living on the streets then. Plus, it said that his mother was still alive.
"Pretty short compared to most of these others," Simon mused.
Amber nodded. You pay by the word, so it was likely short to save money. Simple, just to let friends and family know what happened and when and where to pay respects. It was quite a coincidence that both the husband and wife had the same first and last names as Joel's parents. And she knew that they didn't have a lot of money, either.
Simon started scrolling through his search results, looking for another match.
Was it possible that this was them? If so, why would Joel have lied about them being dead? Or at least of his mother being dead? Or did he think he was lying about them both? He'd been in shelters for longer than a year. Joel didn't seem to be the type of person that sat around reading the obituaries.
"Well, I don't see any others that match. We may have to look somewhere else. You sure he said they were dead, right?"
Amber thought back to her conversation the night that she met Joel.
"Does your family know you do this?" she had asked him, referring to the back alley fighting he was participating in to pay the bills.
"They're all gone. No one to tell," he had said.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
That was it. He never actually said they were dead, but he hadn't said anything to contradict the fact that she had obviously believed that to be the case.
"Can you look up any other info on that couple?" she asked suddenly.
Simon shrugged. "Well, the obit says it was a car accident, so maybe it made the news, let me see." His fingers started to fly across the keyboard as he began a new search.
Why would Joel want people to believe that his parents were dead? Obviously he had no intention of ever speaking to them again, if that were true. Why not just tell people that he had a falling out with them, or whatever secret it was that kept them apart. Were they embarrassing? All parents were, as far as Amber was concerned. Addicts? Criminals? Her mind raced at all of the possible reasons. What would cause her to stop talking to her own parents? To claim they were dead to anyone who asked?
"Here," Simon exclaimed, pointing at the screen again. This time there was a black and white photograph with a caption underneath that she couldn't read, and then an article. The headline read Drunk driver killed on way home from liquor store .
Amber bent forward again, her eyes quickly scanning the article. A shocking chill ran down her back as she read a line from the investigation. "The driver, now identified as Darryl Slater, leaves behind a wife and one estranged son, according to neighbors."
"Can you show me on a map where this accident happened?" Amber's heart was pounding in her chest and she put a hand on Simon's shoulder as a wave of dizziness rushed through her.
Simon opened up a map and zoomed in on the location from the article. There was no doubt about it now. The crash happened in the same neighborhood that Joel had mentioned growing up in.
"That's them," she said. She took a few steps backwards and flopped down on another chair. She was positive.
"So he lied about his mother being dead, but told the truth about his father?" Simon asked, spinning his chair to face her with a raised eyebrow.
"I think he lied about them both. This accident happened after he had left. I'm not sure he even knows about this."
"Who lies about their parents being dead?"
Amber shrugged. "Actually, he didn't lie. Not exactly. I don't know."
Simon stood up and then turned to turn off the browser in an effort to obscure what they had just been looking at before their boss came in. "Your boy has issues, you know that, right hon?"
Amber didn't answer as she thought about whether or not to tell Joel about this. Or how. He
"Pretty short compared to most of these others," Simon mused.
Amber nodded. You pay by the word, so it was likely short to save money. Simple, just to let friends and family know what happened and when and where to pay respects. It was quite a coincidence that both the husband and wife had the same first and last names as Joel's parents. And she knew that they didn't have a lot of money, either.
Simon started scrolling through his search results, looking for another match.
Was it possible that this was them? If so, why would Joel have lied about them being dead? Or at least of his mother being dead? Or did he think he was lying about them both? He'd been in shelters for longer than a year. Joel didn't seem to be the type of person that sat around reading the obituaries.
"Well, I don't see any others that match. We may have to look somewhere else. You sure he said they were dead, right?"
Amber thought back to her conversation the night that she met Joel.
"Does your family know you do this?" she had asked him, referring to the back alley fighting he was participating in to pay the bills.
"They're all gone. No one to tell," he had said.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
That was it. He never actually said they were dead, but he hadn't said anything to contradict the fact that she had obviously believed that to be the case.
"Can you look up any other info on that couple?" she asked suddenly.
Simon shrugged. "Well, the obit says it was a car accident, so maybe it made the news, let me see." His fingers started to fly across the keyboard as he began a new search.
Why would Joel want people to believe that his parents were dead? Obviously he had no intention of ever speaking to them again, if that were true. Why not just tell people that he had a falling out with them, or whatever secret it was that kept them apart. Were they embarrassing? All parents were, as far as Amber was concerned. Addicts? Criminals? Her mind raced at all of the possible reasons. What would cause her to stop talking to her own parents? To claim they were dead to anyone who asked?
"Here," Simon exclaimed, pointing at the screen again. This time there was a black and white photograph with a caption underneath that she couldn't read, and then an article. The headline read Drunk driver killed on way home from liquor store .
Amber bent forward again, her eyes quickly scanning the article. A shocking chill ran down her back as she read a line from the investigation. "The driver, now identified as Darryl Slater, leaves behind a wife and one estranged son, according to neighbors."
"Can you show me on a map where this accident happened?" Amber's heart was pounding in her chest and she put a hand on Simon's shoulder as a wave of dizziness rushed through her.
Simon opened up a map and zoomed in on the location from the article. There was no doubt about it now. The crash happened in the same neighborhood that Joel had mentioned growing up in.
"That's them," she said. She took a few steps backwards and flopped down on another chair. She was positive.
"So he lied about his mother being dead, but told the truth about his father?" Simon asked, spinning his chair to face her with a raised eyebrow.
"I think he lied about them both. This accident happened after he had left. I'm not sure he even knows about this."
"Who lies about their parents being dead?"
Amber shrugged. "Actually, he didn't lie. Not exactly. I don't know."
Simon stood up and then turned to turn off the browser in an effort to obscure what they had just been looking at before their boss came in. "Your boy has issues, you know that, right hon?"
Amber didn't answer as she thought about whether or not to tell Joel about this. Or how. He
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