A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1)(83)

“They do. It was Kubrick Ravinder.”

“Brick?” Cyrus said. “That snake?”

“The one and only. He’s been up there a while. I’ll know more in a few days, but he could’ve been up there this whole time. No one’s seen him in over a decade.”

“Oh, good heavens,” Elaine said. “He could’ve been the one who took you.”

“Yes. I just wanted you to be aware.”

Auri bit her bottom lip, indicating something weighing her down. “Can I ask one more thing?”

“Auri, yes. Now and always.”

“Okay, for now, can I ask why you faked a marriage?”

It was a question she’d asked herself occasionally. Was it worth it? Did it work? Did any of it matter in the long run? But then she would look at her beautiful daughter and the answers to those questions were always yes.

“Did you know it was fake?” she asked her. “Before the broadcast?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

All those years, all those questions swimming around in her head, and Auri had no one to talk to about it. No one to turn to. Sun imagined the shooting pain that pierced her heart was similar to what a heart attack would feel like.

“Oh, my god, Auri. I’m the one who’s sorry. I was going to tell you, but the time just never seemed right. And then when you got depressed, it really didn’t seem right.”

“I understand, Mom. I really do. I’m just not sure why you did it in the first place.”

Cyrus agreed. “You have to understand. We were scared to death. We still didn’t know who took your mom. We didn’t know if he would come back, and we didn’t want him knowing you were his.”

“Because in our eyes, you weren’t,” Elaine said. “You were 100 percent ours. End of story.”

A soft hue blossomed over her daughter’s face.

“I feel like you were my reward,” Sun continued. “My prize for making it through the whole ordeal. I have no idea what I went through, but I do know there were chains and a traumatic brain injury. I deserved you, damn it.”

Auri perked up at that, and Sun couldn’t believe that after all this time, the truth was coming out. And all because of a bunch of bullies whom she had every intention of arresting for obstruction of justice. As far as she was concerned, they’d released details from an ongoing investigation.

“And the monument in his honor?” Auri asked.

“Twofold.” Her dad held up two fingers, just in case no one in the room knew what twofold meant. “First, we wanted to make sure he saw it, whoever he was, and believed it was real. We needed him to think that you were the daughter of someone other than him. Anyone other than him. And second, next time you’re there, look closer at the circles.”

“Closer?” she asked as did Sun herself.

The circles? What was up with the circles?

“Okay, but how did you keep it a secret?”

“The memorial or the fake marriage?” her dad asked.

“Well, both, I guess.”

“Family,” Elaine said. “There are several core members of this town who are like family. In fact, the fake marriage and the memorial were actually their ideas. To throw the abductor off our scent, so to speak.”

The delicate arches of Auri’s brows knitted together. “So, most people in town think you really married a man named Samson Vicram and that he died in Afghanistan?”

Sun nodded, almost ashamed. But they’d done it for a good cause. A beautiful cause named Aurora Dawn Vicram. She wouldn’t change a thing if she could.

Elaine remembered she’d made sandwiches and handed Auri one. “Auri, I am so, so sorry. I don’t know what you overheard, but it had nothing to do with you.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Grandma. I was the one eavesdropping, though I don’t think I meant to.”

Unplacated, Elaine looked at Sun. “She could have died because of us. We just keep messing up.”

“Are you crazy? You guys stuck with me when I wanted to keep her. You didn’t even question my decision when most parents would’ve tried to lock me up and throw away the key.” Sun stood and hugged first Elaine, then Cyrus, and then she stole a sandwich.

“So, this is it,” Quincy said as he took a bite of a ham and cheese. “No more secrets. I like it. I have questions. So many, many questions.”

“If you even think of asking my mom about her showgirl days . . .”

“Wait, why is that off-limits? No secrets means no secrets. Did you know the Rat Pack?”

Cyrus choked on his sandwich.

“Good heavens, I’m not that old, Quincy Cooper.”

His shoulders sagged in disappointment.

Auri was studying her sandwich when Sun asked, “Anything else you want to know?”

“No. I mean, maybe. It’s just, if we’re going for no more secrets, you might want to know one other thing.”

Sun put down her sandwich. “Okay.” There was simply no telling what would come out of her daughter’s mouth, and from her expression, it looked serious.

“I did plan to take my life that day.”

Sun forced herself to remain stock-still, to show no reaction. As a law enforcement officer, she was an expert, but Auri’s revelation pushed her ability to its limit. She had her daughter talking for the first time. She didn’t want to blow it now.