One Wild Night

"Where are we going to?" Candace asked as Jade drove the car out of the hotel's parking lot.

Immediately after Jade returned from her appointment at the law firm, she had asked Candace to dress up so they could go out, and every attempt by Candace to find out where they were going had proved futile.

"Don't worry, you'll find out when we get there," Jade said with a secret smile.

"You are not taking me to Jero, are you?" Candace asked suspiciously, and Jade sighed as she shook her head.

"Relax. We are not meeting with Jero until he has fulfilled his end of the agreement. I noticed you've been rubbing your back and shoulder as though they're stiff, so I thought you needed to relax. I booked you an appointment at a friend's spa," Jade assured her, and Candace relaxed a bit.

"Do we have the time to do this? Aren't you supposed to be there when Jero leads the police to the Cartel lords?" Candace asked after a little pause.

"I changed my mind about going. I thought it might be too risky, so I alerted different state security agencies of the plan. That way, there won't be any foul play. Don't worry, Jero and the legions will be apprehended as planned tonight," Jade assured her with a confident smile, and Candace gave her a nod.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Jade said dismissively as she fixed her eyes on the road.

"About last night... I'm sorry if I was too hard on you," Jade said, and Candace looked at her.

"You weren't. I was wrong to have done what I did without speaking with you. I would have done the same if I was in your shoes," Candace assured her.

She had thought long and hard about her conversation with Jade concerning asking Tom and Lucy to become Jamal's guardians, and she agreed with Jade for calling her out on her bullshit.

"Thanks for your understanding," Jade said, and they both lapsed into silence.

Neither of them said a word to each other for some time since they were both occupied with thoughts of their own. After a while, Jade turned to Candace, "You know, I just realized that I don't know much about you despite the fact that we've been through a lot together in the course of this case," Jade said and Candace turned weary eyes to her.

"There's nothing much to know about me. You pretty much know everything there is to know," Candace said, and Jade shrugged.

"I can count a number of things I don't know about you. For example, I don't know how you met Andy," Jade said, wanting to engage Candace in a conversation since she wasn't comfortable with Candace's silence.

At the mention of Andy's name, Candace's lips curved in a smile, "Andy is my family. We grew up together at the orphanage home. She has always been there for as long as I can remember."

Jade smiled when she heard the warmth in Candace's voice. Jade had come to realize that the only time there ever seemed to be warmth when Candace spoke was when she was either talking about her son or Andy.

"I'm sorry to ask, but I was just wondering. How long did you live at the orphanage? I mean, when did you start living there? Did you ever get to find out how you wound up at the orphanage?" Jade asked thoughtfully.

"You are wondering if my parents abandoned me or if I lost them at an early age," Candace said, and Jade flashed her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry if my question made you uncomfortable," Jade said, and Candace smiled at her.

"Do you know that apart from trying to get away from Jero and the cartel, I started studying law because I admire you?" Candace asked, and Jade blinked at her in surprise.

"Me?"

Candace's smile widened as she gave her a nod, "Yeah. The first time we met, you were always so confident, honest, and straightforward. Although, you are different now," Candace said, and Jade raised a brow.

"How so?"

"You were always so stiff, and you never let things get personal or asked questions unrelated to the case. You did help us a lot, but you kept your emotional distance," Candace said, and Jade smiled.

"Is this your polite way of saying I'm nosy and you no longer admire me?" Jade asked with a grin, and Candace laughed softly.

"Not at all. I still like you. You seem more relaxed now."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Jade asked curiously.

"It's good. You seem happier and even more confident now," Candace said, and Jade smiled when she remembered her mother had said something similar to her.

"Anyway, to answer your question. It is both. I lost my parents, and my family abandoned me," Candace said, making Jade blink in confusion.

"I'm lost."

"The sisters at the orphanage home where I was raised said I was brought to them by a man when I was three years old. According to them, I was a very sickly child. No one wanted a sickly child, and by the time I stopped being so ill, I was already a teenager, and no one wanted to adopt such a grown-up," Candace said in a flat voice as though that didn't bother her in any way.

"That's sad. Who took you to the orphanage? Your father?" Jade asked with a confused frown.

Candace's lips curved in a rueful smile, "Not exactly. According to the sisters, the man who dumped me was my father's brother. He claimed that I had been adopted, and since his brother and sister-in-law were dead, and I was such a sickly kid, he couldn't raise me, so he left me at the orphanage and paid a huge sum of money," Candace said, and Jade felt her heart break.

"Don't you want to find out who he is and know more about your family?"

"There is no need for that. At first, I wanted to find my family. Hence I asked those questions, but when I was told he paid them to take me from him, I saw no reason for me to find him. Andy and I left the orphanage home when we became adults. I'm okay with having just Andy and Jamal in my life," Candace said, but Jade wasn't satisfied.

"I'm sorry about that," Jade said apologetically, and Candace sighed.

"It's fine. Right now, all I want is to get Jero out of the way so that Jamal can grow up in a decent home," she said, and Jade glanced at her

"About wanting to get Jero out..."

"Let's not discuss about that. What you don't know about wouldn't hurt you," Candace cut in, and Jade sighed in resignation. It seemed like Candace was set on her plans. She was going to have to try a different approach.

After Jade drove into the parking lot of the mall and got out of the car, she led Candace into the building and up to Aurora's spa.

Apart from bringing Candace there to help her relax, Jade had also come because she wanted to see Aurora and find a way to discourage her from meeting with Harry again.

"Darling!" Aurora, who had been expecting Jade for the past twenty minutes, greeted happily once she sighted them. Jade smiled as Aurora embraced her.

"Guess what?" Aurora asked excitedly as she took Jade's hand and led her to her office, which would afford them more privacy, while Candace followed them.

"What?" Jade asked curiously as she followed Aurora, wondering why the lady seemed unusually excited.

"I just got off the phone with Harry a while ago, and you won't believe what he said!" Aurora said, making Jade's smile falter as her heart skipped several beats.

"What did he say?" She asked as they walked into the office and sat down.

"He asked me to accompany him to I-Global's anniversary event as his date! Can you believe that?" Aurora asked in a high-pitched voice as she laughed happily, while Jade felt her throat constrict as she tried to speak.

"Harry said that?" Jade asked, trying to force a smile while Candace watched her reaction with interest while wondering who Harry was.

"Yes. Jade, you have no idea how happy I was when he said that. I felt like dancing in the air. By the way, I'm going to visit him next week, and I will be... Oh, lest I forget! He said I should ask you to give me his shirt. He said he left it behind in the closet in his suite. He wants me to bring it along with me while coming," Aurora said, and Jade's heart broke even more.

"He said all that?" She asked in a slightly shaky voice, and Aurora bobbed her head.

"He might be starting to like me, right? What do you think?" Aurora asked, and Jade shrugged.

"I... I don't know," Jade said with a shake of her head, confused about everything. What was Harry up to? Wasn't he interested in her? Or had she and everyone else been mistaken?

"You said he doesn't really have ladies in his life, right? This has to mean something. Listen, Jade, if things work out between Harry and me, you're going to be my maid of honor, I promise you," Aurora said with a wide smile as she embraced Jade, and Candace almost rolled her eyes.

Although she had nothing personal against Aurora, she couldn't help wondering if Aurora was blind or just plain stupid. It was obvious from Jade's reaction that she wasn't happy about the progress between her and Harry, so why was she saying all of that? Candace wondered as she continued to watch both ladies.

"So, can you tell me more about Harry? I mean his personal tastes: favorite color and all that. I want to know as much as I can before going to see him. I'm going to sweep him off his..." The rest of Aurora's words trailed off when Candace cleared her throat.

Aurora looked at her in confusion for a moment as though she was wondering who Candace was, and then she remembered, "Oh! I'm sorry," Aurora said with an apologetic smile while Jade turned to Candace, who she had forgotten about for a moment.

"Aura, meet my friend, Candace. Candace, meet Aurora. She's the one I told you about. She needs to relax," Jade said with a cheerful smile as she looked at Candace, but looking into her eyes, Candace could tell she wasn't okay.

"Your room is ready. You can come with me, and I will have one of the girls take you there. Jade, wait right here, and I'll get you something to drink while we discuss, and you wait for her," Aurora said with a wide smile as she walked away, leaving Candace to follow her.

Candace looked at Jade for a moment as though she wanted to say something to her but decided against it. This wasn't the time or place to say anything. Jade had been very good to her, and if the only way she could reciprocate Jade's kindness was by helping her snatch Aurora's boyfriend, whoever this Harry guy was, then she was going to help her.

"I will be waiting for you," Jade told Candace with a wide smile as she watched her walk away, and the moment she closed the door behind her, Jade let out a sigh.

She didn't know what to think about this information from Aurora. She didn't even know whether to laugh or cry at the sudden turn of events. What was Harry thinking? She had told him just the previous day that she didn't want him going out on a date with anyone because she was jealous. She understood why he was meeting with Aurora. That was her fault. She had hooked them up, and he had promised to go on a date with her before now, and as the gentleman he was, he couldn't go back on his word. That was understandable.

But how could he invite her to the anniversary party as his partner? Why would he do something like that? And what was that madness about asking her to give that shirt to Aurora? The same shirt she had told him she was wearing without undies? Jade thought with a hiss of annoyance.

In fact, she wasn't going to worry about Harry right now. She had something more pressing to take care of. She reminded herself as she took out her phone and dialed Matt's line. If she couldn't stop Candace from doing something stupid, she believed that Matt could.