The Decoy by Carol Ericson

Author:Carol Ericson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-02-02T19:55:19+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Jake pushed the computer from his lap, putting distance between himself and the seamy story of a foster parent abusing his charges and the one foster kid in his charge who fought back—stabbing Buck Harmon to death.

He had no doubt the unnamed teen was Kyra Chase.

He rubbed his eyes and then trained them on the view from his window, a sheet of glass that took up the whole wall, bringing the glittering lights of the city into his home. You’d think he’d want to get away from the city, with its evil and darkness, but from up here it looked...enchanted. When he was in this house, looking down at the lights, he could remember all the good, all the decent people.

His gaze wandered to his open laptop, and his blood pounded in his temples as he studied the smug face of Buck Harmon. He knew some foster parents did it for the money; he also knew so many more who did it from the goodness of their hearts. He saw those people when he looked down from his perch in the Hollywood Hills.

The headlights of a car moved across the window as it pulled into his driveway. He pushed up from the couch and peered outside at Kyra’s compact stopping behind his car.

The knots in his gut that had been unraveling tightened. Why was she here? What was he going to say to her? If he admitted he knew about her past, she’d accuse him of snooping. If he pretended he knew nothing, she’d sense something was off. Billy was right—Kyra knew people. She’d gone into the right field.

Before he had time to decide how to play it, his doorbell rang. He practically dragged his feet to answer it, when normally he’d be jumping out of his skin at a visit from Kyra.

He swung open the door, and he didn’t even get a chance to say hello. She charged past him, her blond hair loose and messy, her eyes glassy and bright.

She took several steps into the room and then spun around, throwing her hands in front of her as if offering him something that wasn’t there.

“I have something to tell you—several things to tell you.”

He nodded, his jaw seemingly locked in place.

“That picture you saw in Matt’s mirror, the one of the family? That was our foster family, the one Matt and I shared. The parents were Buck and Lori Harmon, and I killed Buck Harmon when I was sixteen. Stabbed him.”

She seemed to run out of steam, and he gaped at her like an idiot. She took his silence as encouragement, and she wound herself up again, throwing back her shoulders and pacing to the window.

“I’m not proud of what I did, but he deserved it. When I was living with the Harmons, I discovered that Buck was molesting the younger girls. I tried to tell my caseworker at DCFS, but she didn’t believe me, and the girls all denied it—because they were scared. Even Quinn couldn’t help.

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