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For better or worse.
A few moments later Earl came on. “My God, Amos, I don’t know what you said, but she’s totally changed. She ran upstairs laughing her head off and saying ‘Sandy-dandy’ over and over.” He paused. “Amos, you still there?”
“I’m here.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Yeah, look, I gotta go.”
Decker clicked off and stared down at the phone.
Andrews gave White a questioning look.
She said, “Take us back to our rental. I think it’s time we checked in at the hotel and had some food. And, maybe, adrink.”
As the car pulled away White glanced surreptitiously at Decker.
The man just kept looking at his phone.
Chapter14
IWON’T ASK YOU IFyou want to talk about it, because I know what the answer will be.”
Decker and White were sitting in the dining area of the DoubleTree. Their meal was done. Decker had a beer, while White fingered a glass of merlot.
Decker ignored this and finished his beer. He was standing up to leave when she said, “I had three kids, Decker. Now I only have two.”
He sat back down. “What happened?”
“Rival gangs going at it out on our street. They spewed rounds all over the place. One came through the wall of our house. My son, Donte, had sat up in bed when he heard all the noise. Bullet caught him right here.” She placed a trembling finger to her left temple.
“I’m sorry. When did it happen?”
“Five years ago.” She paused and looked down. “He was my middle child. I had my kids right in a row. My biological clock was ticking. I knew I wanted three. I thought I could handle it, FBI career and all. Until my ex walked out the door when I was still carrying Jacky. Luckily my mom came to the rescue. I…I wasn’t home when it happened. I was away on an…” A sob broke through, but she quickly quelled it. She wiped her mouth with her napkin and looked up, but didn’t meet Decker’s gaze. “Away on an assignment,” she finished.
Decker tapped his fingers nervously on the table. He didn’t want to break the silence because he was unsure about what to say. But finally he decided to say something, because he sensed that it had taken a lot of courage for White to make such a gut-wrenching admission. And she deserved something in kind from him.
“Sandy is my old partner’s daughter. She has some mental disabilities, so she couldn’t really understand about her mom. That’s why her dad called me. Sandy and I…we sort of have a trust thing going on.”
“What you told her was really good, Decker. It was pretty much spot-on for the situation.”
“I don’t normally talk about what happened to my family. It’s just not something I…do.”
“I don’t, either. But I just thought we needed an icebreaker.”
“Fair enough.”
“They say time heals, but I’m not sure about that. Not at all.”
“Time doesn’t necessarily heal, but it allows perspective, and the fading of the loss. But not for me.” He placed a finger against his head. “I can’t forget. Not even a little bit. Nothing fades, nothing gets better. It’s a new movie release every day, but it’s the same movie.”
“But you can remember the good times too, right? Better than the rest of us can with ours. I’m starting to fade on some of that stuff with Donte. I don’t want it to, but I’ve got two kids and a career that suck up all I’ve got.”
Decker rubbed at his mouth. “It doesn’t make up for it. It’s not apples to apples.”
“I can see that. And I can also see that you are done with the personal stuff, so let’s get to the professional. Impressions today?”
Decker automatically reengaged. “Barry Davidson is not being truthful about something, I just don’t know what. Tyler is confused and hurt. I want to talk to Gamma Protection Services and see why they were guarding the judge. And I want to know what the note represents. ‘Res ipsa loquitor.’”
