D. had acquired quite a flock at Kingdom Building Church. The congregation was not nearly as large as the one at Victory Gospel Church, but many young people liked Minister J.D.’s style of preaching. He was known to drop a rhyme or two.
Wes would definitely be visiting with the minister in the near future. In the meantime, he had a meeting with a friend who he hoped would help provide a better perspective on Melanie’s case.
About two hours later, Wes found himself lifting his body off the ground to slam the ball into the net. He came down to the ground and shouted, “Yeah, baby! Detective, I believe I took care of business today.”
Shaking his head, Darnell grinned and retrieved the bouncing ball. “Okay, you got game today. I will give it to you.” He rubbed his goatee. “Although you might not want to try that jump again. An old man can get hurt off a jumper like that.”
“Old man! Really, if I’m not mistaken, I believe you got a few years on me, Detective.”
Both men laughed as they walked off the court.
“Thanks for letting me whip up on you. Great stress reliever,” Wes commented.
“Mmm, enjoy, because that will be your last time.”
“I doubt it. You see you have a problem.”
Darnell stopped and looked at Wes. “I do?”
Wes continued walking and said over his shoulder, “Yeah, you are a man in love. Men in love can’t concentrate on anything else.”
Darnell threw his head back and laughed. He caught up to Wes. “Can’t argue with you on that one.”
Wes asked, “So, when are you going to pop the question?”
“Whoa, bro! Slow down. Candace and I are not walking down the aisle anytime soon. We have both been married before, so we are going take our time.”
“That’s smart.”
“What about you? One of the most recognizable bachelors in Charlotte. I’ve heard about your groupies.”
“Man, you need to stop. I don’t know how my name ended up in that article. I just report the news. Although, I have found myself in the danger zone at work. You know who I’m talking about.”
Darnell gave Wes a look. “Please don’t tell me you are referring to Serena Manchester.”
“For some reason that I haven’t figured out yet, I’ve been on her radar. I know she wants something. Just don’t know what yet.”
“Well, it’s good you are keeping an eye on her. She is one tricky woman. I do believe she will do anything to get a story.”
Wes knew that Darnell was right. The detective was betrayed by Serena a few years back on a case, and it almost cost Darnell his job at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Wes was really concerned about why Serena was in New York, especially since she had had so many questions about Pops. His gut told him her questions related back to a cold case, but which one?
As they approached their cars, Wes remembered to ask Darnell the question that had been on his mind. “Hey, can I ask you about Melanie Stowe?”
“Sure. Technically, she is still a missing person case, though.”
“Yeah, but it will be two weeks tomorrow. Do you think there is any chance of finding her alive now?”
Darnell shook his head. “I hate to say it, but it could be any day now, weeks, or even months when she could become a homicide case. And at that point, I would definitely be on it. I have been keeping up with the case when I can, though. There isn’t much to work with.”
“I know. I wish someone had witnessed something that night. It’s crazy. So, what do you do with a case where there is no body? Like, there’s this case Pops worked on years and years ago. They had this person of interest, but they had no body and no evidence of a crime scene. All they could do is let him go. What if he got away with it just because he was clever enough to cover his tracks?”
Darnell leaned against his car. “That’s a hard one. There’s not much you can do unless the person confesses. These days we could do a little more with DNA, but in the case of Melanie Stowe, her car was swept for prints and there was nothing. I will say this, though. Someone had to be watching her very carefully. They had to know she was going to be at the club that night, and once they saw her alone, they took the opportunity.”
“A stalker. Maybe someone who was just a bit too much of a fan.”
“Yeah, it’s my understanding folks are looking into that now, but that’s a wild-goose chase.”
“There had to be some communication via e-mail, her social media, or a phone call.”
“Yeah, there was a lot of it. Do you know how many people tried to contact this woman? She probably went on that show thinking she would achieve her dreams. I imagine it had become a bit of a nightmare for her.” Darnell shook his head and held out his hand toward Wes. “All right, man. I have to head back. We have to do this again. Next time, it’s on.”
“You got it!”
Darnell and Wes exchanged a brotherly handshake. Wes got into his car. As Darnell drove off, Wes started thinking. He hadn’t had a chance to speak to Melanie’s stepmom himself, but now he wondered what the real reason was for Melanie moving back home. Before he could turn the car on, his phone rang.
Angel’s number showed on the display.