Only one thing in this whole mess was clear. He grabbed his cell phone. “Hey, Siri. Call Cora at home.” When his home phone began to ring, he hit the speaker icon with one gloved knuckle. “Hey, honey.”

“Grant!” Cora exclaimed. “MaryBeth’s niece just got here. Is this for real? Can I keep her?”

Grant frowned, trying to figure out what she was talking about, then remembered his assistant’s au pair niece and almost smiled. Cora sounded like a kid asking for a puppy. “You certainly can. She comes highly recommended.”

“I know! I’m so . . .” Her voice broke a little. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome.” He cleared his throat, dreading this. “Look, honey, I’m at Wes’s apartment and he’s not here. But I think he might need me.”

Cora’s end of the phone went silent. “Where is he?”

“Cincinnati.” It was all he could tell her. All he could force himself to say. Telling her about the drugs, the cash, the ritzy apartment would only worry her fruitlessly.

“He’s gone to look for her again,” she murmured.

Because Wes hadn’t given up looking for their sister, convinced that she hadn’t run away. Grant just didn’t know what to think. “Maybe. I need to find him.”

She blew out a breath. “What’s he done now, Grant?”

Grant stared at the table. At the money. The heroin. The receipts. “I don’t know. But he needs help. Can you get along without me for a few days?”

“I guess I’ll have to,” she answered, a little bitterly. “You’ll take off at tax time to help your brother, but not to come home and see your own wife and kids.”

Grant chafed at that. “That’s not fair, Cora.”

“No, it’s not.” She drew a deep breath and let it out. “Go find your brother. Then—” She broke off in a huff.

“Then?” Grant prompted warily.

“Then tell him that you’re done. Your children need you at home. I want you here. With me.”

Grant rubbed his head, his loyalties torn. “All right,” he murmured. “I will.”

She sighed wearily. “Do you need me to pack you a bag?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

“All right. Come home. I’ll have it waiting along with some food for you to take on the drive.”

He felt a little piece of his heart settle. If Cora was making him travel food, it meant she wasn’t too angry with him. He could only pray that he found Wes quickly.

Villa Hills, Kentucky
Saturday, March 16, 3:00 p.m.

“Hi, Mr. Kaiser.” The receptionist at his father’s nursing home shot Cade a flirtatious smile. “I was hoping I’d see you today. You’re later than usual.”

Because I was stuck babysitting my boss, who took way too long to die.

“I got hung up at home,” he lied smoothly. “How are you, Millicent?”