Page 65 of Family Affair

Chapter 15

The alarm went off for the second time, and for the second time Cade reached for his phone to hit the snooze button. He didn’t want to get up and face his life without Coco.

She had never really been a part of his life, but for a short time he’d let himself dream…

He should’ve gone straight to the farm last night, and driven for hours through the night, leaving the pain of separation behind.

Oh hell, who was he kidding? The distance would do nothing to stop his heart from cramping every time he thought about Coco. And he thought about her all the time.

Groping for the alarm, Cade realized the sound was a ringtone. Even more surprising, the number on his screen belonged to Ross.

“H’llo?”

“Morning, sunshine. Sorry if I woke you up.” Ross didn’t sound sorry.

“What’s up?”

“Are you still in Atlanta?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve got a problem.”

Cade rubbed his face, trying to wake up for good. “How’s that unusual?”

“Turn the TV on. Any local news channel.”

“Our problem made the news?” Considerably more awake, he glanced around the room looking for the remote.

“Did it ever. You’ve got it on?”

“Hang on.” He flipped through the channels looking for a piece of news to grab his attention, anything to…

He recognized the church right away.

Ms. Perfect Hair, a local TV anchor with a somber expression on her super made-up face, was standing on the steps between the white columns, broadcasting live.

“… for over thirty years. Hundreds of parishioners remember Ward Williamson since they were children. He was greatly admired for his thoughtful and inspirational sermons. A big part of the local community, this generous and kind man will be missed by many, many Atlanta citizens.”

A shot of smiling Williamson filled the screen, followed by a series of pictures of him as a model preacher, holding a hand of the elderly, visiting bedridden patients at a hospital, posing with a group of youths on the very steps where the anchor now stood.

“No arrest has been made at this point. The investigation is underway.”

“You got it? Hey, you hear me? You got the news on?” Cade forgot he still had Ross on the phone.

For several long seconds, he couldn’t speak. The disbelief of hearing the shocking news quickly morphed into the dull pain that started in the vicinity of his heart and grew, rising, spreading outwards in a relentless chain reaction, and freezing his vocal cords with the onslaught of grief.

“Christ,” he finally growled in the phone, “how was he killed?”

“He was shot in the head, point blank, at his own house. With his own rifle.”

Cade’s entire body recoiled over this information. Dammit. Who the fuck killed him? Why?

And why was Ross callinghim?

He closed his eyes, evening out his breathing, shutting down his emotions – a handy skill he hadn’t had to rely on for years. Good to know he still possessed it.

“What else?”