Surrender to You by Shawntelle Madison

Author:Shawntelle Madison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2016-07-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Carlie

Thankfully, I had the next day off. I’d scheduled myself off ahead of time so I could venture out again with Carver to check out the lead on another Patricia Hall.

This time he picked me up at my apartment around ten in the morning. Any earlier and I would’ve been comatose.

The inside of his SUV smelled like coffee and candy.

“Hey, Jason,” he said. “I got you some coffee.”

The aroma was wonderful. “I didn’t know what you liked so I grabbed a bunch of creamers and sugars.”

“You got enough sugar here to bake a cake.” I chuckled and added a creamer and sugar to my hazelnut coffee.

“I needed some, too.”

I feigned glancing at my watch. “So how long do I have until you go into diabetic shock?”

“I’m doing pretty good today.”

My smile faltered. He hadn’t been around the last few days. “Has something come up or…?”

“I was in the hospital for a bit. Not too long.” He flashed me a beautiful smile and I had to grin in return.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Drinking that green stuff every day only goes so far.”

“True that.”

“I’ve been working long hours, and that shit catches up with you eventually. My doctor says I will be out of commission for a while since I need more testing.”

“And you’re out with me today? What are you thinking?”

“I’m not an invalid. I just need to take care of my body.”

“Hence long trips to Dante’s Second Floor for people-watching.”

“Exactly.”

I groaned. “Where are we going?”

“Cleveland Circle. My lookout told me she showed up a few days ago. She hadn’t been home since then. He said she looked—a bit ill.”

“Ill?”

“Yeah, like she’d been sick.”

“That’s not good.”

Just like last time, my heart was deep in my throat, even to the point when we pulled up to the brown brick two-story home. Was this the place where my mom lived? I tried not to get my hopes up. I was in a better place compared to last time.

Carver took the lead and walked up to the door. He knocked a few times, but no one showed up. Finally, after a few minutes, a woman opened the door. She looked nothing like me, though. Her hair was coffee-colored and her skin tone was a few shades darker.

She smiled at Carver. “Can I help you? Sorry it took me so long.”

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. We’re looking for Patricia Hall.”

“That’s me.” Concern lined her features.

“My client is looking for a relative and, well, we’re so sorry to disturb you today.” He took a step back.

“Wait a minute,” the woman said. She peeked at me as I stood on the sidewalk. My heartbeat grew painful. “You’re looking for Patty, right? About the height of that girl there, same face?”

I hurried to the door. “Yes, I am. That’s my mom.”

The woman laughed a bit and she leaned on the door. “I can’t stand up too long, but you can come in for a bit if you like.”

“We can wait here. We don’t want to intrude,” Carver said.

“Don’t worry. Ace trusts you.

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