Page 55 of Affliction
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out my phone and fire off a text to Karson, Cole and Slater.
Maverick
I’m taking Parker to the beach house for a couple of days. I need a favor.
They all answer immediately and I give them a brief explanation of what I walked in on tonight. They tell me they’ll look into it and I drop the phone in one of the cupholders. Cole and Karson are going to watch the house and Slater is going to tap into her security system to check the cameras. Keeping my eyes focused on the road ahead, I punch the gas pedal, ready to get to the beach and get her the fuck away from that house.
We arrived at the house around six in the morning and I carried Parker to bed, where she stayed most of the day. The sun is beginning to set as I lean back in an Adirondack chair on the deck that overlooks the ocean. Waves crash into the shoreline and the cool, salty breeze sends a shiver down my spine. I’m texting with Karson when I hear the sliding glass door open and I look up. Parker steps out onto the deck, wrapped in the knitted blanket that I covered her with when we arrived. She offers me a smile and walks toward me. She stops at the chair next to me and I lean forward, grab her by the wrist and give her a gentle tug. She lets out a chuckle and steps in front of me, then I pull her onto my lap. Curling up, she lays her head on my shoulder as I wrap my arms around her as she looks out over the ocean.
“This place is beautiful.” She says in awe. “Do you come here a lot?”
“Not as much as I’d like to. A couple of times a year at most. How did you sleep?” I ask, pushing some hair out of her face so I can see her better.
“I slept great. Thank you for bringing me here.” Parker says softly and I give her a gentle squeeze. “Do you own this house or is it a familyvacation home?”
“I bought it five or six years ago. I’m the only one that's been here, until now.”
She nods and bites the corner of her lip. She wants to ask about my family, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked that question. Parker watches the waves for a moment before she shifts in my lap to look up at me.
“Are you close with them? Your family?” I take a deep breath and shake my head. “We don’t have to talk about it. I was just curious.” She soothes, sensing the tension I feel.
“It’s okay. I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me, Parker.” Inhaling deeply again, I gaze out to the water. “My mom was beautiful. She had long black hair, crystal blue eyes and the warmest smile. She played with me, read to me, she’d sing to me.” I swallow to rid the lump in my throat and continue, “She was the best mom a kid could have had. That I’m sure of.”
“What happened to her?” Parker whispers, pools of amber searching my eyes. I let out a sigh and lean back into the chair.
“Well, she disappeared.” The sun begins its descent over the ocean as I continue. “I was six years old, it was the middle of fall and I wanted to go to the park. My mom packed us some snacks and a picnic blanket, loaded up the car and we went. She pushed me on the swings and played hide and seek with me for a little while. When it was time for lunch, she told me it was time to stop playing for a little bit so we could eat. I didn’t want to stop, and I begged her to let me play some more. The car was only parked about twenty yards from the slide I was playing on, and there weren’t many people there. After a minute of me begging she told me to stay on the slide and she would be right back. ‘I can still see you Mav, and you can still see me, I will be right back.’That was the last thing she said to me.”
“Maverick you don’t have to -” Parker places her hand on my shoulder, her voice breaking. I take hold of her hand and shake my head.
“No it’s okay. I want to tell you. Anyway, I watched her until she was about halfway to the car, then started sliding again. And I kept sliding, running back up to the top and sliding again. My six year old brain hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t come back until I started getting thirsty. When I got to the top of the slide again, I looked over to the car but she wasn't there. I stood up there and looked all over the park but I couldn’t see her.” Images from the worst day of my life plague my mind and I pinch my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. A lump forms at the back of my throat and I force myself to swallow past it.
“She was just gone. I ran all over that playground looking for her. I even walked over to the car, which I knew would have gotten me in so much trouble, since I wasn't supposed to leave the slide. The trunk was still open, and the cooler was still inside. There was no one at the park anymore so I couldn't ask for help. So, I took out the small cooler with our food and climbed into the front seat of the car to wait for her. I waited and waited but she never came back.” I look over to Parker and see tears streaming silently down her face. I reach out and wipe them away with my thumbs and offer her a soft smile.
“At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew it was morning and a woman was opening the door to the car. It woke me up, and I poked my head out from my mothers sweater–I used it as a blanket. She was pushing a stroller with a little girl in it, and she just kept asking me if I was okay and where my mommy was. I told her I didn't know but she said she'd be right back. I just remember she looked so sad. She brought me over to a bench and called the police. She stayed with me, gave me some of the food she had brought with her, and just waited. I couldn’t figure out why she kept crying. When the police showed up, they looked through the car, asked me a bunch of questions I didn't know how to answer, and thenthey took me with them to the police station. All I remember thinking is that my mom was going to be so upset that I didn’t stay on the slide.”
“Wha-” Parker clears her throat and wipes her cheeks, “What happened after that?”
“Another woman ended up coming to the police station to pick me up. She told me she was going to bring me somewhere to wait for my mom. But, my mom never came back to get me. I spent the next twelve years bouncing from foster home to foster home. When it came time for me to be adopted, I would run. I didn’t want another family, I wantedmymom. I’d run right back to the last place I saw her. And the family that was ready to adopt me would back out.” I let out a chuckle and shake my head, “Even as I got older, I still wanted to believe she would be there waiting for me. I met Karson in one of those foster homes, and he would run with me. He would sit with me and wait. I could tell he knew she wasn't coming back, but he never did try to tell me that like everyone else did. By that time the social workers knew exactly where I had gone and they’d come pick us up and take us somewhere new. After the third home we had together and ran from, they started splitting us up. But Karson would always come find me.”
Parker wraps her arms around my neck and she nuzzles her head into my shoulder. “Did they ever find out what happened to her?” she whispers. I drop my head and shake it slowly.
“No. The best the cops could come up with is she had been kidnapped. But with very few people at the park that day, no one saw what happened. There was a gas station next to the playground with a camera that faced the park and there was a car that was seen pulling out of the parking lot at a high rate of speed, but they weren't able to track it down.”
“When Karson and I graduated high school we went off to college together and eventually started the security company. Once it began totake off, we started making connections and I started looking for my mom again. I thought I was close at one point when I was twenty four, but it ended up being a dead end.”
“What about your dad, where was he in all of this?” Parker’s voice comes in softly and I shrug.
“I never got to meet him. He was in the military when I was born. He was killed in action when I was about four months old.”
“I’m so sorry, Maverick. I shouldn’t have asked.” Parker says softly and she pulls away from my shoulder to look me in the eyes.
“Don’t apologize, Sweetheart. I came to terms with it all a long time ago, and I’m okay. Really.” Her gaze lowers and I grip her chin between my thumb and forefinger, lifting her eyes to meet mine. The truth is, even though I accepted my past a long time ago, it still tears into my soul whenever I think about it. I’ve only ever been able to tell Elias and Karson about what happened that day, and both times I ended up secluding myself for weeks after. Telling her though? It lifts a burden off of my chest that I didn’t realize I was still carrying.
“Look at me, Parker. You can ask me anything, and I will tell you. I will never hide anything from you, or lie to you. I willalwaystell you what you want to know.” She flinches at the statement. The comment wasn’t meant to be back handed, but it struck a nerve with her. Guilt flashes in her eyes and she tries to turn her head to the side.
“Listen to me. I don’t care what you’re hiding.” Her eyes meet mine again and I cup her face in both hands. “Whatever it is, you’ll tell me when you’re ready. I want you, Parker.Nothingis going to change that fact, or stop me.” She blows out a breath and nods. It’s the first time she hasn't denied having a secret. Whether she tells me or not isn’t important anymore. Not after the way I found her last night. All that matters is that she’s here with me, safe andmine.
Leaning forward, I press my lips to hers with a gentle kiss. She returns it and her arms wind tighter around my neck again. I deepen the kiss and she pulls me into her. Her lips part and I brush her tongue with mine.
