When Memories Fade (20 page)

Wes noted how Angel gripped the seat as he drove. He wasn't sure if she was tense because she couldn't believe Southern Soul Café was on fire or because of his driving. He eased off the accelerator. His mind was racing with questions as to how this could have happened. Sundays were usually the busiest day for the restaurant.

“How could this have happened?” Angel's comment mirrored his thoughts. ”Did they say if anyone was inside?”

Wes shook his head. “Serena arrived on the scene. She said the building was engulfed in flames and the firefighters were working hard to contain the blaze. I asked her if there was anyone in the restaurant, but she didn't know yet.” Serena had called him, knowing his history with the place.

He knew Angel was probably thinking of all the history the owner had collected over the years. All the photos and souvenirs on the walls documented many of their grandfathers' memories. Then there was the photo of Elisa, which he remembered from the day he'd met Angel for lunch. Knowing how much she cherished memories of her mother, he hoped Angel had a copy.

Wes pulled off the exit nearest to where the restaurant was located. From a distance, they could see smoke billowing. He dreaded what they would find as they approached the café and wondered if they would even be allowed to get close. Sure enough, as he rounded the corner, he came upon a police cruiser with flashing lights. The officer was diverting traffic away from the street where Southern Soul Café was located. Wes parked nearby. He and Angel walked as close to the café as they could. A crowd stood behind the yellow police tape. Wes could see several television vehicles with reporters and camera crews up and down the street.

Angel tapped him on his shoulder and told him, “I see Eddie's daughter. I will go see if she can tell me anything.”

“Sure. I will catch up with you in a bit.”

Wes headed over to Serena, who was talking live. “We have confirmed from at least four employees that upon arriving to work this morning, they noticed smoke and called nine-one-one. As of now, the firefighters have been able to contain most of the fire. From what we have been allowed to see, it looks like most of the well-loved Charlotte-based restaurant has been lost. Stay tuned for more details.” Serena spotted him. “Hello, Wes. You burned some rubber getting here. Excuse my pun.”

“We were just here on Friday for the talent show. Southern Soul is a special hometown band. A lot of people enjoyed coming here for good Southern food and entertainment.”

“It's a shame,” Serena said. “Hey, I saw your girlfriend singing. So she did inherit some skills from her mother. I wouldn't normally admit it, but I felt the hair rise up on my skin. She has some powerful chops.”

“I didn't know you were there, and I told you, we are just friends. She wasn't a part of the competition, but she did sing with Southern Soul at the end of the show.” He looked around for Angel and saw her in the crowd, talking to a young woman.

Serena leaned over. “For someone who is not your girlfriend, you keep tabs on her pretty good. I'm just saying. I am a reporter, and I know what I see.”

Wes blushed. Knowing he had spent most of his Sunday with Angel, he wasn't sure why he was denying Serena's observations. Wes saw a familiar face emerge from the crowd and forgot about Serena's meddling. “Hey, what's he doing here?”

Serena replied, “Who?”

“Darnell. I mean, Detective Jackson.” Wes had a feeling this fire would unearth something a bit more sinister. “What's homicide doing on the scene?”

Serena narrowed her eyes. “That's my question. This fire has just become more interesting.”

Wes looked around. “Where's the owner? Eddie. Have you seen him?”

Serena stared at Wes and opened her eyes wide. “No. I haven't. Maybe he was in there. Makes sense that he would arrive early to open the place.”

Wes hoped it wasn't so. Both Serena and he headed over to where Detective Jackson was standing. He had just stepped under the yellow police tape.

Wes called out, “Hey, Detective Jackson, any information about whether anyone was in the place?”

Serena stepped in front of Wes and jabbed him in his chest with her finger. “Mr. Cade, you are supposed to be off work.” She turned back to Darnell. “Well, any information, Detective Jackson?”

Darnell looked from Wes to Serena. “Sorry, you two. I can't say anything right now. Once the firefighters clear out the place and say we can go in, you will know what I know.”

Wes spun around and searched through the crowd for Angel. He remembered she'd said she was going to talk to Eddie's daughter. He needed to find her. This day could turn out even worse than they imagined.

Angel did the only thing she could do. She hugged Denise. Angel looked at the burnt shell of one of her favorite places. The restaurant had been part of their childhood from the time Eddie opened it fifteen years ago.

“I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Where's your dad?”

Denise sniffled. “I don't know, Angel. I've been calling him. I've called him at the house and on his cell. No answer.”

“Doesn't he usually open the restaurant?”

Denise nodded, tears streaming down her face. “Yes. Every day he's the first person to arrive and the last person to go home at night.” Denise rubbed her shoulders as if she was cold. “What if he was in there?”

Angel stood close to her. “It will be all right.” As she tried to comfort Denise, an odd feeling crept up her back. She examined the crowd and found Wes standing next to his coworker Serena. Both reporters were talking to Detective Jackson. Angel frowned and thought,
Why would a homicide detective be here?
Now she was afraid for Denise.

Wes turned around and seemed to be looking for her. She waved. He saw her and approached. Angel stepped away from Denise, who continued to cry quietly and stare at the building. Angel was wondering if her friend was going into some type of shock, because she seemed to have become unresponsive.

“Hey, can we talk?” Wes stared at Denise and then focused on Angel.

Angel eyed Denise as she responded, “Sure. Denise, I will be right over here.”

Denise didn't even look at her. Angel followed Wes away from the crowd, keeping her eye on where Denise stood. She told Wes, “I'm worried. Denise hasn't been able to get in touch with her father. Why is Darnell here?”

Wes sighed. “That's why I wanted to talk to you. Nothing is confirmed yet, but we can only assume they found a body in there. The fire marshal will have to investigate if this was arson. If it was and they have found a body, well . . .”

Angel stared at him. “Southern Soul Café is like a home.”

“What do you know about Eddie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is he a likable person?” Wes asked.

Angel couldn't believe Wes would ask that type of question. A man she had known all her life could have died. She sucked in a breath, feeling a sob form in her throat. Angel backed away from him and folded her arms. “Seriously? Don't you think this is a little inappropriate? You don't even know if a body is in there, nor do you know if foul play happened here, but you are ready to jump on a story.”

Wes blinked and then reached out to touch her arm. “I'm sorry, Angel. I just wanted to know if anyone would want to hurt Eddie and the restaurant. You never know how the people you meet can turn on you later. Suppose he let go of a disgruntled employee. Wouldn't you want to know that so they could investigate and possibly bring the person to justice?”

She shrank away from Wes's touch. “Of course I would, but you are jumping a little too fast to get a story. My best friend . . .” Angel stopped at those words as she looked at Denise. This was the girl she'd grown up with, the girl she'd spent countless hours with at sleepovers, doing homework, giggling in church. Angel turned to Wes. “Denise is going to fall apart. I don't want you talking to me any more about this. I can't be there for her with these types of questions in my head. I'm going to stay with her. We will work out a way to pick up my car later.”

“Angel.” Wes looked at her, his eyes pleading with her, but Angel walked away to stand by Denise.

She liked Wes, but she didn't care for his insensitivity right now. Besides, Eddie was like an uncle to her. If something happened to him, it would be one more piece of her world torn away from her. She hoped that nobody was in the restaurant and, above all else, that Eddie was alive.

Wes realized he'd reached a dead end. Nothing was making sense to him. The two African American women he'd researched that were in their early twenties when they went missing didn't seem to have as much in common as Elisa Roberts and Melanie Stowe did. He thought if he could tie the missing women to a potential serial killer in the area that might make the similarities between Elisa and Melanie all the more striking. It was probably just a coincidence that the past was tied to the present.

It did cause Wes to pause, though. He found out that about 40 percent of missing persons were people of color. As a journalist, he knew certain missing cases received more attention than others. He decided he would pursue a story about missing people of color later.

Wes noticed the cursor on his computer screen seemed to be frozen. He clicked the mouse several times and then just gave up. He really wanted to call Angel. Wes wasn't trying to be insensitive yesterday, but he had let his enthusiasm for investigative journalism get the best of him.

Wanda had helped him return Angel's car to her yesterday evening. He wouldn't say a word to his mother about why Angel hadn't returned to the house with him, other than he thought Angel wanted to support her friend. His mother had studied his face, but he wasn't going to admit to her that once again he'd let pursuing a story get in the way.

“Hey, kiddo. What are you doing here so early on a Monday?” Serena came over to his desk and studied Wes. She narrowed her eyes and asked, “What's up?”

Wes shook his head and responded, “Just looking into some more leads about the Melanie Stowe case. You know Alan. He wants something to report, like, yesterday.”

Serena sat on his desk. She was a bit too close for Wes's comfort, so he rolled his chair back. Serena watched him with an amused look on her face. “Don't worry. I'm not going to bite you. I take it the story isn't going in the direction you'd hoped, due to the expression on your face.”

Wes shook his head. “Nope. I was trying to connect some other local missing cases to it. Nothing stands out. I just feel like this twenty-year-old case is somehow connected to this month-old case. Can you believe Melanie's been missing this long?”

Serena sighed. “I know. This is probably not going to turn out good. I just hope that, unlike your nineteen ninety-one missing-person story, they actually can find Melanie.” She stared at him. “What else is going on? I saw you leave without your girlfriend yesterday.”

Wes cleared his throat. “I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but we are just friends. Angel is friends with the owner's daughter. She felt like she needed to stay. That's all. Has anyone heard from him?”

“No. Which is why I'm waiting on a call from a source at the medical examiner's office.”

“Medical examiner?” Wes sat up. “So they found a body?”

Serena nodded. “Yes, they did. From what I've been able to gather, it was a male.”

Wes leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head. “So, they weren't able to identify the body? Was it badly burned?”

“Yes, and there wasn't any ID on the victim, so the medical examiner will probably try to get fingerprints. If that isn't possible, then they will compare dental records. We should know soon, I hope. I want to be able to share something for the noon broadcast.”

“This is going to be devastating for Angel. Makes me wish I had kept my mouth closed yesterday.”

Serena shook her head. “So you did upset her.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on. She walked away from you, and it was clear to me she wasn't happy with you.”

Great!
Wes looked at Serena. He really wasn't into confiding in her. “I kind of let my reporter side get the best of me.”

“You asked questions that you shouldn't have asked.”

“She told me I was being insensitive to the situation. I thought I was just asking questions about the owner. What do you know about Eddie? Is he likable? I just didn't think about the fact that she's known the man all her life.”

“Kiddo, it happens. Believe me. I've been through enough relationships to know that the desire to get the story can get in the way. You are ambitious like me. You won't stop until you get at the truth. That can cause trouble.”

Wes thought about when he left Pops alone the other night to track down Larry Stowe and how upset his mother was at his reckless decision. He looked at Serena and noticed her face had softened. “Are you okay? “

“Of course.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked away from him.

“You are full of advice lately. I know we're both ambitious, and I know what drives me, but what drives you to go after a story with such intensity? Like K-Dawg, for example. To be honest, the twenty-year-old unsolved murder of a rapper doesn't seem to me like the type of story Serena Manchester pursues.”

Serena glared at him, but there were clearly tears in her eyes. All these years he had known this woman, he'd never seen her act emotional. Serena was an ice queen.

Serena wiped her eyes. “Sometimes when a story hits close to home, it becomes your obsession.”

Wes frowned but didn't say anything as he waited for Serena to continue.

“You know, I came to Charlotte the year K-Dawg was shot. I was eighteen years old and so ready to leave South Carolina. I wanted to get away from the small town and what I considered all the small-minded people. So, my cousin invited me to stay with her for a while, and she introduced me to all the hot places to go. One night, can you believe I actually met a decent guy? We started hanging out with each other, and I just fell for him so hard.” Serena sniffed. “I can't believe I'm telling you this.”

Wes said, “Sure. I appreciate you sharing with me. So, what happened with your boyfriend at the time?”

“He went out that night. I didn't feel well. I remember I was so upset with him. I wanted him to stay and be with me, but his best friend knew that K-Dawg was going to be at this club. So they went.” Tears were visibly streaming down Serena's face. “He didn't come back. You know the focus has always been on K-Dawg, but bullets were sprayed into the crowd too. Three people were injured, and two other people besides K-Dawg lost their lives.”

Wes went over to the desk that was behind him and pulled out tissues from a box and handed them to Serena. For the first time, Wes started to see past Serena's flirtatious, but hard-core exterior. This beautiful woman hid behind a world of hurt that started when she was young. She might have lost the one man she loved.

Serena wiped her face. “Wow, kiddo. I can't believe you got me crying in here.” Serena composed herself. “Anyway, I've been in touch with contacts on and off, including K-Dawg's mother. She was the only one who recognized that other people lost loved ones that night too. So when she asked about doing a twentieth-anniversary story, of course, I said yes. I want to include the other people.”

Wes nodded. “I think it's going to be a wonderful story. Have you been able to reach out to Minister J.D.? I'm sure he would love to be a part of the story.”

Serena sighed. “Yeah, I know you gave me his information. I will do that, but in the meantime I need to get something tonight for Southern Soul Café. I'm going to call my contact.” Serena pulled her phone out of her bag, which had been sitting on the floor. “Hey, Lou. How are you doing? It's Serena. You got anything for me? We have lots of concerned people.” Serena looked over at Wes as she talked.

As he listened to Serena's conversation with the medical examiner, Wes held on to the arms of his chair.

“So, you were able to get a partial fingerprint?” Serena asked.

Wes watched her eyes grow wide.
Please don't tell me it's Eddie.

“Thanks, Lou.” Serena stared off into the distance.

“Serena. Hello? Don't keep me in suspense here. Did they identify the body?”

She turned to him. “Alan is going to flip out. Actually, you might flip out.”

Wes leaned forward. “Who was it, Serena?”

“The fingerprints analysis was a match for Larry Stowe.”

Wes felt his mouth drop open as he struggled to process what Serena had told him. “Melanie Stowe's dad. Why in the world would he be at Southern Soul Café?”
And where is Eddie Gowins?

Serena interrupted his thoughts. “Oh, but that isn't all, kiddo. There was a definite gunshot wound to the head, which is probably what killed Larry.”

Wes stood and faced Serena. “He was murdered. The fire was about covering up a murder.” Wes held his hand to head. Angel might not have been pleased with him yesterday, but he had to talk to her. Their digging had turned into a connect-the-dots game—except none of the dots were connecting.