Page 79 of State of Retribution

“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.”

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