Cadence crawled out of her yellow Bug and looked at a large red brick building sitting in the middle of Baltimore's historic, Federal Hill, on South Hanover Street. It was the place the note from Nick had told her to go, and it was called, "American Rescue Workers", one of several homeless shelters in Baltimore. It had the look and feel of a Church, or as it is touted, "a Church with a Mission".

Cadence had butterflies in her stomach as she approached the monolith that housed a portion of the indigent of Baltimore. She knew that there were many souls who passed through those doors with very little hope. Some were chemically dependent, some never had a good start in life, and others were just down on their luck. One thing that they all had in common, though, was that they needed help. She took a deep breath, put a smile on her face, and then opened the front door.

"May I help you?" A woman, with the name tag, Alice, asked.

"Yes, or at least I hope so," Cadence answered clearing her throat nervously. "I am looking for an acquaintance of mine, Nick Collins. He is supposed to be here visiting a man we know of as, C-Daddy."

"C-Daddy," Alice repeated. "He's sure gotten a lot of visitors today."

"That's interesting," Cadence remarked, raising a curious eyebrow, "Although I am only interested in whether Nick was one of those visitors. Is he or C-Daddy here?"

"Actually, not at the moment," Alice answered. "What business do you have with C-Daddy, anyway?"

"I literally stumbled on him Wednesday night in Ellicott City. He was there delivering a package to the man, Nick Collins, I spoke of, but was robbed and beaten before he could get it to him.

"I found him right after he was mugged, and tried to get him to let me help, but he refused to go to the hospital, so I gave him money for bus fare. Nick asked me to meet him here so we could come by and check on him and see if he knew who took the package."

"Well, he and C-Daddy were both here at one point," Alice explained, "but not at the same time. When Mr. Collins arrived, C-Daddy had already left. Like I told Mr. Collins when he called, C-Daddy came home Wednesday night looking like he'd been in a terrible fight.

"C-Daddy swore up and down he hadn't fought anybody; said he slipped on ice. I told him ice doesn't give anyone a black eye, but decided to let it drop so long as the police didn't show up. I patched him up, but we used all the bandages, and C-Daddy felt bad about it."

"Yes, from what little I know about C-Daddy, I'm not surprised at his reaction, but what about Mr. Collins? How long ago was he here?"

"About an hour, give or take, but he left as soon as I told him about the first visitor looking for C-Daddy," Alice replied. "Mr. Collins said something about how that was the last news he needed to hear, and took off in a huge hurry. He did say a woman might show up to see him, and I'm guessing that's you."

"It is," Cadence nodded. "Did he ask me to wait?"

"Not exactly, but he wanted you to talk to C-Daddy if you get a chance -- said he would get back to you when he could."

"That definitely sounds like Nick," Cadence sighed. "So, who was the other guy that was looking for C-Daddy?"

"I've never seen him before," the woman replied. "He was a tall skinny fellow that came charging in here demanding I let him talk to C-Daddy right then and there, but I sent him packing. Told him we aren't looking for trouble around here, and that he needed to head right on back out the door he came in."

"What was his response?" Cadence asked.

"Well, he started talking real sweet-like, then, but he wasn't fooling me. I just gathered myself up and pointed straight at the door. 'You get on out of here,' I repeated, plain as you're standing there.

"Well, he puffed himself up and told me I'd better tell him where C-Daddy is or there'd be big trouble. I told that scoundrel he hasn't seen trouble until he comes messing with me. 'Besides,' I said, 'he isn't here, so save your nasty breath,' and, let me tell you, that creature's breath smelled like something had crawled up in his mouth and died."

"Did he leave, then?" Cadence asked half out of politeness, and half out of concern. She wasn't planning to confront anyone, foul smelling or otherwise.

"First," the woman replied, "he spat on the floor and called me a name my Mama would have washed my mouth out for, and then warned me he will be back, and not to tell any one he'd been here."

"Did he say what his name was?" Cadence asked, deciding not to mention the fact that the woman had violated the warning twice already.

"Nope, he didn't tell me," the woman replied, "and I didn't ask."

"Well, I'm sorry you had to go through that," Cadence said honestly.

She was beginning to get the feeling that this whole venture was building up to be more trouble than it was worth, and half a million dollars was worth a lot of trouble.

"That's okay," the woman said. "We get all kind of folks in here. I just wish there was something I could do to help you."

"Maybe you can," Cadence said. "Do you have any idea where C-Daddy is now so I can speak with him?"

"He's gone to the drugstore to get some more bandages," she explained. "He woke up this morning still worried about using them all Wednesday night, so, I gave him the money to pay for them, and off he took. He hates to owe people, you see"

"Yeah, I got that when I paid for his bus fare," Cadence said.

"I know your friend, Nick Collins, asked you to speak with him, and you are welcome to wait, but if you take off down Hanover Street, you should run into him eventually."

"I've already run into him once," Cadence chuckled. "I'm not sure I should try it again."

"I hear you," the woman agreed, "but there's no telling how long before he'll get back."

"Why?" Cadence asked. "Is it that far to the store?"

"Oh, no, the store is right down the street, but C-Daddy doesn't always take the shortest way back from anywhere. That's probably what got him mugged the other night. He's seldom where he is supposed to be."

"Okay, thanks, I guess I will drive around and see if I can find him. I appreciate your help."

"You are quite welcome, young lady, and please come back any time. We can always use visitors in this place, especially around Christmas. Folks get mighty lonely during the holidays."

"I might just do that," Cadence said. "Oh, and by the way, can you tell me what Nick Collins looks like? We've never actually met. We seem to keep missing each other."

"He's tall," the woman said, scrunching her face as though thinking deeply, "and sort of broad shouldered, but he had on a large coat, and a hat tilted over his face, so I just caught a hint of sexy brown eyes, and a deep mellow voice."

"Not like the other guy who stopped by?"

"No, not at all. Look, I know you are trying to help C-Daddy, and this Nick fellow, but I hope you know what you are getting yourself into."

"I actually have no idea what's going on," Cadence replied, "but I have a feeling I'll find out soon."