When Memories Fade

by Tyora Moody

  Jacob blew out a breath. “I don’t know. This was probably early eighties. It was right before I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill.”

  Wes asked Darnell, “Eddie’s fingerprints should be in the system, right?”

  “Yes,” Darnell answered. “After hearing Jacob’s story here, I’m curious to know a little bit more about Eddie’s background. I’ve been looking into leads on him since the fire on Sunday. Eddie kind of doesn’t have anything on him prior to Southern Soul. I think I’m going have his fingerprints run in the AFIS database. I will get someone on it. Right now, Angel’s safety is our focus. It appears they stopped at some location and haven’t moved, unless her battery died.”

  Wes followed behind Darnell as he headed toward the door. “You are going to let me go with you, right?”

  Darnell turned and looked at Wes, then at Jacob.

  Jacob shook his head. “I’m fine. I need to get back to my mother. The nurse was nice enough to come in on her day off. Fredricka doesn’t know what’s going on, but I have a feeling this will be on the news.” Jacob looked at Wes.

  Wes nodded. “I know Serena is on this. She’s going up in the WYNN helicopter, but I’m not interested in going to get the story. I want to be there for Angel.”

  Darnell said, “Wes, you can’t be trying to play hero. We have trained professionals who will handle Eddie.”

  “I know that, man. Angel is going to need a friendly face when you find her. She’s probably totally freaked out.”

  Darnell sighed and looked over at the captain’s office. “Fine. We’ll get you a vest, and you are not to get in anyone’s way. Understood?”

  “You got it!” Wes said.

  A few minutes later, Darnell sped down the highway with Wes in the passenger seat. Wes still held tight to his phone, praying that they would reach Angel in time. After what seemed liked forever, Wes could see flashing lights ahead, along with the SWAT truck. He could see several officers standing in a group, dressed in gear.

  Wes sat up and pointed. “Oh, man, there’s Angel’s car.” He reached for the door handle while the car was still moving.

  “Okay. Stay cool, man.” Darnell pulled the car over, and both of them got out. Wes kept up with Darnell’s long strides. From what he could see, no one was in Angel’s car. He looked over into the woods. Eddie must have taken Angel into the woods.

  Wes watched as the SWAT officers suddenly took off into the woods.

  He asked Darnell, “How are they going to find her in there? Does she still have her phone on her?”

  Darnell had been talking to a technician who had been examining Angel’s car. He shook his head. “No, she left her phone in the car, which was probably a good thing. She wouldn’t have wanted Eddie to know she had kept it on. The team has mapped out the place and is spreading out now. It looks like this road leads up to the back of Pine Meadows. Some of these cabins haven’t been open to the public in a while. This is probably the place where Eddie worked at earlier in his life, and he probably knows the area well.”

  Wes felt fear surge through his body as helplessness set in. Angel would need more than just the SWAT team. He prayed, Lord, please protect Angel. Send your angels to surround her and protect her from evil.

  Chapter Fifty-two

  Angel’s chest felt like it would burst as she struggled to breathe and run. Eddie wasn’t far behind her. Amazingly enough, as she ran, zigzagging around the trees, her anxiety about being in the woods a few weeks ago was low on her priority list. She stumbled over a rock but jumped back up quickly. The bottoms of her jeans were muddy, as were her hands. She told herself, Just move. She’d watched enough horror movies to know to keep running.

  She slowed for just a second to decide where to go next. “Angel.” She heard her name echoing through the trees. That motivated her to go right. If he hadn’t taken her keys, she could have run to the car, except she had no idea how to get to the car or how far she was from the road. She could only hope to find camouflage in the heavily wooded area. At some point she would need to stop and hide.

  The sound of her feet pounding the ground was probably drawing attention to her location. She had a feeling Eddie had outdoor skills she didn’t possess.

  Angel glimpsed a cabin ahead, but as she approached, there weren’t any lights visible from the outside. Angel ran up to the door, banged, and then yanked on the door handle. Nothing. She ran around to the side of the cabin, and there appeared to be a shed. Maybe she could at least go in there and catch her breath. She needed to think.

  More importantly, she needed a miracle. God had already answered one prayer. Lord, please help me. She hoped Wes had been able to hear what was going on through the phone and had sent the cavalry after her. It could be her imagination, but she thought she heard the deep hum of a helicopter hovering above.

  Angel pulled on the shed door. She cringed when it creaked open, and entered the darkness. It took her eyes a few minutes to adjust. Angel bumped into a sharp object and sucked in her breath to keep from crying out her pain. In the distance, she heard her name again. Angel gingerly stepped around what felt like a lawn mower or some type of cart. She went to the other side of the shed and squatted down. Her wet clothes clung to her.

  She realized if she didn’t stop panting like a dog, she was going to give her location away. Angel gulped air and reached up to grab the object in front of her to steady herself. She snatched her hand away as the remnants of a cobweb wrapped around her fingers. Angel wiped her hands on her jeans. No need to get freaked out by the creepy crawlies now. It was either the little creatures or the crazy man outside. Angel looked up at the object that had been covered with cobwebs. It was a shovel. Her mind was moving fast. It’s a weapon.

  No match for the gun, which Eddie had probably recovered from the ground, though. Maybe she should have stayed and gone for the gun. Now all she was doing was second-guessing herself. She’d never shot a gun in her life. All she knew was she could be dead by now.

  “Angel.” Eddie’s voice ricocheted close by.

  She reached for the handle of the shovel and inched her way around to behind the shed’s door, careful not to step on anything. Maybe he would come through the door; maybe he wouldn’t. She was going to be ready for him. Angel spread her legs and held the shovel in her hands.

  “Angel, you can’t hide from me. Just come out. You wanted to find out about your mother. I told you I would take you to her.”

  Angel gripped the shovel tighter. As she thought back to what Eddie had revealed earlier, she started to get the picture. Larry and Eddie had got rid of her mother’s body. She swallowed hard, but tears flooded her eyes. Her mother had been buried up here in these woods. No wonder no one could find her. She wiped her face with her sleeve, willing Eddie to walk through the door.

  She would have her wish. Eddie had to be right outside as he shouted, “Angel, I loved your mother.”

  Angel listened. What was Eddie talking about?

  “It hurt my heart to see Nick in pain about Elisa. But in some ways it made up for my pain. I grew up without him in my life. He’d just left my mother, not that I blamed him. She was crazy.”

  What? Angel almost lost her grip on the shovel. Eddie really was her uncle. Her granddad had never mentioned that Eddie was his son. That was not a secret her granddad would have kept. Her head started spinning. She couldn’t believe a word Eddie was saying. Maybe he was just trying to draw her out. She dug her heels in again and watched the door.

  “Angel.” Eddie dragged out her name.

  The door of the shed creaked open. Angel waited, looking for the gun.

  Eddie didn’t disappoint. The gun came through the door first.

  Angel slowly pulled the shovel back and hoped the darkness of the shed would conceal her. Eddie’s tall frame appeared fully inside the door, the gun out in front. He turned slightly to the left. Angel took that as her cue to smash the shovel across Eddie’s head.

  “Ah!” Eddie screamed. The gun went off
as he stumbled and fell.

  Angel ducked, and then adrenaline surged through her body. She jumped up and slammed the shovel hard across Eddie’s back. The gun spun out of his hand and landed somewhere inside the shed. Something primal surged through her body, and she screamed and picked up the shovel again. This man. She slammed down the shovel. Killed my mother.

  “Angel!” She stopped, holding the shovel and breathing hard. Several people behind her were calling her name. She slowly stepped back out of the shed with the shovel. Angel turned to see several men with guns pointed in her direction.

  One of the officers stepped out from the group. “Angel. Angel Roberts?”

  She nodded.

  “It’s okay. We’re here. Eddie in there?”

  She dropped the shovel and nodded again. One of the officers came over and pulled her away as the others swarmed the shed. The officer led her over to the steps of the cabin. After the officer left her side, she sat and cried. Angel shed tears over the loss of her mother and the split second when she wanted to take Eddie’s life.

  Angel wiped her face, which she was sure was a dirty mess now. She looked at the scene before her, trying to make sense of it all.

  “Help.”

  Angel turned her head. There was so much commotion around the shed and the cabin now that maybe she was just hearing things.

  “Please help me.”

  She sprang up from the steps, her heart still pounding, and pressed her ear against the cabin door. Angel banged on the door. “Is someone in there?”

  Angel could hear a female voice. She sounded young and weak. “Yes. Please help.”

  Angel waved her arms and yelled at the officers around her. “Someone is in here. Please, she needs help.”

  Angel moved out of the way as members of the SWAT team rammed the door open.

  “Angel, are you okay?”

  She turned around to see Wes running toward her. Knowing she looked a hot mess, she gladly accepted his arms around her and buried her face into his shoulder. She cried hot tears again, grateful that God had worked out a way for Wes to save her.

  “Oh my!” Angel heard Wes say.

  “What?” She turned and saw a young woman being carried out on a stretcher. “Who is she, Wes?”

  “Angel, I believe you found Melanie Stowe.”

  Angel tore herself away from Wes’s arms to move closer to the woman. It was her. Eddie had kidnapped Melanie. Seeing the caked blood on Melanie’s face, Angel guessed that Eddie had left her for dead. That explained where the scratches had come from on Eddie’s face.

  She looked over at the man as officers escorted him out of the shed. Angel had left her mark on Eddie too. He appeared disoriented. Rage surged through Angel again. She tried to run toward Eddie, but Wes and Darnell snatched her back.

  “Whoa, Angel! Let us get Eddie into custody, okay? He has quite a few charges coming his way,” Darnell said to calm her. “Don’t worry. He will get prison time.”

  She turned to Darnell. “He buried my mother up here. You make him tell me where she is.”

  Wes and Darnell both looked stunned.

  Darnell nodded. “All right. We’ll have to get the medical examiner’s office up here to see what they can recover. In the meantime, you need to get back to your family. I know Candace is blowing up my phone, she’s so worried about you.”

  Angel nodded.

  After Darnell walked over to the other officers, Wes reached his arms around her. “It’s going to be okay.”

  Angel held her head against Wes’s shoulder. She hoped so. It had turned out to be a day she would never forget. In her quest for the truth, she’d unlocked so many secrets, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be the same.

  Chapter Fifty-three

  A year later . . .

  Angel wiped the tears from her eyes. She knew someone was going to come looking for her, but she needed just a few moments to herself. She was grateful to Reverend Freeman and Lenora for allowing her to screen The Elisa Roberts Story at Victory Gospel Church. She had spent many nights determined to pull the memories of her mother’s tragedy together. Some nights she had wept as she edited and spliced together photos and precious footage from family videos.

  She was hesitant about including Eddie’s footage, but he was a part of the story. Eddie’s claims that he was Nick’s son still hadn’t been proven. From what Wes could dig up, it appeared that her granddad was briefly involved with Eddie’s mother. Why Eddie had made it his goal to claim Nick Roberts as his father was unclear. Whether he was really her uncle or not, she didn’t care. The trial would start soon, and if all went well, Eddie would spend the rest of his life in prison.

  Sadly, any opportunities to rekindle a friendship with Denise had been lost. Denise and Kenneth had called off the wedding and had gone their separate ways. She’d seen Kenneth around, but Denise had taken little Kenny down to Florida.

  Someone knocked on the bathroom door. “Angel, are you okay?”

  “Yes.” Angel went over and opened the door. She laughed and said, “Wow. Grams must have sent the cavalry after me.”

  Candace eyed her. “Girl, you know no one is about to let you disappear.” Both Candace and Lenora walked into the bathroom and stood on either side of her.

  Lenora reached for more tissues from the box on the sink. “I understand this was emotional for you. I believe there aren’t too many dry eyes in the room. Even Reverend Freeman shed some tears.”

  Candace added, “Darnell tried to play hard, but I caught him wiping his eyes too.”

  Angel giggled, and then she caught sight of Candace’s hand. “OMG! What is this?” She grabbed Candace’s hand. “Is this . . . ?”

  “Yes, child, that man proposed.” Candace beamed as she showed off the diamond on her hand. “You know I accepted. We grown folks, and it was about that time.”

  Lenora laughed. “You know you are both going to have to make an appointment with Reverend Freeman right away for marriage counseling.”

  “I’m going to start following you two around with my video camera so I can get some good footage for that wedding video.” Angel reached over and squeezed her friend. “I’m so happy for you two.”

  “Thank you, honey. Speaking of happy, we need to get you out there before Fredricka gets up with her walker and starts looking for you herself.”

  The three women walked out of the restroom and into the Victory Gospel Center. Most of the guests were lined up around the tables, adding food to their plates. Angel saw Grams looking around for her. Sitting at the same table were Jacob and Liz, along with Wanda. Angel hadn’t realized Liz had made it down for the screening. She thought it looked a bit awkward to have Liz and Wanda at the same table, but Jacob looked good. Her uncle looked happier than he’d ever been. As Angel approached, Grams struggled to stand.

  “No, Grams. You can sit,” Angel told her.

  “No. I don’t want to. I’m standing to hug my Angel.”

  Angel bent down and let her grandmother reach up to hug her. It was a strong, comforting hug. Grams whispered in her ear, “I’m proud of you, and so is your granddad.”

  Angel thought she would burst out and cry again, but she held it in. She moved around the table, hugging Wanda next. “How’s Lenny?”

  Wanda said, “He’s as good as he can be. He would love to have you visit with Wes again. I heard you sang for him the last time.”

  “I enjoyed the last time I visited. He really seemed happy when we played some of Southern Soul’s CDs.”

  “Oh, he loves music. Best medicine for him.”

  Angel walked around and hugged Liz. “It’s good to see you. Both of you.”

  Jacob stood. “She surprised me.” Liz and Jacob were still separated, but they were keeping in touch. Her uncle reached down and hugged her. “I’m proud of you, kid.”

  “Thanks.” That meant a lot coming from her uncle Jacob. “How are the business plans coming along? My dad said you were going to take off in no time.”

/>   Angelino and his family couldn’t make it to the screening, but Angel had been enjoying spending time with her dad and his family. She had quite a bit in common with her younger half sister. Surprisingly, Jacob, who was making his way back from his bout with depression, had struck up a friendship with Angelino.

  “Your dad is something else,” Jacob commented. “I think there will be another entrepreneur in the family. I owe it to you for being an inspiration.”

  “Ah, stop. I’m liking this new uncle.”

  “I’m your only uncle.”

  “You are right about that.” Angel hugged her mother’s brother again, her thoughts turning to the other man she had affectionately called uncle most of her life. As she pulled away from Jacob, she tried to hide a shudder that had moved up her body.

  “You okay?” Jacob asked.

  “Yes.” She smiled. Her mouth stretched wider as she saw Wes walk over. His eyes were all for her.

  “I have someone who wants to see you,” he told her.

  Angel looked at him. She had questions, but Wes’s eyes were sparkling. ”Okay.”

  She placed her hand in his as he led her down a hallway and into a conference room. Sitting in a chair facing the window was a woman. Angel walked around Wes to see her face more clearly.

  “Melanie.” Angel ran over to her as she stood. “How are you? You look so good.”

  “Thank you. Sorry I’m late. I had to come.”

  “I’m glad you were able to make it to the screening. I know coming back to Charlotte was hard.”

  “Yeah, well, it was good to be in Oklahoma. Being around my aunt, I felt connected to my mother.”

  “That’s beautiful.” Angel looked behind her to where Wes stood at a distance. She lowered her voice. “How are you sleeping now?” Angel looked into Melanie’s eyes and squeezed her hand. “I know. We will keep praying for each other. It will get better. I know neither one of us wants to be near the woods anytime soon.”

  They both giggled at Angel’s attempt at a joke. The two young women had shared an experience together that had forever changed them both but had bonded them as friends. Not only had Melanie been saved, but the authorities had recovered Angel’s mother’s bones. It was a bittersweet thing for Angel.