At sixty-nine, Aunt Nadine was young to struggle with dementia—at least what little he knew about it—though the risks increased with age. He’d read some information about the disease on the Internet, but he had better make the time to get thoroughly educated before she—or someone else—ended up hurt.

At least she was still well enough to be independent, but Jack had made his decision to stay close and live with her. Maybe his career move to county detective was the wrong one for this situation, and he should look for other employment.

“Hello?” A woman answered the call.

“Hello, Mrs. Carmichael?”

“This is she.”

“This is Jack, Nadine’s nephew. I’m wondering if she’s there with you.”

“Goodness, no.” She coughed, then continued, “If you don’t know where she is, that can’t be good. Did you look to see if her car is in the garage?”

“It’s in the drive, actually. I’ve already looked everywhere here at the house. I’m calling her friends before I call the sheriff.”

A ruckus at the front door drew his attention, then Freckles dashed inside dragging his leash. The door shut and Aunt Nadine entered the kitchen from the hallway, wearing a purple hoodie and looking exhausted. Relief washed through him but was replaced with another concern as she paused to stare at him. Did she even recognize him?

“Mrs. Carmichael, she’s here. No need to be worried. She just walked in.” He ended the call and prepared himself for what came next.

“Jack, what on earth are you doing? Are you trying to make my friends think I’m crazy?”

“What? Of course not. I got home and couldn’t find you.” He hated seeing the disappointment in her eyes. “I’m sorry, okay? Let me get you a drink.”

“I can take care of myself.” She brushed past him to grab Freckles, then crouched to release the dog from his leash. She opened the sliding glass door to let Freckles into the backyard. “Go see Tux and Dusty.”

Freckles dashed through the door, and the other two dogs barked and welcomed him like he’d been gone for a year. Aunt Nadine flipped on the lights in the backyard.

“Freckles wanted to take a walk, so I took him with me. We were out putting up posters, that’s all. You were supposed to help.”

Guilt surged. “I’m sorry. I got caught up with work. But it’s after ten at night. You can’t blame me for being worried about you. You shouldn’t be out putting up posters late at night.” Something could happen. But he’d scolded her enough.

Aunt Nadine glanced at the clock on the wall over the sink, a confused look in her eyes. “We left right after dinner. It was still light out.”

That was hours ago, but saying so now wouldn’t help her.