Finding Cade (Dream Catcher Series Book 1)

by Bernice Layton

  He’d spotted Colter at the congressman’s fundraiser. He still hadn’t figured out Colter’s motive for crashing the event and how he had managed to sneak into the hotel right under his nose.

  Isaac wasn’t about to let some egotistical, overconfident, conceited son of a bitch make a fool out of him. Nobody made a fool of him, he’d seethed.

  “Arrogant bastard,” he said under his breath and hoped his incompetent goons had completed the job and killed Colter as they’d sworn they’d done after searching him.

  A moment later, Isaac looked up to see Neva Owen slithering into the office and silently closing the door behind her. She stood with her back to the door, smiling seductively at him as she clicked the lock in place.

  He looked at her, stone-faced, as she made her way slowly toward him. Undoubtedly, she was still a beautiful woman, but he missed the Neva he used to love and adore. That Neva was sexy and sweet, and yes, she was a bit ambitious. This Neva, Mrs. Roy Owen, was conniving, cunning, devious, and manipulative.

  Spoiled goods.

  She and Roy were the perfect, evil, soulless pair. Sadly, his instant, sexual response to her proved he wasn’t any different than them.

  When her hands came to rest on his shoulders, he became enveloped in her warmth and her scent. When her lips teased the top of his ear, all feelings of loathing flew out the window. “Where is he?” he asked quietly as her lips drew a path down the back of his neck. When she whispered that Roy was on a conference call, she’d already pulled his dress shirt up from his pants and began massaging his muscular chest. When she whispered they only had ten minutes and sauntered around his chair and lifted her long skirt to reveal she had nothing on beneath it, Isaac knew he’d only needed half of that time.

  He didn’t think about the ramifications if they got caught. He didn’t think about losing his job should a member of the household staff open the door. He didn’t think about anything except the perfection of her milk chocolate thighs straddling his lap and her hands fumbling with his belt and zipper until she freed him.

  With a trembling hand, Isaac picked up the remote from the desk to bring up the elaborate security cameras. As he kept one eye on the security monitors and the other on the voluptuous breasts Neva teasingly shoved into his mouth, he easily fell into the rhythm of her powerful thighs moving against him with lightning speed.

  The last two things he thought about as he held Neva tightly against him and hungrily feasted on her perfect breasts was that his revenge on her and Roy would be as memorable as this free fuck…and second, he needed to see if Cade Colter’s body really was at the bottom of the river where his goons had sworn to have dropped it.

  ***

  JD aka Cade

  It had been a few days since JD had to have emergency surgery to replace a stint and drainage tube in his chest. Initially, he was transported to the local trauma hospital for the surgery, then returned back to the sanitarium. He remained weak but stable.

  The doctors kept him on various pain and anti-inflammatory medications that sometimes gave him wild and vivid dreams as a side effect. JD sensed strongly there was a reason he was fighting so hard to get well. He wanted to remember his life, because deep inside of him, he had something important to do.

  He didn’t know what, but whatever it was…it was worth fighting for.

  ***

  Dante

  Dante Colter ran a successful and thriving IT business, and with his siblings working for him, he ran a tight ship when it came to the company’s affairs, but otherwise, he was lenient where his family and employees were concerned.

  It was his greatest wish that Cade would come on board as a partner. Unfortunately, each time he’d approached Cade with the idea, his younger brother put him off, saying he didn’t want that position. He wanted to buy into the company. Dante admired Cade for that.

  Theo and Jolene, on the other hand, were happy to be employees, each citing they had plans for their lives that did not include working for “big brother” for the rest of their lives.

  Over the years, he’d learned to put up with Jolene and Theo’s squabbling, complaints, bickering, and attitudes. On occasion, he had acted as a referee when their competitiveness got out of hand. To him, it was no different than when they were kids. As tiresome as they could be sometimes, he wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. With Cade not being there to aggravate and provoke them even further, Dante allowed them a little more freedom—as long as they got their work done. He was trying to be positive and strong for them and did his best to not let them lose faith and hope as the weeks stretched into months since Cade went missing. It was a delicate balancing act sometimes trying to be both big brother and boss, despite his best efforts to enforce some discipline in the workplace.

  That’s what Dante thought as he sat at his desk absently fingering through a stack of mail. Lifting one envelope, he could see through the clear window that it contained a check payable to the company and Cade. He thought it was odd that there was no return address. Without opening the envelope, he could see a notation on the memo line that the check was for an IT assignment and follow up. Confused, because he didn’t allow any off-the-books business, Dante wondered what the assignment was. He’d always known what assignments his technicians, programmers, and analysts were working on. With Cade holding a master’s degrees in all three classifications, Dante was always aware of what jobs his employees had scheduled.

  Spotting movement outside his door, he angled his head to see Jolene and Theo in a tug of war over a candy bar from the snack machine. He saw no need to stop them.

  At three years apart in age and of all the siblings, they favored each other the most in looks, attitude, and mannerisms. Just like Cade, Dante thought with an ache in his gut.

  Seeing Jolene snatch the candy bar, Dante then watched as she made a beeline straight to his office. The determined expression on her face made him cringe.

  Aw, damn.

  “I’m not going to like this, am I?” he asked as Theo followed, both making his office feel smaller.

  “Probably not,” Jolene answered. “I would like to have this Thursday and Friday off.”

  Dante’s eyes swung back to her as she daintily peeled the wrapper off the candy, taunting Theo. “No,” he said, reminding her she’d been off two days last week. Holding up a hand, Dante prevented the protests he knew were coming. “You know I need you here this week for the annual audit and to process several payments that arrived in the mail today, like this one. I especially want to know what this check applies to.” He tapped the envelope with his finger.

  “I just spent the morning posting checks, and I helped Shirley with the payroll because Lauren had to leave early. I won’t even tell you how long I had to wait in line at the bank yesterday, and now you want me to go back to the bank, Dante?”

  Ignoring her rant, Dante pushed the check across the desk. She only glanced at the envelope before lifting her narrowed eyes at him. “If you take care of that check and these other checks and invoices, you can take Thursday off, but not Friday. I need you here for Adam’s orientation.”

  “Adam? Who the heck is that?” Annoyance filled Jolene’s voice.

  Dante informed her that he’d hired an IT technician to help during Cade’s absence.

  “When Cade gets back here, he’s going to be pissed at you for giving his job away.”

  “I’m not giving Cade’s job away. It’s simply that we need extra tech support around here.” Dante tried to keep his voice level, but she was testing his patience with her attitude. Yes, he too wanted to believe with all his heart that Cade was coming back, but now, he was beginning to believe the worst. His brother might never return. “It’s been months now and, honestly, the longer Cade is missing—”

  “Save your breath, Dante,” Jolene said and then snatched the envelope from her brother’s hand. She slid her finger under the flap, then her eyes bulged.

  “What’s the problem? Did the sender forget to f
ill in the amount or sign the check?” When she shook her head no and handed him the check, Dante’s eyes zeroed in on the check amount of $100,000.00. “Three computers” was written on the memo line. Theo leaned over the check and gave a slow whistle. “Theo wasn’t Cade’s last new job at that office supply company downtown?” When Theo confirmed the upgrade of two computers, Dante turned his attention back to Jolene. “That service was already invoiced, wasn’t it, Jolene?”

  “Um hum, it was a standard upgrade, but Cade added extra memory and maybe a freebie program or two. I don’t remember exactly, but he may have provided a small external hard drive. No big deal. Cade’s always throwing in extras since we have a ton of that stuff in the warehouse. Anyway, the invoice was $2,500.00, and we’ve already received that payment.”

  Dante didn’t miss Theo trying to shush his sister.

  “Jolene, we’re not here to give stuff away. That tells me that your inventory spreadsheets are wrong. I want you to contact that office supply company since it’s possible they got their checks mixed up. Secondly, I’m going to need a new full inventory of all that stuff,” he stressed, “we have in the warehouse, and Theo, you go help on that inventory.” Then as an afterthought, he added, “Jolene, I guess that inventory is going to keep you tied up, so I’m rescinding you taking Thursday off.” When she began to protest, Dante stopped her.

  “Save your breath, Jolene,” Dante said, mocking her. He watched her snatch the stack of mail from his desk before turning and storming out of his office. He didn’t give Theo a chance to add his two cents. Instead, Dante simply pointed at the door. Theo silently walked out but quickly came back to snatch up Jolene’s partially eaten candy bar. “Just like when they were kids,” Dante mumbled.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Valerie

  Even though she was already running late, Valerie took a detour on her way to work. She’d already called Zoe to tell her she didn’t know when she would arrive because there was something she needed to do first.

  The detour she took was necessary because she hoped to find answers.

  After parking her car, she stepped out onto the graveled road where she had experienced her first vision of JD. Glancing around, she found the area eerily quiet and deserted as it was the first time she had found herself there. Picking her way carefully in her heels, she stepped over loose gravel, trash, dried leaves, fallen branches, and several discarded tires.

  As the windy morning whipped the fringed edges of her scarf across her face, she shivered, then parted the scarf around her neck and grasped Aunt Ruby’s crystal. She had purposely worn it when she decided to come back to the blocked-off access road where she sensed JD’s nightmare began.

  Inhaling deeply to clear and open her mind, Valerie closed her eyes and instantly slipped into a fully awake and conscious trance. After a few minutes had passed, her equilibrium began to settle, and she slowly opened her eyes. She didn’t know what she was expecting to find, but she knew she was there that morning for a reason.

  And as fast as that, she was transported to another time but at that very spot.

  The morning light suddenly faded to late evening darkness, and the sky filled with a white foaming mist that appeared to grow thicker. It caused the surrounding brush and trees to cast eerie pale shadows. The silence and emptiness of the road gave way to a pair of headlights and loud music growing louder as a vehicle approached. It stopped a few feet from where she was standing.

  It was a large truck. The driver, a stocky but muscular man, got out and wandered over to the bushes on the side of the road, unzipping his pants as he went.

  Valerie’s attention spotted movement at the back of the truck. She gasped and then slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound before realizing they couldn’t hear her anyway. She saw JD, resplendent in black evening attire and shiny black dress shoes, overtake the surprised passenger when he’d opened the back door of the truck.

  Next, she saw JD running and coming toward her.

  From a distance, she heard the urinating man yelling as he rounded to the back of the truck. He stopped long enough to hoist his partner up to his feet, and together they drew guns as they chased after JD.

  “Run!” she screamed at JD, but even as she called out, she knew it was useless, now knowing he’d been shot that fateful night. It was breaking her heart to see what happened to the man she had inexplicably grown fond of. To experience his fear and pain firsthand, she was struggling to hold herself together and not give into the overwhelming urge to cry.

  When he ran right past her, through the dense fog hanging thick and heavy on the road, he headed toward the end of the road where she could see a guardrail. She followed and watched as he stopped short and quickly looked left and then right as if weighing his options. The pounding footsteps of his pursuers drew closer. Chest heaving, he frantically searched for an escape—then suddenly stopped. He blinked several times and stared at her.

  No. It’s not possible. He can’t see me.

  A split second later, she jumped in surprise at the first popping sound and realized that the men were shooting at him. She whipped back around to see JD’s body jerk from the impact. He spun around, and another shot rang out, striking him again. He ran unsteadily toward the guardrail, and after a brief hesitation, he jumped, letting the darkness and fog swallow him up.

  The two men arrived at the guardrail, breathing heavily, and leaned over the guardrail, scanning for sounds or movement.

  Valerie listened to their conversation.

  “He’s done for,” one said. “We both hit him. He couldn’t have survived, right?”

  “Well, I ain’t going down there to make sure, are you?” the other man growled at his partner. “I think he’s done.”

  “So what’re you going to tell the boss?”

  Before the first man could answer, his cell phone rang, and he listened before responding. “Yeah, it’s done, but there was a hitch in the plan. He’s dead, boss. Yeah, we, um, weighed him down and dumped him. He’s fish food now. So, um, we’re gonna lay low like you suggested, then meet up with you at the warehouse tomorrow to settle up. Huh? Yeah, we searched him good. He was clean…didn’t find anything on him except three bucks.”

  Ending the call, the men exchanged grins and slapped each other on the back. “This was a good job, wasn’t it, dude?”

  The other man replied, “Hell yeah, man. We didn’t have to do nothing except grab that dude, pop him, and still get paid. We don’t even have a mess to clean up, ’cause I hate that part.”

  They were still congratulating each other as they hurried back to the truck, started it, and threw it into gear before speeding away. In the ensuing silence that accompanied their departure, Valerie slowly pushed herself up and walked over to the railing where the killers had stood just moments ago.

  She reached up and slowly lifted the chain and crystal from around her neck, then slipped them into her pocket, effectively breaking free of the trance.

  She blinked into view the sky, which was once again full of morning light, and she was back in real time. Looking at her watch, she was surprised to see that only a few minutes had passed.

  Tightening her scarf around her neck against the chill, she made her way back to her car. Still shaken from everything she had seen, she sat behind the wheel for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do next. If JD was truly in Bryland Sanitarium, she had it within her power to bring relief to a suffering family, but would they believe her? How could she explain her gift to them without sounding like a crazy person or someone seeking the reward by preying on their vulnerability?

  ***

  Valerie

  As soon as she arrived in her office, Valerie logged onto her computer and was glad Zoe had already left for a training seminar, which meant she didn’t have to explain why she’d closed and locked her office door.

  She called Sarah to express her sorrow over the loss of her home. Valerie suspected that something was amiss with the other wo
man. Sarah seemed reluctant to talk to her on the phone lines. They kept the call short, with each promising to stay in touch.

  For the rest of the morning, Valerie searched the Internet for anything she could find on Kincade Colter. What she found had been an eye-opener. He was someone who’d openly expressed his negative views of politicians and was quoted as saying that most of them were a “bunch of crooks.” Yet he was last seen leaving a political fundraiser.

  From the countless interviews conducted by the DC Police Dept., many believed Cade, as he was known, had met his untimely death, with some speculating that his disappearance probably involved a woman. But Valerie knew better, and that was the push she needed to get involved.

  Cade worked with his older brother, Dante, as a computer tech and programmer. He was successful and single. He played the dating scene and was known to have left a few broken hearts around the DC/Virginia area. He’d joined a couple of watchdog groups responsible for overseeing government spending and wastefulness, and he was an activist. He was a member of several African American alumni groups that sponsored programs for inner city youth projects involving education, sports, mentoring, and work-study training programs. Valerie wondered if it was his outspoken political views that put him on someone’s kill list.

  But now armed with the name of a sanitarium and the Internet, she was able to locate it in Maine. She couldn’t imagine how he’d ended up there, several hundred miles away, after being shot. Her fingers halted over her keyboard when a chill ran up her arms.

  She’d missed something and closed her eyes as if to latch onto what it could be. She recalled hearing a horn that night on the road. “It was a foghorn,” she whispered as the recollection became clearer and stronger. Easing back in her chair, she remembered that trash barges took a route along the bottom of the Potomac River to head up to the east coast. Throughout her searches, she kept hearing JD’s hopeful question.