Shattered (Anderson Special Ops #4) - Melody Anne Page 0,50

make it come to light.

“It’s okay, Katherine. I see Jeffrey up ahead. We’ll get you home where you’ll feel better,” Brooke said.

“Are you ready to head home?” Jeffrey asked as he looked at Katherine with concern.

“Don’t you look at me like I’m a feeble old woman,” Katherine told her driver. At least she knew who he was.

“I’d never commit such a sin,” Jeffrey said as he held open Katherine’s door. She climbed inside. She could hear Jeffrey and Brooke talking outside the car, but she didn’t understand what they were saying to each other. She had to get home to Joseph, then everything would be fine, she assured herself.

“I know Amira’s been working with Katherine regarding possible dementia. I think it’s for sure, and I think it’s getting worse,” Brooke said.

“What exactly happened in there?” Jeffrey asked.

“As she gets worse there will be more and more times when short-term memory for events, conversations, and remembering the names and faces of new people will fail her. What you saw in there is textbook, unfortunately,” Brooke said.

“Will she forget me, Ms. Brooke?” he asked, a sadness in his tone that broke Katherine’s heart.

“I can’t say for certain, Jeffrey. You’ve been with the family long enough for me to think she’ll remember you, but at the worst stage of this, they don’t remember anyone,” Brooke replied. “You know, when you get back to the house you can ask Ms. Amira that question. She’s actually a specialist in this field — so she’d know way better than I do.”

“Thank you,” was all Jeffrey said before the conversation ended.

Katherine leaned her head against the back of the car seat and closed her eyes. Was she going to forget everyone she loved? A tear slid down her cheek at the thought. It would break her heart, but beyond that, it would utterly devastate Joseph if she one day looked at him without recognition.

Why hadn’t they found a cure for this dreadful disease many years ago? Why did she have to fall prey to it now? She blinked again and the thoughts floated away with Joseph’s name on her mind as she tried to will herself to always remember the man she loved so much.

Chapter Ten

Laysha Rice had worked hard her entire life. She believed if a person wanted to rise to the top, they needed to take the reins and take charge of their life. There were very few things Laysha believed in more than a hard-work ethic. The only thing that surpassed that in her mind was her belief in being a great mother.

Laysha couldn’t be prouder of Tyrell, known to most people as Smoke, which always brought a smile to her face. Her little boy had been as fast as lightning even as a three-year-old. It had been difficult for her to rein in the little devil — but she’d done it. She’d raised her boy right, and she was over-the-moon proud of the man he’d become.

Laysha believed a mother’s job was never finished. A child didn’t simply turn eighteen and the mother was off the hook. No, a true parent stayed the course. Sure, the relationship changed once your child became an adult, but Laysha could still narrow her eyes and use her mom voice to make Tyrell stand at attention. That was a clear sign of respect in her book — the one she just might have to write someday.

Laysha missed her Boo when they went too long without seeing one another. That made visits much more special. She’d been in Seattle for two weeks and wasn’t ready to leave yet. She was living it up on vacation with her son. She also loved that even though he had a beautiful life of his own, he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to see her leave.

She knew her son had a job to do and there were times he was gone from sunup to sundown, so she did in Seattle what she did everywhere she set her feet down. She made the best of it by exploring the surrounding towns, the mom-and-pop shops, the hole-in-the-wall bookstores with treasures to be found, and the little eateries wherever the road took her.

She unabashedly said hello to every person she came in contact with and had more direct conversations with strangers than most people were used to. She’d taught Smoke at a young age to be bold and confident. Strangers too often looked to the ground instead of into faces. You never knew how