Page 24 of State of Retribution (First Family #9)

She giggled, which pleased him greatly. “Such cute waiters you have in this place.”

“Which other one do you think is cute, too?”

“Just you.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I didn’t want to have to fight anyone.”

“Would you?” she asked. “Fight for me?”

“Hell yes, I would.”

“Why?”

“Damned if I know, but I would. Every time.”

She gave him a small, satisfied smile and ate a cracker with a slice of cheddar cheese. “That tastes good. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

A knock on the door roused them out of their little staring contest.

“Are you ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Archie went to the door and opened it to Erica and Harlowe’s parents.

“Archie, this is George and Barbara Prior.”

He shook hands with both of them and welcomed them into his home.

George was stocky, with dark hair laced with gray, and Barbara was petite, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

They both looked exhausted, as if they’d endured a difficult ordeal.

In light of Harlowe’s trepidation about seeing them, that was a relief to him, proof of sorts that they’d suffered over what’d happened to their daughter.

“Thank you for taking care of Harlowe,” Barbara said. “We appreciate your kindness.”

“It’s no problem. She’s in the living room and is… fragile. Please proceed with caution.”

“We will,” George said. “Detective Lucas has explained things to us.”

If he looked at Archie with a hint of distrust in his eyes, well, Archie didn’t blame the guy. He didn’t know Archie from Adam, and he’d have to prove himself to him.

Barbara broke down at the sight of her daughter sitting on the sofa with a blanket over her lap. “Oh, honey. I’m so happy to see you. May I sit with you?”

Harlowe nodded.

Barbara sat carefully next to Harlowe and reached for her hand.

“They told you that my recent memory is gone, right?”

“They did,” Barbara said. “That’s okay. We’ll remember for you.”

“Was there something wrong between us? Did we argue?”

Barbara glanced at George before she nodded. “We had a terrible disagreement about you moving back here again. We didn’t think it was the right thing for you after everything with Evan.”

“Who’s Evan?”

They seemed shocked that she’d ask that.

“He was your husband, honey.”

“I’m married?” she asked, sounding slightly panicked.

“You were. You two are divorced now. You said he was unkind to you.”

“Was he?”

“Not that we ever witnessed,” George said. “His parents were our dearest friends. It was a difficult situation, to say the least.”

“I said he was unkind to me, but you didn’t believe me?”

“We were always supportive of you, but that was a tough thing for us to hear about a young man we’ve known all his life,” George said.

“We thought you two were perfect for each other. And when you said you wanted to take the transfer back to DC, we thought you might be acting rashly. That’s what we argued about. ”

“We’re so sorry, honey,” Barbara said. “We felt so bad about our disagreement. We’d never gone that long without talking to you. You’re our pride and joy. Having you move away was very hard for us.”

“Harlowe told me she came here for college and never left, but you’re saying she was back in Pittsburgh for a time?”

“For two years after she and Evan got married,” Barbara said. “But when that ended, she put in for a transfer to come back here. We weren’t sure she was ready to be so far from home, but there was no talking her out of it.”

“Why is there nothing about Harlowe online?” Archie asked.

“She deleted all her social media during the divorce and asked her company to take her off their website. She said she did it for safety reasons, but we were never clear on what her concern was.”

“I was afraid he’d kill me,” Harlowe said.

Her parents gasped.

“Do you remember, honey?” Archie asked.

Her lips quivered as she nodded. “I remember Evan. He hurt me. No one believed me. They said he came from such a nice family… We grew up together. He’d never hurt me.”

Archie noticed Harlowe’s hands were trembling.

“Ma’am, I’d like to sit with her.”

“Oh.” Barbara seemed startled. Thankfully, she got up and moved to another seat.

Archie sat next to Harlowe, put his arm around her and held her close to him, infuriated by the trembling. She’d remembered something, and it had upset her greatly. He feared what else she might remember and how it would hurt her even more.

Now he knew why there was no trace of her online. In a way, that was a relief, even if he hated the reason for it.

“Where’s Evan now?” Archie asked. “Could he be responsible for what happened to you?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“She pressed charges against him,” George said, “but the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. We don’t know where he is now.”

So the son of a bitch had gotten away with it.

“Needless to say, we’re not friends with his parents anymore,” George said.

“Was that your choice or theirs?” Archie asked.

“Mostly theirs. We felt terrible about what happened.”

“You felt terrible that their son hurt your daughter?”

“We…” Barbara looked to her husband as if she wanted him to reply.

“We felt terrible about all of it.”

“I think you should go,” Archie said.

“What?” Barbara said. “We just got here.”

“And now you have to go.”

“Is that what you want, Harlowe?” George asked.

“Archie said you should go,” she said. “That’s what you should do.”

“Who is this man you’re holding close while sending us away?”

“He’s the one who stepped up for me at the darkest time in my life, and apparently, he didn’t care for your answers just now. I don’t remember all the details, but it’s interesting to me that you didn’t say you felt terrible that my husband hurt me. You felt terrible about the whole situation.”

“Of course we did!” George said. “That boy practically grew up in our home.”

“But I am your child,” she said softly. “Not him.”

Archie looked to his colleague for help. “Erica…”

“Mr. and Mrs. Prior, let’s go. I’ll drop you at your hotel.”

“When will we see you again?” George asked his daughter.

“When I’m ready.”

Archie was so fucking proud of her.