Page 83 of Pride
“I was looking for personal items to bring home with us.” He held his breath, waiting for her push back. “Jazz records, and that’s it.”
“I don’t have anything else. Never have.”
“Nothing?”
She sat up with a sigh. “Nope. And don’t go blaming Flint. It’s not his fault.”
Alarm bells went off in Parker’s mind. His jaw locked.
“Flint?” he ground out. “My father?”
Her eyes widened. “Mary didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Oh. Well, maybe she was waiting—”
“Alice,” he clipped. “What has my father to do with all this?”
“That’s a long story, but I guess you’ll find out, eventually. Apparently he was friends with the drunk driver who crashed into my car when I was little, killing my parents.”
“I’m still not following.”
“Mary told me he blamed himself for knowing his friend was about to drive and not stopping him.” She scratched her head and sat up, pulling the blanket to cover herself. “I think he made some kind of trust fund for me when I was young, but I never saw it. Much of it anyway. I got put into foster care and then the Sisterhood found me—something Mary believes is her fault.”
Parker stared blankly as he processed her words. Alice had been linked to his family since they were kids? Alice’s fate—here at this horrible place—was all because… his mind traveled back further to when Mary and Flint had rescued them from the lab. He remembered that overheard conversation between his parents while he’d been climbing the tree. Flint was upset he had to cut himself off from someone he’d been helping. Mary was sorry too, but they both knew that, for the survival of the Lazarus children, both of them had to restart their lives and assume new identities.
It couldn’t be a coincidence Alice was taken in by the Sisterhood. Was she a replacement for Mary? Was all this pain in Alice’s life caused by Parker’s family? The need to care for her became even greater. But then a thought occurred to him.
“Is that why you fought Mary? Because we’re at fault for all of this?” He gestured about the tiny room.
“Sort of. Look, maybe I’ve said too much.”
He sat down next to her and squeezed her arm. “If Mary attacked you, then I need to know about it so I can make it right. You’re number one in my life now. More than anyone else. Do you understand?”
Her expression deadpanned in that way he always assumed was her calculating face. The one she gave the enemy when she wanted to hide her true thoughts. But she softened and exhaled. “Mary attacked me because she wanted to make sure I wasn’t there to hurt her or Flint because of what happened. She needed to know the alliance was real, just like you did. I get that. To be honest, I would have done the same thing.”
He rubbed his forehead. “Right.”
Silence stretched between them.
“Parker,” she asked. “Are we okay?”
“Tell me one thing. Last night I asked you to forget the past and look forward, but is that what you want? Will you leave the Sisterhood behind?” Maybe he’d gotten it all wrong. Maybe he’d projected his own feelings about this place. When she didn’t answer, he added, “What kind of future do you see for yourself?”
She went to the window and pointed at a tree outside. “There used to be an opossum family in that tree. When I first got here as a child, I watched it grow from a pregnant mother to a litter of young. Every night I came to this window and watched them grow. I watched them leave. I watched them die.” She looked at Parker. “Since I met you, I realized I don’t want to die here. I want to grow. I want to look forward, not back. I want a life beyond these walls that isn’t about death.”
His cell phone buzzed again, and he yanked it out of his pocket, ready to hang up on the caller. But it was a message from home.
“We’ll have to go soon,” he said. “There’s news.”
“Do I have time to check on Prudence?” she asked. “And I want to make a quick stop to deliver some things to Tawny’s room.”
“Whatever you need.”
* * *
Parker and Alicemet the Sinners at the breakfast table in the large dining hall. He was surprised to see Prudence up and eating with the rest of them. As it turned out, she had brown hair and smile lines around her eyes, none of which he’d been able to see when she’d been covered in dirt and blood.
