Page 63 of React
“I was five and Deck was one when I pretty much became his only parent. I don’t know of many five year olds who can change diapers and do laundry, but I did it. He was my baby, and way more fun than any doll I never had.” She stared over my shoulder, a distant look on her face as she smiled slightly at a memory. “I remember I used to pack the laundry in a shopping cart, Decker in the baby seat and pull that cart around the block to the laundromat by a tattered robe belt. I was too small to steer it from the handles but I was never one to let my size stop me.
“I used the change I was able to sneak from Cara when she was passed out, and I made sure that even if we had nothing, we didn’t look dirty. I hated the idea of someone thinking we were just grubby street kids even if we were.” She shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. “Pride runs wild in our family.”
She let out a sigh and seemed to perk up. “Anyway! There was this nice old lady who lived in the apartment across the hall from ours, and she used to make sure we were fed and even brought clothes for us from donations at her church when we outgrew ours. I can’t remember her name, but Decker and I just called her Ma. She pretended to be our grandmother to enroll us in school when the time came, and basically, she just loved us. Ma was an angel when we needed her most.” There were tears in her eyes as she remembered the one kind adult that had been there for her and her brother, and I felt my own eyes sting with impending tears.
“She passed away when I was 12 and Decker was 7. Then the real struggle started for us. We didn’t have that angel anymore and on the rare occasions Cara made it home, she ranted about her wasted life with two kids and had no problem showing us how much she sucked as a parent with her fists.
“We did our best to keep it going, stealing what we could from the grocery store and dumpster diving when we couldn’t do that. Cara had been gone for weeks before some lady came to the door with two cops and told us we were going to live with new people. By that time I was 14 and smart enough to know this lady was from CPS. Turns out Cara had overdosed and died in some rundown building four blocks away. She’d died the last night we actually saw her, and it took them two and a half weeks to figure out there were two kids abandoned and alone.”
I didn’t know how to respond to anything she’d told me. I was in a stunned silence, wondering how two kids, so beaten down and neglected, had become a lawyer and a successful businessman. I didn’t want to speak and ruin the momentum Avery was on.
“We spent 2 years in foster care bouncing from place to place and never together. Decker had beenmybaby, my life’s purpose, and he’d been ripped from me.” She sounded angry as she spoke about this particularly hard time in her life. “I did my fair share of rebelling. I guess, in a way, I hoped if I got kicked out of enough foster homes, I’d land in the one where he was, you know?” She looked up at me and all I could do was nod vigorously.
“Did it work?” I asked, finding my voice finally.
“Absolutely not,” she said with a laugh. “I ended up with Irene and Craig Mullins. They were the first people in all those foster homes to really care. I still tried to get myself booted because Decker wasn’t there and I was hellbent on finding him, but they held on tight to me, this punk 16 year old who set their couch on fire.”
“Seriously?” I interrupted.
“Seriously,” she confirmed with an embarrassed smile. “They didn’t fall for the typical cussing, stealing, running away and general other bullshit that the other places had no time for. They sat me down on the replacement couch and asked what I was fighting so hard for. Craig was a retired Marine and said I looked like too many men he’d seen come home: haunted and restless and waiting for something that wouldn’t come. I completely broke down, thinking he was saying I’d never see Decker again and I told them everything. Everything we’d gone through, all the years we’d only had each other. They sat there, nothing but love in their eyes and listened to it all.
“I cried myself to sleep that night, but when I woke up the next morning I came downstairs to my scrawny, silent brother brooding at the kitchen table and Craig and Irene on the porch talking to his social worker. When he saw me, his face changed and I swear we held onto each other for hours, scared it would all be a dream.”
Tears were flowing freely as I listened to this woman open up completely about the worst times in her life, like she wasn’t a total stranger to me. I wished I had even an ounce of the courage she did to open up about the feelings behind my rebellious actions at the same ages.
“Anyway, when they asked us if they could adopt us, I told them our dad was still around and they’d have to get him to sign away rights. Turns out he died in a prison fight a few years before and no one thought to mention it to his fucking kids. To wrap up this stroll down memory lane, Craig and Irene adopted us when I was 16 and Deck was 12. We finally had loving parents and each other, but Decker was always quiet and reserved, watching everything with a critical eye like he was waiting for it to be taken from him. Can’t really tell you about how it made him feel since he just grunts when I ask… but I came out better for it!” She gave me a wet smile before turning and diving into the tray of tacos.
“How can you just spill all that to me, a total stranger, and then eat tacos?” I hadn’t exactly meant to ask her that, but the surprise from her switch had me reeling.
“It’s a story I’ve told a lot. I was the queen of group sessions back in my day. Talking about it over and over in a room of people made it almost easier to process in the long run. I tried to get Decker to come, but he’s never been a sharer which is why I wanted you to know a little about him before he became the successful stoic man. And, maybe,” she cast a sideways look toward me, “I wanted you to know that I understand the need to act out to get the results you want.”
“Wow,” I said with a surprised laugh, “Shots fired!”
Avery laughed as well, setting down the taco and wiping her hands on a napkin. “Decker said you weren’t like you were portrayed in the media, but it was your story to tell. I figured if you weren’t the party girl, but still had all these pictures and stories about you… it must be an act. But why would a gorgeous, smart, rich woman want people to see that one persona?”
“You tell me since I’m obviously so easy to read.” I wasn’t mad at her assessment, I couldn’t be after she’d called me out so accurately.
“A tale as old as time, Lake Harrington. You,” she said, pointing a finger at me, “are looking for attention in all the wrong ways.”
Her tone was light, but the words hit one by one like a bullet to the chest. And I’d never felt so young and immature in all my 26 years. She was absolutely right about me, and she had me figured out after a day of knowing who I was. I felt pathetic for holding onto the need for my father’s attention all these years. My life had been perfect compared to the hell Avery and Decker had waded through to come out alive. After a long and emotionally gripping tale about two babies forced to grow up on their own, I couldn’t even look up to meet her eyes. I was ashamed of myself and how petty I’d been because my own father paid me no attention. But I’d had anything I could have ever wanted and that should have been good enough.
“Hey,” Avery said, breaking through my self recrimination. She placed a hand over mine and squeezed, causing me to finally look up and meet her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Lake. I’m sorry. I was trying, and failing, to tell you I get it. Maybe we should get some sleep. I’ll take my old bed since you’ve got one of your own now.” She shot me a wink before sliding around the counter to grab a plate. She loaded the dish with tacos and started down the hall. “By the way,” she said, pausing to turn back to me. “These tacos are amazing and I know Decker didn’t make them. Ask him to tell you about the time he turned hard boiled eggs into projectiles.” Laughing to herself, she slipped into the guest room and shut the door quietly behind her. I was left alone in the kitchen, mind racing with the informational bomb Avery had dropped, and I had no idea how Decker would take knowing that I knew so much about his past.
Deciding not to worry about it tonight, I stood up and started cleaning up the now empty containers. Avery Mullins was a damn hurricane the way she left everything on the counter, recited her life story, and slipped off to bed like nothing had happened. No wonder her brother had a firm grasp on my crazy. He’d grown up with the same damn brand.
CHAPTER 28
DECKER
The moment we landed in Arlington, a car was ready and waiting to bring Cabot and I to Quantico to meet with the numerous agencies that had been pulled into the nightmare that centered around Lake. I’d been ready to meet with a group of individuals the moment we arrived, but I hadn’t expected to see Dominic Parker standing outside the building when we pulled up looking like he was going to have a nervous breakdown.
“Thank God, you’re finally here. I’ve been trying to get in there since Robert wants to be involved in the meeting, but they keep saying they can’t talk about an ongoing investigation with me. It’s an investigation involving Robert! He has every right to know! I was hoping you could help me out since apparently the new agency he hired doesn’t have the same…” He paused and took in an irritated breath. “Influence,” he finally finished.
“You accused us of leaking information to the press and fired us,” Cabot started before I could even open my mouth. “Now you want us to make you our plus one?” He threw his head back and laughed. “This doesn’t have shit to do with Robert Harrington, Parker.” He pushed past the other man, shoulder checking him hard as he went, causing Dominic to take a few steps back to regain his balance.
“Sorry about him,” I said with no hint of actual apology. “It’s been a long night.”
“Yes, but what happened?” He looked rather pathetic, standing there in his overpriced suit looking for handouts.