“Larry Wade. LW.”
Damn. My great-grandmother Lucy Wade. LW. But Larry Wade is also LW. So is Lucas Wade. But why would a man have a ring that’s clearly a woman’s?
“Check him out,” I say. “Do a search.”
Minutes pass. Minutes that seem like hours, as I watch Callie pull up screen after screen. “Finally,” she says. “It’s a death certificate for Laurence Wade. He died in New Mexico nearly twenty-five years ago. Parents were Jonathan Wade and Lisa Wade.”
Not Lucy Wade. But another LW. Damn. “Anything else?”
“He was married,” she says. “Divorced, actually. A woman named Greta. And they had two kids. I suppose one of them could be Lucas Wade.”
“Maybe a grandkid,” I say.
“Yeah, maybe. But Wade isn’t like Hornswaggle. It’s a pretty common name.”
“True enough.” I scratch at my chin again.
“You know,” Callie says, “I have the strangest feeling that this Laramie property means something. Rory was just looking for anything that could give us any information about Pat Lamone and Brittany. All she found was this Laramie address, which may or may not be related to Pat and Brittany even though they used to live there. But now…with Fleming Corporation and all…”
“You think you may have inadvertently stumbled upon something important with regard to my family.”
“I don’t know. But the Fleming Corporation did transfer the high school building to the Steel Trust all those years ago. I wonder…”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t see the Fleming Corporation on the list of other business properties or government properties in the city,” she says. “But I haven’t looked at the residential properties yet.”
“I could ask my dad,” I say, “but I don’t want to bother him with any more of this. Not until he’s fully recovered.”
“What we have here, Donny, is a lot of little pieces but no context holding them together yet.”
“You’re thinking like a lawyer, Cal.” I smile. “And you’re right.”
Should I tell her about the horrid smells and the bones on our property to the north? It’s not property we use. But clearly, someone has been using it.
Her lips are parted in that sexy way, her gaze glued to her computer screen as she continues to type.
She’s invested in this. Invested not only in her own issues but in mine.
As if they’re one and the same…and it’s looking increasingly like they could be.
I place my hand over hers, stopping her typing. “Callie, let’s let this lie for the time being.”
She turns to me, her eyes wide.
“I want to leave it alone for a minute. For the evening. I need to be at that party for my father. Not just my presence, but I need to be there wholly. I need to truly be there for him.”
She nods. “I understand.”
“Let’s go.”
She rises. She’s beautiful, as always, but this morning she’s wearing old jeans and cowboy boots. A T-shirt with a heart on it. Man, she looks good. Such a delectable ass. An ass that I’ve spanked, licked…and God…I want to…
Here we are… In an empty city building.
Owned by my cousin.
What a fucking mess.