“Honestly? How fucked up my family is.”
Decker came and sat beside me. “I’d bet ninety percent of people would say the same thing.”
“What about your family, Deck? At the sheriff’s office, you said you didn’t have anyone. What happened?”
When he scrubbed his face with his hand, I regretted asking.
“The closest thing I have to a family is Quint and Z Alexander.”
“You don’t have to talk about if it’s too personal.”
Decker half-smiled. “Baby doll, we spent the last two hours exploring each other’s naked bodies, telling you about my family isn’t too personal.”
“I know, but…”
“My parents both split the scene before I turned seven. They were into drugs, alcohol, God knows what else. After that, I bounced around in the foster system for six years until I met Quint. He invited me to come to the ranch, and I did, every chance I got.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry, Decker.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “I have a feeling Z saw that I was being abused, although he never said so directly. One day he just asked me if I wanted to live with them. I’ve been here ever since.” He let out a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t just that Z saved me from my fucked-up existence, he’s the one who encouraged me to get my degree—paid for it too. And then he hooked me up with Burns Butler, and the rest is history.”
“You look up to him.”
“Z or Burns? The truth is, I look up to both of them. In a lot of ways, they were both mentors. Still are.”
“I haven’t had anyone like that in my life. You’re lucky, Decker.”
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Now, I am.” He took my hand in his. “There’s something we need to talk about. Several things, actually.”
“Okay, um, before we do that, is there somewhere I can do laundry?”
“Of course. Come with me.”
Decker led me down the hallway to where the washer and dryer were, and then out into the kitchen.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
He pulled out a stool at the kitchen counter, and I sat. “Adler is in the area. While I don’t know exactly where the house is that you lived in before your parents divorced, I have a feeling that might be where he’s headed.”
I put my head in my hands. What was going on, and what did that old house have to do with it? “I don’t understand. Why?”
“Best guess is he’s trying to find whatever the people who trashed your sister’s house were looking for. Take that a step further. Whatever it is, must have something to do with your sister’s murder.”
It was logical that someone looking for something would trash my grandfather’s place because that’s where we lived since we were kids and where Sybil continued to live after he died, but why the house we lived in before that? None of this made sense to me. “What else, Decker?”
He pulled out the stool beside me and sat down. I knew whatever he had to tell me was bad, based on the look on his face.
“I took a look at your sister’s medical records. Her blood type is B-negative. It’s very rare, and she needed a transfusion before her surgery. I have a suspicion that may have been what ended your parents’ marriage. It’s possible Sybil wasn’t your father’s child.”
I leaned against the back of the stool. “Are you suggesting my mother had an affair?” Was Decker really suggesting that the only person in my immediate family that I’d believed to be sane, wasn’t?
“It’s one possibility in terms of why their marriage ended.”
“Do you want me to ask my father? Is that what this is about?”
“No. I’ve asked Grinder to see if he can find his blood type as well as your mother’s. It could prove my theory wrong. However, if my suspicions are correct, there may come a time that I or someone else questions your father.”
“Is there more?” If so, I might as well hear it all now instead of Decker piecemealing it.