AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was a little flustered by his close study of me. "You can see all that?"
"I'm an artist. I always see the details. They make up the picture. So, if I had to guess what you're thinking now…"
As his voice drifted away, I studied his face with the same detail in which he'd studied mine. His eyes darkened with emotion, his brows drew together when he was puzzled, and his lips tightened whenever he had something distasteful to say—like now.
"You think your mother has a personal connection to me," Kade continued. "So, just say it."
"Why don't you say it?" I countered.
"You're wondering if I might have been adopted, if your mother is my mother."
I drew in a quick breath, his words spelling out exactly what I'd been wondering. "I didn't want to say that out loud."
"I'm not adopted," he said firmly. "My mother was in labor for eighteen hours with me. My father videotaped the delivery. I've unfortunately seen just about every moment of my birth in far greater detail than I ever wanted to see it."
Relief ran through me. I didn't know what I thought about Kade, but I definitely did not want him to be my brother. "Well, that's good."
"It is good," he said, meeting my gaze. "We're not related. I have no doubt about that. But there is some connection."
"You need to press your mother for more answers, Kade."
"I'll call her tomorrow. I don't think she knows more than she told me, but maybe she does." Kade paused as a man walked up to our table.
"Brynn Landry?" he said. "I'm Jeremy Warren."
I didn't know what I'd expected—probably more of a big bodyguard type guy. But Jeremy Warren was a thin, wiry man, in his forties, wearing jeans, a gray pullover sweatshirt, and a baseball cap.
"It's nice to meet you," I said as he sat down with us. "This is Kade Beckham. He's living in the downstairs unit at my mother's house."
"Good. Sounds like you might have some helpful information, Mr. Beckham."
"Don't get your hopes up," Kade said. "I don't know much."
"I put together what little information I have," I said, sliding a piece of paper in front of Jeremy. "I did a timeline of what I know of my mother's life before she allegedly died in a hurricane in New Orleans twenty years ago, and then a very short recap of what I know about her life now. Inspector Greenman with the SFPD has my mother's phone with her contacts in it. He probably has more information than I do."
"I'll check in with him tomorrow." Jeremy perused the sheet, nodding with approval. "This gives me a place to start."
"There's something else, if you turn the page over," I said. "My mother was apparently involved with a charity—Children's Support Network. She was sending cash to Kade's mother from the charity, but Kade didn't know anything about it until we found the envelopes in my mom's house today."
"My mother didn't even know the money was coming from Laura," Kade interjected. "The envelopes were sent from the charity, but we found several at Laura's house."
Jeremy's eyes gleamed with interest. "There's a tie between your two mothers? That's odd."
"Everything is odd," I said. "Kade and I can't figure out what the connection is. His mother, Louise Beckham, has always lived in New York, and to my knowledge, my mother has never been there, or if she has, it was only for a quick trip."
Jeremy looked back at the information I'd given him, then lifted his gaze to mine. "Your brother-in-law filled me in on the circumstances surrounding your mother's alleged death in New Orleans. But he couldn't provide the name of the friend she went to help."
"I don't know who that is, either. My father would know, but he hasn't been in touch with anyone. We're worried about him, too."
"Steve gave me the information on your dad; I'm going to try to find him as well."
"Good. There's one other thing. My mother was attacked at the hospital this morning. The police have put security on her room now, so hopefully no one else can get in. Also, earlier today, her house was ransacked while I was at the hospital. Someone was definitely searching the house for something."
"Got it." Jeremy said with a nod. "Before I go, getting back to the link between your mothers, Mr. Beckham… How did you end up living in the downstairs unit of Ms. Landry's mother and what is your relationship with Laura Hawthorne?"
Kade's lips tightened. He was probably getting tired of everyone assuming he had a sugar mama.
"We met two years ago," Kade replied. "Laura was an art patron. She helped me get a show here in the city and offered me a place to stay while I was getting ready for it. We've had several conversations in the past month. We had dinner together twice and coffee another time, but our discussions never got too personal. And, no, we're not romantically involved. We're not having sex. We're friends."
